Broken

Last night we remembered Passover and the Last Supper while we had our own dinner. It was the first time we've done this, but it felt important to do it this year. 

As we told the story of Passover, I was so impressed with what my son remembered and how he was able to connect the history to the symbolism and how it relates to us today. 

Then we talked about the Last Supper. 
We read the scriptures in Luke. 
We talked about sin.
We talked about sacrifice. 
We talked about Jesus on the cross. 
His body broken for us. 
To save us. 

Then we had communion together as family. 
Remembering Him.
Remember His sacrifice. 
Remembering His broken body.
Remembering His love.

Luke 22:14-20

14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.

15 and he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."

17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you.

18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."

19 And he took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."

Today I am linking up with Lisa-Jo for 5 Minute Fridays. To find out more, click here. Join in and be blessed! 

REST

Rest. It makes me think of the supernatural rest we can experience in Jesus when we just remember to go to Him with our weary bones.

When my husband was diagnosed with cancer almost 3 years ago to the day I was wrought with anxiety and fear. When you are faced with this awful knowing, the facts are not your friends. Google became my worst enemy telling me everything I didn't want to hear about my husbands chances.  Rushing to tests, surgeries, chemo, all of it was so tiring and had my edges worn and frayed, I was only holding together by the slimmest of threads.

Then I came to the point where I didn't want to hear anymore of it, no website, no brochure, no one knew what was going to happen to my husband except God. He is the one who numbers our days, no one else. I turned to God, I trusted Him for the outcome. That was His will would be done. I soaked in His word and prayed countless prayers. I breathed Romans 8:28.

In that, I found rest that cannot be explained with human terms. During the most difficult time of my life, I had rest. The rest that comes with turning everything over to Him. The rest that only He can provide.

He is tried and true. His love is never-ending and the comfort He provides is like none other.

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Today, I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker for 5 Minute Friday. Join in and be blessed! :)

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.


2. Link back here and invite others to join in.

3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

Home

Home.  I'm sitting home. Alone.

This never happens. It is so quiet I can hear the ringing in my ears. 

My son is having a sleepover at a friends house tonight. Thus my reprieve. It seems blissful at first. Heavenly silence. I long for it all the time. But now that I've got it, it seems a bit lonely. 

Home is made up of all the wonderful sounds of childhood. Running up and down steps, giggling over tickles. Cuddles and pleas to stay up "just 5 more minutes". 

The sounds of home are so precious. I hope to never take them for granted and to enjoy each minute of noisy boy racket, remote control engines revving at my feet, requests for cookies and string cheese....... 

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Today I'm joining Lisa-Jo for 5 Minute Friday......

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

Join in and be blessed!!!!!

Ordinary

The beauty of an ordinary day

He was recovering from a week of being sick and slept a good 2 hours longer than on a normal Saturday.

When he finally roused, we cuddled on the couch and watched old Godzilla cartoons from the '90's that I didn't even know existed.

It is still winter, but the sun was shining and it was exceptionally warm for a February in Minnesota so we took a walk, splashing in the puddles and crunching the crusty, frozen snow.

We ate peanut butter sandwiches and yogurt for lunch washing it all down with pink lemonade.

We searched Pinterest for a project that we actually had the supplies for. The upside of never emptying the bathroom garbage is an abundance of toilet paper rolls. We settled on a toilet-paper tube snake!

We talked and laughed and even did a little housework.

We ended the day with dinner at mom's (all the way across the street) a blessing for sure.

We ended the day where we started, cuddling on the couch watching more episodes of Godzilla.

It was an ordinary day that was anything but.

I wish that all Saturdays could be this "ordinary".

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I'm linking up with LisaJo today for 5 Minute Fridays!

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

It was bound to happen

I heard him crunching the ice on the sidewalk as he walked in. He bounded in the door, his usual energetic self, happy with his new haircut.

He said he wanted to talk to me about something and he went over the couch and sat down. He patted the seat next to him and summoned me to sit with him. I couldn't resist the invitation. I knew he must be serious since that is what I always do when I want to have a serious talk with him. So, even though it was nearly bedtime and he still needed a shower to get rid of all the "tickly hair" around his neck, I sat.

He said "I want to know about my dad. Not my dad who died, but my first dad." Panic struck my insides. Why didn't he want to talk about sex or something?!?!?

It's not like the topic of "Old Dad", as we refer to him, never comes up. But, usually, it is just a brief question here and there.

That night he wanted the details......"Start at the beginning mom, where did you and my first dad meet?"

Here is the thing.....Old Dad was a drug dealer, I was addicted, we were a complete and total mess. My life was everything I pray his will not be. Things didn't end well with Old Dad. We went to court, got restraining orders, finally moved away and haven't had any contact since. That was 6 1/2 years ago.

Questions about him were always asked about why we didn't see him anymore. The answers have been a little more detailed as he gets older. He knows a little about the drugs, but mostly that he was "mean" to me. This is an understatement. He stalked me and terrorized me to no end when I decided to leave him. But, he doesn't need the details.

I gave him a few details of how we met and ushered him to the shower with promises that I would tell him more later.

As he showered, I paced my room. Praying quickly "Lord, what should I say to him?"

Then it happened. I remembered some good things about Old Dad. I remembered how kind he was to people. How he was always the first to help. I told Tanner about these things, from behind the shower curtain. I told him how much he liked to ride bicycles, one of Tanner's very favorite things to do. I told him how Old Dad protected me when I needed it.

He got out of the shower and into bed. As I tucked him in, I told him how Old Dad wasn't a bad person but that he had a lot of problems. That drugs make us make super bad choices. That sometimes, our problems are so big that the only way out is Jesus. 

I told him how much I loved him and that is why we had to stop being around Old Dad. That I couldn't risk him being taken away from me. That he was more important to me than anything or anyone else.

I think he needed to hear that he was born out of love. He needed to know that there was good in old dad. That he wasn't destined to be "bad", that he had a chance.

It would have been easy to ignore the prompting to tell him the good about his Old Dad. It was scary to tell him some of the truth that I'd rather keep hidden.

My heart was softened that night. I think both of our hearts were healed a bit.

God is so good at knowing what we need and when we need it.

What Mama Did

She held my hair...........


When I read this prompt the very first thing that I think of is that she held my hair. When I was a girl I had very long hair.....she loved my long blond hair. But when I would get sick, this beautiful hair was sure to get in my way and mom was always there to hold it back for me. Perhaps this isn't the most beautiful image, but in reality it symbolizes the never ending love that mom had/has for me. She was always there stroking my hair and making sure I was ok. It really is the little things that make the biggest impression. To this day when I am sick, I long for my mom to come over and hold back my hair and comfort me in the way that only a mother can.

A close second would be the bunny cakes that she always made for my birthday that always falls near Easter! :)

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Today I am linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker for 5 Minute Fridays!

This weeks prompt is "What Mama Did".

In just five minutes. Tell me all about what your mama did that made her yours…
{and don’t forget to spend some time commenting on the post of the person who linked up just before you}

Click HERE to join in!

Beloved

Beloved

Beloved......This is a hard word for me. Yesterday was Valentine's Day, a day for lovers. Hard for me because my beloved is in heaven now. Last year, my first Valentine's day with out him, was hard in a different way, everything was still new so the hurt was much more raw. This year, it was different, I grieved the little things. My honey was a romantic at heart and always picked the most beautiful cards and wrote me beautiful lines of love. I miss that.

The other thing that was hard was that I wanted to express my sorrow, but didn't want to be a downer for others. How do I express myself without looking like I'm asking for sympathy? A simple heart on my honey's still active Facebook page was what I chose.

My son and I also made it a special day with a Dairy Queen date! My evening ended with suprise flowers and chocolates from an amazing couple at my church. God showed me I was HIS beloved and He sees my heart and He knew I needed a little extra love yesterday.
    
 Today I'm joining Lisa-Jo for 5 Minute Friday.......Here's the deal:  

1. Write for 5 minutes flat with no editing, tweaking or self critiquing.

2. Link back here and invite others to join in {www.lisajobaker.com}.

3. Go and tell the person who linked up before you what their words meant to you. Every writer longs to feel heard.

Join in and be blessed!!!!