The Things I'm Missing Right Now

Not only seeing friends but being able to give them a great big hug!

Getting to see my girl dance in the June recital 

Watching my boy play spring baseball

Family gatherings

Celebrations

Band concerts

 My job

Scouts

Amusement Parks

Eating at restaurants 

Vacations

Movies

Silly (and maybe not so sober moments) 

Easter 2020

I hope everyone was able to find peace and comfort on this Resurrection Sunday.

Easter felt a bit different this year but we rejoiced that the Lord is risen.   We may be in the midst of an uncertain and confusing time but God's promise remains the same.  In years past my mother-in-law would join us for our church service and my parents came over for ham dinner.  Sometimes my mother-in-law would join too and sometimes my father-in-law and his wife would drop by.  This year the four of us stayed home and spent quality time together.  No visitors.  Just us.  I actually enjoyed it, to be honest.

The morning started as usual, with finding what the Easter Bunny brought.  This is actually a picture the bunny left near the baskets proving that he was here and it's good to see he was doing his part to stay safe.

They didn't get as much as they normally do so the bunny must have been in a rush.  That's okay, we still have candy leftover from Halloween.

It's all fun but we make sure to instill the belief in Jesus and that this holiday is about his resurrection.   We spent the morning streaming our church service online followed by another service for the kids.  Even though we stayed at home we all got dressed up as we normally would.  For the last several weeks I've been wearing leggings, no makeup and hair thrown up in a messy bun, so it felt good to put myself together again.

Then we watched Hop, played, went for a walk, and had a lot of time cuddling on the couch together.   I made the typical ham dinner and the kids wasted no time diving into the candy.

Even though we weren't with family we still chatted on the phone and over text messages.   I also enjoyed seeing pictures of some of my nieces and their kids on Facebook and Instagram.

Wishing a Happy 35th birthday to my beautiful niece Chrissy.  I remember being at the hospital the day she was born and all the times we played together as kids.

____

On another note, I apologize that my posts seem to be a whirlwind of emotions, especially lately (I actually deleted the one from yesterday).   Welcome to my mind!  My old blogs would only consist of me talking about my day or a certain event that happened, nothing beyond that.  I'm thinking of going back to that simple way of writing and changing this up a bit, but before I move forward with this blog I'm going to take a tiny break.  Currently, I'm experiencing my own war with a silent enemy called Depression and it's nothing unfamiliar to me but I need to take time to heal and pull myself out.   I may go back to some private journaling in the process and take this time to stay busy and attempt to refocus.

Happy Easter, stay safe and healthy and hang in there!

Leaving you with a blast from the past: Easter 2012 

Good Friday

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." -- John 3:16-17

"He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man suffering, and familiar with pain.  Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.  Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." - Isaiah 3-5

"On the eve of the cross, Jesus made his decision.  He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you" -- Max Lucado.

Thinking about how much Jesus had to suffer on his way to the cross leaves me feeling really sad, and even guilty.  I also can't help but feel so grateful.  He died with me on his mind and he died with you on his mind.  There really is no greater love than that.

Nothing I have ever gone through or ever will go through could compare to that suffering and as we mourn in the thought of Christ's death we know that Sunday is coming, the day of resurrection.

I can't wait to be with my Savior in heaven one day.

"Two Weeks"

"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." -- 2 Peter 3:8-9

I'm starting to understand what my dog feels like.  Always at home with nowhere to go, living the same life day after day.  That poor guy!  

Our life right now reminds me of the movie The Money Pit where  Tom Hanks and Shelley Long play a newly married couple who purchased a beautiful mansion that ends up falling apart.  Every time they ask the carpenter how long the repairs will take to fix he keeps replying by saying, "Two weeks!"  

"Two weeks!"  It's what we keep hearing from our elected officials.  "If everyone practices social distancing for two weeks it will really help to slow the spread'."  "These next two weeks are going to be the worst but then it will start to get better."  "We'll be able to get back to business as usual by May."  "This virus isn't going to start going away until June or July."  "We'll see it all gone by Christmas."

You know what?  No human could possibly know when all of this virus stuff is going to be over, but you know who does know?  God!  Yes, God knows.  None of this came as a surprise to Him.  I truly have come to believe that God did not create this virus.  Sin comes into the world because of the decisions and actions of people and this virus we clearly know came from "Chi-na" (in the voice of President Trump).  

With a raise of hands how many are actually following the 'social distancing' rule?  ✋

Yeah, not enough are!  How hard is it to just … stay … home!  

I know, I know!  It's frustrating but apparently necessary.  So, please, for the love of all things good, STAY HOME!

A friend lost a grandmother to this virus and I have a few friends waiting for test results to come back.  Actually, one friend took the test a few weeks ago so maybe I should do the nice thing and check in on her to see how she's doing.  

This is a horrible time for everyone and we are all in this together.  The entire world!  Hang in there, folks!  My walls are caving in on me too!  You're not alone!

So, anyway, our days definitely feel like they are blending together.  My husband has been taking up our computer space downstairs as he works from home and the kids are spending the mornings doing their online school work.  Did I mention they'd rather be IN school?  

I've been working on writing a book, which has been my dream for as long as I can remember.  I always wrote fiction and as a child I would create characters living a life I wish I had.  It was an escape from my own reality.  Now I like to use some of my experiences and life lessons to help others.  I'm still writing fiction but with inspiration and purpose.  Maybe I'll explain all of that on another post sometime.  

No!  You cannot read it yet.  My kids keep trying to sneak a peak.  

We're also finding plenty of time for baking, taking walks, playing, camp fires, baseball practice at the field in our development, yard work, and being together as a family … CONSTANTLY together.  I enjoy it but also miss those few hours before and after work while the kids were in school and I could just enjoy the silence in the house.  Oh, the silence … I don't even know what that sounds like anymore.  

And now, even though I'm experiencing a really bad headache, the kids want to paint eggs.  So, I guess we'll go do that now.