Counting Gifts all around Easter

I read it this morning, that we are Resurrection people and I can feel the rising in my bones... the awakening to All Things New.  Ann Voskamp posted on facebook this morning that "we get to be the Resurrection People: 
we get to believe that hope rises from dead places, that impossible stones can be rolled away, that all the sad things are becoming undone. We are the Resurrection People & Hosanna is our song!"

So I sing Hosanna, and I count on... writing out gifts, one by one.  I am still amazed at how once you start- once you really open your eyes and heart and become Hunters for Beauty, you become Finders of Grace! Every. Single. Time.

So in the midst of a crazy busy week (more than usual... not that I am bragging - because... well... we like a relaxed, laid back kind of flow!) I remembered to slow time down by breathing deep, leaning in, and holding a pen in my hand, searching for signs of Him... and He - as always - was is everywhere!

Due to busyness... and blessings abundant this week - and the fact that I am off to count some more... here is a condensed random list:

Counting On...

#2019 -  A long overdue coffee date with a friend...  Hours of catching up!

#2020 - Hearing about what God is doing all over the world from a missionary visiting from Nepal.

#2021 - A long walk with my Girlie on a gorgeous Spring day!

#2022 - Finding one of my quotes used for the upcoming inrl conference!

#2023 - Meetings with Steve and Wendy Backlund - sharing Joy and freedom! So good!

#2024 - Being asked to run the Book table... Because, you know, All. The. Books. 

#2025 - Cleaning out and donating some of our excess blessings!

#2026 - inrl prep work!

#2027 - Spending a Saturday afternoon with my Honey... Starbucks, driving around, laughing, reading, and just having no agenda together!

#2028 - My Girlie switching her work schedule so she could spend Easter Sunday with us!

#2029 - My girlie's First Easter Basket (aka her ONLY Easter Basket!)

(See? Falling apart sad!)

#2030 - Walking to church on Sunday together!

#2031 - Easter Sunday lunch with the fam and all the little cousins...

#2032 - Easter egg hunting with the Littles

  

My Girlie                              

#2033 - Our Annual Family Photo:

#2034 - Spring Flowers

#2035 - A somewhat impromptu much needed Girlfriend Getaway... four of us were in serious need of an escape get away so we packed an overnight bag, and hit the road with no agenda other than to relax, have fun, and laugh! I said #YesinmyMess and left in a rush...

So I am counting on while on a little Girlfriend Retreat... And when I get back home it will be time for (in)RL which means more counting!

Linking up with Ann Voskamp in Counting (beyond) one thousand gifts...

What Gifts did YOU discover last week or over Easter weekend? I'd love to hear!

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 40

Happy Weekend, ya'll!  I am praying for you - yes, you! - on this Easter weekend!  May you experience His Presence... His Resurrection Power... His Redeeming Love in your love and in your gatherings, in all your celebrating and feasting and (egg) searching - may you find Him!   

Now... on to the Gathering of Awesome... in case you have a few spare moments this weekend!  Let's just dig right in!

Happy Reading!

Enjoy!

* This one by Jen Hatmaker titled 'If I Were An Advertiser' because, well - because it's Jen Hatmaker, of course.  "Listen, we would prefer you just talked real to us. We might actually believe you if you said, “This product will neither enhance your chakras nor transform all of your troubled relationships, but it might mostly remove the hard water stains in your bathtub. That’s about the most we can do here.” Super. Even better if you cast a tired-looking mom with dirty hair and torn yoga pants scrubbing the tub with an expression that makes sense for the task rather than a coifed lady in ironed linen capri pants smiling at her bathtub like this is the most fascinating moment of her day."  Tip - the comments - oh my... so funny!

* This post by Shauna Niequist on Vulnerability & Cats! "Here’s what’s hard about vulnerability: we like the idea of it, but then it’s a lot harder to actually do or experience or feel than we think it will be. We think we’ll march right into it, command it, look it right in the eye, schedule it: here we go, getting vulnerable in 3, 2, 1…  But in my experience,  it’s a lot trickier than that."

* This post also by the amazing Shauna Niequist over at the farm at A Holy Experience about Communion. "I want all of the holiness of the Eucharist to spill out beyond the church walls, out of the hands of priests and into the regular streets and sidewalks, into the hands of regular, grubby people like you and me, onto our tables, in our kitchens and dining rooms and backyards.  Holiness abounds, should we choose to look for it."

* This one by Tonya Salomons over at Stone to Heart, sharing My Sin Was There...  "My sin was there on that day.  The day when betrayal's kiss pressed  his cheek like the iron that would pierce His skin."

* This post by Sarah Bessey from her trip to Haiti... seriously, ya'll - read all of her posts from Haiti - and the rest of the team with Help One Now that is there with her. "But every kid was frighteningly malnourished. A child collapsed to the floor and when Chris gathered her into his arms, he was told that she was hungry. Just hungry. It wasn’t her day to eat, you see. Tomorrow would be her day to eat."

* This from my friend Jennifer Dukes Lee, on the ultimate Preapproval.  "He loved you to death. And He’s loving you to life."

* This one by Amber Haines over at The RunaMuck, on the getting Back to the Grind after her trip to Haiti... "He was the one that told me he wants everything and also that he wants for nothing. To be near this one was to be near one at rest. I’ve never seen anything like it. The other men called him Monk. I met brothers there I didn’t know I had. I walked away from that conversation with him, and I knew exactly what I wanted for the rest of my life – for everything and for nothing. I thought, how unjealous I am of anyone on this planet. All I ever want for myself is the kingdom version of me, the exact thing He is making me."

* This post by Kristen Welch on how a dying man is teaching her how to live.  "He makes me want to say all the things that are left unspoken. He makes me want to cherish others every day. He makes me want to love freely and live in wild obedience. He reminds me he might not have a tomorrow.  He reminds me that I might not either.  A dying man is changing the way I live."

* This post right HERE from Abiding Love, Abounding Grace where I write my Five Minute Friday post on Glue... on Good Friday...  " We are all bruised and battered and windblown come Friday night... and as the skies turn black and death seethes ragged breaths and sings haunting songs of victory, it's easy to feel like the enemy wins.  We can lean back in defeat and come into agreement without even realizing it as our thoughts turn to 'he always wins.' Except... (But God...)  Except he doesn't..."

Lastly... A video! Because that is how we do...

And one more... a little (lot) less silly...

in honor of Easter...

All Glory... Nothing but the Blood

All Sons and Daughters                                      

Praying for each of you... yes, you...
to have a blessed and wonder-filled Easter weekend!

Again, if you found anything online that was incredible that I somehow missed, please feel free to link it in the comments sections and share the love!

When Glue Won't Hold Us All Together - Five Minute Friday

I had to miss out on the Twitter party and that means it was almost like two weeks in a row (since I left early last week!) so I am missing my community, but I am planning on blocking out next Thursday, arriving early and staying late! Yeah - I'm a big talker like that... but time will tell! Still, know that I missed you all!

Oh but - first - the fine print: if you don't know what FMF is!  Five Minute Fridays are hosted by Lisa Jo Baker.  It is open to anyone, so to learn more about it - and to jump in yourself (the more the merrier!) or just to find a linky to see what everyone is writing about today - click HERE!  The idea is to simply write... for Five Minutes flat... no editing, no deep thinking - or at least REthinking, no spell check - just write! Let it flow! We all write using a prompt that Lisa posts at 10pm Thursday night (EST.)  I'm loving the community of amazing bloggers and the creativity that flows from these magical Five Minutes!

So - here goes: Five Minute Friday - The Word Prompt is: GLUE

{GO}

We forget... we all forget so easily.  
We forget that fixing the broken, busted up pieces is not really our job. We tape and we glue and we pray and wait, holding our breath only to find ourselves broken and busted up all over again, with glue on our fingertips, binding us up to the brokeneness that we want gone.

There is no glue that can hold this wounded world in place and make it look like new.

No.  It's Friday... when all is dark and doubtful. 

It's Friday and we have no answers and what we thought we knew is fuzzy and the tests come back inconclusive and the doctors can't know where the blood is coming from but they all agree it is coming... leaking... bleeding out somewhere.  It could be a heart issue, or it could be because there are scrapes and bruises and flesh that was recently laid wide open. 

Not just for Dad... but for all of us. For you too.  

We are all laid out open, slowly losing life, unaware. We are seeking for hope and healing... for solid ground and a way out of this sad and stormy day that just won't seem to end.

Answers are slow to come and confusion rises up fierce.  We are all bruised and battered and windblown come Friday night... and as the skies turn black and death seethes ragged breaths and sings haunting songs of victory, it's easy to feel like the enemy wins.  We can lean back in defeat and come into agreement without even realizing it as our thoughts turn to 'he always wins.'

Except... (But God...)  Except he doesn't... We know... we've heard it before and we know it to be true, but we forget.

Can I remind you once again... Sunday is coming. With the dawning of a new day and the rising of the Son, Light shines on answers and Love binds up wounds... Hope is stirred up and spilling over and Victory?  Victory is ours!

On Easter Sunday - yes.  But on any given Sunday... because He lives, and He wears the Victor's Crown... we win!

I don't know what kind of terrible sad Good Friday that you may be facing, but can I encourage you? Sunday is coming! 

Sunday, after Friday is blooddrenched and Saturday is bloodstained... Sunday is washed and cleansed... It's brand new and full of Promise.  Sunday is all praise and answered prayers and bright, happy, shiny. 

Sunday is Him... it's all Him and He swoops in, and suddenly, in His Presence, the gluey residue of trying to fix it ourselves melts away.

{STOP}

Praying for you and yours over this Easter weekend.  It may be dark and doubtful for you right now... I know it's Friday.  But my friend... hold on!  The Blood covers and heals and makes whole better than any other glue I know of and He poured it out - every single drop - on purpose, with purpose, for me and for you. It's Friday - but Sunday is comin'!!! I promise you, Sunday is coming!


Five Minute Fridays gives us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click here to read what others have to say about "GLUE"  

Praying you have a Blessed Easter!

Easter... Before, During, and After the Little years.

I wrote last year a bit about my Upbringing and Easter... if you want a bit of my background, well - there ya go. Otherwise - let's jump right in.

I became a Christian at 21, a wife at 22, and a Mama at 25.  I fell in love with my life as it was unfolding and that has ever since then been the case.

We have an Only... she is hands down the best thing I have ever done and coming at Easter from the perspective of a parent undoes me every. single. year.

Gah... how much the Father loves us!

Every year we meet up at my In-Laws -Loves house and have Easter lunch after church.  This tradition began long before I entered the family and it was cemented early on, even in our Before Season of having a Little.

We gather together, eat lunch, and share what stood out about Easter, really letting the Gospel saturate us.  Eventually our Only came along and she has one older cousin and for a couple of years, we'd hide eggs all over yard and they would go on the hunt... just the two of them.  After Steph moved away, for many more years our Girlie searched on her own. 

Can you even?                    

Since then, well - Littles have been added... and added...

(...and added some more - even since this photo was taken a couple of years ago!)

In the midst of her growing up years - our During Season - Easter has always meant church and family and Egg Hunts with the cousins, - and let's not forget that crazy over-filled, (now seriously sad) hand crafted Easter Basket made for her First Easter Ever.  It went from a little candy and a dress with some sidewalk chalk, plastic toys and bubbles squeezed in, to a little candy and a dress with designer heels, room decor, and an itunes cards tucked in.

Seriously, ya'll - this is falling apart and she won't let me get rid of it!

When she was still a Tiny and could barely climb the stairs, she would ask to watch "Jesus on da Toss!"  She loved her Easter cartoons, but what she requested more than anything was to watch The Matthew Movie - a word for word rendition of the Gospel of Matthew; the one with the happy Jesus and she would be glued to the screen, downloading Scripture without even knowing it.  Oh, we'd let her but we'd always skip the Crucifixion.  Still, that is the scene that got her, every. time. Even going fast forward. (...So that completely dates me. Whatever.)

For all of her life, our Girlie has known Easter and what it means - how it is all about Jesus and what He did and what He does still... how He is still going about the business of saving and redeeming... 

But in this (nearly) After Season some things have changed.  Our college girlie works now and so getting a holiday off is not a given and we are still waiting to see if she gets to join us on Sunday and sit down for lunch, share Gospel and mashed potatoes, and talk a little about life and death and resurrection.  All the cousins are getting older... we still have Littles so the excitement of searching for eggs and candy is still high, but it has a different feeling to it now.  

Honestly, at this point, this isn't how I envisioned things. But I am old enough now to know that God is never caught off guard or surprised by anything.  The little details that I would like to change don't really concern Him. But He and I both agree that what we want the most this Easter - for my family and for yours, no matter the stage or age, is that there will be heart-hunger stirred up and Gospel-truth soaked in deep!

I pray that at some point over the next several days, whether at church, in quiet time, with family, or searching for treasures hidden, you will reflect on Easter as a parent.  That you will see your Littles - no matter how little they are or aren't anymore - and remember that the Father gave up His one and only Son so that we might have life... and have it more abundantly!

No matter your wishes or dreams, your disappointments or concerns as a parent... He's got your Littles and your not so Littles and He knows... as a Father, He knows!  He desires the best for them too and He loves them with a heart that beats FIERCE for them.  Whether they are joyfully serving Him, going through the motions with little shown emotion, or searching on their own for truth... He is after them!  

I remember having a conversation once where we were discussing if God really forsook Jesus on the Cross or if the enemy of His soul simply made Him believe He was forsaken.  It was not an argument and it can't be proven, but it made me ponder  ...how often have I fallen for the lies of the enemy and felt like I was abandoned, beyond help... forsaken, beyond hope?  Too many than I'd like to admit to, honestly.

But He has given us a Promise to never leave us or forsake us and I believe that - always - there is hope, because where ever you go, He is there!

I'm linking up with Jennifer Dukes Lee for #TellHisStory

and with Holley Gerth for #CoffeeforYourHeart

Counting Gifts Beyond Two Thousand

Happy Monday!  On some Mondays, that comes out just a little sarcastic, but on this day? Not so much... it is GORGEOUS out and I had a restful, creative weekend and I am ready for our super crazy, super busy bossy week ahead!

I am collecting gifts by the handful... and you can too! Look around you... ask God to show you how He is speaking to you... how He just keeps right on sending you gifts hand over fist when you are unaware!  We all get caught up in our Bossy and in our Busy... but when we slow down and really look... we see Blessings pouring out like Spring Showers! (Yeah - ya see what I did there? I can't help singing praises for Spring!  Our God - He is so lavish in His love for us in the Spring time!)

Counting On...

#2006 -  Getting back to a healthy routine of Juicing AND Green Smoothie-ing (?)  You know what I mean!

#2007 -  Meeting our Goal early... my Girlie and I have been walking together in the afternoons and we decided that we'd tackled this hill next week... but the top and the Orchards and these views kept beckoning us to climb higher... 

 

#2008 -  Finishing up my (in)RL crafts using up all the Vintage books! (Paper Bird Ornaments, Book Boxes, Bookmarks, Pinwheels and 'nests'... so fun!)

 #2009 -  So - I won this book by Holley Gerth (who is always always amazing!) from my friend Amy Tilson and got such a wonderful surprise when I opened the box from DaySpring and 'Santa Saul' included this amazing set of cards by Holley, too! (Seriously - ya'll - the only complaint about these cards is that they are all awesome!) Oh - non-affiliate link.  You're just gonna want them even though I get no money for you buying them! 

#2010 -  I was hired to create a prophetic art piece out of the blue and I had so much fun praying and worshipping and waiting and then, taking that deep breath, and putting brush to canvas!  Since it is for a client and it is a gift... I will just give a tiny preview:

...and then the painting just couldn't stop, so I prayed and worshipped and waited some more and moved on to this one:

#2011 -  So - this was a tough fought gift... I battled a low grade migraine all weekend, which resulted in lots of tea and laying down, no computer time whatsoever, and hours and hours of watching "Poetry Slam" on YouTube!  In between naps and tears, (because  ...well - you type that in and see what happens) I picked up a new journal and put pen to paper, writing a bit of poetry myself.  This hasn't happened since probably before I was married... which, if we're doing the math, we'll know was a long time ago!

#2012 -  I was feeling better on Sunday afternoon and had pictured in my mind something that I wanted to paint to place above my new desk where I write.  It was mixed media and I had never tried that... but I am not giving in to Self-Doubt because, well - Lent and laying down my #LoveIdol and all... so I just jumped right in and went for it...

  
Tada!

#2013 -  I'm just gonna help you out here... my week this week is S-U-P-E-R full, so Monday's crazy bossy Day Planner at first glance may make me want to cry, or at least wimper while brewing an entire pot of coffee for just me... but look closer.  Go ahead... Lookie:

Yeah - all fun things! A walk with a friend.  Meeting with a client.  Lunch with my Mama.  Calling on tickets to see Tim Hawkins.  My Photo-A-Day prompt.  Yep - this is how you plan you a busy Monday, folks!  Now - I know - not all days are this kind of glorious busy, but make yourself a priority and refill in various ways.  This is how you can keep a crazy schedule and not burn out! (Oh yes - full disclosure - my Girlie is in college... so you younger Mama's out there, rest assured your Day Planner will one day look like this too! What is not pictured is the parts that say laundry, dishes, get gas, wash car, etc... but most of that got done today too! You can guess which parts are still waiting for my attention!)

#2014 -  Is this not just a little bit of perfection?  This little bench area is along my walking path on Mondays and each week, I am blessed by it!  Something about being a Bench and falling in love with Daffodils... something about it screams friendship and Spring to me and that White Picket Fence just puts it seriously over. the. top.

#2015 -  Monday mornings... after a walk, before a meeting: Time for a cup of coffee, counting blessings, and digging in to the Word with If:Equip!

 #2016 -  Today is my Mama's 72nd Birthday! I live next door to her and sadly, I really honestly take that for granted! I realize this from time to time but never more so than while reading Surprised by Motherhood.  Yeah. That.  So instead of buying her a trinket or something that she really doesn't need... I took her out to one of my favorite restaurants out of town.  This promised us at least 3 hours together, visiting and laughing and eating some seriously amazing food too!

and for dessert: 

Salted Caramel Cheesecake AND Chocolate Lovers Spoon Cake...

#2017 -  Drive through Car Washes (and clean windshields!) after a road trip!

#2018 - An Afternoon walk with my girlie (even though I already walked in the morning, because - well - did you see that food?) Racked up nearly 8 miles today!

I am so thankful for this weekly reminder to write things down.  I do it on most days - but this link up helps keep me in the practice of jotting them down on a regular basis (if not a daily one!)

Linking up with Ann Voskamp in Counting (beyond) one thousand gifts...

Linking up with Holly Barrett as well, for Testimony Tuesday:

It's so easy in our world to see what is wrong... what is lacking... and what is not working... it's amazing what a little practicing looking for what is right... what is abundant... and what IS working can do for you!  Join us and count on!

If you want some daily prompts to help get you started, you can go HERE for Ann's daily Gifts!

What Gifts did YOU discover today? I'd love to hear!