Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season

What is Lent? This is a question that I had never really thought about before we moved to Knoxville. I mean, I knew that people gave something up, but I really thought it was only something Catholics did. Now that we are at a church that adheres pretty strongly to the church calendar, I'm learning so much.

Today is Ash Wednesday and tonight our family will attend a service with the "imposition of ashes" which means we will get ashes on our foreheads. The kids remember this from last year, and as we were discussing Lent and Ash Wednesday last night around the dinner table, they had different opinions for sure. I have one who is really excited about it (not sure that that's exactly the right response.) And I have one that said they did not like it at all and asked if they had to even do it (not sure that's the right response either!) But I'm glad they are honest. It gives us a chance to talk and through it all the love and grace of Jesus shines through. And that's what this season is all about--pointing to Jesus.

At the Ash Wednesday service, when the pastors put the ashes on your forehead (many times in the form of a cross) they will usually quote: 

“You are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen 3:19)

This is a reminder of our humanness, our mortality, and of course our sinfulness. That is the bad news--we are sinful, to the core. Original sin and all that, you know?? But the reason we need to be reminded of our humanity and sinfulness is to make the good news even better! The good news comes after the Lenten season is over--Jesus is Risen! Sin and death have been conquered!! Now that is good news!

Ash Wednesday starts the 40 day Lenten period. This period does not include Sundays--which still remained the "Feast Days" in the early church. The 40 days is symbolic of the time that Jesus spent in the wilderness before he began his "official" ministry. During that time, Jesus was tempted by Satan many times. He fasted and prayed, and was probably at his weakest point physically (besides being beaten and hung on a cross) in his life. And yet, even though he was fully man, he never gave into temptation.

Some celebrate these 40 days by 'giving up something.' It is a little reminder of all that Jesus gave up for us. It is a time to open up more of our life to let Jesus have more of it. Some people give up things like sugar or soft drinks or cigarettes or alcohol. And while I'm not knocking those things to give up, your life would be better anyway if you gave those up permanently. But maybe we should look a little deeper to give up something that takes our time from focusing on the work of Christ? I know that there are many things in my life that do that! And it's not food.

Last night around the dinner table we encouraged all of the kids to think of something they'd like to give up. Yes, one still said "soft drinks." Okay, fine. Shepley remembered that last year she gave up "art." She made the statement that she forgot a couple of times and did it. She said, "It was just so hard!" What a great point! That's exactly it!! We CAN'T do it. We can't keep our Lenten promises fully. Even if stay away completely from what we said we weren't going to do, we must question our motives. Does keeping it perfectly bring up feelings of pride in us? Are we working in our own strength to keep them? Are we making what we 'give up' the focus? The bad motives go on and on. And that is the point!! We can't keep the law. We never could.

That's why God sent his Son.

And that's what Lent is about--a reminder that we can't keep the law. The law can't and never could save us. All the law can do is remind us of our sinfulness and utter hopelessness....

And point us to Jesus!

We culminate the Lenten season in Holy week which starts on Palm Sunday. We celebrate King Jesus. We see his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and then we see our King lay down his life willingly so that we don't have to live under law anymore. We are FREE! What a joyous celebration we should have!

So this year, give Lent some thought. Talk about it with your family. Get some discussion going. We are going to start reading the Jesus Storybook Bible tonight. Even though it's geared for young children, it's a wonderful picture of how the entire Bible is redemptively pointing to Jesus. And it's great for any age! Because we all must be as little children, remember?

We also use our church band's album when we worship during Lent and Easter. You can buy it at itunes, and I can promise you won't be disappointed. My kids love listening to this, and it's truly the best album for this season that I've ever heard. I can't figure out how to link the album from itunes here because itunes doesn't have a web address. But the album is called "Rise O Buried Lord" by Redeemer Knoxville. Check it out today!!

Dying Easter Eggs

 Before the mess!

Despite what it may look like, Trand really was excited about dying eggs! He just doesn't like his picture taken!! :) 

Now the fun begins!

Yes, he had a little help getting so messy. 

He had lots of fun for sure! 

 Here's a few playing with my instagram on my iphone. I really wish they had this on the iMac!! It adds all these different "lenses"

 All cleaned up and having fun with my sisters!!

Family Valentine Dinner

Tonight we decided to do Valentine's Day together as a family. The kids never get to do "romantic" dinners so I did candles and everything for them. They even got to eat on real plates with the stemmed glasses! They usually get paper plates and plastic cups! :) The girls absolutely loved it, of course. They wanted to turn off every light in the house except the candles! The boys couldn't have cared less except that they didn't want all the lights off! We compromised with keeping the Living Room lights on! :) But that's okay. Maybe they'll remember someday that they had a mom who tried!! :) We did our traditional Valentine breakfast on Saturday because Sunday was too hard, and this morning was Classical Conversations so that was too early! I made heart shaped pancakes, and each child gets a little bag with chocolates at his/her place. This is a huge thing for them!! :) They treasure it. Except Cama-Jane got a little greedy and ate all of Shepley's bag!! Poor Shepley! I forgot to take pictures that morning, but I took some tonight.

My Daddy bought me a dozen roses which were the perfect centerpiece for our Valentine dinner. I have the best Daddy of all, and I am so blessed by him.

So here's to love. Here's to having a special day each year set aside to celebrate that love. Here's to Valentine's Day--a totally commercial Hallmark holiday that actually drives me crazy with it's "expectations" that are never met. But I do these things because my kids love traditions, and I love to make memories for them! My sweet husband isn't really into Hallmark holidays either, and that's okay. I know he loves me on every day of the year!

After the excitement...

Well, Christmas night is here. What a great Christmas it was. Christmas is always wonderful because of Jesus, but I have really loved this year! We didn't have much to spend this year. It's probably the least we've ever had to spend and the most kids to spend it on!! So we told them up front that there would be one present. They were all okay with that! Of course, they got plenty from grandparents and stuff that they loved, and it was very fun to see them open their gifts that they had been anticipating for so long. But because of not buying much this year, I was a whole lot happier! :) Things were way more laid back and relaxed during the whole season. I wasn't worried about "who had more presents" or "one more thing that I had to get." It was wonderful! It also gave me a lot more time to focus on Jesus and the gift that He was to us on that first Christmas.

My heart swells with gratefulness to our Lord for all he has given! I think about my amazing husband who is more than I could have ever known he would be 16 1/2 years ago when we said "I do." At 20 years old, how could I have known what I would need for the rest of my life? How could I have known what I was getting into? How could I have known how to be married at all? I definitely had great role models in my parents. I definitely had an easy, laid back husband to grow with me. But I give all the credit to God! He hand-picked this man for me before the foundation of the earth! And let me tell you, he couldn't have found a better match! :) I mean that with all my heart. There's no man on earth that is more suited for me or that fits me better. I'm convinced.

Then my mind drifts swiftly to my children--all six of them so vastly different! Yes, a couple of them have some of the same quirks and traits that they inherited honestly, but all with such unique personalities. To think that God designed them individually, made them exactly how HE wanted and then entrusted them to us to keep for Him is overwhelming. How could he love me THAT much to bless me THIS much??

I love teaching them about Jesus. I love talking about Him. I love that they are learning everyday more and more to see things through his eyes! I love to see a breakthrough in their hearts!! Yes, they all revert back (alot of the time!!) to their sinful, fleshy hearts, but don't I as well? My goal is to love them and parent them like my Heavenly father loves and parents me. He isn't quick or harsh with punishment. He's patient and kind. He lovingly shows me the error of my ways with gentle reminders and pricks to my conscience. Then his Holy Spirit gives me the ability to change those sinful ways. I want that for my children. Yes, they have the Holy Spirit as well, but God has also given them me to guide them. He's given them parents to show them the right way, lead them patiently and lovingly help them get back on the right path. How I long to be more like him.

So the season will soon be over. Christmas lights will come down. (My little ones are still exclaiming over them every time we are out at night just like they are brand new!) The Christmas music will stop in the stores, and there will once again be no allowance of Jesus to be mentioned in the public sector. But isn't it wonderful that no one can ever take him out of our hearts! "Thy word have I hid in my heart." Once it's hidden there, no one can take it. Thank you, Jesus! Thank you for becoming the Living Word--for putting on flesh, for humbly being born as a helpless baby to a lowly teenage mother and carpenter step father. Thank you for leaving your glory to make yourself known and understood to the least and lowliest shepherds! And thank you for making yourself known to me! I love you, my precious Redeemer.

Merry Christmas all! Count your blessings tonight and ponder them as we go into 2011. Who knows, this could be the year of our Lord's return?

How could they have missed it?

I've been thinking about the Christmas story today from a little different perspective. What about the perspective of the citizens of Bethlehem? I mean, that town was full to the brim--so full that there was no room anywhere for a VERY pregnant lady to have a bed. I wonder if anyone was out for a nightly stroll when Mary was in the throws of labor. Now, I'm not saying she was screaming hysterically or anything, but having had quite a few babies myself, I know what it feels like. I also know that the first time, no one can prepare you exactly for what it's going to feel like. The fact that she had no help besides Joseph (and no doubt he wasn't much help) probably means she was pretty scared. Knowing a thing or two about birth, I know that being fearful during the birthing process makes it much harder and longer. So I'm thinking that she probably let out a yelp or two! Maybe someone stopped by to help? Maybe some kind lady who understood oh too well exactly what she was going through.

After Jesus was born--probably relatively quietly in the little stable--the Bible tells us that an angel appeared to some shepherds out in their fields nearby. After the angel announced Jesus' birth, Luke 2:13 says, "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel..." I've heard scholars say that there were probably a thousand or even ten thousand angels. Okay, SOMEBODY other than those shepherds had to have seen those angels!! Can you imagine? You're checking out the sights in Bethlehem--home of your youth. You've come back for the census, and you haven't been there in years. You're taking your wife to the places you used to hang out as a kid, and low and behold you hear the loudest "ALLELUIA" you've ever heard. You look up and there's hundreds, even thousands of glorious beings lighting up the night sky singing the greatest praise and worship service there's ever been. Come on...don't tell me you're not gonna wonder what's going on???

How could they have missed it? How could this whole town not having been buzzing about what was going on in the stable behind the inn? How could they not have been curious about the night sky being so lit up by a thousand angels booming out the worship songs? All of heaven was ablaze with his glory. The Bible tells us that the shepherds went and told everyone about what they had seen after they went to the baby. Did no one believe them? I mean, surely the next morning there was someone at the Bethlehem Bed and Breakfast talking about the night sky and someone else who had heard from the shepherds. Didn't they put two and two together? They were Jews!! Didn't they know any of the prophecies?? You'd think this heavenly phenomenon would have made it's way to Herod's ear. But even he didn't know.

Then, after those crazy shepherds probably stopped talking because no one believed them, along came the wise men months later. And let me tell you, there weren't just three wise men. Just because the Bible only tells us that there were three gifts (and there may have been more), that doesn't mean there were only three men. They would have been completely insane to carry such valuable gifts across the desert from the East with just three of them. They would most certainly have been robbed and killed. No, there was more likely a whole caravan of wise men plus their servants. So now, here comes 40, 50, maybe even 100 men riding into the town on camels, draped in beautiful clothes, gold and silver. They would certainly have had different skin, different eyes, different everything from the Jews. They even spoke a different language. And yet, once again, Bethlehem thought "Eh, this is an every day occurrence"?????

John 1:10-13 says:

"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

There you have it. The Jews did not receive him. He came to them, and they rejected him--just like many of them are still rejecting him today. And as hard as it may be to swallow, that was God's plan all along. Right there it tells us that it is not "human decision." It's God's. No wonder they missed it. What other way could you explain their complete lack of awareness to all the prophetic things going on around them?

I do believe the Jews will have another chance. I believe that God will not forsake his people. He is the same God "yesterday, today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) He spans time, and is not bound by our finite minds. The Jews are still his chosen ones. As Gentiles, we have been grafted into Abraham's line--of which I am very thankful!! But the Jews are in the blood line. I don't know how it will happen or when, but I believe God, in his timing, will call them back to himself.

He is a wonderful and gracious King. I'm so grateful to have been chosen to be his Princess. I can't wait to see how the rest of the story is going to play out, and I'm so excited to get to spend eternity talking about the greatest story ever told--the greatest event that's ever happened to this earth--the birth of Jesus. Heaven came down. God left his throne of glory to be wrapped in human flesh and humbled himself to become a helpless baby born in a nasty stable! All for us. All so that even the lowliest shepherd boy could know him, touch him, attain salvation from him. What an amazing thought. Only the God of the Universe could have orchestrated such a love story. And only our Holy God could love us with love that amazing.

This Christmas, I want to focus on that. I don't want to be a clueless citizen of Bethlehem who misses all the signs!! I pray that God opens my eyes to every wonderful miracle going on around me--starting with the miracle of my own precious family. Thank you, Jesus, for coming to earth. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for choosing me. I love you, Jesus!

Close Enough has to be Good Enough! I got all the kids in their Christmas pajamas last night, and I was determined to get a picture--even without Jon here! I was pretty proud of myself for getting them all together all alone. They all look great in this one except the baby wasn't looking. Oh well. In any of them that he was looking one (or more) of the others ones was doing something crazy! This happened to be the very first one I took! So I terrorized them for the next 10-15 minutes taking more for no reason!! I guess you never know! :)