Easter Through the Eyes of a Four-Year Old

You know, it's kind of embarrassing how I started this blog to talk about my growth in the Lord and then I wrote two blog posts.  I haven't completely stalled in my Christian growth, but to be completely honest, it is a lot more difficult to write a meaningful blog post than it is to write up a silly little post about my clothes!

That being said, I just want to share some thoughts with you.  This year, I got to experience Easter through the eyes of my Little Guy.  He turned four on April 1st and is such a deep thinker.  He thinks about every little thing.  When he goes to bed at night, he comes out at least once or twice to tell me that he thought of two words that rhyme, or to ask me if I'll be his princess when he wakes up, or to ask me why I did something earlier in the day.  Quite simply, he's a smart little guy and his mind is constantly on the move!

So, it was very encouraging, entertaining and enlightening to see our church's Easter Cantata through his eyes.  This year's Easter Cantata was the story of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, told through the eyes of the Woman at the Well.  You know, the Samaritan woman who Jesus met at the well along the road to Galilee.  He offered her the gift of living water and revealed to her that he was the Messiah.  The Cantata had started out with the an older version of the Woman at the Well, reminiscing about meeting Jesus.  It then showed her meeting Jesus at the well, following Him to Jerusalem, and witnessing Him being crucified.  It showed us the deep sorrow and loneliness she must have felt when she learned of his death and burial.  And then told how she learned of Jesus' resurrection as she was on the road back to Samaria, and how she finally put her trust in Him as her Messiah.

Now, I realize that we have no way of knowing if the Woman at the Well witnessed Jesus being crucified . . . but she certainly could have! 

My Little Guy was enthralled by the story.  When Jesus entered Jerusalem and the people worshipped him, he got so excited and said, "It's Jesus! It's Jesus!" He then asked me, "Did he come for our sins?"  He literally thought Jesus was physically in our midst! The faith of a child... it just astounds me.

When the scene later flashed to Jesus on the cross, my Little Guy was horrified.  "Is that blood?" he asked.  "Where are the soldiers? Are they killing him on the cross?"  Later when Jesus was no longer on the cross, he wanted to know where he was and what had happened to him. He was so happy when he saw that Jesus was ok. 

After church, I explained to him that what we saw was like a movie.  That "Jesus" was a man in our church pretending to be Jesus, so that we could see what it was like when Jesus died on the cross. 

Later, he saw an ambulance and he said, "Maybe that ambulance is going to help the man who was Jesus, momma."

I'm praying that he continues to think about the Easter Cantata and that he trusts the Lord as his Saviour as soon as he reaches that "age of accountability" or as soon as he understands sin and the sacrifice that Christ made for us.

Give Thanks

In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 

In everything. Wow.  So I should always be giving thanks?  Kinda sounds like, doesn't it?

Thank goodness he didn't say for everything. I'd most certainly fail every. single. day.  As it is, I have quite a ways to go in giving thanks.

What I realized in Sunday school this week, was that even when life is throwing me curveballs, I have plenty to be thankful for. 

When the kids are whining "Mommy, mommy, mommy," over and over and over again. I take a deep breath and remember. These are my little blessings from the Lord and they are healthy and precious. And I'm so very thankful for them.

When I have had it "up to here" with ignorant people at work, I take a deep breath and remember. I have a job. It pays the bills. And I'm so very thankful for it.

When I walk into my bedroom and see baskets full of laundry that needs to be folded and put away and it's 9:00 at night and all I want to do is crawl into bed and blog, I take a deep breath and remember. I am clothed and most certainly not lacking in that department. So are the kidlets. And I'm so very thankful for it. 

So, as you live from day to day, just remember how much you have to be thankful for.  The holidays have come and gone, but our thankful spirit shouldn't go, too.

Sweet Peace

It's no secret that I'm a Christian. In my other blog, I talk about God and Jesus and faith on a pretty regular basis.  I was raised in a Christian home and made a "profession of faith" as we call it when I was younger.  All of my life, I've lived a bit of a wishy washy Christian life. There were times I strayed from the Lord and lived like anything but a Christian.  Here's the thing. I've always held onto a piece of myself and never fully put my trust in Christ, that He and He alone could save me.  I know about his love. I know about his forgiveness.  But I couldn't get past me.  Despite knowing that He's the only one who could save me, I kept going back to what I did. Did I pray the "right prayer?" Did I make a change in my life? I certainly don't feel saved. So, I'd try harder. I'd pray more. I'd clean up my life a bit and hope that I'd find that peace. I even put on a good face and faked it. I could talk the talk and walk the walk and no one (but me and the Lord) would ever know the difference. 

Well, He's been working on me for the past few months and I kept putting Him off. Trying to convince myself that I was safe.  But yesterday in Sunday School, our teacher asked if anyone wanted to give their testimonies. I thought about what I would say if I volunteered and I came up empty.  I was going round and round in circles in my head, trying to think of what I could say that would convince the class that I was positive I was going to spend eternity in Heaven. Can you believe that??  I shouldn't have to convince them (much less, myself!) that I was confident in my salvation.  In that moment, I realized that I had never truly placed all my trust in Jesus. I know the facts, I know the Bible, but I'd never truly believed and trusted Him to save me.  I determined that I was settling it before I left church.

And then. . . Wow, the message that was preached in church was about salvation and it felt like it was tailored just for me. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Everything I know about Jesus and salvation that I've learned all of my life was in that message and it felt like the Lord was speaking directly to me. So, I settled it.  Yesterday morning, when the preacher invited people to go to the altar. I did. I finally placed all my trust in Him, the One who shed His blood for my sins. I realize it has absolutely nothing to do with me. It's all about Him. For the first time in my life, I have the peace I've been searching for. I've been trying so hard to live the life of a good Christian, so that I could feel that peace. And then, just like that, He gave it to me.

If you have any questions or you want to talk about it, feel free to shoot me an email at havebreakfastwithtiffany@yahoo.com!