Follow You!

There is a yellow blanket of pollen covering everywhere I have been over the past few days{outside}. The Kleenex's and allergy medicine are disappearing quickly. It is sneaking into all the little crevices... Today, after we arrived home from an afternoon out, I was unloading some snacks and school from the van and my huge zebra-striped purse slipped off my shoulder and bounced out onto the pavement. I picked it up to find the bottom was yellow & dusty.



A friend of ours is a pilot & he said that flying in yesterday there was a yellow cloud of pollen just sitting in our city.



Oh, the joys of spring ~ :) But, when I see all the flowers & feel the warm weather I am so glad that it is spring! I was beginning to wonder if winter was going to last forever this year. :) My favorite time of day between April & September is between 4pm & 9pm...everything has such a lively glow! It is soo beautiful ~ it always inspires me to go do something. [Rosy took the above picture! She is so creative...!]

One evening last week, Livy was over at a neighbor's home helping her with her horses, and Mom, Dad & Ricky were all out, so the younger two and I went outside to take some pictures and get some yard work done. It was during my favorite hours & I really wanted to capture the beauty of everything at that time....I didn't capture it as much as I wanted to, but such is life.

Somethings are just impossible to capture with a camera & must just be "experienced." :)[Tommy took this one. :) He actually took probably 30 pictures on my camera that evening. But, this one caught my eye b/c I loved the warm look of the grass & the fun angle of the house ~ ]

I love sitting out in the sun with a good book ~

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I had such a beautiful Easter. But I actually think that Good Friday meant more to me this year than it ever has before. I don't really know that I can say in words just why that is...

This year I spent alot more time thinking about what Easter is all about. I don't mean that I thought it was "all about the Easter bunny" b/c I have always been taught the real meaning. But this year I just sat down and thought about Easter for awhile.

This is the event, during which Jesus Christ hung on the cross.

He was betrayed, arrested, forsaken by His own disciples, accused, spit upon, openly smote, denied by those He loved most, bound, falsely witnessed against, chosen to take the place of a notable prisoner, scourged, stripped, blindfolded, stroked, rebuked, numbered with the transgressors, railed on, hated by the very people of God, despised, rejected, platted with a crown of thorns, mocked, given vinegar as a drink, crucified, reviled, and bearing sin so intensely that even His Heavenly Father could not look at Him. When He was killed, rocks split, darkness reigned and an earthquake shook the earth.

Jesus did this for me. --

I have never seen half as much pain anywhere as what He bore.

If He did that for me, I should be horrifically ashamed to ever be afraid to share His love with others. Or think that my school work is "too hard." Or fear that someone will stop "liking" me if I ask them whether or not they are a follower of Christ. Or a million other things that would change my "stay-out-of-the-way-for-now-someday-I'll-do-something-about-this" life.

I am so selfish. --

Last year, I studied covenants & sacrifices & for the first time really realized what it meant for Jesus to die for me. As a Gentile, there is no way I would know Jesus today without Him taking my sins and offering forgiveness, and hope and grace. (!!!)

I am so blessed --

The words to the following song has been my heart's cry this Easter ~

Follow You (Leeland w/ Brandon Heath)

You lived among the least of these

The weary and the weak.

And it would be a tragedy

For me to turn away.

All my needs, You have supplied,

When I was dead, You gave me life.

How could I not give it away so freely?

I'll follow You into the homes of the broken.

Follow You into the world.

Meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God!

I'll follow You into the world.

Use my hands, use my feet,

To make Your kingdom come,

To the corners of the earth,

Till the work is done.

Cause faith without works is dead.
And on the cross, Your blood was shed.

So, how could I not give it away so freely?

I'll follow You into the homes of the broken.

Follow You into the world.

Meet the need for the poor and the needy, God!

I'll follow You into the world.

I give all myself. I give all myself to You!

--

I've also been thinking - "the" world includes "my" world. If I open my eyes, there is need around me...maybe it isn't quite as heroic as some peoples way of "meeting needs" but there is need to meet.

--
{favorite verse this Easter} ~

"I am come that they might have LIFE and that they might have it more abundantly!" (John 10:10)

Abundantly ~ (dictionary.com) 1. present in great quantity; more than adequate; oversufficient. 2. well supplied; abounding. 3. richly supplied.

This isn't talking about money abundance or anything we can earn, but life abundance only available through Jesus Christ!! Reading that thrills me to no end!!

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I was looking up the word "Wonder" on Thesaurus.com while writing a paper & this came up --

An act of God. Divine act. circumstances beyond one's control. marvel. phenomenon. supernatural event. unforeseen event. wonder.

Abundant life + surrounded by wonders = unspeakable joy....

This Easter, I have been overwhelmed with the love of Jesus ~

-n