A clean slate

Good Morning Friends!  Mighty and Marvelous is our God, Monday!!!  Each Sunday during Lent in Sunday school, we all (kids and teachers) took a big nail, held it in our hands and in silence thought about our sins, maybe a particular sin that needed forgiving, asked for forgiveness and then we each, still in silence stuck our nails into a brown Styrofoam cross.  We then prayed together for God to help us do the best we can and thanked Him for sending His Son to die for us, forgiving our sins.  Like I said we did this each week so the cross was quite full of nails.  After church on Good Friday, I took all the nails out of the cross, took it home and painted the other side white; my plan was to have a lesson based on because of Easter, our sins are forgiven and we are washed clean…white.   Easter Sunday was very busy at Sunday school, so we didn’t have a chance to talk about the changes in our cross, but yesterday I was excited for the kids to see the white, nail-less cross.  I gathered them all around our table and before I could even get started one young boy, 11, said, “ hey the nails are all gone and our cross is white.”  Ah, I thought, this is going to be great, but then he went on to say, “hey the other side is still brown.”  I tried to skip over that fact and get on with the Easter message with the white side of our cross, but he would have no part of it.  He was determined to keep on about the brown side of the cross and get to the bottom of the whole deal!  Well, I was actually getting a little perturbed at him (oh yes it’s true, I had to ask for forgiveness) as he had really taken the wind out of what I thought was a great lesson.  Well, I finally got him to give it up and went on with class, but I just couldn’t get it off my mind……kids!  As I was sitting in church listening to Pastor….I finally got it……with the help of this young man, I figured it out…..Jesus didn’t die for just some of our sins, HE didn’t wash just half of them away…..HIS death and resurrection gives us a clean slate, wipes all our sins away….front and back…..inside and out….HIS blood makes us clean….Father, bring us to You in true repentance to confess and seek Your forgiveness.  Give us hearts that forgive others as You forgive us.  And Father thank  you for the pure wisdom of children and the lessons we can learn from them. 

“Come now, let us reason together,”  say the Lord.  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”  Isaiah 1:18.  As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgression from us.  Psalm 103:12.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.  Ephesians 1:7-8.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Ephesians 4:32.

Love you all!

Our forever Valentine

Good Morning!    Last week, a day or two before Valentine’s Day, we got a Valentine in the mail from Cooper and Katy.  Of course, we love that!!!  I picked up the phone and called them to say thank you….after visiting with Mommy for a minute she gave the phone to Katy.  Katy was so happy to talk to me, I thanked her for the card and told her I had a Valentine surprise for her too!  She was all excited, we visited a little longer when I heard Mommy tell her to let Cooper talk too.   “Cooper, want to talk to Nana?”   she hollered at him.  I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard him holler back, “NO.”  Well for heaven’s sake I thought, little stinker.  I told Katy, “you tell Cooper he isn’t going to get his Valentine surprise if he doesn’t talk to me.”  Katy was most happy to deliver that message with the silly delight of a little sister whose  big brother was about to get in trouble!  Immediately, a little voice came on the phone and said, “Hi Nana.”  “Hi Cooper, how’s my boy?”  “Good, nana do you have a Valentine surprise for me?”  “I sure do Cooper, thank you for our Valentine, I love you.”  “ Your welcome, I love you too, Nana, bye.”  The conversation was short and sweet, but as I was relaying the details of how I had to threaten our little stinker to get him to talk to me, I suddenly felt sad…..Gosh, sure glad our Father doesn’t ever threaten us to get us to come to HIM….He waits lovingly, patiently yearning for us to come to HIM, sit with HIM…..unburden our troubled hearts, confess our sins, receive comfort and the most wonderful LOVE surprise, everyday not just once a year!  Father, oh I thank and praise YOU for loving us so abundantly….freely, always without a threat….just the promise of life everlasting with YOU!!  How good YOU are how Blessed are we!  I love you Father, all glory to YOU!

 

You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding love and faithfulness.  Psalm 86:15.  The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trust in Him and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song.  Psalm 28:7  The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for Him!  Isaiah 30:18.  Submit to God and be at peace with Him; in this way prosperity will come to you.  Job 22:21.  The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; d not be discouraged.  Deuteronomy 31:8.  Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.  Luke:12:32. 

Love you all!

July 16, 2013

Good Morning Friends!  Mighty is our God, Monday!  Yesterday, Papa had some chores to get done while the girls and I went to Sunday school and church, but he hitched a ride into town with Cooper and Katy (oh mommy drove) for lunch with good friends.  On our way home, Papa was quite serious as he told me he had a big mess for me at the house….he explained that he had gotten the 4 wheeler stuck in a great big, mud- hole while trying to fix a leak.  He was quite animated as he explained the whole ordeal….main thing… mud was flying everywhere…..and stinky, cow- poop laced mud to boot!  Poor guy, just knew I was going to be mad at him as he described the heap of nasty, muddy- clothes waiting for me on the porch!  My goodness…..let’s say…he was not exaggerating!  His clothes, lying in a heap on the porch, were totally covered in thick mud….the once wet mud was already beginning to cake….and his poor boots….not sure they will ever be the same!  Well, needless to say I wasn’t in the mood to mess with them right then, later would be soon enough.  Later….when it began to rain we all went out on the screen porch to enjoy the much needed blessing!  Hmm….think I will put this muddy mess outside and let it get a good soaking before I try to wash them!  The rain helped, but it’s going to take a lot more than that to wash away the dirt……I will spray them good with my homemade spray and wash add an extra scoop of OxiClean, do some good old- fashioned scrubbing, but my bet is I will have to wash them more than once to get them clean again!  Driving into work this morning, thinking about the task that lay ahead of me….the thought hit me….I sure am glad that it’s not to get “clean” from our sins as it’s going to be to get those muddy clothes clean again!   Oh goodness, how often we get stuck in the mud of envy, greed, gossip, self-pity, selfishness, caring more about ourselves than others…..the mud of sin is caked on us……we wonder how can we ever be “clean” again……Our Heavenly Father is right there waiting to forgive us…..the blood of HIS SON…..washes us clean……over and over again…..Thank you Father, for making it so easy for us to come to You with our “mud” and be cleaned!  Keep our faith strong and help us to turn to You when we are tempted.  All glory to You, Mighty Father!

 

“But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.”  Psalm 86:15.  As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (now that’s clean!)  Psalm 103:12.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:9.  “Come now, let us reason together,”  says the Lord.  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”  Isaiah 1:18.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Ephesians 4:32. 

Love you all!