Wednesday, April 07, 2010

What could ever be better than a grandchild?
(even our Avery whom we LOVE like crazy?




Give up?







2 grandchildren!

We learned today that our daughter and son-in-love are expecting "Baby M #2"

We received a large package just as we had been told to expect to arrive today.

We were to open it and then read a special email with an explanation . . .

I found the package on our front porch as soon as I got home from work. I was alone but still I burst into happy tears when I saw the words on the packing box for I had a clue yet I couldn't believe it was true and I had to wait until my husband was home. Sent a text message to husband asking him if his deposition was over . . . and kept waiting.

Husband arrived home an hour later and I had him read the special email as I set the unopened package before us and we opened it together -
to find a large box of newborn disposable diapers.

Diapers? Newborn sized diapers?

We have been officially assigned the task of personally delivering them to Nairobi upon the birth of their second child.

Will we deliver them?




ABSOLUTELY!




Truth For Life
For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done,
I will sing for joy at the work of Your hands.
Psalm 92:4

Sunday, April 04, 2010

He is risen!
He is risen indeed!

"The early Christians did not invent the empty tomb and the meetings or sightings of the risen Jesus..... Nobody was expecting this king of thing; no kind of conversion experience would have invented it.... To suggest otherwise is to stop doing history and enter into a fantasy world of our own. "
N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God

This is the good news which we have received,
in which we stand,
and by which we are saved,
if we hold it fast:
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,
that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day,
and that he appeared first to the women,
then to the Twelve,
and to many faithful witnesses.
We believe that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Son of the living God.
He is the first and the last,
the beginning and the end;
He is our Lord and our God.
Amen

In Christ the world is gifted,
in Him the world is graced;
in Christ our hearts are lifted,
through Him we see God's face!
By Christ we're blessed with mercy;
with Him we live in joy!
Come, now, and sing His praises;
for Him your lives employ!


These are but a few items that we sang, read aloud,
or prayed in our church service this morning.

It was a grande celebration and rejoicing on this resurrection Sunday.

May we continue to celebrate His resurrection
by the way we speak, work, play, share, love, and care.

He is risen!
He is risen indeed!

Truth For Life
I have been crucified with Christ;
and it is no longer I who live,
but Christ lives in me;
and the life which I now live in the flesh
I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Galatians 2:20

Saturday, April 03, 2010

it is finished. . .

Easter is nigh,
we await the hours to pass until the dawn breaks

I have participated in a prayer vigil
for our church,
our ministers, the members,
the ministries within the church,
the ministries that connect with our community,
the missionaries local and global,
and for those who will attend church tomorrow,
perhaps one of the few times they enter a local church building.

Lord, give us all ears to hear
& respond to the message
of this most holy of days,
Easter

Easter will have arrived.

I have anxiously anticipated this year's Easter
with daily Lenten devotions and journaling
which has made the season more blessed, more joyful, and rich.

I have savored more of the days since Ash Wednesday,
appreciating the dark days, the rainy days,
the signs of new growth on trees, flowering bulbs
peeking up out of the dark soil,
sounds of birds singing,
kids playing outdoors,
and sun on my face that is warm

Our traditions are simpler now that the kids are grown


Attending church on Easter is the highlight for us now
Lunch with local family is valued more each year as we
lose family members one by one to death.

And we have also added a few,
new little sweet faces,
some will be near, some far,
one is very far away,
but all are close to our hearts
and in our shared prayers

Easter is also the high point in our faith calendar,
it is the HOPE filled celebration that makes
a expresses our great joy and gratefulness for the
relationship with the God of the universe
that is now possible and practical

Christ is the resurrection and the life....
He offers us life eternal,
life with all the richness, depth,
and fullness possible.
Life as we long for it, seek it, and attempt to achieve.

And He offers it to us in community,
He with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
us with them, and with fellow believers:
in our church body,
in our family's,
in our neighborhoods,
at our place of work,
in our interest groups.

Life includes ups, downs, births, deaths,
success, failure, heartache, heartbreaks,
joys unspeakable, tears, laughter,
duty, service, pleasure, and pain.

Life is best when lived as one
follows the Master,
shares with fellow believers,
welcomes in new believers,
and shares with non believers.

He has placed eternity in our hearts. . .
and He offers us eternal life through Jesus Christ.

May your Easter be one of great joy
in your heart, soul, mind, and strength!

With gratefulness to God for what He has done
through Christ Jesus.
And for anticipation in what He has planned that is yet to come.

He is risen!

He is risen indeed!

Truth For Life

Jesus said to her,
I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me will live,
even though he dies;
and whoever lives
and believes in me will never die
John 11:25-26