It's Morning Somewhere....

I got up this morning and the pastor of the church I have been going to had on his Facebook page, "His mercies are new every morning."  I clicked 'like' because well.. it's true.


I got dressed, even put on a skirt and a cool scarf.  Hubby had a meeting at 10 am on the phone which is rare on a Sunday and when he does have to work it is important.   I had taped Air Bud and thought...Super!  I can put the kiddo on the TV, I will sneak out and all will be well.


Keys in hand... I turned on the TV.  There was a commercial about bullying and he lost it.  I should have said he LOST it.  Big time.  I could tell after about 20 minutes that there would be no leaving.  I dashed out a note on Facebook asking for prayer that I maybe get to church but it was not to happen.  And I was angry and sad and disappointed.  It wasn't 'just' about going to church.  I know many of you understand that... it was 'one more thing.'


I rarely write about the 'hard stuff' that we deal with.  Just this last week a Christian magazine wrote a very detailed piece on how difficult it is when you have autism in the family. (They even put the 80% divorce statistic for those with autistic kids in there.  That is a lie from the devil.)   It was depressing to read.  One friend said it was good because it brings awareness.  I think that is true but HOPE is important also. One book I love is Dancing with Max by Emily Colson.  It is written like a Psalm.  It tells of the hard times she has endured but as I read (and as I have heard her speak via the internet) it is apparent that she knows the Lord and sees the joy in life...even in the hard times.   That is the type of writing I am drawn to.  It is the type of life I want to live.  


So for the next hour or two, I sat and listened to the kiddo, tried to calm him and buried myself in a Christian novel I am reading...just to escape.  Then when hubby got off the phone I did a bit of retail therapy.  (Not too much damage.  Heck, one store was the Dollar Store!)


When I arrived home all was well.  But I had been stressed the whole week.  It wasn't until I went for a walk that I realized that all the weight of the last week had been lifted off of me.  And the reason for that is because of the prayers of the saints (friends) that went up for me this morning as I sent out that SOS.  Even though I have lived in isolation with regards to church the last 10 years, I have met an incredible crowd of individuals via cyberspace that lift me up when needed.

There is a verse in Joel that says, "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten."  (2:25).  I think this is true even for a day.  "I will repay you for your lousy morning."  I felt free, fresh, new and peace filled as I went on my walk.  So his mercies are new every morning...and it is morning somewhere.





I'm filing this under "Hear it on Sunday, Use it on Monday" because even though I didn't make it to church, I will be using a message directly from Him all through the week.  The message is peace and it was opened up for me because of the friends praying.

As Paul Harvey would say....

here is the rest of the story.

Kiddo spent another sixty to ninety minutes finishing this story he started yesterday.  Although he did not wish to do paragraphs, he decided to color code them so that when I read the story to his buddies, he could show the appropriate Resurrection egg.

I need to have full disclosure here because as many of you know we have our share of challenges.  So in the interest of transparency, in addition to doing the following, my child ALSO tried to teach another kiddo at the Easter party how to flip the bird.  Although 'bad' it reminds me of James 3:10; Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers this should not be.  I think we all struggle with that but in our own adult way it is excused....

And on that note..and being thankful for God's grace and all that Easter is about...

Once upon a time there was a king. He was destined to become the king of kings. People awaited this coming. When he came on a donkey, they rejoiced him like a hero had come(in fact he is a hero but we’ll get to that later). they laid their clothes and waved palm branches. everybody was happy. well, almost everybody. the Pharisees were mad about this king. each time, they tried to prove jesus was a quack. and each time they failed. this was because jesus knew everything(he even knows your concealed sins. please ask for forgiveness). but one day, a disciple named judas iscariot came to the pharisees temple. He was offered some cash to betray jesus(yup, its true). very sad indeed(but don't worry, good things will come out of it). a while later, jesus and his friends were having dinner(including that betrayer, judas). jesus held up some bread and broke it. “this is my body it will be broken.” then he got some wine. “this is my blood. you shall have it.” what does it mean? you shall find out, my friend…oh! by the way, jesus mentioned somebody betraying him(judas, obviously). that night, jesus went to the garden of gethsemane. on the way there, peter said: “lord, i will do anything for you, i will even die for you!” but jesus responded, “you will say 3 times that you don't know me before the rooster crows.”(peter may have thought jesus’s brain was grilled. however, jesus was right!) when they got there, jesus prayed while he sweated blood(something that doesn’t usually happen to people). the disciples were in a major struggle to stay awake. but jesus said “wake up and pray for me.” so they did(or at least tried). then… soldiers came! they got jesus! peter counterattacked by slicing a soldiers ear off! but jesus said he shouldn't do it and healed the soldiers ear. they put him in a trial and did cruel mocking. they blindfolded him and whipped him. “if you are really the king of the jews, tell us who is hitting you!” they did many cruel things to this innocent, innocent, man. :( meanwhile, peter was walking around town. he went to warm himself by the fire. a woman saw him and said: “hey, you're that guy who goes with jesus!” peter blurted, “what!?!?! no i’m not!!! i don't even know jesus!” a man said back, “yes you are! i’ve seen you before!” peter said back, “I AM NOT PETER!!! AND I DONT KNOW JESUS!!! NOW GO AWAY!!!” another man said: “YOU ARE PETER! I CAN PROVE IT!” peter said one last time:”I AM NOT PETER AND I DONT KNOW JESUS!!!!!!” then the rooster crowed. peter had remembered what jesus said and wept. tomorrow, the pharisees told caesar about jesus, but he could not find out any guilty parts. he took jesus to the angry mob and said, “shall i crucify jesus and set barabbas the murderer free? or crucify barabbas and set jesus free?” the crowd did not care that barabbas was a killer. they wanted to crucify jesus. “CRUCIFY JESUS! CRUCIFY JESUS!” and so it was. all friends of jesus mourned. the soldiers beat him cruelly and put a thorny crown on him and jesus was called “king of the jews”. then they nailed him to the cross. they gambled with a die to see who got jesus’s clothes. They also pierced him with spears. a about-to-be-crucified criminal said: “lord, forgive my sins!” another criminal said “forgive me and bless me!” jesus said, “you two shall both be with me.” then jesus said:”i am thirsty.” a soldier gave him a sponge soaked with vinegar. then jesus said:”FATHER, I GIVE YOU MY SOUL!” then he said: “IT IS FINISHED!” then he died! the earth shook! the curtains of the ark of the covenant ripped! a day later, some men come and got jesus’s body. they wrapped it in linen. it was a sad day. they put him in a tomb and put a rock in the entrance. soldiers guarded it. then… a angel came and rolled away the rock! the soldiers fainted. that day, 3 women came to the tomb. to their surprise, the rock was rolled away! jesus’s body was gone! a angel appeared to them and said “DO NOT WORRY. HE HAS RISEN.”(angels have holy voices, so this is why i put on the “caps”.)the women were excited and told the exciting story to the disciples (everybody but judas. according to acts 1:1-10, judas bought a field, but he died and his body bursted open and his intestines poured out[if this makes you feel uncomfortable, i am sorry]). that day, the disciples were having dinner. thomas was not there. then jesus appeared! “PEACE BE WITH YOU.”(holy voice again! :D) the disciples were amazed! later, thomas was dining with them. jesus appeared again! “PEACE BE WITH YOU.”(i like this “holy caps” business! :D) thomas said, “i wont believe it!” jesus replied, “touch my hands and feet.” thomas touched them and he believed that jesus rose! jesus said, “anybody who believes in me will truly be happy.” later, the disciples went with jesus. “the holy spirit shall be with you.” jesus said. then something happened! jesus was lifted to the sky on a cloud and went to his home - heaven! the disciples kept looking up! two angels appeared and said, “why are you staring at the sky? jesus will come back someday.” so you see, its not about the so-called “easter bunny”, its about jesus. jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins - even the easter bunny’s.

Easter Story Narration

Today we are going on an egg hunt with some friends.  I asked the kiddo to give the Easter story with the Resurrection Eggs.  He wanted to write it down and print it out.  He quickly booted me out of the chair and started typing himself.  OVER a page.  Took him an hour.  And it was detailed to the point that I had to look up a few things to see if he was correct.  (He was.)  I can't ask for this type of work but when given freely it is amazing.

When I was pregnant I recall thinking,... how do kids learn language?  I was thinking how kids hear words, process them and then learn them.

Then he was born deaf and I wondered, HOW will he learn language and how will he hear about Jesus.  (And then all the other stuff that we have worked through as well...) Although there is still some internalizing that needs to be done, I think he 'gets' it quite well.

He needs to finish this but he stopped at the Good Friday part of the story and I think that is a good point to post it here.  I wanted to note that obviously he needs to work on capital letters (I did the first few sentences), but he can write!  I don't think you can teach a kid to write with all the different inflection and vocabulary that he uses.  He did spell check but there wasn't much to check.   (I know it is a tad hard to read but wanted to post it in the raw form.) And he really understands the people in the Bible story.    This passage is a whisper from God.

Once upon a time there was a king.  He was destined to become the king of kings.  People awaited this coming.  When he came they rejoiced him like a hero had come(in fact he is a hero but we’ll get to that later). they laid their clothes and waved palm branches. everybody was happy. well, almost everybody. the Pharisees were mad about this king. each time, they tried to prove jesus was a quack. and each time they failed. this was because jesus knew everything(he even knows your concealed sins. please ask for forgiveness). but one day, a disciple named judas iscariot came to the pharisees temple. he offered some cash to betray jesus(yup, its true). very sad indeed(but don't worry, good things will come out of it). a while later, jesus and his friends were having dinner(including that betrayer, judas). jesus held up some bread and broke it. “this is my body it will be broken.” then he got some wine. “this is my blood. you shall have it.” what does mean? you shall find out, my friend…oh! by the way, jesus mentioned somebody betraying him(judas, obviously). that night, jesus went to the garden of  gethsemane. on the way there, peter said: “lord, i will do anything for you, i will even die for you!” but jesus responded, “you will say 3 times that you don't know me before the rooster crows.”(peter may have thought jesus’s brain was grilled. however, jesus was right!) when they got there, jesus prayed while he sweated blood(something that doesn’t usually happen to people). the disciples were in a major struggle to stay awake. but jesus said “wake up and pray for me.” so they did(or at least tried). then… soldiers came! they got jesus! peter counterattacked by slicing a soldiers ear off! but jesus said he not do it and healed the soldiers ear. they put him in a trial and did cruel mocking. they blindfolded him and hit him. “if you are really the king of the jews, tell us who is hitting you!”  meanwhile, peter was walking around town. he went to warm himself by the fire. a woman saw him and said: “hey, you're that guy who goes with jesus!” peter blurted, “what!?!?! no i’m not!!! i don't even know jesus!” a man said back, “yes you are! i’ve seen you before!” peter said back, “I AM NOT PETER!!! AND I DONT KNOW JESUS!!! NOW GO AWAY!!!” another man said: “YOU ARE PETER! I CAN PROVE IT!” peter said one last time:”I AM NOT PETER AND I DONT KNOW JESUS!!!!!!” then the rooster crowed. peter had remembered what jesus said and wept. tomorrow, the pharisees told caesar about jesus, but he could not find out any guilty parts. he took jesus to the angry mob and said, “shall i crucify jesus and set barabbas the murderer free? or crucify barabbas and set jesus free?” the crowd did not care that barabbas was a killer. they wanted to crucify jesus. “CRUCIFY JESUS! CRUCIFY JESUS!” and so it was. all friends of jesus mourned. the soldier beat him with whips and put a thorny crown on him and jesus was called “king of the jews”. then they nailed him to the cross. they gambled with a die to see who got jesus’s clothes. they pierced him with spears. a about-to-be-crucified criminal said: “lord, forgive my sins!” another criminal said “forgive me and bless me!” jesus said, “you two shall both be with me.” then jesus said:”i am thirsty.” a soldier gave him a sponge soaked with vinegar. then jesus said:”FATHER, I GIVE YOU MY SOUL!” then he said: “IT IS FINISHED!” then he died! the earth shook! the curtains of the ark of the covenant ripped! a day later, some men come and got jesus’s body. they wrapped it in linen.

It's Friday but Sunday's coming

I posted this last year but it was taken off YouTube probably because of copyright issues.  But I found this one.  It isn't Good Friday yet but a wonderful reflection for this Holy Week.   I find myself all year long in Good Friday reflection and I really want this year to KNOW and FEEL the Easter miracle that Jesus died for me to have LIFE here on this earth.  "On Earth as it is in Heaven."  (Matthew 6.)  This year I want to leave all that was done at the foot of the cross and to know that it is ALREADY finished!