ttmms (you know--"things that make me smile")...

This past weekend two of my young friends were in town visiting their grandparents. On Saturday I went over to spend the day with them all at Mimi and Poppa's house. The younger of the two, B (age 7), loves to help with whatever we may be doing in the kitchen, so Mimi, B, and I made lunch together.

We sat out on their balcony in the lovely Southern CA fall air to eat our lunch. After his older brother said grace, B asked if he could pray, too. Mimi and Poppa said 'of course!' The following was his prayer...

"God, thank you for this day and for our lunch and thank you that I got to help my two best friends, Mimi and Sharilyn, make it. Amen."

Talk about things that warm one's heart and make one smile! Who could ask for more??

...for this I am grateful!...

celebrate the Sabbath...at the Cross...

At The Cross

~Randy & Terry Butler

I know a place, a wonderful place

Where accused and condemned

Find mercy and grace

Where the wrongs we have done

And the wrongs done to us

Were nailed there with Him

There at the cross

At the cross, at the cross

He died for our sin

At the cross,at the cross

He gave us life again

*photo taken at Georgian Orthodox Church near Tbilisi, Georgia

HE IS RISEN!!!

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ~Mark 16:1-4

The stone is rolled away...

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ~Mark 16:5

The tomb is EMPTY...

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. ~Matthew 28:5-6

HE IS RISEN!!!

...and now we wait...

As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. ~Matthew 27:57-60

...and so we wait...

with sorrow

and with hope...

gathering of the darkness...

Maundy Thursday. Tennebrae. "The Gathering of the Darkness"

And what could be more dark than the night in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Where You spent Your final night on earth.

Alone in the garden.

Well, You weren't actually alone. But it was as if You were. A couple of Your disciples, Your friends, were with You. But they couldn't stay awake while You drew away to pray.

You were so very deeply distressed and troubled--overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. And You did what You have taught us to do: You prayed. With all Your heart. With all Your soul. Until Your sweat fell like drops of blood.

You pleaded with Your Father--OUR Father-- to take away this terrible cup You were being asked to drink. This cup of suffering. This sacrifice You were being asked to make.

"Father," You prayed; "everything is possible for You. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will."

Even then You were bowing the will of Your flesh to the will of the Father. Even then You were thinking of me, loving me.

You prayed so very earnestly... while Your friends slept. While I slept.
And the darkness gathered...

And then, fully aware of the price You were about to pay, fully aware of the suffering You would endure, fully aware of the incredible agony You were walking toward, You rose from Your place of prayer, embraced the will of our Father, and set Your foot onto the way of the Cross.

You were betrayed...by a friend. Betrayed by me.
And the darkness gathered...

You were deserted...by those who vowed they would stay with You till the end. Deserted by me.
And the darkness gathered...

You were disowned...by one who loved You and whom You loved. Disowned by me.
And the darkness gathered...

All of this... all of this for me.
For me.
Before I even knew You.
Before I even loved You.

And the darkness gathered... in the shadow of the Cross.

The darkness gathered around the Light of the world...
as You walked the way of the Cross.

For me.

What wondrous love is this,O my soul! O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse,
For my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse, for my soul.

~The Hesperian Harp, 1848, by Dr. William Hauser

celebrate the Sabbath...preparing our hearts for the Cross

Golgotha.

Calvary.

This is what it SHOULD have looked like:

Crosses covering the hill.

Hundreds and thousands of crosses.

A line, a mass, of crosses-- stretching as far as the eye can see.

"For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

All are deserving of death.

And yet, there were only three crosses on the hill that day--

the center one being the focal point.

That ONE CROSS making a way...

A new way.

A way of LIFE instead of death.

"...the result of one act of righteousness was justification

that brings life for all men." Romans 5:18

And, instead of a hill covered in crosses,

we see but One.

One Cross--bearing ONE MAN--Who dies for the many.

Who takes on the sin of the world.

It is

THIS CROSS,

THIS SACRIFICE,

THIS LOVE

for which we must prepare our hearts.