Does Your Child's School Have A Patriotic Program?

Maybe it's a Midwest thing, but I have been so impressed that the kids schools have Patriotic Programs. They pay tribute to the men and women who have and ARE fighting for our country, our rights, our freedoms. I know some public schools around Christmas time have programs that celebrate Santa Claus, don't you think it would benefit the children more to celebrate their country?
This has been a question in my mind for a while now. Just wanted to throw it out there.

Sanctuary For A Lady

It was close to this time last year, that I met my writing friend, Naomi Rawlings, as we "competed" in the same writing contests under the category of Historical Romance. She has been such a great encourager for me, and has given me some wise advice for my own writing journey.
Well, I am ecstatic to say that I am halfway through her debut novel, Sanctuary for a Lady, and I LOVE the story!! It takes place during the most fascinating time period, the French Revolution. The characters keep calling me to read more and more....must scoot these children to bed so I can curl up and read, read, read!

Check out Sanctuary for a Lady by Naomi Rawlings if you are looking for your next good read (I know it has been spotted at Walmart)! Naomi will visit The Writer's Alley soon, so you can learn more about this up and coming author!

Passover is THIS week

If there is one thing I have learned through my Bible studies over the years, is that God uses timing to show amazing things. Prophesy is revealed, powerful words are spoken in conjunction with the specific moment that would relate to the people at that time. Specific days at specific times in the year are set aside by God's people and God uses those times to find glory...I am sorry to be so vague, but I can't even begin to explain the evidence. Beth Moore has amazing teachings on this in her study, The Psalms of Ascent.
Something that bothered me this past week, was that we were celebrating "Easter" the week before Passover...I knew why too, and that's what bothered me more...centuries ago, Christians tried to convert Pagans by adjusting the calendar to match up with their Spring Festival.
I can't help but wonder how the God of the Universe feels about this?
And then to see us take pagan traditions and try and blend them with Christian meaning...really? Yet we get angry when people take the Jesus fish and give it legs and write Darwin in the middle...it's the same thing.
Each year I raise my children, there is a shedding of the old to reveal the pure truth of God. I am just sad that I didn't see this article earlier...

http://rcg.org/books/ttooe.html

...we would have chosen to keep the Passover above the egg hunts.

An Easter Treasure

It was a beautiful day today. My children woke us up and we began our tradition of following the Resurrection eggs and re-telling the story of Christ's greatest sacrifice around the house to culminate at their Easter gifts.
After church, we went to brunch at a neighbors house and celebrated Easter with nineteen kids and their parents. It was a delicious, egg hunting, fellowshipping kind of time--one with laughter, relaxation, and contentment.
I love making these memories.
 My biggest treasure from the day was snapping a family photo, one I will keep close for years to come. Just from looking at this picture, I imagine there aren't many more where I am the second tallest in the family.

I stared hard at this at first, wondering why I looked shorter...it wasn't me shrinking though, but my boys growing! Hope you had a very Happy Easter and many fresh memories at heart!

I pray...

 ...that you have a blessed Easter and remember the JOY of this special day! 

Rejoice,

Christ is Risen!

Why Good?

It's Good Friday. Odd, that we call it that when a man suffered the ultimate punishment, the consequence for ALL the sins that were, are, and will be, even though He was perfectly sinless.

 No, it wasn't good, for Him.

 Isn't that the point? Christ would be the sacrifice, suffer, lay Himself down, feel the horrendous terror of the Heavenly Father forsaking Him...everything that's not good, He felt on this day long ago.

So why do we call it Good?

In the most unselfish, undesirable way, Jesus did this for OUR GOOD, and His Father's GLORY!

It's all about what's GOOD for us!! Can you even believe that? The Holy, All-Powerful, MIGHTY God of the Universe cares about our GOOD!!

Rejoice that Christ died for your sins. And look forward to celebrating His Wondrous Glory, when He rose again to fulfill prophesy, and show us that we are REDEEMED!!

The Last Supper

God's timing is amazing. Every once in a while we glimpse His plan and the timeline by which He works. Scripture has hints of it written throughout. Truly, history could never be as beautifully ordained, as it is with God's mighty hand.
Several hundreds of years ago, Christ came upon His last days on Earth. Isn't it appropriate that He celebrated His last supper with His close friends, during Passover? Did the Jews of the first passover, even fathom that the final sacrifice, the final passover lamb, would be Christ himself? How, when they marked their doors with blood at the tops and sides so death would pass over their houses and protect their children, it symbolized the bloody cross that would protect God's children from eternal death centuries later? Can you see the cross if you connect the bloody marks in the picture above?

Think of that night long ago, when the Savior of the world broke bread with his friends, for the final time on Earth. In the book of Luke it says:

⁷ Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸ Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
 ⁹ “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.
 ¹⁰ He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, ¹¹ and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹² He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
 ¹³ They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
 ¹⁴ When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
 ¹⁷ After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸ For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
 ¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
 ²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.^{[a] 21} But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. ²² The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” ²³ They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

May you find hope in Christ's salvation, in the New Covenant, where death forever passes over you because of Christ's sacrifice!

My Boys

I love my boys.

They're Daddy's sidekicks.

They love their sister...

So very much...

And make her laugh the most!

They're sweet,

and goofy...

and the bestest of friends!

Some days, the wrestling, the goofing off, the silliness, makes me want to scream. But when I step back, and remember they are just kids, I can't help but smile and thank God for little boys!