Easter Sunrise - Family Style

Just can't keep the powder off the feet!

Easter morning 2010, our family had a very meaningful sunrise celebration together...just the 5 of us.

I taped off a rectangular path and placed a clean flat board on one end. I filled the path with baby powder.

Each of us was challenged to find a way to hop, skip, or jump down the path, landing on the board with not one, single speck of powder on our feet.

An impossible feat. (Feet? Sorry, couldn't resist.)

The board represents a holy area.  Holy, set apart and completely clean from sin. Of course, the board couldn't even have one speck of dust on it to be truly Holy, but that was impossible.

God IS Holy. He is completely clean, without even the tiniest speck of sin on Him.

The powder represented sin. Like our feet covered with powder, our lives are covered with sin.

Hero and Butter, nails in the cross

We walked across the yard to our wooden cross that the Butter and a friend made a few years ago. Each of us hammered one nail into the cross, talking all the while about Jesus and what his death on the cross meant for us....how he didn't deserve our punishment for sins but we are so thankful that he took it.

Then the kids dragged the heavy cross to the powdery pathway. We laid the cross over the powder, creating a bridge.

"Now! Who can get to the clean (holy) area without powder (sin)?" We all could!

Jesus' death on the cross created a bridge of sorts for us to reach God.

We also pointed out this very crucial fact....even though we made our cross ourselves, we can't make a way to get to God. People have tried all sorts of things to "get to" God...and they don't work. It's a gift of Love that can't be earned or created on our own. It's a gift of Love not based on anything wonderful we do or say. It's a gift, given freely and unconditionally. Accepted by us through faith, trust in Him.

A gift of eternal life.

Rayray walking across the bridge of love

Maybe you have a blessed Easter weekend, celebrating our Risen Savior!

(We used this book as a resource for the above activity.)

Yes, Again.

Twenty years ago this week, I said yes.

Flashback to April, 1991:

He cooked dinner for me. Steak and baked potatoes. I took pictures of the food, of him, of me.

After dinner, we were sitting side by side and he gave me a beautiful Easter basket, full of chocolate candy, jelly beans and one huge, hot pink plastic egg in the center. More pictures.

He said,excitedly, "See what's inside the egg!"

I opened the huge pink egg to find a small egg. I smiled and rolled my eyes.

I opened the small egg to reveal yet another smaller egg.

I looked at him inquisitively...my pulse began to quicken, palms got sweaty...like something vastly important was taking place.

I opened this next egg to find a teeny, tiny plastic pink egg.

"Wait." he said. And as he moved from the chair to his knees, I thought my heart would pound clean out of my chest. Was I dreaming? Is this it?

Together, we opened the last tiny egg to reveal a circle of gold with a pear-shaped diamond sparkling in the candle light.

I gasped. Then uttered the most profound words..."Is it real?" Silly me. Why would he trick me with a bubble gum ring??

Then, with shaky voice, he began to speak words of love to me. How the Lord brought us together. How he loved me like no other. How he wanted to spend the rest of his days on earth with me. ME! Then..... "Will you marry me? Will you be my wife?"

Oh, have mercy. My heart soars and tears prick my eyes just reliving this precious, divine moment, 20 years later.

Through tears of joy, I said, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" And he placed the very real, very shiny ring on my finger.


20 years later, I'd say "yes" a thousand times over without a single pause....because I'd know how well-loved I'd be by my Hero with the Easter basket.

Soul Surfer

Last night was opening night for Soul Surfer.....based on Bethany Hamilton's true story. It's a fantastic movie about courage, strength and faith.




We took the whole family. When my 7 year old crawled upon my lap during a particular dramatic, emotional scene, I wondered if we had made the wrong decision by taking her. But this movie made an impact on her.....she woke up this morning talking about how brave and strong Bethany was. She said it's the best movie she's ever seen....and that includes every single princess movie!

Hope

We've been pondering the word hope this week. When we chose the words for the kids in January, I did quite a bit of word studying...using the Strong's to look up Hebrew and Greek meanings of words. I found that the words hope and expect/expectations are used interchangeably, especially from one translation of the Bible to another. Hope - a strong and confident expectation.

In searching for fresh meaning in the word hope, I opened my Kindle and searched my ESV Bible for hope....and came up with 42 pages of references. As I jotted down the ones that popped out at me, I noticed a common theme. At the top of the journal page, I wrote in big letters.....SECURITY. We have security of the heavenly kind when our hope is in the Lord and when He IS our hope.

For me personally, security is a pretty big deal. I spent my teen years fighting with insecurities in many areas..appearance, abilities, relationships.  Even now, when my hope isn't in the Lord...when I'm believing a lie, you will find one insecure little girl inside of me. Anytime I'm trusting in myself or my abilities or the worldly things around me, I have false security, insecurity, no security.

Hope....longing for....expectations placed in HIM... equals security.

A few verses in Psalm 119 say "I hope in your words." I pondered that. All three of our children, from the teen to the drama queen, find security in the words of their parents. When they are hurt, physically or emotionally, just hearing the Mama say..."I'm so sorry. It's going to be ok." settles them down, gives them security, hope in our words. When they are in trouble for one reason or another, they need to hear from their Daddy..."We are ok. I love you so much. It's going to be ok...", they breathe a sigh of relief, hope in the words.

See, our children are counting on us to be resting in His grace with a life full of hope. How can I speak words of hope and security to them if I'm not sure where my hope is even placed at that moment? They trust us...and are counting on us to lead them to the hope found in Him. As their mama, my hope is in Him, it just HAS to be,  so the words that come from my lips, whether for comfort and soothing or instruction and correction, offer a platter of confidence and a cupful of security for their souls.

I found this article on Hope while searching. Enjoy...

St. Patrick's Breastplate Prayer

This is a repost from last St. Patrick's Day.

I was encouraged once again by this prayer.

I hope you are, too.

Around 1500 years ago, a young British teen was kidnapped by Irish Raiders and forced into slavery in Ireland. Six years later, he escaped and returned to his home in Britain. This young man became a Christian and took the Christian name of Patrick. Through a vision/dream (as it's told), the Lord put it on his heart to return to Ireland as a missionary. He did just that....sharing the love of Christ and building schools and church buildings. Did you catch that? Just in case you missed the point....Patrick RETURNED TO IRELAND...the place where he was enslaved for 6 years. Could I do that? You? By the 8th century, he was a patron saint of Ireland. March 17 is believed to be the date he died. Irish Catholics began celebrating this day in the 17th century. Irish-Americans introduced the celebration of St. Patrick's Day on American soil during Colonial times.


Most believe it to be legend that St. Patrick drove snakes out of Ireland. Some believe it was symbolic of him driving paganism out of the country. I personally don't believe the Lord would send Patrick back to Ireland just to rid the country of unwanted reptiles. He had a greater plan for Patrick in Ireland! There is also legend that St. Patrick used shamrocks to explain the Trinity - The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. While this is not fact, it is definitely a feasible possibility, don't you think?


There is a prayer long believed to be authored and prayed by St. Patrick. It is known as St. Patrick's Breastplate Prayer, The Deer's Cry, or The Lorica. Whatever you choose to call it, the prayer is beautiful and relevant in our lives some 1500 years later! Here is just a portion of the prayer. Read it in its entirety here.

I arise today

Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,

Splendor of fire,

Swiftness of wind,

Depth of the sea,

Stability of earth,

Firmness of rock.

I arise today

Through God's strength to pilot me;

God's might to uphold me,

God's wisdom to guide me,

God's hand to guard me.

Afar and anear,

Alone or in a multitude.

Christ shield me today

Against wounding:

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ in me.

I arise today

Through the mighty strength Of the Lord of Creation.

P. S. I'm not sure where the Wear Green or Get Pinched tradition fits in, but yes, I do have on a green shirt today bc my kids take this pinching thing SERIOUSLY! ~Blessings!~

Project One Word

Last year, I started jotting down words in my journal. I added to the list of words all year and somewhere along the way added a title..."Power Words." I didn't really know why I was keeping the list except for the fact that each word in and of itself was a stand-alone, powerful word...or even a prayer. 

~Remain~

~Decide~

~Exude~

~Magnify~

                     ~Become~

It wasn't until I read this blog post of Lysa TerKeurst's that Father started stirring something in me about my list and the new year. I took my thoughts and ideas to Hero and he was totally on board. We began to pray for wisdom to choose one word for each of our three children. A perfect word...a verb...that encompassed everything we hoped for, believed for and prayed for our kids for the year 2011. It took us almost the entire month of January to agree on all three words...but when we did, we knew that we knew we had the right ones. 

The last weekend in January, we found ourselves in a very interesting situation. WE WERE HOME ALONE FOR TWO NIGHTS!!! It was the perfect set up to complete Project One Word. I spent the entire Saturday making word art for each kid's bedroom door. Hero cleaned/scrubbed their doors, freeing them from Disney Princess posters, stickers, peace signs, RonJon clingies, guitar posters, etc...then hung each lovingly crafted sign on their door as a surprise for their return. 

That Sunday night, we gathered the children and explained to each one the story of their word...the meaning behind the word, the scriptures we found for their word, why we chose that word for that child for this year. Then, Hero blessed each child.  I have decided not to put the "back stories" on this blog post because....well... some of it is just plain private, precious family treasures that we want to keep to ourselves. 

So...here they are! The completed projects, hanging on their bedroom doors for them to see each time they go in the door. 

Doodle's

The Boy's

RayRay's

Multitude Mondays and One Thousand Gifts

This book I'm reading? Go get it. Just...go get it.  And take "the dare" with me.

Today is Day 1. I have a long way to go to get to 1000+ Gifts. But you know what? Some days, like today, it will be so easy to see Him and His gifts. Some days, I imagine I'll struggle to see anything to be thankful for. Some days, I might even want to take my notebook and cram it in the junk drawer.....But it will be those days when I'll need the most to stop and make myself slow down and enter into the moment's gift.



From My Book of Gifts


1. The Giver of All Gifts - Father

2. A patient, strong man who loves me completely

3. My teen beauty who recounts to me every detail of every moment we aren't together

4. My brown-eyed boy whose heart-eyes are opened wider than anyone I know

5. My fuzzy-headed strawberry blonde Doodlebug and our morning cuddles in the rocking chair

6. Beautiful little birds eating from our feeder in the cold drizzle. They are happy - unaffected.

7. The smell of a freshly peeled orange

8. Happy memory of Great Uncle Gleason who always had a piece of gum or candy in his pocket for the children. A family tradition passed down and still going.... Wonder if there are pockets in heaven?

9. 21 kisses in quick succession on my cheek from Doodle - just because. Yes, I counted.

10. This book. This one right here. At just the right time.