Remember who you are and Whose you are....

When you leave through the front doors of my home you see this:

It says "Remember who you are and Whose you are..." I hope it is a reminder to my family and friends to remember they are a child of God, wherever they go....

Today we celebrate Maundy Thursday, the Last Supper Jesus would have with his disciples.  This is heavy on my heart today.  I have always found this church service extremely moving...I can feel the symbolism deep in my heart, visualizing Jesus washing the feet of his disciples that day before he would begin to explain to them what was about to transpire, in Him, through Him and to them......

What is most heavy on my heart today is trying to imagine what the weight of the world's sins must have felt like to Jesus....How could he possibly carry the weight of these sins on His shoulders....I know he trusted the Lord completely and had time to pray and reflect on what was to come...but did His humanness allow him to feel fear?  Was he scared?  Did ever feel like he could not accomplish was what set before Him??

This makes me think about my Mom, too....Not in the sense of bearing the sins of the world but in the reality of knowing the end was/is near.  It is terribly painful to watch someone wrestle with those realities.  Its very scary, even when we can trust that Jesus is there, in heaven, waiting, with out-stretched arms to embrace us.  Our humanness makes us have moments of fear, doubt and even disbelief that we will make it to our eternal home, walking with Jesus at our side....with no pain, with all our questions answered and our hearts desiring only to be with Him....

Sometimes the burdens of life seem just too difficult to carry... the days impossible to endure....the struggles and the unknown making the air too thin to breathe....

But today I can fill my heart with this Man who came for each one of us, who wants nothing more for His trials then for us to follow Him....and He doesn't ever stop whispering in our ears, " I am here to take carry these burdens for you" because .....

YOU are "SO LOVED"......

May you remember today, to give your burdens to Him... and most of all that you are perfect and you are loved.......

Loving and Leaving, too........

My firstborn crossed the threshold of my front door this morning.......but he was going back to school, not coming home.  The emotion of his arrival always makes my heart feel like a helium balloon, so full and so ready to burst with joy the second I lay my eyes on him!  When he leaves, my heart is in my throat, not wanting my eyes to meet his for fear they will spill over and flood my shoes.....I miss him so much my body literally feels achy, like I am coming down with something or I had a good work out (the later is so desperately needed but did not happen).  We all feel his absence while he is at school.  I have made many tuney suggestions (completely in jest) like "lets call the whole thing off".  Didn't help.  I have to let him grow up and learn how to journey out in the world without us.  Not without our love, but without our physical selves.  He just still feels like so much apart of me...........

My final child made a beautiful cake for her Aunt's Birthday today.  It looks like this:

We will deliver it to her Aunt tomorrow.  I am so proud of my final child's sweet heart and the great strides she making lately.  My husband and I see so much progress and so much hard work in the last few months.  She has been recently diagnosed having ever so slight signs of mild autism.  She is extremely high functioning.  She also works hard to overcome other battles as well.  We could not be more proud of her!

Last week was Spring Break for my firstborn.  This week is Spring Break for my final child and next week is Spring Break for my Freshman!  Can you believe it?  That's what happens when you have three children in three different schools........We cant really do anything together but I also get some one-on-one time with each so I am thankful for that.

My little Mom is back in the hospital again.  They think she has pneumonia this time.  That bacterial infection does not happen to go well with Emphysema.  She was home for about two weeks and now back to her home away from home.  She seems to be doing better than expected.  They are pumping her with plenty of antibiotics and steroids.  We are praying for her comfort, peace of mind, and of course a speedy recovery from the pneumonia.

I hope your Monday finds you enjoying Spring and the beautiful colors it brings.  

I hope all your loved ones are all crossing the threshold of your front door, in-coming and not out-going!!

Blessings!!

The "Triumphal Entry".....

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday.  I am thinking about what it would have been like to actually be there in the city of Jerusalem, seeing Jesus riding in on a donkey (the symbol of peace).....Can you imagine it?  Waving the huge palm branch you went all the way to Jericho to purchase just for Jesus' arrival.  The palm branch that had such deep symbolic meaning to the Jewish people in Jesus' day.  The palms were symbols of victory and triumph. Laying down your cloak and covering someones path was an ancient eastern custom to show the highest honor. 

With a heart full of hope and promise that Jesus would deliver them from their Roman enemies, they shouted "Hosanna" translated "Please save us!"....Can you hear it?

You can almost feel the energy of the joyful crowd, standing, singing and shouting shoulder to shoulder, anticipating this Prince of Peace..

Do you think they had doubts that their hero would come?  Doubts that he would, indeed deliver them and bring peace to the whole world? Was this human man really the messiah?

What an amazing day that must have been...What a greeting....Jesus must have felt very loved and welcomed.  He must have been able to see the desperation in the crowds faces, maybe their relief, maybe even some faces of doubt.  What a humble sight Jesus must have been.  Yet days later, Jesus would be called a liar, beaten and nailed to a wooden cross.....Its hard to imagine that would happen only a short time after tomorrows celebration....

Wishing you a joyful Palm Sunday as we begin Holy Week.

"Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

Gone but unforgettable...........

Well, my freshman's musical is over and what a culmination of endless effort and countless hours of passionate dedication.  These productions really do take quite a village and this experience has been so invaluable to my freshman actor.  Although it is finally behind him, we had such a wonderful time at all six performances and each one was fresh and carried its own unique story that ended with such fun and and standing ovations every night!!  It will take a very long time to delete the songs from playing in my head.

It really was......unforgettable!!

My firstborn is home (but not home) from college on his spring break.  He is enjoying time with friends and we hope we get to spend alittle time with him before he has to go back.  It feels like the earth is spinning back on its correct axis when all my babies are home with us and sleeping in their own beds.

Today I am just trying to catch up on all the things that didn't get done this week because of the play.

Laundry, bills, return e-mails and phone calls, refill the empty cupboards and frig.  

All three of my children have different spring breaks this year.  That makes it hard to spend any family time all together in one place.  I guess we will have to wait and see if we can get a week together this summer.  Easter is coming up so quickly and we look foward to celebrating our risen Lord!

The weather here has become even more strange lately.....it feels more like winter now that it is offically spring, than it ever felt in the actual winter season.....but my trees and my flowers are loving it!  I am grateful for the emrgence of spring and the signs of "new life".  It reminds me of our own "rebirth" and the promise of Jesus.

May the new season of spring bring you new life and the promise of new things to come!!!

A Splashing Success......

Tonight is performance #3 of 6 of my freshman's high school musical "Anything Goes"!!!  It is a sensational!!!

Tomorrow there will be a matinee and an evening show. Yup, that's correct, #4 and #5!  I feel like its groundhog day the last three night's. However, there isn't any place in the world I would rather be than seeing my son doing what he is so passionate about!! (and so good at, if I may humbly add!)

I am too tired to read tonight but here is what is on my nightstand at the moment.....

A prayer book, a devotional, a book of quotes and wise words and a book I gave my daughter for Christmas "How to be a Lady".... I thought maybe there was a thing or two in there I might learn as well...

What is on your nightstand at the moment?......

A Spectacular Voyage on "Anything Goes"....

Here is my freshman "sailor"

He was absolutely incredible!! I am always completely amazed how these high school students pull off such amazing productions!! The work and the dedication involved is just out-of-this-world!!! Last night I truly felt like I was downtown watching a major production!!  Incredible!!!

Tonight is performance #2 of 6.  

My Firstborn comes home today for spring break, straight from the airport to his brother's show.  I love how much they love each other!! It is one of my greatest treasures to see the love between them.  I hope they always nurture it, value it and never take it for granted!

The cookies were a success!! Lots sold and hopefully selling lots tonight!!  I should be able to finish all the cookies today, finally!!! Then my family can finally get back in the kitchen!!

Happy Thursday!

Better keep my day job.......

Well, tonight is my freshman's opening night!  He is thrilled and exhausted all at the same time but we are so very proud of him.  He is working very hard and very long hours.  He is completely dedicated and giving 110%!!

The cookies are finished, packaged and here is the final outcome:

Do they remotely resemble cruise ships???

Well, they look completely amateurish but I think they are presentable!  I just hope they are sellable!!

Wish me luck!! Oh, and my freshman, too!!