School Pictures

I can't believe that Grace is almost 7 and William is 8 1/2 and we have not had their pictures made for this year! Well, thankfully their school had a professional come in and take the kids' pictures. W&G's turned out great. They gave us basically a "proof" package. It has 4x6 of 6 different poses of each of them and several of them together. They also gave us framed clocks, framed 13x18, magnates, and calendars. It was crazy! I wish we could have chosen our package, but we are grateful all the same. I only uploaded these because my scanner is being a pain. :) Pray for us this week as we take our first trip out East. Many Blessings, AT

Easter 2010

Easter is our family's new favorite holiday. We love Christmas, but this year we have been newly convicted that we should really use this time more wisely than we have in the past. Christmas is a special time and we will continue to rejoice in it; however, without Easter, Christmas is really just another story of a person in History. We tried to make the days leading up Easter a special time of teaching and celebrating. You can click here to go to the beginning of our 12 days of Remembrance and Celebration countdown. First Set of pictures: For holidays in our country, everyone makes special treats and takes them to their friends and family. You stay and visit a while and then go to the next house. We love this! The kids and I made cupcakes that looked like Easter baskets, hummingbird cookies and colored eggs. (They love boiled eggs here so I knew at least that would be a hit!) Our neighbors and friends love that we are sharing our holidays with them. We love that we have opportunity to SHARE! : ) Second Set of pictures: American friends of ours had a guest from home visit them a few weeks ago. He was kind enough to bring us an egg dying kit. The kids had a blast coloring eggs. Third Set of Pictures: The kids and I decided to make an Easter pinata. Most Texans have been told that the story of the pinata is as follows: Mexican priests introduced the pinata to children at Easter to explain to them the consequences of sin and the gift of Jesus Christ. A traditional pinata has 7 cones coming out of a ball. The cones represent the 7 deadly sins. The children would bust the pinata representing Christ tearing the veil giving us access to the Father. We took our pinata to the park across the street from us. The local children were a little "stand off-ish" at first, but who can resist CANDY! Last Set of Pictures: I am posting W&G's favorite toys from Easter morning. Grace received a princess puzzle and William a "PlayMobile" toy. I posted in our first Easter blog a picture of our count down calendar. The final picture is of the full basket.

Remembrance and Celebration - Day 12

HE HAS RISEN!...HE HAS RISEN INDEED! John 20:6-7 "And so Simon Peter also came, following him (John the Beloved), and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself." Peter and John were in a foot race to get to the tomb after being told by Mary Magdalene that someone had taken His body, and they did not know where. When they got there, the tomb was empty! HE was not there. However, what they did find was all of the linens that they had wrapped Him in laying there. The last portion of this scripture states that the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was lying away from all of the other linens, rolled neatly alone. I have been told in the past that this was a common meal custom in the time of Christ. When an individual got up from the table having finished the meal, they would wad the napkin and lay it on the table to state that they were done. However, when the individual planned to return to the table, they would neatly fold the napkin and place it to the side of their place at the table. So, Jesus was saying, even in this small way, that he would return. Even after completing the work that He came to do, He did not leave His followers alone. He met face-to-face with them. After His ascension, He sent the Holy Spirit to strengthen and encourage them, and eventually us. How deep His great love for us.

MT

Remembrance and Celebration - Day 11

John 20:1 "Now, on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb." I am going to disappoint a few people here by saying this, but here goes....I am very rarely ever surprised. My mom is my best friend, and I am becoming too much like her as years go by - I think like her...thus I almost always guess her gifts. Matt can't help but "let the cat out of the bag." He just talks too much and is always so excited to do something special for me. I LIKE to be surprised. I wish I could be surprised. I am not a snoop, and I am not intentional about trying to find out gifts or plans. It just happens. Maybe it is that I can read people, or maybe I should have been a detective; whatever the case, I am almost never surprised. That being said, there have been a hand-full of occasions (good & bad) that I have been totally caught off guard. It has always made me wonder about the people close to Jesus. Did NO ONE have that gut feeling thing going on inside. It seems like at least ONE person would have just sat outside the tomb like a stubborn hound dog waiting for his master's return. I hope there are live video replays in heaven for us to watch the miracles of God that we read about in the Bible. I imagine that if we could have seen into the spiritual realm during that time, we would have seen hosts of angles waiting around the tomb. I am not criticizing those close to Jesus. I likely would have been so traumatized by all of the events that I too would have been "weeping" with Mary saying "they have taken His body". I know that in many areas my eyes are still closed and my mind has not been able to comprehend the things that the Father desires to teach me. I hope; however, that one of the things that studying the Life of Christ has reminded me is that God always keeps his promises. Of course, the stone was rolled away! Nothing is too big for God. His will is always accomplished, and His ways are not our ways! Sue Monk Kidd says, "We seem to think that God speaks by seconding the ideas we've already adopted, but God nearly always catches us by surprise. If it's God's Spirit blowing, someone ends up having feathers ruffled in an unforeseen way. God tends to confound, astonish, and flabbergast." I amen that! I stand amazed! AT

Remembrance and Celebration - Day 10

John 19:40 - "So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews." Several years ago, we sold our home and almost all of our belongings and were obediently waiting for God to open the door through which He had clearly told us we were to walk. It seemed as if everything was hinged on a particular committee vote. It was devastating when we received the telephone call from the pastor saying that the vote did not go "in our favor". (or so we thought at the time) We knew we were right where the Father had instructed us to be, so why were things not going the "right way"? Well, they were going the right way. They were going HIS way, and His way looks very different than what we ever imagine. HE is God. There is no way our feeble minds will ever be able to understand His ways. I know this example in no way compares to the feelings that the disciples had in the days that followed the death of Christ, but I imagine that in their hearts they were thinking the same thing. Something like - We thought we were doing the right thing, but this is not turning out like we wanted. I know that we all have things that we can look back on in life and say, "PRAISE THE LORD things did not work out like I wanted!" Today, I brought out all of the spices from the cabinet and the kids smelled them. (I LOVE their faces in these pics!) We talked about burial preparations in Jesus time, in Muslim culture and in our American culture. The kids had fun trying to guess the spice and guess what dishes I use that particular spice in. In the end, they decided that they should be buried with cinnamon. It smelled the best. AT

Remembrance and Celebration - Day 9

Matthew 27:34 "they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink."(NAS) Some translations say vinegar instead of wine. I have never studied biblical languages or theology, but I have heard it said that "gall" refers to anything bitter. It was most likely myrrh, but Matthew possibly didn't want to write that because he had already written that myrrh was a gift to Jesus as a child - and this was NO gift. This was mean spirited and torturous. Today, I put vinegar on a sponge and had the kids taste it. We talked about times when we have been really tired. (yard work; a day at Six Flags!; long days of travel; the heat of the summer) We discussed that our bodies need water and how sweet water tastes when we are really thirsty. However, we spent most of our time contemplating what it means to have mercy on others. How can we practice mercy with each other, our fellow American friends, our local friends, the people in our neighborhood and the countless homeless & beggars that we see everyday? In the sermon on the Mount, Christ teaches us that: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted; Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth; Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for the shall be satisfied; Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy; Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God; Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God...." (Matthew 5:3-9) Where do we receive satisfaction? Christ not only tells us but shows us in His life and death that satisfaction comes from a hunger and thirst for righteousness. How do we receive mercy....by being people that show mercy. May we be found today walking in light of what we have learned. AT

Remembrance and Celebration - Day 8

I am reminded today of the old hymn, "The Nail-Scarred Hand" by B.B. McKinney For some reason it came to mind today as I was reading and meditating on the scriptures for this lesson. I couldn't recall the full melody or words to the song, but what I remembered kept playing over and over in my mind. I hope the words minister to you as you read...Verses: Have you failed in you plan of your storm tossed life? Place your hand in the nail-scarred hand; Are you weary and worn from its toil and strife? Place your hand in the nail-scarred hand (2) Are you walking a long thro' the shadows dim? Place your hand in the nail-scarred hand; Christ will comfort your heart, put your trust in him, Place your hand in the nail-scarred hand; (3) Would you follow the will of the risen Lord? Place your hand in the nail-scarred hand; Would you live in the light of his blessed Word? Place your hand in the nail-scarred hand; (4) Is your soul burdened down with its load of sin? Place your hand in the nail-scarred hand; Throw your heart open wide, let the Savior in, Place your hand in the nail-scarred hand; (refrain) Place your hand in the nail-scarred hand, Place you hand in the nail-scarred hand; He will keep to the end, he's your dearest friend, Place your hand in the nail-scarred hand. (Click here to listen if you are not familiar with this chorus.) The passages of scripture for today are: John 19:18, 37 & John 20:25-29 In the country where we live, many people believe that Jesus did not really die. They believe that He was replaced with someone else. Someone else had to carry out the "punishment" for which Jesus was convicted. Praise the Father that in his amazing plan He allowed Christ to show himself, fellowship and minister to over 500 people in His ressurected body. He still bares the nail-scarred hands/feet and sword pierced side as proof that He truly choose to suffer and die the painful death of the cross. Today, the kids held nails, felt the sharp points and pondered the pain of the cross. We taped the nails on a paper cross as our physical reminder on our count down to Resurrection Sunday. AT