Spring has Sprung

I love the first day of Spring. Mostly because FREE RITA'S of course, but I also love the anticipation of watching new life spring up all around. The beauty of the sunshine, budding trees, and blooming flowers makes me happy in a certain unique way. New life is beautiful, hopeful, and here.

My husband told me last night, "I can't wait to get out this weekend with the sprayer and finally get rid of all those weeds around the house. Anything green is getting sprayed!" "No!" I yelled back in an unnecessarily dramatic way. "Didn't you see all the daffodil plants coming up through the weeds?"

We moved to this place last June and missed most of the Spring blooms. By the time we settled down, the house just looked covered in an overwhelming amount of weeds. My husband has literally been talking about taking on these weeds for almost a year and is more than ready. But these unexpected daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses are coming up all through the junk. With each colorful bloom I get ridiculously excited. Flowers give me much joy, but even more comes from the reminder of new life!



Throughout the season we're surrounded with bunnies, blossoms, eggs, and chicks, and while they may have become a bit commercialized, each one of them reminds us of life - thriving, beautiful, new life.

The Bible says that everyone who belongs to Christ is a new creation - the old has gone and the new life has begun (2 Corinithians 5:17).  Only through Christ can beauty spring out of pile of junk, a beautiful flower blooming out of the weeds. God has the ability to make all things, in every season, NEW. 1 Peter 1: 23 says that because of Jesus "you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God."


This resilient daffodil is a beautiful visual of the new life we have in Christ. Not just in the Spring, but everyday, no matter what comes our way, we can stand imperishable through the living word of God.

"You turn winter into spring 

You take every living thing 

And You breathe Your breath of life into it over and over again 

You made the sunrise, day after day after day 

But there's a morning coming, when old things will all pass away 

And everyone will see 

You make all things new 

Come redeem and come transform 

Come renew and come restore "

-Steven Curtis Chapman, "You Make All Things New"  

Running with the Rugrats

Today I woke up to see sun peaking through the clouds and hear robins chirping out back and I actually had a desire to go for a run. Now while I might enjoy exercising and teaching classes, I would never ever dare call myself a "runner". But with the gym not an option because of spring break (yes, our whole town likes to shut down when Penn State does) and my husband out of the house before 7 a.m. today, I knew I had to tow two kids along if I was going to make this happen. And miraculously enough, I learned exercising with two is possible, perhaps not ideal, but somewhat feasible. I strapped my 6-month old in the jogging stroller, threw sneakers on my 3-year-old and said, "Let's go!"

In Walmart, Baileigh seems to have no problem sprinting 30 yards ahead of me the whole time, yet when I ask her to run in front of me, her legs only seem to work in short bursts followed by cries for mercy (and water) LOL. But then I grabbed her arm with one hand and pushed the stroller with the other and we laughed and jogged along for almost a mile. On the way back we stopped at a small park and she climbed the rock wall while I did walking lunges around her and used the park bench for push-ups and tricep dips. I probably looked ridiculous, but I managed to get a little sweat goin. Baileigh made it up to the top of the rock wall and I asked what she could see up there, expecting an answer like "some mountains" or "lots of cars". But she yelled with excitement "I see some mulch!!" Haha.

The three of us made it back home with just a few tears over a scraped knee, but no serious meltdowns, no screaming fits, no blown-out diapers. Just lots of giggles and a decent workout. I don't know if this means that this could become a regular part of our routine or if it means I should just hold on to this lovely memory and not push my luck ever again. But I do know my excuse of not being able to workout without a gym or a babysitter has been proven wrong to me today.
Crap   :)

Lent: A Forty-Day Fad Diet?

As a kid, Lent was super strange to me. I always had tap rehearsal on Wednesday nights, so once a year my Catholic friends came in with their black, ashy foreheads, my Jewish friends could giggle at them, and I would just be confused. There was a smeared black cross on their face and they weren't allowed to eat meat. Well actually that was just on Fridays. But fish was always OK. So no filet mignon, but lobster tail is approved? And some gave up sweets too, so no dessert for them. What was with all these 40-day no-no's? I didn't get it.

As I grew up, physically and spiritually, I slowly came to really appreciate the season of Lent. I even look forward to it. While society has seemed to make it into some sort of religious, fad diet, Lent simply comes down to sacrifice. Small, temporary, personal sacrifices in order to prepare our hearts to commemorate the Ultimate Sacrifice made through Christ. So if cutting out soda is really what it takes for you to reflect on the Cross for a few weeks, then go for it! But maybe we can actually gain something and glorify Him through this tradition of "giving up" something. Here's just a few ideas, feel free to add more in the comments



     Sacrifice       ----------------------       To Gain

 - Time on Facebook                                     - Time reading the Gospels

 - 15 Minutes of Sleeping-In                           - 15 Minutes in Prayer

 - Listening to Mainstream Radio                    - Praising God with Christian Music

                         

 - A favorite television show                           - Quiet time with your spouse

 -Your Daily Starbucks                                  - Extra cash to donate

                        

 - Going for Seconds at Dinner                      - Appreciation for our abundance

Let's remember also that Jesus said to keep these forms of  "fasting" between God and ourselves, not on display for show or merit. Matthew 6 : 16 -18 says, “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

I pray we can commit to some small sacrifices over the next few weeks in order to gain intimacy and the ability to grasp (or re-grasp) what has already been sacrificed and accomplished for us.  Love to you! :)

Honeymoon  in Nicaragua -"In Jesus We Trust" Monument 

The Battle

People who know me well know I like the "legends"... Michael Jackson, Madonna, Cher, Whitney. My friends made fun of me growing up and my husband always says, "I didn't think anyone really listened to this stuff." LOL But I'll admit it, Jackson 5 is probably my favorite band, I thoroughly enjoyed the Superbowl halftime show this year, I do a killer Cher impression, and I've sung "I Will Always Love You" around the house more times to count. So when another legendary entertainer dies to (most likely) drug overdose, of course I was seriously saddened.

But unlike my other divas and kings, Whitney's heart was strong for the Lord. She always talked openly about her faith in God, and has some beautiful, only like Whitney could sing em, Gospel songs ("I Look to You" & "I Go to The Rock" are my favs). A couple years back she talked on Oprah about her struggles with drugs.. 

Oprah: Would you just sit in your room and do drugs?

Whitney: Yeah. Talk on the phone. Watch TV. Listen to gospel. I would still read my Bible, amazingly enough. I would still read my Bible. I still had it in me. I knew God was there. I knew the light was there and I was just trying to get back to it. I just kept trying to get back to that spirituality.

Today I heard a message that said something along the lines of... "Repentance is not so much "saying sorry", but instead surrendering." All of us need the reminder that repentance isn't a one-and-done kind of thing, but is more of a daily handing-over of one's self. Just take a look at Steps 1-7 in AA and apply it to any sin or struggle; that's repentance.

It's been rumored that the last performance Whitney gave was a casual rendition of "Jesus Loves Me." The video above is a live version of the song from 1994, perhaps around the peak of her cocaine usage. Yet she still knew Jesus Loved Her, even in her mess. Sadly, Whitney may not have "won" her battle, but oh how we need to remember that the battle is not ours, it's the Lord's. So give it over to Him, again, and again, and again, and watch Him make a blessing out of your repentance. 

Hosea 14:1-2

Repentance to Bring Blessing

Return, Israel, to the LORD your God. 

   Your sins have been your downfall! 

Take words with you 

   and return to the LORD. 

Say to him: 

   “Forgive all our sins 

and receive us graciously, 

   that we may offer the fruit of our lips..