The Way of The Cross Leads Home

 Happy Saturday morning! And more importantly, Happy Easter!

I truly hope that when you hear the word Easter, bunnies and eggs are not the first thing that pop in your head. Hopefully it is a cross, an empty cross.

Sorry I was gone a couple of weeks,  I had told myself I wasn't going to be a slave to the blog and so I give myself permission to take a week off now and then. I did that two weeks ago and then last week, I was in Missouri for Andrew's cousin's funeral. Last week was suppose to be the weight loss week but it will have to wait. With Easter here, I have to talk Christ today.

We have had revival this week and it has been glorious! I know people who aren't believers cannot understand why we would go sit for three nights in a row listening to preaching about our Savior but for believers, it is a spa treatment for the soul. We always hope and pray that someone might come that doesn't know the Lord and they could get to but most of the time, revival is just that, reviving the Spirit in those of us who believe.

This week didn't disappoint. I will tell you, when I was a young teen, we would have two week revivals and I loved it! It is great to surround yourself with believers. It feels good, and right.

One of our preachers this week mentioned several times about  the old song, The Way of the Cross Leads Home. And that is one of the many things that has stuck in my mind.

The only way to get to spend eternity in Heaven is if you have personally accepted Christ as your Savior, there is no other way. Being a "good person" doesn't cut it, I hate to tell you this, but there are good people in Hell because God made a way for us to go to Heaven and if you don't take it, you don't go to Heaven. 

I was at one of our senior centers this week and was overhearing an older man and woman visiting. The woman was telling about having a dream and the angel Gabriel was standing at the end of her bed. He told her he needed to show her something. The next she knew she was standing in front of truly a lake of fire and up out of it came her father-in-law. He screamed to her, "Don't let my boys burn." It shook her so very badly but she started working harder on making her husband and brother-in-law understand Salvation. 

I was looking for the verses to describe hell and ran across this very short Q&A from billygraham,org, I think this answers that question perfectly.

Q:

I know people ask you from time to time what you think heaven is like, but I'd also be interested to know what you think hell will be like. I have a friend who says he's looking forward to hell, because all his friends will be there and they'll have one big party. He's not right, is he?

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A:

No, he certainly isn’t right. If he could have only a brief glimpse—even just a tenth of a second’s look—at what hell is like, he’d never say again that he looks forward to going there.

Not one word in the Bible suggests that hell is a pleasant place, or a place where anyone would ever want to go. Jesus called hell a place of “outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30, KJV). In one of His parables, Jesus told of a man who was in hell, begging for someone to come and “cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire” (Luke 16:24). The only companions anyone will have in hell will be “the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

There is much we don’t know about hell—but we know all we need to know. And the most important thing we know about hell is that we don’t have to go there! Yes, we have sinned, and we deserve only God’s judgment. But God loves us, and Christ came to deliver us from hell and welcome us into heaven forever.

Don’t take hell lightly—but don’t take Christ lightly, either. Instead, by a simple prayer of faith ask Him to forgive your sins and come into your life today. The Bible’s promise is true: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

I have heard so many people say it doesn't matter where they go, they will know people either way. Friendship is a form of love, love is from God, there will be no friends in Hell.

So, tomorrow is Easter, it falls in the Spring, that perfect time of renewing, fresh cut grass, spring cleaning. I always think it is a second chance at a new beginning after the New Year. Isn't it time for your second chance on life to start? Accepting the fact that you were supposed to die on that cross, and GO TO HELL because of the things you have done. And please understand, sin is sin. You being mad and mouthing off to someone because they cut you off in traffic is sin. You losing your temper and slamming the phone down on a phone call that upset you is sin. You driving 56 mph in a 55 is sin. You telling someone you were busy doing this or that and couldn't come over when they asked  when you really just didn't want to go, is sin. God doesn't qualify sin. Humans do. We think that murder is sin but telling "a little white lie" isn't., That is 100% wrong. 

If you are feeling moved by your sin, ask Christ to save you, then, and here is the rest of the story..... start living your life for someone who gave His life for you. How would you feel if you were crossing the street and someone  realized there was a semi coming that you didn't see? As you were crossing the street, someone comes running up and pushes you out of the way, consequently, they died. They died because you weren't paying attention and walked into danger without even realizing it. Christ went to a cross and died for you, just like that person ran in front of a truck. That person had done nothing wrong but was trying to save you. Christ was sinless, but yet he died so we had an opportunity to go to Heaven. It isn't automatic though, you have to accept it and you have to live for Him.

I am leaving you with the song, The Way of the Cross Leads Home.

Happy Easter, my Christians friends, He is risen indeed, that is what makes Christ our Savior. He conquered death for us. To those unbelievers that are reading this, this could be the first day of the rest of your life. God didn't promise rainbows and butterflies in this life but once you have Jesus, you do realize you are never alone in what you are going through and there is truly a peace that passes understanding even when things don't go your way. If you need to talk about this more, message me here, or contact me on messenger on Facebook, I would truly be honored to tell you more about my Jesus.

Stuff

 If you read the blog last week, I warned you. This week we are going to talk about "stuff".

I started a decluttering mission at the beginning of the year, trying to dig deep into getting excess stuff out of my life one room at a time. Yard sale week is May 11th and hopefully, I have time to get my stuff together and be ready for it because I definitely have enough now unwanted stuff for a sale.

I was doing okay with the fact that I was making things more simple and just feeling really good about what I was accomplishing until I watched an episode of Little House on the Prairie. It is funny, I remember laying on the floor of the living room anxiously awaiting the first episode of the story of one of my 7-year-old idols, Laura Ingalls. I was a reader from a young age and my mom and sister would read a lot to me too, We had already read most of the LIW books before the showed aired, so I was hard pressed to miss an episode. Andrew on the other hand, had never watched it, so these shows are new to him.

Anyway, it was a Christmas episode and  My Edwards had tromped through a blizzard to get the girls gifts from Santa. The gifts consisted of a tin cup (so they NOW had cups of their own), a peppermint candy stick, a cake and a penny. And they were elated.

What has happened to us?

I pondered this question more then next day on my way to the gym, during my prayer time. Why do we feel the need to have so much stuff? What are we doing? 

There was a time it was called, "keeping up with the Jones", but I seriously don't think that is it for me. Then I think a thought to my head came, we all know when we are in Heaven, we will want or need nothing. Have I been trying to create Heaven on Earth?

And of course, the moment this thought hit my mind, so did Matthew 6:19-21 

9 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

And then it hit me, we also have a saying, "Home is where the heart is". Yep, maybe that was what I was trying to do and missing the point all together. 

I am not against having nice things at all. I don't think God wants our time here on earth to be miserable by any means. But I do wonder what I could have done for others with some of the money I spent trying to just make myself feel better and now I am getting ready to hope and pray that someone else will buy it for pennies on the dollar. 

When I started decluttering, I also put us on a money diet. I have worked diligently at making sure I have menus planned, so we don't eat out on the spur of the moment. I have limited (but not quit mind you) my Starbucks and Scooter's habits and made myself write down every penny we have spent. It is a lot like counting calories. If you write it down, you realize quickly that you have spent $25 on coffee in a week when for the same $25 you could buy the coffee, sweetener, almond milk and even flavoring and get more than 3 cups of coffee. And of course, I have a goal in mind. I am trying to plan an entire trip in the fall using nothing but the savings from my budget. 

I am still kind of in awe myself that not once since January 1 have I came home and told Andrew, we will just grab Chinese. We haven't done it. I have ate out when I travelled (and that was paid for by my work), but he had food at home. As a couple, we have had lunch out one day, the week after Valentines Day, and I have had a couple of lunch dates with friends and I limited myself to eating out once a week at work, because we are sometimes other places and it is unavoidable and I will just say it, sometimes you just need to walk away for an hour, but I can honestly say I haven't ate out every week, and it makes me feel good that I am prioritizing a little better.

So, as you go about your week, I hope you remember our treasures are in Heaven. Our worth is not in what we own, but in the sacrifice Christ made for us on the Cross.

I am leaving you with a song to say just that. This is Keith & Kristyn Getty with My Worth Is Not in What I Own.

Happy Saturday!

Thank You, Lord.

Good morning!

    I hope you all have had a great week! I have, and this morning, as I stepped out my front door to soak in a few minutes of quiet, I had that overwhelming feel of gratitude. We have a lot going on in our lives, and I have had a lot on my mind, heart, soul, and plate lately. Some I can talk about, some I can't, with anyone but God that is. And oh how thankful I am that I can talk to Him. He has carried me through some really tough times lately and keeps reminding me He is in control. And then this week, He has just given me gifts and I feel so very loved.

My State monitoring was this week. Once a year, our grantor comes and looks at our processes and goes over several of our files with a fine tooth comb. Their job is not to play, "gotcha" but to make sure we are using the funds entrusted to us to the best interest of the grantor, and ultimately, the tax payer. We had a new system for doing our furnace programs this year and I was very unsure if my files for it would pass the muster. I had even warned my Grant Manager that I wasn't happy with them. 

My monitoring couldn't have went any better and he couldn't figure out what I was worried about. That felt good. 

But then, last night happened. It was like God's reward to me for things that I have been going through. 

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When I was a freshman in high school, we had an English teacher, Mike Hartrich, that just made English fun. One of our all time favorite units was Music is Poetry. We studied the meanings behind such songs as American Pie, Blowin' in the Wind, and Sounds of Silence. We loved it. I didn't realize his tenure started in the '70's but he had a lot of students. And many of us have begged him over the years to share his notes. Last night, he did, to a packed event center of NCHS graduates. As Mr. Hartrich said, "It is like a big multi year class reunion". And I will tell all of you that didn't get to be there, you missed something cool.

To add to my evening, my two BFF's from high school came down and so we relived it together. What a great night. Good job Sarah Diel Kinkade and the Jasper County Chamber of Commerce!  

A bonus was getting to see so many people I hadn't seen in what seemed like forever. Just looking around the room and thinking, it is so good to be home.

Then, to top that off, the girls came over and we sat and visited until almost midnight. We are spending the day together today and all I can think is I am just so thankful for what God gives me.

To even add to that, we are spending the day exploring Casey and since we are in my neck of the woods, I wanted to drive. Irene isn't really the friendliest car when you have 3 people and it isn't 80° outside so the top can be down. I am thankful I live close enough to my mom to switch cars with her for the day. Yes, we have a van but Andrew has been using it for work and it would need a good detailing before we could take it on a trip like that. And then, on top of that, she baked her girls cookies, they were even low-calorie! Yes, this is blessed.

I love that feeling, it feels like God has wrapped his arms around me and said, "See, your life here is good, not what it is going to be in Heaven, but it is still good. I do take good care of you". And the only thing better than truly knowing He takes good care of us is feeling He takes good care of us.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19.

This was not what I was going to talk about at all today, but I just had to share. Next week  we are going to talk about "stuff", literally. 

But for right now, just take a few minutes to close your eyes and count your blessings. Really let it soak in how Blessed you really are. He takes good care of us.

I am leaving you with Seph Schlueter and Matt Maher singing Counting My Blessings. He even gave me the perfect song for this post. :-)

Happy Saturday!