Our Amber

Daily Gratitude- Year 14 - Day 98: Today, I am grateful for our Amber.

It is the anniversary of the day she was born and a wonderful reason to celebrate. 

She is the daughter Walker chose for us and it has been a joy to see them care for each other with such gentleness and compassion. They really like and encourage each other daily. 

She fits into our family of six just right. She loves color, crafting, cats, conversations, cozy couch moments, and Walker. Gardening and cooking together fills their days with the ordinary things that are truly extraordinary. She is intentional about walking in love. 

This was the scripture read at their wedding almost a year and a half ago. It is a popular passage, but for them it was perfect. 

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends." -1 Corinthians 13:1-8

We are grateful for her birth, her heart, and the choice she makes every day to love well. Her name is perfect. Amber stone is a naturally occurring fossilized resin. It has long been valued by many cultures and is found in a variety of rich colors. Amber loves color! 

Amber, also, has been thought to have healing properties acting as an effective pain reliever for inflammatory, muscle, and chronic pains. Our Amber brought healing, too.  

Happy Birthday, Amber. We love you. 

Today, I am grateful for our Amber.

Peonies Popping

Daily Gratitude- Year 14 - Day 97: Today, I am grateful for the peonies popping. 

Spring is trying to break free of winter. We have had enough warmth and sun to give the peonies the courage to break through the soil. Before the green foliage and pink blooms, they look a little like red asparagus. 

This year, it is particularly exciting to see them because Randy divided them last year. We will wait and see what the summer brings. We are hopeful. 

The plant world "feels" things differently. It responds to the environmental factors thrown its way. Drought, too much rain, pruning, wind, and pests impact the plant. Most plants fight the fight. They struggle until they win or lose. Humans, at times, offer intervention to help, not always with success. Nature is still full of mystery. 

What about new life in Christ? We are two days past Easter. This was my verse of the day that reminds us that new life in Christ is like no other. The mystery is summed up in this letter to the Galatians:

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

When there is an invitation to let Christ lead, everything else changes. We can trust that the one who paid our debt in full by his death and resurrection has our best interests in mind. Not every day will be sunshine and flowers, but there is a purpose to the path, even in the struggle. 

Often in the struggles, new life takes root and flourishes. 

Today, I am grateful for the peonies popping. 

Budding Trees

 

Daily Gratitude- Year 14 - Day 96: Today, I am grateful for budding trees. 

Out the window this morning are budding trees! What a delight it is to see them bursting with that perfect spring green color and resurrection. 

After the resting season of winter, the pruning, and the deep freeze, new life springs forth. It had been waiting for the right time. The time is now. 

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." -2 Corinthians 5:17

Our bodies look the same on the outside, but what was once dead inside of us has been brought to new life. Restored and ready to fully live. 

Let heaven and nature sing! 

Today, I am grateful for budding trees. 

He Is Risen!

Daily Gratitude- Year 14 - Day 95: Today, I am grateful, "He is risen!"

My friend, Susan, posted this image today and it captured the "Wow!" of this day. It is the most important holy day for Christians. 

At Christmas, Jesus was born in human skin. It must have felt so strange. Perhaps, by his thirty-third year he was kind of used to it. He had certainly embraced living in a family, with friends, and in fellowship with others around him. 

When he bore the cross, he experienced a human death. He chose it. He asked if the Father had a better idea, but in the end Jesus prayed, "Thy will be done." Then, He submitted to ridicule, humiliation, beatings, and execution on a cross. 

I have enjoyed listening to Wes Huff (Apologetics Canada) and others talk about historical documentation on Jesus's death on a cross. When the ancient Romans crucified someone, they were dead when they were done! They removed a dead human body late that Friday and placed it in a stone tomb. 

Saturday was full of stunned silence and shame for those who had betrayed even knowing Jesus. Then on Sunday, with the men still hiding, the women get up to go to the tomb to better prepare the body in death. They carried spices for the task, but when they arrived - the tomb was empty! A heavenly messenger announced that they would not find Him in the tomb. Jesus had risen... as he said he would. 

"He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay." -Matthew 28:6

Resurrection proves Jesus was fully God. Very dead, now fully alive, again. For 40 days Jesus would continue to appear and engage with people. The word spread like wildfire with so many eye witnesses. It must have been especially clear to those who had a front row seat at the cross, at the tomb, and in the forty days beyond the tomb. 

Jesus accomplished his mission! Our sin debt was paid in full. Jesus declared, "It is finished." Then, he proceeded to conquer the grave so that we might only know death as a door. Our part? Believe, confess, repent, and receive the gift of salvation. Then, accept the invitation to walk with Him through all of our earthly days. 

"Deal? Or, no deal?" 

Today, I am grateful, "He is risen! He is risen, indeed!"

Work Done in Silence

Daily Gratitude- Year 14 - Day 94: Today, I am grateful for the work done in silence.

"Holy Saturday. The best reminder that the silence of God doesn't equal the absence of God." -Tullian Tchividjian

Some work is a showy production. Other work is tedious, time consuming, and best accomplished in silence. 

On the day between the crucifixion and the resurrection, some were in hiding. A group of women waited for the Sabbath restrictions to lift so they could care for Jesus's body. There were tears from many and a deep sense of sorrow that words could not really capture. What did they hear for heaven? Silence. 

Jesus had told them more than once that he would die and rise on the third day. After such a brutal death - did they believe it impossible? They had witnessed Jesus raise people from death. Lazarus was a recent and impressive resurrection, as he had been in the grave four days and he did not even stink when he came out of the tomb. Yet, it seems they had no hope. 

Waiting places are rarely our favorites. Yet, in the waiting places the seeds of faith or doubt most often take root and grow. What shall we plant today? 

"Do not dig up in doubt what you planted in faith." -Elizabeth Elliott

Big things are brewing in the silence. 

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." -Hebrews 11:1

Sunday's on the way! 

Today, I am grateful for the work done in silence.

The Spoken Words

 

Daily Gratitude- Year 14 - Day 93: Today, I am grateful for the spoken words. 

After the betrayal, abandonment, rejections, and the flogging that would have killed most men, Jesus was forced to carry his own cross until it was physically impossible to take another step. 

Simon of Cyrene was "compelled" or "seized" to help. It wasn't voluntary but it was life-changing. He is the only human who helped Jesus carry the cross. (Mark... typically a man of a few words... is the one who mentions Simon as the father of Alexander and Rufus... connecting the cross to future carriers of the Gospel of Christ.)   

The horrors of the past 24 hours, the casting of lots for his clothes, the swing of the hammer that pounded the nails into his flesh, the cross raised up making every breath a struggle, and the offering of vinegar when Jesus craved water exemplified man's ability to act without humanity toward other men. Still, the lost souls on each side of Him mattered. One believed and received. One rejected the opportunity. The choice we all must make epitomized. 

The spoken words of Jesus from the cross are my gratitude for this Good Friday. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John give us four views of that day that changed everything. The prophecy in Psalm 22 comes to fruition. (If you are a math person, what are the odds of this psalm reading like a picture of the crucifixion?)

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." - A plea for forgiveness for his executioners reveals the heart of Jesus. (Luke 23:34)

"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." - Assurance to the repentant thief beside him. He was still mission focused until His last breath. (Luke 23:43)

"Woman, behold your son!" - Addressing Mary, entrusting her to John. (John 19:26) “Here is your mother!”  (John 19:27) -Clarifying for John that she was now under his care. He was still a son who loved his mother.

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" - A cry of anguish reflecting his suffering. (Matthew 27:46)(Psalm 22)(Mark 15:34) His prayer for another way was answered with a "no" so we might be pardoned. He felt the separation from the Father in that moment, as God put forward a propitiation for all through one. 

"I thirst." - A statement expressing his physical, human suffering. (John 19:28) 

"It is finished." - Declaring the completion of his mission. Victory! (John 19:30) He did it! He had completed the mission of the cross so we could be reconciled. 

"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." - A final act of surrender to God. (Luke 23:46) His life was not taken. It was given. 

Good Friday reminds us that love held Jesus on the cross, not nails. 

Today, I am grateful for the spoken words. 

Maundy Thursday

Daily Gratitude- Year 14 - Day 92: Today, I am grateful for Maundy Thursday. 

It was Passover week. From Palm Sunday to Thursday, the community climate around Jesus changed. From waving palms to the coming betrayals, his heart must have been so heavy. 

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” - Matthew 20:17-20

He pressed into the Passover celebrations. He even planned for the Passover meal with his disciples that we now call "The Last Supper." Would they have described his mood as pensive? He was deep in thought and determined to follow through with washing their feet before sharing the meal. 

Peter resisted. Jesus won. 

"When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?" -John 13:12

What were the men thinking? Jesus had repeatedly told them of what was to come, but they did not seem to process His words. Was it too unthinkable? For three years, he had masterfully escaped the challenges from the temple priests when they tried to set him up. The traitor would come from within. He was successful because... "now was the time." 

Maundy Thursday was monumental in the historical context. Nothing was accidental. Everything that was to pass was allowed by the hand of the Father and according to His purpose. The plan for the execution was executed. 

Jesus knew it. What did He do? He gathered them, fed them, and explained the new covenant... after he washed their feet. Kings are known to be demanding and unreasonable. Jesus served first. He healed those broken by sin and circumstance. Our little ones at church sing a song to the tune of "What Do you Do with a Drunkin' Sailor?" 

We have a King with a bowl and towel (x3), Servant King is Jesus!
Jesus the King is Risen (x3), Early in the morning.

How do our hearts respond to this Servant King? Eternity hangs on the question. 

Today, I am grateful for Maundy Thursday.