Easter with the Family

Hello friends– Hope you have a blessed Easter.  Time to remember the depth of our faith.  And to gather together with people we hold dear.  It’s a beautiful holiday.

So after church on Sunday, family started to pour in the door– great grandparents here to see the grand-girls, my sis Luanne with her incredible hot dish of potatoes.  We all sat down to ham and all the mixings.

     

Of course, we had girls hunting for eggs in the back yard–with Gr. Honey and Gr. Lo watching on.
     

So thankful for these dear faces.  One of the greatest gifts God gives is the people he puts in our lives.  Glad for days we can spend together.

Easter Hope

“Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the Lord.”
–Psalm 31:24

Love these words.  I should read them every day– but especially at Easter, the day that is the center of our hope.  Hope because Jesus rose.  Hope for a life of meaning and purpose.  Hope for eternity with our God.  So grateful.

Easter Hope

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“Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.  Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.”
John 13:1

Hello friends– This year for Lent I determined to pull out my little concordance and track down scripture that tells of the love of God for us– his abounding faithful love.  I wanted it to wash over me for these 40 days.

And in these weeks, three heartfelt prayers answered, brought a joy of feeling loved and held in his hand.  It was glorious.

But in this last couple days, I’ve had to trust in God’s love in different ways as unexpected troubles have clouded life and obscured that joy.

That’s where Easter is our hope, our stay.  Jesus came to show the “full extent of his love.”  Loving enough to die for us– loving us through every bit of life, in joys and when things look grim.  I am thankful.

Hoping you have a wonderful, worshipful time with friends and family on this Easter.  Blessings.  xox

This Glorious Day

Fresco by Fra Angelico–Resurrection of Christ and the women at the tomb.  1440 from the convent of San Marco, Florence.

Hello Friends– Hoping this finds you truly celebrating a glorious Easter and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.  So thankful for the day we can realize all over again the joy and hope, real hope our faith brings.

“This is love; not that we loved God, but that she loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins,”   –I John 4:10

“Amazing love! How can it be, that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”
(from the hymn–And Can It Be)

 

 

Easter Week

Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem —by Hippolyte Flandrin c. 1842

Hello all–  It’s Easter week.  You’d hardly know it, unless you’ve wandered by those aisles of cheerful Easter candy at Target.  It’s not a huge commercial holiday, say, like Christmas or even Halloween.  But to the believer it’s the holiest week of the year.  In Spain we called it “Semana Santa”– holy week.  Days to remember the sacrifice and resurrection of   our Lord Jesus.  A time to reflect upon the great gifts of our faith.

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

“What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee dearest friend,
For this, Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Out live my love to Thee.”

Text based on Latin poem ascribed to Bernard of Clairvaux  (French abbot, 1190 to 1153).

And this morning I read:
“It was just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and to go the Father.  Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of this love.”         John 13:1

The full extent of this love– dying to make us his children and coming to life again.
I remain eternally thankful.