What a Christian Passover Seder Can Teach

We gather together one evening, a community of believers who desire a link to the past to better understand the now. 

Maundy Thursday. The "church" term used to refer to the night Jesus and his disciples met together in the upper room to celebrate the Passover. This is the night we, two thousand years later, come together to imagine that night. 

What must have that been like - the eve of the betrayal that goes down in history and fulfills the many Old Testament prophecies of the One to come; the One that would save us all from eternal damnation? 

The table is set. On our plates are:
Bitter Herbs - symbolizes the bitterness of suffering the Israelites spent under the Egyptians
Parsley - a symbol of springtime and a renewal of nature
Hard Boiled Egg - the oppression made them stronger just as an egg gets harder as it's boiled
Charoset - symbolizing the mortar of the bricks the Israelites were forced to make

Jesus dined with his disciples and celebrated the Passover. The Israelites knew that blood had to be shed for their sin. They knew the blood of the lamb, the spotless lamb, must be sacrificed for the forgiveness of their sins each year. Did they know that they were dining this very evening with the Lamb who would die once and for all? Could they even anticipate that all the Israelite laws that they grew up following would now be fulfilled in the God-Man sitting among them?

This is a night of teaching and learning. Questions are asked and encouraged. As the tradition follows, the "young man" asks the head of the household why we eat bitter herbs, why we have a roasted lamb, why we eat unleavened bread. And history is taught to another generation so that we never forget. 

And this night we are reminded of the plight of the Israelites under the oppression of the Egyptians. We imagine their cry for deliverance for 400 years. We remember their haste in preparing the meal that would be their last in this land. And we praise God with them for their deliverance! We raise our glass of wine and share in their blessing! 

Dinner is served - Leg of Lamb with Rosemary, Balsamic Roasted Potatoes, and Green Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette
"Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
And our church basement gathering feasts on a lamb and savours even more the taste of forgiveness. 

We wonder where the meal that night took a turn. Just as we were being taught this evening, the disciples were taught by the Master that evening too. He told them what was coming. He assured them of His plan. He promised them His presence. How confused they must have been! 

That night He instituted the Lord's Supper. 

He would not leave them or us alone! He was to shed his body and blood for us all. We would share in this sacrifice through this gift He was now giving us in communion. Through His sacrifice, we could now enter into the presence of the Father in Jesus' name. There was now no need for a high priest. He became our High Priest and gave us access to God Himself. Every time we take Holy Communion our faith is sustained. We fellowship as a family with a common belief. We fellowship with Jesus Himself as He gives us what we need through the shedding of His body and blood. 

We are healed.

We end with the words of Jesus in the garden. We sit in a room surrounded with greenery and we imagine that garden Jesus is praying in. We hear Him, on this eve of His agony, pray for us.

He prayed for me!

His greatest concern in that moment wasn't preserving His own life. 

His greatest concern in that moment was his children and preserving our lives in eternity with Him. 

We leave this evening knowing what is to come.

Good Friday.

We also leave knowing what is to come.

Easter Sunday. 

By His wounds we are healed. 

Double Digits

My baby turned 10. 

I need a minute...

My parents came for this momentous event. It took them 3 days to get here instead of the usual 2 since they ran into a blizzard in the UP of Michigan and the highway was closed down. But they still managed to arrive smiling and ready to party! 

And since I do a party every other year, this was the year. The theme she picked was "Board Games". 

We have a games night at church once a month that she lives for! I'm not a super board game lover - I just never really grew up with it. I was more of a Solitaire player myself (this was before iPhones, people). Anyway, a friend and fellow mom and I from church concocted this idea so that once a month our kids could get their healthy dose of board game playing and unhealthy snack food and so she and I could chat it up without getting interrupted.  

So this was the inspiration for the party and I was just fine with it. Set up a few tables with games, a table with snack foods, have some balloons to birthday it up a bit and we've got ourselves a party! 

She had been asking the last few years for a piñata at her party. I was doubtful we could manage this indoors, but after consulting with Wayne and being assured that he'd come up with something we went ahead with the idea. The old Little Tikes plastic baseball bat was brought in from the cold and found frozen and broken. Again I was doubtful it could provide the needed swing and whack to open the piñata up, but I was assured by Wayne that all it needed was some thawing and duct tape. Finally all that was left was to find a place to safely hang it and I was assured that the Martin Luther College lanyard would be perfect for it to dangle from. Let the party begin! 

The girls had a few games going and also made time for an impromptu round or two of musical chairs which was confusing to me but what the birthday girl wants, the birthday girl gets. Then it was finally piñata time! 

A line was formed and each girl was allowed two whacks at the thing before going to the back of the line. Those little, sweet looking girls were getting aggressive! As holes began showing in the cute cupcake cardboard, the excitement rose as we waited for the final hit that would pour forth treats. I had the bags ready and waiting for the girls to collect there treats in. 

How was I supposed to know that it was up to me to fill up?

Oops.

It was definitely a surprise! Not the kind I was going for, but hey! There sat the empty shell of what was a cardboard cupcake and it's bright coloured tissue paper strewn across the floor. No treats. Rats. 

So this will go down as "the birthday Mom forgot to fill the piñata". That may be so but how about those ice cream sundaes?! 

So what else is going on ... hhhhhhmmmmm... how about the snow? 

I couldn't even get to the mail box one day because of it all.  And it seems a little fishy that we keep getting bad weather on Wednesdays now that we have Lenten services that evening. Which proves my point that snow is from the devil. 

This is the time of year I daydream that someone gifts us a tropical vacation.

This is Zanna's first year in synchronized swimming. She's having a blast and recently participated in a competition. They had individual rounds along with their group performance. She placed silver in them all! Yay, Zanna!!! 

Now if only the temperature would hit double digits, maybe we'd celebrate with a piñata;)

VaLENTine's Day

 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. John 15:13

I love how the secular holiday of Valentine's Day has overlapped with the sacred days of Lent. While card companies may use the excuse of cupid to shamelessly sucker people into buying sweet sentiments on expensive card stock, the focus of love on this day of paper hearts can be an opportunity to ponder the Greatest Love.

Our culture tells us that Valentine's Day - of all days - is a day to be wined and dined by the one who claims to love you. Restaurants are packed and cater to lovebirds that are looking for romantic in a  space of cutlery clinking on dishes and the hum of surrounding conversations. Christmas's sweets are barely finished when the heart-shaped boxes of chocolates enter the stores. And if you are really in a committed relationship, a trip to the jewelry store is a must. 

The stakes are high and the last thing we want is to be disappointed. I recall the early days of dating my hubby and the first years of marriage when we still tried to live up to these expectations of me expecting things and him obliging. And while giving gifts out of love is not wrong, our expectations and demands of love can be. 

My daughter's love language is gifts. This means she has spent hours on hand making Valentines for us and her grandparents. She has debated in her mind over and over what gifts she would buy or make for each of us. We can say continuously how she doesn't have to buy us anything but that is simply how she expresses her love. She gives. Which is where Lent comes in ...

Our Greatest Love gave too. He set aside His rightful position as Lord of Lords and King of Kings to come to earth in humble, human form to spend his time among humble, human sinners. He lived a perfect life that God demands but that we could never fulfil and gives us His robe of righteousness through the gift of faith.  He gave Himself up on the cross and took the punishment for our sins! He endured separation from God that we rightly earned from our fallen, sinful nature and called it ... finished. He continually gives us Himself through the Word that's preached, heard, read, and spoken. The giving continues in the Sacraments where faith is given in Baptism and He gives us His body and blood in the Lord's Supper to sustain our faith. 

All this He gives! 

God is LOVE.

What a different message than what we hear in this world! Our sinful flesh likes to be served. Our natural condition screams what about me? The culture's motto is you have to be happy first and love yourself before you can love others. 

God's message contrasts what the world claims. The message is big and bold and takes a leap of faith. We put our wants and desires aside just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:28
Out of faith and out of our thankfulness to Jesus, we keep giving of ourselves and trust God to provide for our wants and desires. 

We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:18-20

 Instead of expectations and demands, what if we seek to meet the needs of those closest to us? Instead of looking out for me, we give what we have to them? This is a love that can never be disappointed. 

For the Love of Reading

I have this weird quirky thing about my calendar. I don't peek at the next month until it actually starts. I like the little surprise of how cute the picture is and what recipe is showcased for the month - not that I'll necessarily make it. But it's one of my little thrills in life so just let me have it, OK;)

So now it is February and I've been working hard on keeping my resolutions and reading my tail off! I was definitely feeling as though I needed to look at a screen less and concentrate on written words I could feel in my hands, appreciate in my soul and consider in my head. 

The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Conner - 

I had listened to a podcast that discussed the author and her life, writings and influences. Ironically, I had already ordered the book from the library after having seen it on another book list so this made my anticipation for it even greater! In the course of the podcast, the men discussing her work said something to the effect - you won't find her books at your local Christian book store. You won't see it filed under Christianity or even Spirituality in the local book store, but every Christian must read her. The themes that subtlety lie there amongst the words - some words that are very distracting to the reader in their connotations and bigoted characters - had the power to effect my emotions. I got to know these characters and instead of the writer winning me over with tales of "can't help but love them" personas, I was in fact disgusted by them. Until I realized ... I am no better. 

Essentialism  -

So I have this problem. I think everything is important. How can I say no? I see the value in almost every opportunity I have. I've no doubt they all have worth - whether it's filed under my role as wife, mother, homeschooler, pastor's wife, church member, homemaker, hairstylist/business owner, friend, neighbour, daughter, god-mother, blogger .... starting to get my drift? My life becomes chaotic and at the end of the day I've covered a mile wide but an inch deep. Not a good feeling. It's my desire to have the wisdom to know what's essential to spend my time and energy on and likewise, not to feel guilty about what I feel is nonessential and no longer zaps my time and energy. This book was picked in an effort to help me figure that out. I should probably read it again ...

Emma  - by Jane Austen

A classic. And yes, I own this edition with the hardback, fabric cover. It's all about the experience for me! I may read this one in my head with a British accent for effect. The trouble is, I've been working on this book for awhile. If I put it down and wait too long to pick it back up, I run the risk of forgetting the characters and who's who. I want to finish this book! Does Emma doom herself to a life of spinsterhood? What's up with Jane Fairfax? What are Frank's true intentions? These are all questions I am determined to find the answers to ... if I can just finish the book.

A Lifelong Love: How to Have Lasting Intimacy, Friendship, and Purpose in Your Marriage

February is all about the love! I haven't read a book on marriage for a long time because mine is so perfect. crickets chirping. OK, so it may not be because of that. I have a really good one though, and I still got a lot out of this book. It helped me recognize that we're doing a lot of things right - but that there's always room for improvement and weak spots to be aware of. It also helped me better see my own misunderstandings of marriage expectations and how I've been influenced by my culture. Of course, I would have preferred to "Lutheran" it up a bit with a whole section on the value of confession and absolution within the intimacy of marriage and what that looks like but I'm just going to have to add that in myself. 

Grace Abounds - the Splendor of Christian Doctrine

This is another book I've been reading forever. But it's not my fault. There's, like, a million pages. Ok, maybe not a million but there's a lot. And it's not brainless reading. I have to use my brain and it's hard! In order to get the most out of my reading, I usually have to take it in small chunks to stew on for awhile. But if you've ever had the pleasure of sitting at the feet of Professor Deutschlander, you know that it's totally worth it! This book is written for the common layperson who's ready to dig their heals into a greater understanding of truth as revealed in God's Word. 

Food for the soul.

As for the other part of my New Year's resolution, I am not doing as grand - that would be the cinnamon roll part. I have, however baked other things in my defence. I just haven't gotten to the cinnamon roll part. 

Food for the love handles. 

Let the Merry Making Begin ...

The view from my parent's log home in the Northwoods

Perhaps the best time to reflect on the Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, New Years season is now that I've put my son on a plane and sent him back to school. It goes so fast with so many memories made that it's overwhelming at times to allow all the goodness to sink in. 

American Thanksgiving brought us back to Wisconsin to visit my parents and to meet up with Will during the few extra days off of school he had. We soaked up our time with him and appreciated the added blessing of grandparents and great-grandparents. Throw in a turkey, a case of 14 Hands, and four decks of cards for Hand and Foot and you've got yourself a party! 

One afternoon found us at the local bowling alley. Notice that Wayne's name is missing. He claimed he had work to do, but we all know the real reason he was a no show. Check out my score below and the writing is on the wall. Chicken. 

We were also able to spend a few days with Wayne's side of the family that lives in southeastern Wisconsin. That meant a trip to the Holy Land  Milwaukee where we enjoyed meeting up with friends for dinner, browsing the aisles of Northwestern Publishing House and a stop at Hobby Lobby. Thanksgiving, indeed! 

We headed back home and hit the ground running. That weekend we had a funeral to attend and our church hosted an Advent by Candlelight for our ladies later that day. It was the 2nd Sunday of Advent, my Christmas tree at home wasn't up yet but it was just what I needed to focus my thoughts on the depth of meaning that Advent brings. Good thing too because business was hopping and I found myself in the salon most days along with trying to give my daughter a decent education. 

Speaking of my daughter, we were able to see the musical Anne and Gilbert at the downtown theatre. We brought along Zanna's godmother, Karen, and enjoyed a lovely afternoon!

The next weekend was Christmas for Kids at church and I had cookie decorating to focus on. I prefer to snag the job that ensures all the kids will love me. 

This was followed by another week of teaching/salon work, another funeral to attend and finally .... Will's arrival!!

And at this point I went into serious nesting mode. It was all about home and traditions and love and hugs and Christmas books and food. Serious food. I had menus planned with all the favourites, baked the treats that are enjoyed with anticipation and made sure the Christmas lights were all on by the time the sun went down at 4.  

All Will had to tell me was, "I'm actually looking forward to you making me eat vegetables because when I'm on my own, I have good intentions but then I say ... nahhhhhh." And that boy was greeted with a fruit/veggie smoothie almost every morning along with a host of other opportunities that were highly satisfying for me to observe his vegetable consumption. 
There was definite improvement in his packing skills this year - he remembered plenty of underwear and his winter jacket. And I also noticed that it didn't all smell nearly so bad as last year. Could hygiene be improving with age? We can only hope ...

Christmas Eve was a lovely affair as all Christmas's should be. Our service was a mix of the children reading parts and playing Christmas songs on their instruments along with our choir singing, Wayne's sermonette and participation of the congregation. Zanna played her violin like an angel and Will kicked butt on his piano piece he had done for the recital at school. (Sorry, should I not say "kick butt" when referring to a song played at church?) Anyway, it was beautiful - the candles lit during Silent Night, the candlesticks on the windowsills, the tree shining brightly ... and my new dress was just as cute as I had hoped it would be when I saw it in the catalog;) 

Christmas Day service was more low-key but also quiet and reflective. Zanna and I played a couple duets together on our violins. It was so special to be able to do that with her! I also noticed when sitting next to Will during one of the hymns that he was singing the bass line. Let's just say I was more than a little verklempt and had a sudden urge to write thank you cards to the LPS music department for all their tireless work. 

This year's Christmas dinner was a bit different in that we invited a guest that we were not related to. By this, I mean a member from church so I guess you could say we are related through Jesus. But you get my drift. I wanted her to feel as much at home as possible so I asked her to bring a dish that means something to her, possibly from her Jamaican background. She decided to bring (what we now know is) a very traditional dish that includes a fruit native to her country. What we didn't know was that this fruit is #3 on the list of the world's most dangerous foods. The ackee fruit's seeds are extremely deadly as in ... you could die. So if you couldn't tell by now, we managed to survive and appreciate this particular dish without succumbing to it's threat. I'm thinking of having t-shirts made up - I survived Christmas 2015 - has all new meaning now! Having said that, also on the list of dangerous foods is the hotdog. Which is hilarious since we keep serving this at all of our kids' programs at church. 

We had a green Christmas with unusually warm temperatures leading up to the holiday. I had no problem with this and wasn't worried that "Christmas wouldn't feel like Christmas without snow" because it's just as well to me! It made up for it a few days later and the kids enjoyed an afternoon of sledding, shovelling, and snowman making. 

Now it's a new year and I've resolved to read more books and make more cinnamon rolls. After all, I have no intention of setting myself up for failure;) 

Chapter 24 - I Do Not Leave You As Orphans

The last chapter! 

Merry Christmas!

Jesus didn't stay as he was and continue to walk the earth. He left miraculously and mysteriously, but with only his small group of disciples as onlookers to his ascension into heaven. 
He left them with his words, he made clear their mission, and he promised to equip them in this task. 
But we do have a last glimpse of Mary, kneeling with the Eleven, with the women, and with her sons who now believed. (150) 
Ten days later, while they were gathered in one place, the sound of a violent wind filled the house. Tongues of fire split apart and rested on each of them. God the Holy Spirit had arrived, and the disciples would never be the same. (150)
The author goes on to remind us that God has not left us either and equips us through his Word and Sacraments. She does a beautiful job describing who the Holy Spirit is, what he does for us and the means through which he works. 
So where is God when we need him? He is clothing us with his Holy Spirit and his power. He is ruling on our behalf, bringing blessing from evil. And he is with us, always - as close as his words in the Bible, as near as his home in our own hearts. (152)

I've learned so much through this special look at the Mary, the mother of Jesus! This will be a book I will continue to look at for years to come! I am so grateful for the author, the timing of the release of the book, and the spiritual blessings it has brought to me! I am grateful to have shared this with my readers, my fellow sisters-in-Christ and mothers in the trenches of life! Thank you:)

Ponder
Your child asks, "Where is God? I can't see him!" How will you answer?
In our family, we like to celebrate Ascension. It falls midweek, and when Easter is later so is Ascension. I like when that happens because then it's easier to be outside on that special day! 

We usually have a picnic. Being outside, with the big sky and clouds overhead helps all ages to imagine what that must have been like. But we don't just keep staring up at the sky like the disciples did until their reverie was broken by the words of the angels. We read the Word of God where he promises us that he'll be there. We recall the words he spoke to those disciples that were still wondering what they were supposed to do now. We are reminded of what he wants us to do today! 

Contemplating their Ascension thoughts:)

Ascension dessert - strawberries on a cloud

One year we each let a balloon go as we prayed for Him to equip us! 

Jesus will come back again!