The Best Part of the Story

     Jesus' friends were sad.  They would never see their best friend again.  How could this happen?  Wasn't Jesus the Rescuer?  The King God had promised.  It wasn't supposed to end like this.

     Yes, but whoever said anything about the end?

     Just before sunrise, on the third day, God sent an earthquake- and an angel from heaven.  When the guards saw the angel, they fell down with fright.  The angel rolled the huge stone away, sat on top of it and waited.

     At the first glimmer of dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other women headed to the tomb to wash Jesus' body.  The early morning sun slanted through ancient olive trees, drops of dew glittering on leaves and grasses- little tears everywhere.  The friends walked quietly along the hilly path, through the olive groves, until they reached the tomb.  And, immediately noticed something odd-it was wide open.

     They peered through the opening into the dark tomb.  But wait.  Jesus' body was gone!

     Taken from the Jesus Storybook Bible written by Sally Lloyd-Jones

   This is the best part of the story.  And, this is what sets being a Jesus follower apart from every other religion.  No one else has conquered death!

     Choose Jesus!  He's choosing you!

The Sun Stops Shining

The Sun Stops Shining

     "So, YOU"RE A KING, are you?" the Roman soldiers jeered.  "Then you'll need a crown and a robe."

     They gave Jesus a crown made out of thorns.  And put a purple robe on him.  And pretended to bow down to him.  "Your Majesty!" they said.

     They they whipped him.  And spat on him.  They didn't understand that this was the Prince of Life, the King of heaven and earth, who had come to rescue them.

     The soldiers made him a sign- "Our King" and nailed it to the wooden cross.  

     They walked up a hill outside the city.  Jesus carried the cross on his back.  Jesus had never done anything wrong.  But they were going to kill him the way criminals were killed.

     They nailed Jesus to the cross.

     "Father, forgive them," Jesus gasped.  "They don't understand what they're doing."

     "You say you've come to rescue us!" people shouted.  "But you can't even rescue yourself!"

      But they were wrong.  Jesus could have rescued himself.  A legion of angels would have flown to his side- if he'd called.

     "If you were really the Son of God, you could just climb down off that cross!" they said.

     And of course they were right.  Jesus could have just climbed down.  Actually, he could have just said a word and made it all stop.  Like when he healed that little girl.  And stilled the storm.  And fed 5,000 people.

     But Jesus stayed.

     You see, they didn't understand.  It wasn't the nails that kept Jesus there.  It was love.

     "Papa?" Jesus cried, frantically searching the sky.  "Papa?  Where are you?  Don't leave me!"

     And for the first time-and the last-when he spoke, nothing happened.  Just a horrible, endless silence.  God didn't answer.  He turned away from his Boy.

     Tears rolled down Jesus' face.  The face of the One who would wipe away every tear from every eye.

     Even though it was midday, a dreadful darkness covered the face of the world.  The sun could not shine.  The earth trembled and quaked.  The great mountains shook.  Rocks split in two.  Until it seemed that the whole world would break.  That creation itself would tear apart.

     The full force of the storm of God's fierce anger at sin was coming down.  On his own Son.  Instead of his people.  It was the only way God could destroy sin, and not destroy his children whose hearts were filled with sin.

     Then Jesus shouted out in a loud voice, "It is finished!"

     And it was.  He had done it.  Jesus had rescued the whole world.

     "Father!" Jesus cried.  "I give you my life."  And with a great sigh he let himself die.

     Strange clouds and shadows filled the sky.  Purple, orange, black.  Like a bruise.

     Jesus' friends gently carried Jesus.  The laid Jesus in a tomb carved out of rock.

     How could Jesus die?  What had gone wrong?  What did it mean?  They didn't know anything anymore.  Except they did know their hearts were breaking.

     "That's the end of Jesus," the Leaders said.

     But, just to be sure, they sent strong soldiers to guard the tomb.  They hauled a huge stone in front of the door to the tomb.  So that no one would could get in.

     Or out.

     This was copied from the Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones.

     If you are intimidated by the Bible, this is a great, easy to understand overview.

     And, if you want to investigate the claims of the Bible more closely, read The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.

American Idol

      It's a family event watching American Idol around here!  We love it! 

     Sometimes I want to tape everyone's mouth shut so I can hear every note, every word and every comment.  Clearly, the rest of the family does not appreciate my intensity when it comes to American Idol watching.

     I can understand the talking.  Disagreeing with the judges, talking about a bad note or song choice, discussing the dress of some of those idols.  I can let those things slip, but tonight, my husband reached an all new low in the comment making department.

     In his defense, he is funny and he makes me laugh really hard sometimes.  But, not so much tonight.

     If you watch AI, then you know that every week, the 3 contestants with the lowest amount of votes get sent to the stools to await their fate.

     Tonight, Anoop was the first to be told to take a seat on one of the stools.  

     After a few seconds, Paul said, "If Anoop was asked to sing part of his song on the stool right now, would they call it a stool sample?"

     Yeah, it was bad.  I didn't laugh.  

Oh, why am I so weak?

  Why, oh why?




     So, purely hypothetical situation.... let's just say you are trying really hard to eat good and lose a few pounds.  All day long you eat really well and even do a really hard workout.  Then, you go to pick up your daughter at choir and it runs 30 minutes over.  By the time she walks out, she's so hungry she's shaking.  You know everyone else ate dinner at church, so you treat her to the Wendy's that's right on the way home.  You're being really good and you haven't had dinner either so you order a small chili.  As your pulling away from the window, your daughter informs you that there's a hamburger in place of her chicken nuggets.  You whip the car around and go back to correct the order.  The hamburger, actually, the double cheeseburger stays in your possession.  

     Wouldn't you just assume that the good Lord was trying to tell you that you should eat the cheeseburger?  Because, cheeseburgers can't be reheated.  The bun would be too soggy.  The chili however, can be saved for lunch the next 

day.  I mean, aren't we supposed to be good 

stewards of the things God puts in our possession? 

     And, don't you think you passed the test if instead of eating a double cheeseburger, you chucked one slice of meat out the window (thinking of the birds, of course) and you only ate a single cheeseburger?

     Ok, OK, OOOKKKK!!!  We all know this is NOT a hypothetical situation!! Why, oh why do these things happen to me?  And, why am I so weak?

     Please tell me I am not the only one.  Please tell me there's hope.  

     And, since I am laying it all out on the line, and letting you see the depth of my depravity, you might as well know that there was no way I could say no to Paul's strawberry pie- his substitute choice for a cake. Remember, it was his birthday.  I had to celebrate with him.  It was healthy though, right?  Hello, strawberries!  

........ Strawberries over some kind of cream cheese filling... *sigh*

Family oddities

              FAMILY ODDITIES

     All families have their own dances, their own way of doing things, their own dysfunctions, etc...

     I will never forget when my husband was a resident director (RD) at a Christian college.  As an RD, he was responsible for hiring resident assistants (RA'S).  Part of the job of an RD is to meet with the RA's, train them, find out what was going on in their halls, discipline students and all that other good stuff.  Paul had great RA's.  We loved them and are still good friends with a lot of them.  When  any of these guys would start dating a girl and think maybe she was "the one", we would get all excited for them.   These guys were like our little brothers.  

      One of Paul's RA's, Aaron, started dating a girl and it started moving in the serious direction.  So, he went several hundred miles away with her one weekend to meet her family.  On Saturday morning, they got up and they were getting ready to eat breakfast, cinnamon rolls.  All of a sudden, this girl Aaron is getting really serious with, Teressa, asked her brother to pass the Velveeta Cheese.  Teressa takes a knife, cuts a hunk of the cheese off, and puts it on her cinnamon roll.  The rest of the family proceeded to do the exact same thing.

     Aaron was speechless.  And, if you know Aaron, speechless for him was/is a big deal.  He had a very difficult time getting over the cinnamon roll topped with Velveeta cheese.  But, in the end, he still married Teressa.  But, I am pretty sure they are still divided on this cheesy cinnamon roll topic:-)

     In case you don't know, we are involved with a ministry to college students.  Therefore, we are on our second college grad who needed a place to live after college so she could do a dietetic internship at a hospital near our house.  Darja lives with us know.  

      

     Darja spent a couple of years prior to this year getting to know our family because she was involved in our ministry.  I am sure Darja thought she knew us.  But, you get to know people on a whole new level when you live with them.

     At about the beginning of February, Darja kinda sheepishly said to me, "So.... do you guys celebrate birthdays around here?"

      It was a very fair question.  Darja had lived with us since the end of August and here it was February.  She's living in a house full of people and not once had there been a birthday celebration.  I guess that would seem kinda odd.  

     It cracked me up how odd that must have seemed to her. I told her 3 of the children have birthdays in May.  May 2, 20 and 29.  These are the children that I have given birth to which leads to a whole new discussion on how and why they are all in the same month.  Really none of any one's business.... haha!

      Anyway, Darja, get ready! We are headed into one birthday party after another starting today, April 7.

      Today is Paul's birthday!  Happy birthday honey!  I couldn't have asked for a better husband or father for my children!  You are truly a gift and a blessing to me.

      By the way, my birthday is August 29 and Emme's in August 30.  At lease it was Aug 30 in China.  Since China is 12 hours ahead of us, maybe on USA time, she was really born on Aug 29!?

      If someone were to spend time in your house with your family, what would they think odd?

         

 

Words I hate

                         WORDS I HATE

     The definition of sneak used as a noun- a underhand or contemptible person.  The definition of sneak as a verb- to go in a stealthy or furtive manner, slink, sulk.

     The definition of a sneaker- one who sneaks.

     There are words that just absolutely get on my last nerve.  I don't know why, I can't help it.  When I hear these words being used, I get a bit mad.  Sometimes, my skin even starts to crawl.  Why?  I guess because I am quirky.

     So, I am going to tell you the words I hate the most.  And, if you use them, I want to know if you have really thought about them.  If you haven't really thought about them, then you need to.

     Clearly, the first word I hate is sneaker.  Why in the world do people call shoes sneakers?  Are they sneaking around?  Are they underhanded or contemptible?  

     What do I call those type of shoes?  I call them tennis shoes or gym shoes.  Now, I know you are going to ask me the same questions?  Do I play tennis or "gym" in these shoes?  Not every time I wear them, but I could.  I usually use tennis shoes to work out or hike or walk or do some kind of recreational activity.  Rest assured, I am not sneaking around!

     So, I hate the word sneakers!  Hate it!  Hate it! Hate it!

     I also hate the word snack bar.  Why?  I don't know, I just do.  But, even worse than snack bar is a word I saw when visiting the Hoover Dam.  By the way, we went to Las Vegas to visit some friends (Hey Scott and Kristy!) who were stationed at Nellis Air Force Base.  On our way to the Hoover Dam, Paul and Scott could NOT stop saying things like(with Kristy and I rolling our eyes the whole time):  We have to park in the dam parking garage.  We have to pay a dam fee to park. We have to wear a dam hat to walk around on the tour.   The dam tour cost $25, too much dam money. We have to eat at the dam snackateria.  Snackateria??!!  Are you kidding me?  I didn't eat anything from that place.  I may hate that word more than any word in the world.  So, we did not eat at the dam snackateria.  It costs too much dam money!  (haha!)

    The word that has really gotten on my nerves lately is BBQ.  It's not so much the word as much as it is people saying they are going to a BBQ.  They are not going to a barbeque.  I can count on one finger how many times I have been to a BBQ.  A BBQ is where barbequed food is served.  Barbequed food has barbeque sauce on it!!  If barbeque sauce is not going to be on the food, then the name of the function needs to be changed to a cookout out.  Or, one needs to say we are grilling out.

     In conclusion, I do not like when people say noonish (or any -ish when referring to time).  I also do not like self-righteousness, Chinese food, dogs or the smell of foreign countries.  Thank you very much.  Have a nice day!

P.S.  What words do you hate?

Speedy

     There is a park right by our house, actually in our neighborhood. It is a very beautiful park, especially in the summer when it is bursting with flowers.  I am not really sure why it's part of our city's park system.  It really doesn't function like the kind of park I think of. When I think of a park, I think of a playground full of kids sliding down slides, swinging on swings and monkeying around on the monkey bars. This park does not even have a playground. We also have a lot of open field parks in our city... there isn't an open field in this park either.

     This park, although open to the public, has a very different function. This park is full of weddings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the spring, summer and fall. The gazebo is normally holding a bride and a                                              groom gazing into one another's eyes dreaming about happily ever after... they have no idea what they are getting into, do they?

     Looking upon the happy couple are their friends and family sitting in white chairs who are really dying to move to the white tent. We all know what waits in the white tent. FOOD Isn't that why we go to weddings?

     Anyway, I have no idea how I got on to all of this. It has nothing to do with the real intention of my post. I guess I wanted you to picture this gorgeous park with a rusty neck little boy running around it. A little boy who by the end of the day usually resembles Pigpen, the Peanut's character. For the record, it wouldn't matter if there was a wedding taking place, they would still allow a character like Jackson to enter and pull fish out like he's fly fishing on a secluded river in Montana.

     Early Monday evening, Jackson got a wild haired idea to go fishing at this park. As far as I know, no one mentioned the word fish, fishing, park or any other thing that would cause his face to light up and a smile to spread across it. All the while holding up one finger declaring that he had an idea. "Let's go fishing!".

     It mattered not that we had no bait. Nor did it matter that the only pole that had a hook on it was a Barbie pole.

     Armed with his Barbie pole, Jackson conned Paul into taking him fishing.

     20 minutes later.....

      The door flew open and then I heard some yelling. Behold, there was a dirty Jackson holding his Barbie pole with a fish attached to it.  "I caught a fish!  I caught a fish!".

     Of course I am thinking, why on God's green earth would that man (my husband) let Jackson come home and stand on my carpeted family room floor with a dirty fish dangling from a pole. By the way, there was also some green algae hanging from the pole and the fish. And, that poor fish, struggling to survive, gasping for breath. 

     Sometimes, I don't know how to talk to these people who live in my house.

     The next thing I know, that little fish is being slung around as Jackson flies up the stairs into the kitchen.

     "I need a bowl, mom! Quick! Speedy needs some water!"

     Speedy? Speedy!! We've named this poor fish already.  I am quite sure he doesn't want a name. All he wants to do is go home. Home to his parents and friends and the algae and murky water. Home... where the poor fellow can BREATHE!

     So, meet Speedy. Speedy is the newest member of our family. Well, he was a member of our family.... for about 24 hours. He lived on the kitchen table in that bowl. For food, he was given a few bacon bits, some raw turkey bacon, and some bread crumbs. I am pretty sure he hated all of it. The evidence was floating all around that nasty water. Jackson was convinced he liked bacon because... that's how he lured Speedy onto the hook, raw turkey bacon.

     I was convinced Speedy was not going to make it through the night. But, Speedy's state of consciousness was clear to all who live on this street when Jackson woke up. With eyes barely open, he screamed, "He's alive!"

     So, Speedy made it through the night. And, when Jackson started hounding Paul about going fishing on Tuesday night, we convinced Jackson that Speedy's dad was looking all over for him.  

     "Jackson, remember how Nemo's dad looked all over for him???"

     Speedy was released back into the wild waters of the pond. Gracie joined the escapade and in about 30 minutes they caught 5 more fish... that all went back in the water.

     We are once again a pet free house! PTL!!

     To read more about our first pet.... that we no longer have, click here.