Is this a joke?

So you have heard me go on and on lately about freshly mowed grass and daffodils and chirp- ping robins and planting flower seeds. Well, then yesterday happened. Well on our way to a gorgeous spring and we get hit with a winter wonderland. Sitting at the table, having dinner we watched the the snow flakes start to fall fast and hard. In a matter of an hour we literally had two inches of snow on the ground. So we bundled Anniebelle up and headed outside, along with the rest of the neighborhood to gawk and play until it got dark. We woke up this morning, still shocked to discover several more inches of snow had fallen over night. It feels like it should be April Fools Day or something. So instead of planting the rest of the perennials I bought the other day I think we'll go our and make a snowman. As you can tell from this picture, Anniebelle finds it all very enchanting. Glad somebody does. It really is beautiful and truthfully her excitement over random snowstorms does rub off on me a little.

We did have a lovely Easter. The day was even more low key than I had first thought. As it turned out we didn't even make it to church on a account of David and Annabelle having come down with a rip-roaring cold and just not feeling up to going much of anywhere. So we cuddled most of the day, read the story of Jesus resurrection in all four gospels which was really nice, ate this really yummy carrot cake, and played lots of ring-around-the-rosy. It mostly poured all day long, so we ended up picnicking on our living room floor, which was super fun anyway. And in between the rain drops we did get a chance to fly the kite and run around the yard in our rain boots.

We did our little egg hunt the night before. It was so much fun to watch Annabelle tromp around the yard in a state of absolute glee. David would probably tell you it was a toss up on who was more excited...Annabelle, squealing every time she spotted the next one or me looking on happily as she hunted down those 5 eggs.

Once the sugar high had subsided, and after we had whisked her off to bed, I stayed up till midnight to play. Okay, so besides being fun, dyeing eggs is harder and messier than it looks.

It was just the perfect, cozy, together sort of day to remember the greatness of Jesus love for us.

Hope yours was equally wonderful.

{ Love Beyond Compare }

One of the things I really appreciate about our church is their observance of Good Friday. Until we started attending Mars Hill I had never been to a Good Friday Service. But over the years it has become a memorable and transforming time for me. To honor the day that Christ so willingly suffered beyond imagination, to free us from the horror of sin and death. To be in that darkened room, lit only by a few little candles, full of hundreds of other people, to hear the volumes their reverent silence speaks, and listen to the story of Jesus death read from the Bible, to sing praise to Jesus for the perfect substitution He become for us. It's intense. It's painful. It's awesome. You are swept away in the most profound sense, by the magnitude of His forgiveness. It's also beautiful and makes the joy of Easter morning that much better in the light of His ultimate demonstration of, as the song says, " such wondrous love... " on the day that He did, " bear the dreadful curse for my soul. "

Between heaven and hell
A teardrop fell In the deep crimson dew
The tree of life grew

And the blood gave life To the branches of the tree
And the blood was the price
That set the captives free
And the numbers that came
Through the fire and the flood
Clung to the tree
And were redeemed by the blood

From the tree streamed a light That started the fight
'Round the tree grew a vine
On whose fruit I could dine
My old friend Lucifer came
Fought to keep me in chains
But I saw through the tricks
Of six-sixty-six

And the blood gave life To the branches of the tree
And the blood was the price
That set the captives free
And the numbers that came
Through the fire and the flood Clung to the tree
And were redeemed by the blood

From his hands it came down
From his side it came down
From his feet it came down
And ran to the ground
And a small inner voice Said "You do have a choice."
The vine engrafted me And I clung to the tree.


This song was written and sung by Johnny Cash. You can see for yourself, here.

{ thinking out loud }

Something tells me, that you will get what I am trying to say.

That no matter what the situation, whether in the mundane or the desperate hours of our lives, His whisper to our hearts remains the same " My grace is enough for you." Because His grace will hold you, keep you, pick you up, and get you through.

Maybe it's living in the face of great tragedy and loss. Maybe it's the pain of a heart that longs and dreams and hopes while the dream still remains unfulfilled. Or maybe it's just one of those days when the baby is crabby, the laundry is starting to look like a small mountain, and the diapers are all poopy. How is it then, in spite of those less than ideal, anything but fun, far from perfect circumstances we find ourselves in, that we also find at the very core of our soul, a peace and a joy that we can't begin to explain?

And all you know is that His love is real. His forgiveness is entire. And His grace is amazing. Every single day of your life.

"...and you are complete in Him ( Jesus ). Of His fullness have we all recieved and grace for grace. "

Col 2:10 & John 1:16

{ Spring Break }

Our presence in blog-land has been sparse in the past days. The reason being that we've decided to go on an impromptu spring break. But we'll be back before too long. In the meantime, look for us out in the back yard, picking daffodils, running in the new cut grass, admiring the crocuses and listening to the robins chirp their happy little songs.