Happy Easter

This picture was taken last Easter. As you can see, Dakota has only a small amount of candy in her basket. She found what she wanted, a lollipop and was content to stop the hunt. Of course, her greedy brothers couldn't get enough candy!! I say greedy, but thinking about it we all had that desire as we grew up to get as much as we could when given the chance. Dakota's age finds contentment in the small, simple things like a dum dum lollipop.

When was the last time you truly enjoyed something simple? It is my challenge this season to understand the simple message of Salvation. Christ died for us, so we would not have to. This should be enough for me to savor and enjoy, but I still greedly keep looking for more and more and more. I pray that this weekend I take the time to enjoy the gift of Christ's love for us without griping or complaining about all that I do not have. Savoring the sweet love of Christ is the best treat of Easter.

Romans 5:8-9

" But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."

Clean House

I think this is the last time I truly enjoyed a clean house! This picture was taken before our house was finished last year. It has been exactly one year since we moved in our new home and it is amazing how fast time goes by. We now have fingerprints on the wall and nicks in the paint from moving some of our furniture in. It is easy to keep a house clean that has nothing in it! It is tempting to go into a minimal lifestyle where we have nothing in the house but a few chairs and one set of clothes each. But, as you could imagine, that would be no way to live and enjoy your home.

The Christian walk is that same way. It would have been so easy for God to keep a "clean house" by not allowing us to have any choices or decisions to make. He could have made us as beings that merely exist. Yet, though this might seem the easy way to be perfect, He gives us the ability to make our way through our lives, looking to Him for strength and courage to make it through each day. He delights in the fingerprints we leave on the walls and the nicks in the paint job left because of our mistakes because it means that we live there with him. Just like a family can enjoy being in their home, God enjoys us and welcomes us with open arms.

Psalm 84:10-11

" A single day in your courts

is better than a thousand anywhere else!

I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God

than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.

For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.

He gives us grace and glory.

The Lord will withhold no good thing

from those who do what is right."