Early Celebration

~JOY~ 

family celebrations!

Andrew (Kayla's husband) is back from his Air Force

Basic Military training and Tech School. 

Bennett is 6 months old already!

He was under 3 mo when his daddy left for BMT. 

They got to see one another

at the boot camp graduation March 4.

And on skype since then. :)

 They came over tonight for dinner. I gave Bennett his Easter gift:

A teething rattle. Ha! I got some flack for getting him a

SAW

to chew on. But he loved it! :)

 Pops (that is what my son calls my husband) made dinner in 

the crock-pot. I added some roasted potatoes and a juice beverage.

I gave my (big) kids several random fun things, one of which

was a jar of bubbles. Kayla blew them at Bennett.

He giggled.

It made our night! It was so funny!

I didn't get a photo, but this one is from the graduation 

six weeks ago when they fed him his first taste of ICE CREAM!

They wont be with us tomorrow. It was delightful to have

them over and rejoice in the King of Glory who has

RISEN AND IS ALIVE!

HAVE A BLESSED EASTER FRIENDS!

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

Jesus In Between

I wrote this on a card some time ago, and in cleaning, I came across it:

"I have been judged by the word and driven to my knees for mercy. 
Grace poured forth from my Savior's bloody hands and 
He lifted my head to Him and drew me to my feet."

So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ, 
that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:24

Recently I was meditating on the story of the Woman caught in adultery who was brought before Jesus to be stoned. Stoning was God's idea~to remove impurities from among Israel. Jesus then stooped down and started writing in the sand. 

I like to picture Jesus in those moments of confrontation that he experienced so often with the Pharisees. He remained so calm. 

I want to know that composure in the face of conflict.

So after writing in the sand, Jesus said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." 
As we know, one by one, everyone left. The guilty woman was left alone with Jesus. No doubt she was a huge mix of emotions. 

After having been caught in the act. Imagine it for a moment. Then to be drug away by angry, self~righteous men, perhaps she wasn't even half~dressed... then tossed to the dirt before the HOLY ONE. Her shame must have threatened to overwhelm her...perhaps she was close to passing out... 

I am a huge fan of Michael Card. I love his song "Scribbling in the Sand" because though we don't know what Jesus was scribbling, it makes perfect sense that he would hold up the mirror of the law for the "stoners" to look into, and thus destroy any self-righteousness they had. It also would have helped the woman see, and know that the law that was about to condemn her was just, but...

Jesus was "between her and the law". Our intercessor, Mercy Personified, was there. Offering her pardon, which must have been another unbelievable moment. Who just moment's before was on the verge of death and condemnation, now was able to walk away free. 


With Jesus' parting words to, "Go and leave your life of sin." 

I think those words remained with her for the rest of her life. When I am vulnerable, and my emotional level is at a 10, it seems I remember everything said to me. Words sting when they are not meant to, and they can sink in deeper due to my emotional vulnerability.

Have you noticed that? When you are exposed. When you are tried in a firey furnace, you process things through your pain. You are more tender. More impressionable. 


In the case of the woman caught in adultery, and in the case of me everytime I see in the mirror of God's word where I am missing the mark of pleasing Him...It is clear that:

The Law is good. Repentence is a gift. Mercy is sweet.
All are steps on the path to freedom.

Oh how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Psalm 119:97

My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times. Psalm 119:20