Show and Tell - March

March has brought some fun activities such as our annual trip to the sugarbush. This year we talked Wayne into joining us by promising a breakfast buffet of all you can eat pancakes/syrup and sausages. Because of the cold temps, the syrup wasn't running yet but it was still fun to tour the farm and enjoy some maple taffy.

Big news! Zanna got her ears pierced! She used her birthday money to pay someone to shoot a hole through both her earlobes. The look of shock only lasted a few minutes and then she was back to focusing on the two Hello Kitty studs adorning each of her ears. 

We have a new member of the family!!! Meet Snowie. Snowie is a parrotlet which is a small version of a parrot. He's about the same size as our former budgie Xerxes (may he rest in peace somewhere in our backyard). Snowie is officially Zanna's bird which means she's responsible for cleaning his cage weekly,  cleaning the area around the cage daily and she's blamed for any stray bird poop I find around the house. Having said that, we're currently potty training Snowie which will hopefully cut down on the stray droppings. I have to admit, he's adorable and can sometimes be found on my shoulder as I get supper ready. 

After standing by silently watching all her friends loose their teeth and get visits from the tooth fairy, Zanna's day finally came. Now she has no top teeth and a gap on the bottom. We like to call her "Hillbilly Zan". 

We had a week off of the normal routine during March Break. Now it seems the rest of the school year is winding down and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel! We've got a busy spring planned with Confirmation in May along with Will's birthday and Zanna's ballet recital - all in the same weekend! Before all that is the Easter prep and this year's Seder Supper to plan. Will's got another school tour planned in April with his string ensemble. They're also competing in the Kiwanis festival next month. See you in April!

God is on the Cross - The Purpose for Suffering

Source

This past week's theme was temptation and had me scratching my head in confusion a couple of times. Thankfully between my book club friend and I (and a consultation with my pastor husband), we were able to sort things out more or less. That is the blessing as opposed to reading something on my own and never getting a chance to "discuss". 

We started with Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. This was not just some "good example" for us to follow but his active obedience in perfectly resisting temptation on our behalf. He earned salvation for us by living the perfect life we are unable to live, then suffering and dying for our sins and finally conquering death and the devil in his glorious resurrection! 

But when it comes to our lives of sanctification, we continue to struggle with temptation that comes in various forms outside of ourselves and inside our very beings! We discussed what is meant in the Lord's Prayer by our asking God to "lead us not into temptation", the roll of our conscience, where our strength comes from while being surrounded by so much evil and conflict. We considered our natural tendency to want to get back at those who do us harm and how hurtful that actually is. We wrestled with our daily struggle against our Old Adam and the New Man that is strengthened through the means of grace. We must daily die to self  and live for Christ and despite the struggle that this brings, we can embrace it in joy! 

This next week's theme is "The Purpose of Suffering".  If Christ already suffered what was sufficient to earn our salvation, then why do we continue to suffer?  

God is on the Cross - Self-Denial

So I've barely made it through the week emotionally intact after this one - self-denial. Denial is not just a river in Egypt (I'm so sorry. I just couldn't help myself). 

My reading this week has included my daily readings from Treasury of Daily Prayer, The Theology of the Cross and both have complemented God is on the Cross. I throw in The Book Thief for levity. Just kidding. 

And I'm sure I'm driving my kids nuts every time I play this in the van but Noah Gundersen's "Ledges" is my official Lenten song. Song - not hymn, Lutherans. Don't panic. 

This is the soundtrack of my life right now. I cannot make it through without shedding tears. Thank you, Noah.

Snow continues to be pervasive and seems to come either on a Wednesday afternoon or Saturday night to negatively affect our church worship (hence my previous theory that they're sinflakes.) 

But whatever. 

Back to self-denial.

Jesus perfected denial of self and did so out of obedience to his Father and for the love of mankind. What love is this, o my soul. The Son of God humbled himself taking the form of a slave, being formed in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross. Philippians 2:7,8

We too carry our own crosses - not for the same reason or in the same way. But we share in suffering in that we have an internal struggle of flesh and blood called SELF that resists following Christ. The battle we face throughout our lives of sanctification is fought until we reach our eternal glory - and it's exhausting! Thanks be to God for his perfect self-denial to win for us salvation. Thanks be to God for sending his Spirit to give us strength enough to fight these battles and preserve us in the one true faith. 

God lets himself be pushed out of the world and onto the cross; God is impotent and weak in the world yet specially and only so that he is with us and helps us. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The mystery of Easter

I've got a lot of loose ends. I've done some damage. I've cut the rope so it frayed. And I've got a lot of good friends. Keeping me distracted. Keeping my sanity safe. 

Here I stand on the edge of the ledges I've made looking for a steady hand. 

Here I stand in the land of the rocks and the valleys trying to be a better man for you. 

I want to learn how to love - and give it all back.

Forgive me all that I've done.           ~ Noah Gundersen

Thank you to the friends that have been there for me keeping me distracted. You are gifts!  ~ Rachel

God is on the Cross - Prayerful Reflection

A happy Lent to all who are walking with our Lord Up to Jerusalem! We're a week in now and I've enjoyed my readings and "discussion" on the Dietrich Bonhoeffer book "God is on the Cross".  This is my first year including it in my readings and it's definitely a supplement as it doesn't get too in depth or long enough to really flesh each topic out in length. That's where I appreciate bringing it into the other stuff I'm reading (you know, like the Bible) and listening (you know, like the Lenten sermons on Wednesday nights) and my Issues, etc. podcasts. The Danger of Rejecting Lenten Practices and Ash Wednesday and the Season of Lent has been good reminders of what Lent is and what it isn't.

 It's been so great to discuss "God is on the Cross" with another reader as I go along! You can find our back and forth of the first week under the comments section of my last post. 

To recap, last week's theme was Prayerful Reflection. We read about Jesus' cross for us and what our crosses are and the uniqueness in them. We read about prayer - what it is and what it isn't and the confidence in who we're praying to! We read about how important it is to stay connected to the vine through his Word and Sacraments, his constancy and our moodiness! We read about mediation and slowly taking in his words to us and the power those words have.We were reminded of how God preserves his children and strengthens us to remain on the path to salvation. We read about the hope we have as Christians and how hope is only found in Jesus! And finally, we read about how patient our God is with us. We concluded that God uses our suffering for our eternal good and things are not always as they seem! 

This week's theme is Self-Denial which should be interesting. We live in a culture where we really don't need to deny ourselves anything. We can be instantly entertained, fed, amused - all at the click of a mouse, remote control or drive through. And seeing as the author wrote his thoughts while rotting in a Nazi concentration camp, he should have some interesting perspective! 

Jesus denied himself to extreme perfection, allowing even his life to be taken for us. Nothing we do or deny ourselves can add to this! I suspect there can be a spiritual benefit however, in strengthening our muscles by practicing restraint despite the ease of getting what we want when we want it. I hope to flesh this out further in the coming week. 

Up to Jerusalem: Lent 2014

Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again." The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
 Luke 18:31-34 NIV 84

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. For the next six weeks, our church will meet every Wednesday night leading up to Holy Week to contemplate and reflect on Christ's perfect sacrifice for mankind who is utterly destitute apart from him. All those Old Testament prophecies we talked about during Advent and fulfilled in Jesus - true God and true Man. 

In addition to attending midweek services, I've gotten out the books for my daily devotions for this time of year and added some new ones.

Concordia Publishing is having a good sale right now on:
Celebrate Jesus at Easter - great for families!
He Was Crucified  - a must for your home
Martin Luther's Easter Book - just ordered it for myself

From Northwestern Publishing House:
The Theology of the Cross - a year long favourite but there are Lenten/Holy Week/Easter sermons in the back that are perfect for weekly readings
Forgiven Pin - been wearing this for years during Lent

From Amazon - book or download:
God is on the Cross - Reflections on Lent and Easter by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This last book I'll be posting thoughts weekly on Wednesdays. Each week has a different theme beginning with "Prayerful Reflection". Feel free to join in and make comments! 

The pretty nail polish is off my toenails - the only time of year I allow them to be naked! Weird, I know. But the reality is I'm so full of myself that I need these little jolts to remind me of how empty I am apart from him. To be reminded of my need helps me to appreciate the Fulfiller of my Every Need. 

And as another visual reminder of our journey up to Jerusalem, the kids and I will be making another "Lenten Garden of Grace". Wait. Who am I kidding? I'll be making it as the kids watch me from the warm side of the window fill the basket up with dirt. My perfect kind of indoor plant - I only have to keep it alive for 6 weeks. By the grace of God, I can do that! 

I also have the blessing of being on altar care at church this month.  I am humbled that I'm even allowed to prepare the meal of bread and wine for communion tonight. We don't just remember his sacrifice in this meal but he gives us his body and blood and he gives us his life-giving sacrifice.  Thank you, Jesus. 

God bless your journey up to Jerusalem!  

Winter

I don't want to start complaining. I mean, normally I'm a pretty positive person who tries to see the blessings. But seriously. I am so over winter. I was over it a month ago. This is the part of winter that I get angry being cold.

Should I wear my black boots today or my brown? is the big question I get to ask myself everyday in the winter. 

I'm pretty sure that winter as I know it is a result of the fall into sin. Which would make snowflakes more accurately sin flakes. I'm just saying. 

This is the time of year that I'm popping Vitamin D like they're Skittles. As a matter of fact, I've even bypassed the pill form and got the pure, concentrated liquid from my chiropractor. She's like my dealer. A drop of the liquid is supposed to be the equivalent of 1000 IU's and has this citrus flavour sort of like lemon pie. I call it my "happy juice". Zanna asked me in all seriousness why I kept calling it my happy juice when I was already happy? Guess that means it's doing it's job …. 

On my more positive days, I do try to enjoy the weather as much as I can but since I don't ski, sled or snowshoe it's pretty limiting. We did go down to the canal two weeks ago and ice skate on the longest skating rink in the world. That was fun. Instead of ice skating around and around in a circle on a regular rink which is, in fact going nowhere, this rink has a destination : the Beavertail and hot chocolate pitstop. If that's not motivation, nothing is! In case you are unaware of what a Beavertail is, rest assured it has nothing to do with an actual animal and involves no hair balls. It's a baked dough in the shape of a beaver's tail and comes in a variety of toppings. My personal favourite would be maple syrup. 

The outing was overall a breath of fresh air (literally) and I will only remember the good. That means that I will forget how Zanna whined incessantly about her sore feet in the skates we got her last year (too bad, you're going to have to keep wearing them cause we ain't getting you a new pair until next year if you're lucky) and how she'd start yelling if I skated in front of her because she hates being last. And how Will thought the hot chocolate was too bland and when are we turning around? so that we left the kids nice and cozy at the fire pit by themselves so we could skate off hand in hand in blissful ignorance of their fighting - at least for a few minutes. Which pretty well sums up parenting, don't you think? Do yourself a favour and try to focus on the good times. 

Is the overall tone in this a little snarly? Seems like it's time for another shot of mama's happy juice.