Would you want this to be your plane?

As I mentioned before I traveled ALOT in March. If you know me at all you know I really don't like to fly. It isn't the flying so much it is the motion sickness I often get that just leaves me feeling yucky and looking hungover!

On the way back from the East Coast my co-worker and I were laughing (trying to hide our concern) as at least 15 people gathered around the nose of the aircraft we were boarding. I just had to take a picture!

Easter through the eyes of Mary

The last few weeks at my church here in Hudson we have been going through a very interesting sermon series leading up to Easter. The title has been "Easter through the eyes of _______"

I have heard the sermon involving Pilate and Judas then next week is Peter. It has been quite interesting to get different angles of a timeless story. I have come to understand background, motives, emotions and political climate in a way that I never thought of before.

After listening to Easter through the eyes of Judas last week and thinking about the upcoming sermon, I have been placing my name at the end of this sentence. Disturbingly I haven't liked what my imagination has conjured up. If I had actually been present for that very first Easter what would my response have been?

In all honesty- I don't think I would have believed in Jesus. I know we criticize Pilate who had him standing right there before him, we look down on the disciples who understood so very little about their Saviour. But I would have been the same. I would have been a critic, thinking Jesus was probably a crazy person claiming things that were blasphemous.

Maybe- just maybe one of the miracles would have won me over. Maybe the culture would have made my thought process different than it currently is. But I think God knew I needed to be born in 1979. I needed to look back on Jesus life and see that He is the Messiah. I need to compare the old and new testament- scrutinize Jesus words throughout his whole ministry to have enough faith to walk the Christian life.

What an awesome blessing I have been given at this time- this place. God knew when he created me that Easter through the eyes of Mary needed to happen in 2009. He knew that His death would impact not only those who witnessed it but continue to reverberate through out the ages.

The days are blurring together

It is now April here in Ohio and guess what- it is snowing today. In all fairness it was up to 70 one day last week but that is now a faint memory as I watch the snow come down outside my office....

I think the master plan is to keep our house for three years and then move somewhere warmer again. :) Not California...maybe Georgia or Florida. Somewhere where it doesn't snow in April.

6 states = head cold

It seems like March has just FLOWN by and that is because of how busy I have been and how much traveling has happened. Business trip to Connecticut- then San Diego- then a family emergency that took us 700 miles from home. My body is protesting! I think this is what the nucleous of my cells are screaming "Time to get sick so it forces her to stay in one place for a while!"

It has been a great month though. I got to see lots of old friends in San Diego, even older friends in Wisconsin and Minnesota. God has really blessed me.

Spring has yet to officially arrive here in Ohio so as I look forward to crashing on my couch tonight and dreaming of my cruise to the bahamas in 2 months!

Strong Words

I was listening to some of my favorite podcasts while working out at the gym this weekend. Brian and Bobbie Houston from the HillSong Church in Sydney are some of my favorite speakers. I got to hear Bobbie Houston in person while at a Women's conference in LA and have come to love listening to her talk. She makes you laugh with her enthusiasm, like watching someone who has had too much coffee and can't stop talking!

One thing she kept on saying is resonating in my mind- even 72 hours later. She kept on referring to her chosen passage of scripture as "strong words". God has Strong Words for his people.

Sometimes in life we are faced with strong words. Words like Cancer, Infertility, Unemployment, Death. Words that you never think will be spoken to you, and then they are. Never to be taken back. They come at times when you least expect them. They hurt and they sting. They bring fear and grief.

However- I am reminded that my Father is a King. He is used to pronouncing and proclaiming. Take the best speech you have ever heard and remember the passion it stirred in you. Remember the hope you felt in your heart.

Reading the words of our King will arouse the same hope, the same passion in you. If you have had a strong earthly word spoken to you, find an even stronger word from your Father.

1 John 3:1
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"