Jesus is Alive and Standing with Open Arms

     Behold, a bright light shines from the Easter tomb. Are you trusting the man who rose from the dead? Jesus is alive and standing with open arms inviting you to accept his offer of life eternal. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. The day is coming when God will wipe all our tears away. Until then, let this thought fill you with hope. If Easter had not happened, Christmas would have no meaning. If Easter is not true, then Christmas is only the story of an obscure baby born in an out-of-the-way town in a forgotten land 2000 years ago. It is the great miracle of Easter that gives Christmas its true meaning. There is a light shining from the tHomb, a light that leads us from the darkness to the Glorious Day that shall never end.

He's Gone

Band Aids

After getting my grandson, Ryder, ready for school, he quickly disappeared.  Suddenly he returned with a band aid that he obviously wanted to wear to school.   I exclaimed, “Awwww, do you have a boo-boo?”  Smiling, he pointed to his flawless forehead.  I gingerly applied the band aid to his fake injury and kissed the delicate wound.

When he proudly walked in the door at school, the teachers made such a fuss over his bogus injury.  You would have thought he had gone bungee jumping, catapulted 300 feet in the air, and somehow cut his forehead on the landing.  I now understood why he wanted to wear it.

Heck, I might wear one on my forehead next Monday if I get that kind of reception!  Is there such a thing as Angry Birds Band Aids?

As I think about real wounds, I am reminded that God knows about all of our wounds including life's emotional hurts.
We pay attention to our physical wounds, but there are other wounds that cause great pain......that is emotional wounds. Through God, we can find healing for our emotional wounds.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.Psalm 147:3
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirited. Psalm 34:18

Spiders

     Phone conversation with my daughter last night...."Mom, I am taking the dog out, and I want you to stay on the phone with me while I am outside because I am scared." Footnote:  Her husband was out of town.  Obviously she believes I have supernatural powers to fly through the phone like a superhero and save her if there is a problem. 

     Suddenly I hear screaming! Now I imagine a gigantic man dressed in black with a machete and duct tape has grabbed her.  Nope, she then said, “There is a giant spider on the door.” She described it as big as an octopus! Then for the next ten minutes I listened to her scream as she attempted to kill it.  Of course the screaming picked up a notch as the octopus sauntered into the house. 

        

     I hate spiders, but there is something amazing about the spider, and that is its perseverance.  A spider never quits. When the web is broken, the spider will immediately repair it.   A spider knows no defeat. A spider will try again. That is exactly what the Devil does.  The Devil will try and try again. Watch out that you are not caught in the Devil’s web. What kind of web does Satan weave?  The Devil will be weaving his webs trying to cause us to lose our zeal. Before you know it, you will be caught in the sticky fluid of the spider's web.  Let's always be cleaning out the web. Clean out the spider webs!  Don’t get snared by the devil. 

Little Boys and Dogs

     What do little boys and dogs have in common?   The picture on the left includes my grandsons, Brock, Brady, and Cross waiting on cookies.  The picture on the right includes three dogs waiting on their food.  What you can’t tell by looking at my picture……the boys had actually discovered a lizard on the cookie sheet.  Fortunately, the cookies were placed in a cold over, so before it got too hot, I was able to get the little green guy out of the oven.  I know I am not a Martha Stewart.

Saying Something Inappropriate

     “I’m going say something inappropriate!” chirped my grandson from the backseat of my car. We had just been out to eat, and we were heading home. I could not decide whether to use my stern nana voice and stop him before he blurted out the “inappropriate” word, or just be quiet and eavesdrop. Of course, I opted to eavesdrop. “Hmmmmm,” I pondered, “what could his inappropriate word be?” Obviously all three boys (a friend had joined us) had forgotten that I am driving the car and might overhear the word.

     Suddenly, Brady blurts out in a rather loud voice, “FART!” All three boys yelped with laughter. You would have thought that he was a stand-up comic on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Within a matter of seconds, the word was belted out numerous times with more laughter erupting from the backseat. Knowing they are not allowed to use that word, I knew I now had to use my stern nana voice and end the fun. Besides, I was afraid they might start demonstrating the word if I didn't. Let me add, I have been blessed with a keen sense of smell illustrated by the fact that I can detect accurately who hath ‘dealt it’ between at least four humans and one dog. Hence, the fun was over!

Confession

      Today I gave my students a real life example of cause/effect.  No, I am not proud of this moment….can’t believe I even told them about it, but I DID (and they loved it).   When I was a child, my parents left my brother, Topper, and I home alone.  Well, I decided I wanted to experiment with fire……you know, kind of like a little science project, only without a hypothesis. 

     So, I head out to the carport where I proceed to shred a bunch of paper into little tiny pieces and strike a match! Poof!  It was wonderful……little fingers of fire shot up in the air with a mixture of oranges and yellows. Suddenly burned paper was floating through the air like miniature kites.  Of course I want my brother to experience this scene with me, so call him outside bellowing, “Topper, you have got to come see this, it is so cool!”  He silently and slowly saunters outside to observe my little project and exclaims, “Oh you are going to be in so much trouble when mom and dad get home!” 

     How was I supposed to know the concrete would now be charred and stained with horrid black stains (a reminder of my sin)?  Before long mom and dad returned, and, of course, they immediately noticed the evidence of my science project.

     OK, here comes the worst part of the story…..UGH…..painful to tell!  “Who was playing with matches?” my dad yells.  In my sweetest voice ever, I responded, “Topper!”  Now for the rest of the story, hold on, it gets worse.   My brother, Topper, gets my spanking.  I know you think I am a horrible human being now!   No, I did not end up becoming an arsonist; I can’t even get a fire to stay lit in my fireplace!  Yes, my brother eventually forgave me.   Thank the Lord that this sin (and many more) have been paid for.

     Of course after sharing this science project/cause and effect example, my students wanted to share their sins…..I mean their tales of mischief.  I had to cover my ears and sing, “La, la, la, la, la…..I don’t want to hear this!”  I might now have to go into the Witness Protection Program!