The Greatest of These is Love!

 Three weeks ago on this very day, I stood in a grassy field surrounded by rolling hills and the sound of song birds in the trees.

 I wiped away countless tears of joy as my youngest sister, Kelly gracefully walked down the aisle on the arm of our wonderful daddy to her groom Leif dressed in uniform under a beautiful white pergola lit by the warm rays of the morning sun.

 Brother Tim officiated the ceremony and blessed all of those present with words of encouragement and conviction inspired by the passage from 1 Corinthians 13.

 13 If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

 ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

 My dearest sister Kelly and my new brother-in-law Leif, I wish you both a lifetime of happiness, joy and most importantly love. You both are filled with  love for one another from God's own love for you both. May you always know in both happy and sad times that God's love is what will always sustain you and strengthen you. Love indeed never fails! It is strong in the two of you and I am so very happy to have been a part of your special day. Many blessings on your marriage! I love you both!

 

 

God's Peace

This past week has been a whirlwind of happy and sad emotions all at once, juxtaposed one right with the other. In one hand of emotion I felt overwhelming joy at my own little sister's wedding, while in the other hand of emotion I felt complete sadness as my little sister in my sorority suffered the unexpected loss of her three year old son. In attending both services, the wedding of joy and the funeral of sorrow, I was struck by the realization of one great thing. In each, I felt an overwhelming presence of God's love represented in the hearts and collective gesture of all present to help celebrate or to help comfort the ones for whom we were standing up for. We all became the living, beating heart of Jesus and showered these individuals with God's love in both instances of joy and sorrow.

This juxtaposition of one joyful event and one sorrowful left me not overwhelmed by my roller coaster ride of emotion but rather with a feeling of great peace that God is present in everything and everyone from the most joyous of occasions to the most sorrowful. He is always with us to offer us his love and to bring us peace in every moment in life. That is something that sustains me to know that God is always with me in wonderful and sorrowful times and in everything in between.

 

New Life in Christ Jesus

For some time now, I have been feeling a special nudge from God to come to the blog place that I call, "To Such as These" in order to write about my experiences with children's ministries not only as a teacher but also from the viewpoint of the child, herself.The good Lord knows that when he asks me to do something, I resist with great excuses that I am not worthy of his calling, that surely someone better could come along and write more profoundly than I can. 

 And surely, that is true. But God continues to gently nudge me trough the encouragement of friends and even strangers whom I only know from their very own writings that I need to use this very space to share my experiences that were given to me by the Father so as to bring others benefit from HIM. I am humbled and shaky at this request from our Father. But yet I am taking that first step of faith to allow God to work through me, his servant.

 It was in reading a post by  Sibi, the author of Pearls and Grace, that I felt God's whispers become more of a shout that said, " You are my beloved, I need you!" In Sibi's post from yesterday, she so eloquently writes, "If God has given you a blogging platform of any capacity, then your reach is unlimited in so many ways. With the click of a button, people can feel God reaching for them through the power of His love through the words you type on a single post." As I read Sibi's words, tears flowed and I came here at this very moment. Please forgive my scattered thoughts as I nervously type away at the keys to form the words of my sentences.

  It is Good Friday, the day we remember Jesus' passion and death upon the cross. He died for all of us that we may have everlasting life through him. But what does that mean if we don't allow ourselves to be his vessel in order for his perfect love to shine? If I deny his love through my feelings of being unworthy am I not in fact denying the very gift of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus who died for my sake. Another of my blogging friends, Paige posted today this passage from 2 Corinthians, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21. Yet another one of my blogging friends, Sheri posted this passage from 2 Corinthians 4:7, "We possess this precious treasure in vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves."  Sheri then eloquently says, "God uses frail people to proclaim the power of His gospel.He could send angels to preach the gospel, but He uses plain, ordinary, everyday people to demonstrate His power.  He fills us with divine gifts, inspired and brought to pass by the Holy Spirit, and distributes them throughout His body of believers.  Let us network with God's people today for the greater good, as we work together to accomplish His purpose." These three ladies, of whom I do not know in person, all  have spoken words that I have heard whispered to me from God, words that I believe as truth, words that I have spoken to others, but I have not myself allowed to be put into action.

          As I reflect on the passion of Christ Jesus and his death on the cross, I am awestruck at his sacrifice for me . . . for me! I am not worthy, but yet he died anyway . . . for me and for all of us. I have known his love for me since I was a child. I was broken, but he scooped me up and whispered to me that he loved me and that I was his. I knew his voice, his nudging's to come to him then. It sustained me in times of uncertainty. I knew that he loved me, that I was more than the brokenness that I felt. My early knowledge of God's love for me is what I know instilled the calling God planted in my heart at that time to work with children especially in the area of teaching and helping them to develop their own relationship with him. My passion for teaching children comes directly from his own heart and I know too that he wants for all of us to know him through the same pure heart as that of a child.

 Through Jesus' resurrection we all have new life in him. How then can we be transformed into the new life that we have been given? We first have to accept that gift, not just of believing in Jesus as God's Son sacrificed for us to have everlasting life, but that he lives in each one of us TODAY here and now. His resurrection continues on today because of US LIVING NOW! When we accept that he lives in EACH one of us we can accept that he can work in and through us to bring about his kingdom here on earth. This is our calling. This is what God has planned for all of us. When we allow our brokenness to be used to glorify him, we fulfill our purpose here. We become a vessel for his love and grace.

 I humbly accept God's call to me to allow him to use any of the gifts and talents he has given me to shine his light to the world. My imperfections are not mine to hide away, but rather a vessel from which God's perfect light may shine. I am his humble servant for whom he has called to his table. Let his glory be revealed as is his will. But I am not alone in this call, He invites all of us with whisperings, nudges, and even full on shouts to come to his table, to be fed, and to live into his plan for our lives through our faith and trust in him. We are all his beloved children whom he gave the gift of new life through the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus. Let us rejoice, and be glad!

         

Palm Sunday

         Palm Sunday marks the beginning of our time in Holy week with the remembrance of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem as the crowd lay their cloaks and palm branches down for Jesus to ride over.

 Palm Sunday, to me is always a time of great introspection as I think of how Jesus was welcomed with such enthusiasm and love, but only days later was turned on and crucified. I ponder how I myself welcome Jesus with great enthusiasm at times, but at other times I may not even call on his name. I don't turn on him with physical actions of crucifixion, but rather my thoughts and words and actions towards others may be the driving nails.

 For these acts I am truly sorry and seek forgiveness. Our journey of faith is not always easy. It is not always easy to see the living Christ in others as they may anger us with perceived wrong doings towards us.

 My challenge is to see Christ in spite of my perceptions of him not being there and to love others always through calling on Jesus' name to give me strength, patience, love and peace in all times, even the most difficult.

 This Palm Sunday, I had the privilege of helping two of the children I teach prepare to ride the donkey in our church's Palm Sunday processional.

 There were so many wonderful moments in watching these twins excitement as they took part in this wonderful event.

 Moments such as this one above and below will be forever treasured in my memory of this year's Palm Sunday.

As we move forward in this very sacred time towards Easter, I wish all a very blessed Holy Week as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus our Savior who lives in each of us! Halleluiah!

Sharing with Finding Serendipity

The Beginning of SpBRRRring Break!

Brrrr! I thought Spring had a arrived, but someone forgot to wake up the sun! It has been chilly here with high temps in the 30's and snow flurries! I am not going to say that I am yippy skippy happy about this cold snap, but I am taking measures to spring it up on these winter temperature days.

 Today I bought a very large amount of m&m's to fill my apothecary jar. It looked so bright and festive dressed in it's Easter spring like colors, that I brought it out in the yard for a photo shoot.

 Somewhere between shots 1 and 15, Miss Apothecary Jar took a tumble and her lid broke. But that did not stop me from shooting a few photos still in the spirit of trying to capture a bit of spring on a cold cloudy day.

Sooo, I am without warm spring temperatures and minus a lid to my apothecary jar, but, hey, at least I have m&m's

Linking to The Long Road to China's Favorite Photo Friday and Finding Serendipity
 



                                 

The Blessing of Warm, Sunshiny Days and Friendship

As  I type this post, I am watching the rain come down in sheets outside my window. Just yesterday, I sat in my back yard soaking up the warmth of the glorious sun's rays while a gentle breeze crossed my cheeks and the birds sang their loudest hallelujah chorus that we finally had delightful weather. Thunder rolls and lightening pierces the sky as my days in the sun have become a cherished memory. My body prefers the sun and warmth. My Rheumatoid Arthritis and Mr. Rainy Cold Weather don't get along. Miss RA likes to show her displeasure with the turn of the weather by shouting loudly through each and every one of my joints. So when the coinhabitor of my body acts out, I like to recall the days prior of sunshine and warmth and fun times with the girls.

 This past weekend was filled with many hours out in the sun. The girls and their neighborhood friends decided to set up an "Art Stand" to sell their original pieces of artwork.

 Each friend contributed to the business through either providing art pieces, soliciting sales, or counting their earnings. These kiddos were quite the team as they diligently worked together on their Art Stand. All told, the crew earned $11 of which they decided to donate to charity.

 As I watched the kiddos working so hard together, I felt blessed that we live in such a wonderful neighborhood with so many friends to build memories with.

 I have always felt God chose this house and neighborhood for our family to live in.

  It is on weekends like this past one in which I am reminded of God's great love and wonderful provisions of grace and joy for our family as we enjoy the gift of friendship and building happy memories.

A March Birthday Celebration!

When I was growing up my mother made all of my birthday cakes each year from the time I had my first birthday up until I turned 18. Each cake that she made was delicious and made with love. I always got to pick what kind of cake I wanted whether it be a strawberry cake with pink butter cream frosting, a German chocolate cake or a devil's food cake with cream cheese frosting. Because my birthday falls near St. Patrick's Day, my mom also often decorated my cake with daffodils, rainbows, or clover.  

 Daffodils are the official flower of March so I have continued the tradition of using them in celebration of both Emma-Caroline and my March birthdays.

 This past Saturday, we hosted a birthday dinner at our house. In keeping with tradition, I set the table with plenty of pale yellow daffodils with some hyacinth and daisy added in for their fragrance.

 Two amazingly talented chefs, Curt and John came to the house to prepare the most delicious meal. I was so excited to watch them prepare a meal on my professional stove that doesn't get used nearly as much as it should. My little stove actually seemed happy as she happily worked to prepare my birthday dinner.

 Our friends Whitney and Bob and Bob joined us to help celebrate.

 It was one of the best birthday celebrations I have had with such wonderful friends and such delicious food as well as being able to celebrate at home!

This is my last year in this particular decade of my life. I look forward to celebrating each day to it's fullest and enjoying the blessing of family and friends.