In Awe of His sacrifice

We all have been experiencing living life very differently the last couple of months!  And to me watching Maundy Thursday mass on my smart phone last night brought the reality front and center. And as I sit here this morning  I can't help but think about all the Good Fridays I have spent walking up to the beautiful crucifix in our church and touching my lips to the cold hard feet of Jesus. It has never ceased to be an emotional moment for me and always brings me to a deepened and heightened place of gratefulness and yet my heart breaks for the sacrifice that Jesus made that day. For as much as my mind knows that the real physical event happened 2,000 years ago, my heart breaks for his suffering and I weep! And yet my heart, at the same time, sings with thankfulness!

Let me tell you a little story....there was a young man who died and went to hell. His pastor, who loved him, went down to hell to see if he could get him moved up to heaven. No luck. The young man's teachers and coach went down. Still no luck. His friends went down and pleaded his case. And again…no luck. Finally, his mother went down, knocked on the door of hell. When the devil opened the door she asked if she could be admitted to be with her son. There is no greater love than that of a mother...ahhhh, but there is....that of our heavenly father! Just as a mother's love for us is so encompassing that she was willing to sacrifice all to be at her son's side so much more is the love our FATHER has for us. He chose humanness. He experienced sadness, rejection, anguish, loneliness, and, yes, pain when at any time he could have chosen differently. He did it for me and you, for our parents, our children, our friends, our enemies. Jesus did it for all now, past, present, and future!

I gained a lot from church last night...think about this. We all wear badges of love. A mother wears spit-up on her shoulder...her badge of love for her baby. Think about the flour sprinkled in a mother's hair and on her apron from spending the day in the kitchen baking her child's birthday cake...her badge of love for her child. How about the grease under a father's fingernails after fixing his young son's bicycle or his older son's car...his badge of love for his son. And don't forget the wedding rings that couples wear...yes, their badge of love for each other. Then what of the cross...that is the badge of our Savior’s love for us. Envision this...Jesus carried a long ladder over to the cross, crawled up the ladder and onto his badge of love for us...THE CROSS! Picturing him carrying the ladder and crawling up onto the cross helps to remind me that it was deliberate...purposely done...as he mounted those stairs he could have turned back at any time. But, no HE CRAWLED onto that cross deliberately and purposely so that he could wear that badge of love for us! For me, no words adequately describe the depth and breath of his love for us. I just know it is there, how big it is and how grateful I am for such a gift. Not just for myself but those that I love so deeply, and actually those I don't know. All of humanity.
"I have other sheep that are not of this sheep flock. I must bring  them also. they too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father". John 10: 16-18

So today, Good Friday will be spent a little differently. I will be watching from my smart phone and there will be no feet for me to kiss... today will be a little quieter than normal.  Already this morning I find myself a little more reflective, and today will be a little more poignant. My mind, heart and prayers focused on my Lord but also on the hundreds of thousands that are suffering today. Yet, on the other hand I am overflowing with thankfulness, gratitude, and honor. It always causes me to pause to think that a  little old lady from a little old town is worthy in the eyes of her Father for him to endure such for me! And that those I love are worthy of being covered by His blood. And really I can't remember a time that I have thought so much about my Lord's sacrifice for all those I don't know before this time we are experiencing now. Simply put it is different but yet it is not...the sacrifice of love is the same each and every day!! To you Lord I give all the honor and glory!

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" Romans 5:6-10

Thorns and Blossoms

The above picture is of some branches I tied together to hang on my door for Palm Sunday. We are doing this for Palm Sunday because in our state we are amidst a "shelter in place" and will not be in church like many,many states. My daughter and I were taking a walk down our country road when I spotted a hawthorn tree on the other side of a ditch. We have several hawthorn trees around the farm and I love them because of the pretty white flowers that covers them in the spring. Originally I had thought of using some dogwood branches but when I spotted this tree, with it's delicate white blossoms, it was a done deal. So, I retrieved my clippers and down the ditch I went. Now, snipping the branches was where the tricky part came in. They have long thin thorns! I cut the branches I needed and back up the ditch this country girl went! Up on the front deck I took my hand clippers and started removing the thorns.. As I said we have other hawthorn trees, in fact one at the end of our walkway, that i pass many times a day. The fact that they have little white flowers and thorns has not been hidden from me. Yet, as i was clipping off the thorns I noticed how many times there seemed to be a thorn with a white, tiny, delicate flower beside it. That is when God decided to have a conversation with me. For me, the timing of God speaking to me never stops amazing me .

God: "Trina, do you feel the prick, the sting, the discomfort of these thorns?"

Me: "Yes, Lord! They HURT!"

God: "Have you noticed the beauty I have put beside the thorn?"

Me: "Definitely Lord...they are so white and delicate. How could I miss something so beautiful!"

God: "My child, take a minute and think about the recent days. Those days have been full of thorns. I have seen all the  suffering, anxiety, fear. But have you just been looking at all the thorns of recent days or have you noticed the blossoms, the beauty, the blessings that I have placed before you and all around? I have given you a branch that is bent over with the weight of my blessings but you have to stop and let your eyes see them!"

I must say sitting in the chair on my deck tears rolled down my face. "Forgive me Father for what I have done and what I have failed to do. You have given me so much and please open my eyes to see what you have placed in front of me!"

The last month has not only been life altering for me, my family, my circle of friends, my city, county and state. In every corner of the globe there has been anxiety, fear, death, and despair. Life altering globally!! Yet, we must not forget we have a global God!! A God whose eyes see each and every person in the entire world. And whose blessings, hope, hands, and heart have placed beautiful blossoms in front of each and everyone. Yes, this virus is touching everyone around the world in one way or another but we still have a God who is placing hope and joy and comfort right beside  "this thorn". His blessings, his mercy, his grace can't be squeezed out by any thorn small or big, by any virus locally or globally.

I, in no way am trying to minimize the suffering that is happening right now. That is real and heart wrenching. What I am attempting to do is remind you of something I needed to be reminded of. So, after God's talk with me, while I was working on my door hanging I started bringing to mind all the wonderful gifts I have been given and seen since this virus erupted.  Those blessings and that grace that has been poured out upon me is real also. Yet, I have spent the majority of my time looking at the thorns instead of gazing at the blossoms. God's conversation with me this evening, as the warm sun was setting, was much needed. Please spend time refocusing your eyes and your thoughts. God is placing branches of tiny white blossoms right before your eyes...and HAPPY PALM SUNDAY to all!

So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" John 12:13