Easter Memories

Searching for the last eggs of the day

Happy Rebirth-Day to Me!

This last weekend was my 28th Rebirth-day. I was 4 years old when I went to a huge Easter contada/play put on by my church. Along with 1,200 people, I sat in awe of seeing Jesus (he looked like all the Bible pictures I had ever seen anyway) for the first time - interacting with kids my age, raising men of a tomb and teaching us all(while a choir sang the appropriate hymns and songs at the right time). My heart then was changed as the church went completely dark and all that was heard was BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG. Then a single light came on to illuminate Jesus on the cross. I knew at that moment that it was all for me. He was hanging on the cross for me. I remember being sad and excited all at the same time. I don't remember too much more except that I said a prayer which began my spiritual journey with Christ as my Savior. My life has been sealed for eternity. My sins have been forgiven. I am seen as clean, I am unconditionally loved, I am a child of the Almighty. Although Easter Day is over, I love that Easter means just that much more to me.

New look, New thoughts

On Sunday (I say that like it was a week ago. I can't believe it was yesterday) Tom talked on Colossians 1:17-18 which says:
He himself is before all things and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.
The challenge that I was left with was as Christ is to have first place in everything, does my outer daily walk match my inner reality? Does the reality that Christ lives in me - making me alive to Christ & dead to sin - manifest itself in the way that I talk, the thoughts that I think, the people with whom I choose to spend time? Is it clear that Christ has priority over everything in my life?
As we read in these verses, reality is we know that Christ is the Creator, is eternal, is the sustainer of all things, Head of the Church, and He is alive from the dead (firstborn). That's real & true.
My ideal walk would be that my view of reality would line up, be in perfect harmony with God's reality. When we have the right, true, proper view of God we then can walk in God's will, knowing that it is what we desire for our lives, too.
I find myself in spiritual warfare right now in my life. The closer I come to aligning my reality with God's reality, as I learn more about Him, the more oppressed, saddened, discouraged I become in my thoughts (the less peaceful sleep I seem to get).
I feel as though I have a long way to go to sort out these thoughts. My deepest desire is to never water down the truth. I don't ever want people I meet to be confused as to what I believe and where I place my hope & trust. I want to have a heart that demonstrates through loving actions.
I desire that every outward expression be a reflection of the very intimate relationship I have with Christ. The One who allows me to weep at His feet, turns toward me and declares your sins have been forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace (Luke 7:48,50).
This is my feeble attempt to show you just a piece of my inner reality.

Which Book of the Bible Are You?

So at LifeGroup tonight, I shared that I took a test to see what book of the Bible I resembled. I was the book of I Corinthians with Leviticus & Proverbs close behind. T is the book of John with Romans as a close 2nd. Are you curious? Take the test.

My Covenant

I've been reading through the book For Women Only - what you need to know about the inner lives of men. It has been made into a Bible Study that I am also working through on Wednesday mornings with about 30 other women. We come from all walks, married & unmarried, with & without kids, newlyweds & married for over 25 years. Our discussions are lively and honest. Today, we talked about sex. Yep, I said it - it was more than just pillow talk, ladies. But what I took away and wanted to ponder this week was the aspect that my marriage is a covenant not a contract. Contracts are written up & the legal jargon usually pertains to "you uphold your end and we'll uphold our end". A covenant is a formal, binding promise made between 2 people under seal. It sounds so very royal and yet isn't that the picture we should have of what our relationship with God AND our marriage? God has made it very clear that He has given us a relationship that is a covenant. He doesn't make a contract with His children - if you obey me I will bless you. You screw up and I will blast you. You don't respect me, I'm outta here and good luck in eternity! No, He makes it very clear that He is a God of grace and mercy, a fierce God of justice and a God of love. God also expects marriage to be a covenant - a promise that no matter what happens, there will be a tomorrow. I have not been married for a long time but I do feel that T and I have weathered some amazing storms in the past few years. God has been faithful AND just to give us blessings and allow us trials. Never have I ever felt that my relationship with Tracy was in jeopardy because I screwed up or didn't meet his expectations. We have a marriage covenant. That being said, I need to remember not to turn our daily lives into a contract arrangement. I cannot put conditions on my actions, on my emotions, on our commitment. We are not currently struggling with marital spats but boy do they hit me between the eyes when I least expect them. I am praying this week that I remember my relationship with my husband needs to be a reflection of the relationship that I have with God. Unconditionally loving, self-sacrificing, laying down of my pride and stubbornness, letting go of control and taking time to be with the one I adore.

Which Lost Character Are You?

Which Lost Character Are You?

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Just a Quick Update

I'm so busy my brain is moving faster than my fingers so excuse the bad typing today...

My skin is finally looking better, I am not completely healed but I do wear short sleeves when the weather is nice and I don't feel like people are staring. I started tanning (a suggestion from the dermatologist) and so I look great with tan skin and brown spots! They renamed it Guttate Psoriasis which means that if I ever get strep throat again I will go through this 3 month ordeal all over again - Oh Joy! My antibodies don't try to attack the strep bacteria, it gets confused and produces excess skin cells. What a psycho thing, I know, but what can I say - I've never claimed to be normal!

We've had renters in our Denver house for a month now and just little tiny hiccups. They signed an 18-month lease and are interested in buying when their lease is up. We'll see. God allowed money to be pretty tight for the 3 months of vacancy but He is faithful and we were never in financial trouble (just stressed out every now and again.)

The girls are good. Mattie started swim lessons and gymnastics. I finally decided it wasn't fair that the older girls had activities and that she just watched. My mom takes Mattie to her gymnastics class so she gets one-on-one time with Nana.

We are planning a trip to the Northwest in July. Most of the trip is booked with a family reunion and then a party of 5 family trip to the coast but we would love to see anyone who's around so let me know if you'll be around July 2-12.

Better get back to work. I'll write more about what's on my heart when I have time to sit and quiet myself.