Happy Easter!

Abraham, Isaac, and Good Friday

We were listening to the Jesus Storybook Bible in the car on the way home from ice-skating lessons when the story of Abraham and Isaac came on.

I unknowingly tensed up. My heart pounded as Abraham climbed the mountain with his son, anticipating what he must do at the top. My heart pounded still harder as Abraham tied up Isaac and raised his knife. I knew how the story would end, but as a mother, I could not bear it.

I have never really understood the story of Abraham. I know that Abraham showed faith in his willingness to sacrifice his only son, and that the ram in the bush represents Jesus, but I just couldn't comprehend God's request. How could He ask a father to kill his own child?! I would not have been obedient.

We continued our journey home. I continued to listen. And then, a revelation came to me! (This is the kind of 'feast' I wrote about two posts ago.)

When we try to live without God's help, we are unknowingly making daily sacrifices. We are in fact killing what we cherish and hold dear, all the things we love best, may that be our spouse, our children, our talents, or our dreams. It is only through God's saving sacrifice that we are stopped from making the definitive, fatal cut. With God's sacrifice of His only son, all can be restored. All can be healed in our lives. And we no longer have to make those sacrifices.

And the question of 'how could God ask a father to kill his own child'? I understand now that God the Father HIMSELF was the One who HAD to follow through with killing his own son. It was hard for Abraham to take the first steps of obedient. It is so hard that I can't even picture taking those steps myself. But God couldn't allow Abraham to do it, even when He knew that He Himself would have to do it someday. God was the only One who had to feel His heart break as He watched His son die according to His will. 

And so today we celebrate Good Friday. My nine-year-old asked me a few days ago, "Why is it called 'good' when Jesus had to die?" Now I know why it is a good day.

Good Friday is the day that God made the ultimate sacrifice so that we didn't have to make ours; when a Father gave up his most beloved, cherished, precious thing so that he could draw his other beloveds back to Him; when we can feel our hearts pounding and our shoulders tense up because we KNOW that though this is hard, the story gets better.

Three days. Easter is coming. The one who was sacrificed would not stay dead. All will be restored.

Not Your Typical King

"The King is coming! The King is coming!"

The words ring outside the streets of Jerusalem. Curious people come running to see this man. They say he is a prophet and a descendent of King David himself. What does he look like? Is he regal, dressed in purple, gold, and jewels? Does he have an entourage of soldiers, horses, musicians, and servants? Are they surprised then when they see a simple man riding through the street on a young donkey?

And are we surprised at all? After hearing the story of Palm Sunday for years, maybe we're not. Or maybe it makes sense to us that the King who was born in an animal stall should ride in a parade on a humble pack animal.

The Jewish people of Jesus's time were disappointed when their Savior didn't vanquish armies and declare a new nation, but WE know that Jesus came with a very clear goal in mind: to be a servant-king who will die for his people. He washed people's feet. He touched and loved the ostracized. And he died the death of a common thief.

And the story does not end there. After all, he was a servant-king. Jesus rose from the dead to establish a new kingdom–not a nation of Israel, but a heavenly, eternal kingdom on earth that includes ALL people.

Clearly not your typical king.

Which is all the more the reason I want to follow Him.

Come and Feast!

My absolute favorite type of meal is a potluck. Some people scoff at this because potlucks remind them of Sunday lunches in their church's 'fellowship' hall. I've even heard that some churches do not like to use the term 'potluck' because luck is not a Biblical idea. So, call it whatever you want. I just really enjoy a meal where everyone comes together and brings a dish. And I'm not just saying that because it means there is less cooking for me. I enjoy potlucks because I like to try other people's cooking!

Take my husband's 40th birthday party/potluck. We started with a few plates of appetizers, made by me. As friends and family arrived, the plates multiplied. Soon, there were bowls of colorful fruit and salads, delicious carne asada, scrumptious roasted asparagus, garlicky potatoes, teriyaki salmon, chicken, pasta, pizza, spinach dip… is your mouth watering like mine is right now? There was so much food, I couldn't find room for it all! Needless to say, it was a great party, and we all left with full and happy stomachs.

I'm learning right now that sitting with God is like this potluck, only that He is the one bringing all the food, and the food is more amazing than anything I can even imagine! What a contrast to a few months ago, when I saw my time in the Word as a dry exercise in Christian discipline. Open the book, read, ponder, close the book, done. 

But that is so far from the truth! When we sit in God's presence, our souls feast on His love, peace, joy, and wisdom. As I strive to begin every day with a few minutes in the Bible, I am starting to enjoy more and more of this feast: first a few nibbles... then a few bites… 

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! ~Psalm 34:8

Easter will be upon us soon. Take the time this year to discover all that God wants to give you. Don't just spend the day filling your stomachs; fill your souls too!

He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. ~Song of Solomon 2:4

Resurrection Cookies

I was given this recipe many years ago, and people often ask me for it because it doesn't have a ready source. I don't know why I never thought of posting it until now! My children love to make these cookies the night before Easter, and oftentimes the cookies are shared at our Easter meal. And the best part is that as I've had more children, the younger ones just join in and take part in our tradition!

*This recipe requires a lot of mixing. It is best if you have a standing mixer. The result is a meringue-type cookie.

Resurrection Cookies

1 cup whole pecans or walnuts

1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites

a pinch salt 
1 cup sugar

a zipper baggy

1 wooden spoon

scotch tape

Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. (This is very important --- don't wait until you are half done with the recipe.)

Place pecans in zipper baggy (or baggies, one per child) and let children beat them with the wooden spoon (or spoons) to break into small pieces.  Explain that after Jesus was arrested.  He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.  Read: John 19:1-3

Let each child smell the vinegar.  Put 1 teaspoon vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink. Read: John 19:28-30

Add egg whites to vinegar.  Eggs represent life.  Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read: John 10:10-11

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand.  Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read: Luke 23:27

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing.  Add 1 cup sugar to ingredients in bowl (you can let children taste a bit first). Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read: Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read: Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper-covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus's body was laid. Read: Matthew 27:57-60

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus tomb was sealed. Read: Matthew 27:65-66

GO TO BED!

Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus's followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read: John 16:20 and 22

On Resurrection Sunday (Easter) morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite.  The cookies are hollow!  On the first Easter Jesus's followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read: Matthew 28:1-9


I wish you ad your family a wonderful Easter! He is risen!

White as Snow

My missionary friends spend part of the year in Israel and this past winter, they sent me pictures of their family playing in the snow, making snowmen and having snow ball fights. 

Snow! In Israel! I never knew that it snowed in that region! And when I saw the photos of white covering the ground, I was able to imagine Jesus, a young boy, watching the gentle flakes drift from the sky. He saw the landscape of his home change. The dirty ground became sparkling white. Stains were covered.

And that boy grew to be a man, the man who was God, yet died in our place. He alone changed our fates, erased our sins, and covered our stains. As the prophet Isaiah wrote, 

Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall like wool. ~Isaiah 1:18

Happy Palm Sunday to you! And as Good Friday and Easter Sunday approach, may the truth of Jesus's sacrifice become more tangible and more beautiful to you with each passing moment!

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

(words by Elvina Hall)

Jesus and the Leper

My body has been covered in hives since last Tuesday. Red, itchy bumps are all over my torso, arms, legs, and neck. The doctor told me that it was contact dermatitis (noncontagious), but I feel like I have leprosy. I feel ugly and dirty. I avoid wearing T-shirts or skirts because I don't want people to notice my skin and wonder. I even asked my husband if he finds me less attractive.

"No, you're still lovely," he assured me.

"I'm a toad. Your princess turned into a toad!"

"You won't be like this forever," he said.

"What if I am?!"

Sometimes I can get a bit dramatic. 

Then my husband admitted to me that he has a phobia of skin conditions, but this was helping him to get over it. He would love me no matter what. And the proof?

He's the one rubbing the ointment on my bumpy back. As I feel his warm hands on my infected epidermis, I am comforted.

Touch. It's so simple. And I can imagine now how the leper felt when Jesus laid his hands on him. (see Matthew 8, Mark 1, or Luke 5) When people could hardly look at the man because the very sight of his condition caused nausea, Jesus saw him, touched him, and loved him.

With the season of Lent and the approach of Easter, my mind meditates more and more on the man called Jesus of Nazareth, and how, because of his life and ultimate death and resurrection,

The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. ~Matthew 11:5

The Day In Between

For us, today is just the day between Good Friday and Ressurrection Sunday, the day we cook and bake, dye or stuff eggs, or travel.

But for the disciples, who had just witnessed the death of Jesus the son of Joseph, today was the day to mourn the loss of their hopes and joys and dreams. They had lost a friend AND a cause. Imagine the jumble of emotions they felt.

Some of you don't need to imagine.

You yourself have just witnessed the passing of a loved one, after months of praying for his/her recovery.

Or you've worked so hard to graduate from university, only to find yourself still unemployed.

Or you were hoping to marry a certain person, and just found out that you weren't.

Or you are mourning a child who has grown up and rejected you, when you've done all you can to love him/her over the years.

Then there is little I can say over the Internet to bring you comfort. You may feel that this Easter is not a day of celebration. But do remember that Easter morning was unexpected for the first disciples. The God of Hope, Love, and Joy can resurrect your life too.

Death of a Friend

This is a post from two years ago, but it still holds much meaning for me….


Sometimes when I think of Christ dying on the cross, I feel removed from it. God came to earth some two thousand years ago because He loved us, suffered horrifically for my sake... my brain goes through the motions. I sing the songs, I nod my head... I know the message, I've heard it since I was a baby. But truly understanding what an amazing gift the cross was, that takes effort.

Even watching movies don't help. I cry just thinking about the whipping, the pain, the shame that the man Jesus went through. No person should have to go through that. But then again, I cry when a cat gets hit by a car, though I know that it's not the same thing.

Then I think about losing a loved one... what would it be like to lose a spouse, a parent, a child, a best friend? I don't really know, I haven't yet experienced that in my young life. But I can imagine the loss. And I can imagine, what if a loved one died in my place? What if there was some extraordinary circumstance in which I was suppose to die, but my father, or my husband, or my son, volunteered to die in my stead? What if my sister, or my mother, or my girl friend, was punished because I lied, or got angry, or cheated?

Now my heartbeat quickens. My breath grows more shallow. But the tears don't come... not yet. I'm still in disbelief, in awe of the thought that someone I love would give himself or herself up so that I could live. I picture my best friend on a cross, naked, suffering, dying for no reason other than to love me... then the tears come.

And then my heart truly comprehends what happened two thousand years ago, when the Son of God chose to die on a cross for me. Good Friday is not about a moment in history; it is about the death of a friend.

Good News on Good Friday

As I made my way to the communion table at the Good Friday service this evening, I was stopped by a dear friend.

"I need prayer," she said with tears pouring from her eyes. "I don't feel like I deserve this right now."

But isn't that the whole point of His death? Sometimes, it feels good to take communion and pray, "God, I like walking beside You" or "God, I've learned so much from Your word this past month." But what makes the Good News good is that it is all about God, not us.

How wonderful to take the bread and the cup and know with complete understanding that we are not deserving of it!

Happy Easter!

Remember when there was all the hub-bub about using the phrase 'Merry Christmas'? Stores and schools were trading in the traditional 'We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!' for the bland and un-insulting 'Season's Greetings' and 'Happy Holidays'.

Easter is around the corner... what do the politically-correct say? 'Happy Holidays', because Passover comes right before Easter? Or maybe 'Season's Greetings', as a way to say 'Happy Spring to you, and to all your baskets full of eggs and chocolate bunnies'?

You know what? I don't really care. I wished two people at the store a 'Happy Easter!' yesterday, and neither of them were insulted. I think I'm going to do more of that this week. There is nothing wrong with wanting to share the joy and hope I have in me because of Christ's death and resurrection!

Every Knee, Every Tongue

Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

~Philippians 2:5b-11

God Reaches to Me

Death of a Friend

Sometimes when I think of Christ dying on the cross, I feel removed from it. God came to earth some two thousand years ago because He loved us, suffered horrifically for my sake... my brain goes through the motions. I sing the songs, I nod my head... I know the message, I've heard it since I was a baby. But truly understanding what an amazing gift the cross was, that takes effort.

Even watching movies don't help. I cry just thinking about the whipping, the pain, the shame that the man Jesus went through. No person should have to go through that. But then again, I cry when a cat gets hit by a car, though I know that it's not the same thing.

Then I think about losing a loved one... what would it be like to lose a spouse, a parent, a child, a best friend? I don't really know, I haven't yet experienced that in my young life. But I can imagine the loss. And I can imagine, what if a loved one died in my place? What if there was some extraordinary circumstance in which I was suppose to die, but my father, or my husband, or my son, volunteered to die in my stead? What if my sister, or my mother was punished because I lied, or got angry, or cheated?

Now my heartbeat quickens. My breath grows more shallow. But the tears don't come... not yet. I'm still in disbelief, in awe of the thought that someone I love would give himself or herself up so that I could live. I picture my best friend on a cross, naked, suffering, dying for no reason other than to love me... then the tears come.

And then my heart truly comprehends what happened two thousand years ago, when the Son of God chose to die on a cross for me. Good Friday is not about a moment in history; it is about the death of a friend.

Real Fruit

I finished my painting for Easter, and I must say that I'm pleased with the result (being only an amateur painter). The focus of this project was to pick one of Jesus's many names and associate it with Easter. I chose the True Vine. I've always loved the imagery of new life emerging from the cross, and adding the vine was an easy step from there. I've also often thought of wine (when taking Communion) as a symbol of joy, and it was no accident that Jesus said, "This is my blood, drink this in remembrance of me." His blood was spilled for us, so that we may have joy. And lastly, I love how a grape vine stretches and reaches. That is us, grasping for more, reaching out to others, and producing fruit.

This painting, along with others, will be hung in the Valley Bible church sanctuary in April.