Easter | itsawonderfilledlife

Posts Tagged ‘Easter’

The First Week After Lent

Posted in WONDER, tagged #1peter4, #luke22, #thefirstweekafterlent, Easter, lent, Sacrifice, Suffering on April 23, 2014| 1 Comment »

I went to bed Saturday night with the excitement and anticipation of a child awaiting the arrival of the Easter Bunny!

I knew, that when I awoke on Easter Sunday, coffee with

cream

awaited my taste buds!

For the first time since before the season of Lent I would not just have the habit of my morning hot and steaming cup, but also the enjoyment of the taste!

Hubby was making the coffee that morning, and asked how many cups I wanted. The anticipation was so great that I knew one cup would not do. He decided to double his regular amount as well. Of course this meant that the waiting for it to brew also took double the normal amount of time!

You know how they say that a watched kettle never boils? Well, let me tell you, the same goes for a watched coffee maker!

Once I was pouring the hot, steaming dark into my cup of cream, the rest of my senses awakened with delight. The marriage of the white and black into a caramel cup of visual wonderland. The steam was beckoning my inhaling of nasal delights. And my hands sought the warmth pushing through the ceramic mug. All that was left was to lift it to my lips and enjoy.

And enjoy I did! It was such a treat for my senses.

I also made a realization … this Easter Sunday treat created such a delightful start to my Sunday.

I feel embarrassed to admit that I had not looked forward to Sunday like this in … too long.

This omission of cream in my every day morning coffee, although such a miniscule sacrifice, did give me a fresh appreciation of what Jesus sacrificed. Everything about the Easter story was clearer, more meaningful to me. Not because I had omitted cream from my coffee, but because I had participated in sacrifice. In a sense I awoke on Easter Sunday feeling as though I had gone to the tomb and found it empty.

I had participated in walking the final steps with my Lord, and that was even sweeter than cream in my Sunday coffee. It has made the six to seven week walk to the cross, to the tomb and out …

my walk.

” … stay here and keep watch with me.”
Luke 22:38b

“But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ,
so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.“
1 Peter 4:13

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A Graceful Re-Entry

Posted in WONDER, tagged #agracefulfreentry, #eastersunday, #hehasrisen, #heisnothere, #luke246, #mattredman, #yourgracefindsme, Easter on April 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The eggs hidden around homes and gardens this weekend remind us of the rock in front of the tomb, and the hope of new life inside.

The joys of chocolate and a feast mark the end of the season of Lent that had many giving up, sacrificing, so as to share in the sacrifice of Jesus.

The rising sun of this morning reminds us of the rising SON that we celebrate, as believers in Christ.

“He is not here; he has risen!“

Declared the heavenly men in the tomb to the women who had come to the tomb with spices to cleanse the body that was gone (Luke 24:6).

Today we celebrate the risen Christ, the fulfillment of the prophets, the blood that was spilled to redeem our sin-soaked lives.

Today we celebrate that the grace of God.

The grace that is available to all, and is there in every high and low of life.

And it comes,

it came,

to us.

And it is still looking to find us, this Easter Sunday.

“From the creation to the cross,
There from the cross into eternity
Your grace finds me.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orY_OWKTyfU

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The Best of April 14-18

Posted in WONDER, tagged #agoodgoodfriday, #lookingforcameoappearances, #marysstoryofpain, #prayersofferedinfaith, #thebestof, #thebestof april14-18, #thesixth, Easter, lent on April 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Tomorrow we celebrate Easter Sunday!

The season of waiting and preparation ends as the sun rises on Easter Sunday, proclaiming the rising of the Son of God, many years ago.

Because of sacrifice of Friday, and the separation of Christ from His heavenly Father, we are READY for Sunday! Not because of anything that we have done, but because of the sacrifice of Christ.

There are still those who have not grasped what Easter is about, why we Christians hold dearly the image of a man on a cross. They have not seen that man from the cross emerge from the tome of their own sins, whole again.

The most viewed post of this week refers to this. In the post, Looking for Cameo Appearances, we are reminded that we are to share the news of Christ’s appearances. Really, we are to share that Christ is everywhere, in everything, and His purpose in life was to give us life that never ends, and, more than that, life today that is with Him.

Also this week :

A Good Good Friday

Mary’s Story of Pain

The Sixth and Final Week of Lent

Prayers Offered in Faith

Happy Easter!
Carole

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Mary’s Story of Pain

Posted in WONDER, tagged #marysstoryofpain, crucifixion, Easter, Mary on April 17, 2014| 1 Comment »

I wrote the following during the Easter season of 2000, when our son was still a baby …

“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
Luke 2:19

The pains are coming more often, and oh how they hurt. Do you feel what I am feeling?

Soon we will be in Bethlehem and you, my son, will be born;

in a strange inn, in a strange town.

I feel such a felling of impending loss my son, soon you will no longer be just mine, but all of Israel’s. I thrill with every last movement of you withing my womb.

I look so forward

to holding you

to looking into your eyes

to counting your tiny fingers and toes …

how quickly the pains are coming …

Hours Later …

Oh, the pain! Will this agony soon bring you into my eager arms?

This isn’t right. You will enter into this world with the touch of rough hay, the smell of animal dung and with no family to welcome you. How sorry I am that I could not deliver you into a softer, sweeter place.

The pains,

they are coming again …

Later …

The pain is all over now, my son.

You are so beautiful.

Your hands

your feet … ten perfect little fingers … ten perfect little toes …

so soft … but, they are not like mine, or any of my kin.

Your eyes look into mine as though you have always known me, as though you know my very heart … but, they are not like my eyes.

Your lips are as I imagine those of the angels … plump and pink, shaped like a heart. I wonder what words will be spoken from your lips. … but, they are not like mine.

Your nose is a like a piece of art, perfectly positioned in the center of your gentle face … but, it is not like mine.

Your shoulders look like those of a man, broad and strong. They will strengthen to hold your head up high … but, they are not like mine.

Oh, my beautiful little son, is any part of you from me? Was I simply just the vessel from which you came?

Oh course,

now I see,

you have my blood within you. As your heart beats, my blood rushes through your body, making you alive, and fully human.

Hush now, my beautiful baby, no need to cry, the pain is all over now …

Years Later …

Oh, the agony.

Why did they have to pierce a spear in you too? How could they do this to you?

YOur hands,

your feet …

they are pierced through with hard, ugly nails. Oh, my gently one!

Your eyes … they show your pain, they are wet wit your tears!

Oh, my beautiful son!

Your lips … they are so dry, and made worse by the vile those guards offered you! Oh the bear of my heart!

Your nose is covered with the perspiration of your body’s torture! Oh, my sweet one!

Your shoulders are weighed down by the weight of your body! My pride and joy!

And your blood … my blood … flowing our from all over your flesh! Oh my flesh and blood!

I agree with the words of your Heavenly Father,

“You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11)

You made me a mother, my first born.

May God end this suffering for you so that the pain might finally be over.

The day following the next Sabbath …

My ears still ache with the rumbling of the earth, only moments ago.

That ache is nothing compared to the ache of my heart, for the loss of my dear son. But that man, like the heavenly messenger I met many years ago, says that you are alive, that you have risen from your death.

There you are! You are whole again!

Your hands, your feet … they hold the story of your death …

but you are not dead, you are here, you are alive!

But you speak of leaving to go back to your Father …

please do not leave … do not leave me … you are my son,

pleases come home with me?

But, you have not forgotten me. You spoke on that cruel cross,

to me,

that your beloved friend and follower, John, is now my son …

that I am to be cared for by him, as though I were his mother.

You are entrusting me and my care, my future survival, to the hands of the one you love most.

Oh, my beautiful gift of a son … from the very hands of God.

As my heart beats, you will always be the blood the flows through my veins.

Ah!

Now there is no more sorrow , no more sadness, no more pain.

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;
and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain:
for the former things are passed away.“
Revelation 21:4

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The Sixth (and Final) Week of Lent

Posted in WONDER, tagged #1peter3, #crave, #forkingandcountry, #thesixthweekoflent, Easter, Hope, lent on April 16, 2014| 3 Comments »

We who have given up, in sharing the sacrifice of Christ, this season of Lent have almost made it to the finish line.

Five weeks ago I expected to be drooling this week in anticipation of having cream in my morning coffee again …

but, something has happened …

I don’t miss is anymore.

Four weeks ago I realized that doing anything for love was more difficult than I ever imagined possible.

Three weeks ago I was convicted to not make fun of people stumbling from their pedestals, but to pray for them.

Two weeks ago I realized that Lent had nothing to do with my sacrifice.

One week ago I understood the weight of the sacrifice of Christ, knowing that He was doing for all … those who would accept the gift, and those who would spit on it.

Week 1 of Lent I shared of my giving up of something that hurt.

Week 2 of Lent I shared of willingness to do anything for love.

Week 3 of Lent I shared of laying ourselves aside to pray for others.

Week 4 of Lent I shared of how it is not about my sacrifice.

Week 5 of Lent I shared of how Christ sacrificed, for all! The really, really evil and the not so bad.

And now, the final week of Lent.

By now, if you have sacrificed something for this season, you might be craving to resume your habit, your favorite thing, your desired spice of life.

But I think we are in for a surprise this coming Sunday, when our season of sacrifice turns to feasting and celebration.

I think that when we are faced with that thing we have missed, we will discover that it is not as good as we remember it to be. I think that we will discover that, whatever ‘it’ is, it no longer feeds our craving as it once did.

There is only one thing that satisfies the craving …

the craving for hope …

that Lent has reminded us we crave for most.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.“ 1 Peter 1:3-5

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Signs of Spring

Posted in WONDER, tagged #blooming, #signsofspring, #timechange, Easter, lent, Spring on March 11, 2014| 1 Comment »

This past weekend the time sprung ahead one hour, causing all sorts of sleep issues for everyone who must live our lives by the movement of clocks.

One mom said,

“I love this time change … said no parent ever.”

b99fd3b64e2c2ec300b72a01b07b1d54 But all is not dire when it comes to the approach of spring!

Just this weekend the sun felt so warm.

The snowdrop bulbs are in full bloom in my garden.

Daffodil and Hibiscus and tulip plants are coming through ground.

Grass is growing.

Buds are forming on the flowering fruit trees.

Kids played on the streets until 7:00, when the sun sunk below the horizon.

Just last week, as I let the beast out for her morning bladder emptying, I was serenaded by the dawn chorus of the birds in the trees surrounding our house. Their music drawing me onto the deck to absorb it straight in to my soul.

A few years ago we (and by ‘we’ I mean ‘I’) moved two Forsythia trees from a hill in the front of our house to a raised section in the back. They are perfectly situated to observe and appreciate from our dining room table. As a lover of the awakenings of spring, I have been known to say, on a daily basis,

“have you seen the yellow trees are blooming?”

Hubby and kids roll their eyes, or finish my statement before I am able to complete it. It has become an ‘inner circle’ joke, that will, one day, be remembered with laughter when I am long gone. And I am okay with my memory being connected with the new growth and blooming of such a free spirited and beautiful tree.

Sometimes I marvel at the newness of spring, in the midst of the Easter and Lent season. A season when things that have long died, come alive with beauty, newness and hope of the days to come. A parallel on Earth, to that which Easter represents … a dying so that life might come again.

Spring is coming!

Though the time change this weekend pushed the sun’s rise until later in the morning, I know that in no time at all, I will again awaken to light filtering in through the bedroom windows. That is the hope that spring provides.

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Ashes to Ashes

Posted in WONDER, tagged #ashestoashes, #ashwednesday, Easter, Genesis, lent, Sacrifice on March 5, 2014| 1 Comment »

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Today is Ash Wednesday.

It is the first day of the forty days of Lent on the Christian calendar.

As I write this post it is Tuesday and I am anticipating a dinner of pancakes. Although I did not grow up in a Christ-centered home, this was a practice in my home growing up, and I feel a great sense of nostalgia in participating in this tradition.

Tuesday is often known as Pancake Tuesday, Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday) or Shrove Tuesday. It is the day before the beginning of the season of Lent. It is a day of partying and feasting before participants give something up for the days leading up to Easter. I guess it could be compared to the human practice of I’ll overeat on Sunday, and start my diet on Monday.

As one who has not practiced the exercise of Lent, Ash Wednesday was something I had to research a bit to get an understanding of it’s significance.

The name Ash Wednesday comes from the reminder in Genesis 3:19,

“You are dust, and you will return to dust.”

In some churches, to truly mark this day, the tradition is to have a cross drawn, with ashes, on the foreheads of the parishioners on this day.

But what is Lent? Easter is on the calendar as Good Friday and Easter Sunday, what’s with it being a season?

Lent is the season of waiting, of abstinence, of sacrifice and of preparation for the Holy (Easter) Week.

Many people omit, or give up, something that they enjoy on a regular basis, for the forty’ish days leading up to Easter. Frequently we will hear of people giving up chocolate, alcohol, meat, cigarettes, fish, sex, television, shopping etc. For some it is a time of giving to the poor, in time or resources. For others it is a time of ‘adding’ to their regular schedule, practices such as increased prayer.

Whatever practice one might choose, it is done as a means of sharing in the sacrifice of Christ.

Now, I love chocolate, but I do not believe that giving it up is comparable in any way to the sacrifice of Christ. So, if you do practice Lent, don’t get too pious about your sacrifice … whatever we might do is infinitesimal compared to the rejection, imprisonment, scourging, crucifixion, death, and separation from God that Jesus experienced.

It is, though, a good reminder of all that Christ has done for us.

It is a reminder to pray.

It is a reminder to love others (as He has loved us).

It is a reminder of grace …

because we are not obliged to join in the suffering …

but we reap such benefit!

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One of These Days …

Posted in WONDER, tagged 1 Corinthians 2:6-9, Death, Easter, good-bye, good-bye for now, Matthew 25:31, Resurrection, well done on April 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I stood in the purse department of Target, in the midst of a dreamy vacation, with the tears of reality falling from my eyes.

“Today I say, “Good-bye for now” to my sweet friend Virginia”

As I read, and re-read, and re-read those words again, the FaceBook status of a mutual friend was penetrating my heart, as I realized the reality that those words meant … a good and beautiful woman had died.

About five years ago, Virginia and I completed our SETA (special education learning assistance) course together. Both wives of pastors, both unashamed braggers of our children, both loved to laugh, both loved Christ. It was with Virginia, in the back row of our last course class, that I learned how to text! 5592_pd73484full

Our good intentions to connect were always left with the phrase, “one of these days …” When our paths did intersect, it always felt like I was running into a best bud, from a previous life. That is how SHE made everyone feel … like you were the best thing God ever created! She did not just live out her faith, it poured from her, and there was nothing she was more confident of, than the saving power of Jesus Christ.

The earthly loss of Virginia’s life is a great one. She has a husband, three daughters, family, friends, and others who will miss what she brought into their … into our, lives. Earth has lost a gem! Heaven has lost a most effective ambassador!

As I finish writing this post it is Easter Sunday morning. This will be the first Easter that Virginia gets to fully understand the miracle of resurrection, for she died here, but awoke to heaven … she awoke to her Savior. This is the first Easter that she can hold His pierced hands, and look into His eyes of love … and understand that He … and she … are now among the fully living.

Virginia has now heard the words, “well done, my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:31).

good-bye for now …

… one of these days …

“We do, however,
speak a message of wisdom among the mature,
but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age,
who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom,
a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
None of the rulers of this age understood it,
for if they had,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—“

1 Corinthians 2:6-9

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Easter Sunday

Posted in life, WONDER, tagged Chocolate, Easter, raised from the dead, Scripture, Sunday, the third day, video on March 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

This is a repeat of the post on Easter Sunday …

He is risen indeed!

Last year I posted a video (More than Chocolate) that had been speaking to me, that Easter season. In that tradition, I am posting another this year.

I love the use of scripture to tell a story, to teach a lesson, to touch my heart.

May God,

through words He inspired,

and man brought together,

touch your heart this day of celebrating that

“God raised Him, on the third day.”

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When the Time Came

Posted in WONDER, tagged Easter, Galatians 4:4, Habakkuk 2:3, John 3:3-4, last supper, Luke 2, Luke 22, Luke 4:13, Maundy Thursday, perfect timing, timing, when the time came on March 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

“When the hour came,
Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.And he said to them,
“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.For I tell you,
I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
Luke 22:14-16

The Easter weekend is upon us.

betrayal-last-supper

Today is known as Maundy Thursday … the day to remember the final, or last, supper shared by the twelve disciples, and their leader, Jesus. A meal held after sunset, in a rented room. I wonder if Jesus was able to eat … surely knowing what the hours to come would hold … betrayal, denial, arrest, torture, humiliation, death … separation from His Father …

Jesus knew what timing was all about … not the timing of others, not even his own timing, but God’s timing …

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.”
Luke 2:6-7

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”
Galatians 4:4

“When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.” Luke 2:22

“When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” John 2:3-4

“When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” Luke 4:13

“Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.” Luke 22:53

The timing of the events in the life of Jesus were perfect and known only to God the Father. Just as the events of our life are perfect and known only by Him. What we often do not realize is that the timing is God’s perfect timing, not ours.

I imagine that Mary did not think that being in labor, while riding a donkey, with no place to give birth, was not perfect timing … but we can see how the timing of the provision of the stable-cave showed God’s provision, and enhanced the humble king that Jesus was to be.

There are times in our lives when the timing has been poor, and it seems God was late in answering our prayers … but we see things with human eyes, limited by our lifespans … God sees with eternal eyes, limitless!

Until He returns, in God’s perfect timing, we are waiting.

“For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end
—it will not lie.
If it seems slow,
wait for it;
it will surely come;
it will not delay.”
Habakkuk 2:3