Image courtesy of: cpaige11107

"We have heard so much tragic news that when the news is good we cannot hear it...

     But the proclamation of Easter Day is that all is well.

And as a Christian, I say this not with the easy optimism of one who has never known a time when all was not well but as one who has faced the cross in all its obscenity as well as in all its glory, who has known one way or another what it is like to live separated from God.

In the end, his will, not ours, is done.

Love is the victor. Death is not the end.

The end is life. His life and our lives through him, in him."

-Frederick Buechner

Praying that you may experience all the fullness of new life and joy found in a living Christ today and always!

Image courtesy of: cpaige11107

© Soul Stops/Dolly Lee 2012.   Limited License: Okay for noncommercial use if you attribute this post to me and link to my permalink and blog.

Image courtesy of Flickr user: Dainis Matisons

Have you ever tried to describe a loved one to someone who has never met that person?

If you have, you know how hard it is to convey all the nuances of what makes your loved one so special.

Two-dimensional words fail to fully describe your three-dimensional experience of your beloved. How do you paint how a person makes you feel, laugh, and inspire you to be a better person?

Plus, it is your unique experience with that individual.

All this to say that I am struggling to express what I have experienced with Jesus as I have tried to accompany Him to the cross, and on the cross through prayer and Scripture meditation these past 6 weeks.

I have shared snippets with you through all the posts categorized as "Lent 2012."

Before I write, I pray and listen for His leading. It is an organic process.

He tenderly weaves His story in with mine. He comes for the little girl who desperately longed to be loved.

I do not plan ahead each post's theme, but surprisingly, upon reflection, there is a common thread.

My first post was about listening to His voice of love. My most recent post was about a deepening experience of His love for me.

As He hung there naked, bruised, bloody, and in agony on a wooden cross, He proclaimed: GOD LOVES US despite our sin and He will die to save us from sin's power.

It was love not nails that held Him on that cross.

My Lenten posts were an attempt to show how special Jesus is because of His love for me/all of humanity. As the second Adam, he modeled for us what it looks like to be truly human/loving.

Are you open to His love for you? What has Christ been showing you lately?

How have you experienced His love in your life?

For my regular subscribers, I will not be participating in Five Minute Fridays this week.  Praying that you have a blessed Holy Week and Easter.

Need a gift?...To buy Emily Wierenga's lovely artwork on a journal, t-shirts and mugs, please visit http://www.cafepress.com/tspoetry

Linking up with 3 God-graced and encouraging sisters today: Jennifer of Getting Down with Jesus, Jen of Finding Heaven, and K.D. of Painting Prose meme (her blog is Journey to Epiphany)

© Soul Stops/Dolly Lee 2012.   Limited License: Okay for noncommercial use if you attribute this post to me and link to my permalink and blog.

Image courtesy of Flickr user ell-r-brown

I never know when the Spirit will move me to tears. The silent, can't stop them from sliding down my cheek, nose-sniffling kind of tears.

In the past, I would resist those tears. Now I accept them as a gift from God.

It happened this past Sunday as Pastor Paul preached on Jesus's last words on the cross:"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" (Luke 23:46 ESV)

If you want to read and/or hear Paul's sermon link here.

As I sat in the pew next to my husband, he wrapped his arm around me. I snuggled into him.

I don't think I can fully express in words what moved me to tears.

When I see Jesus on the cross, bloody, bruised, shamed, and stripped naked still trusting in His Father with His last breath, I am humbled and grateful.

Uninvited, an image arises in my mind of me as a four year old (a time of upheaval and loss) sitting on God the Father's lap as He comforts me. It is a vision that God gave me years ago.

I sense God inviting me to trust Him like Jesus and to believe against past experiences and lies about His goodness.

He wants me to know I can trust Him with all of me. My heart. My life. Everything.

It may not look like what I had hoped, but like Jesus, I can believe that resurrection will come.

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. Hebrews 12:2-3 ESV

What does contemplating Christ on the cross bring to your mind and/or heart? How do you experience His presence?

Counting thanks with Ann:

• The gift of sensing His love for me
• Christ's example of love and trust as He hung on the cross
• For the hope and joy of His resurrection
• Privilege of praying with other moms for our kids and school
• Singing on Sunday with others and feeling His joy
• Husband making scrambled eggs with sliced turkey bacon and his "secret ingredient"...yummy!
• Hugging sweet girl
• Watching our girl enjoy building "tents' in our living room with her friend
• The gift of imaginative play
• Rain then sunshine
• watching finches sing and cuddle up in "nests" at the pet store with our girl when we went to buy dog food

Be encouraged and visit each of their beautiful blogs! 

© Soul Stops/Dolly Lee 2012.   Creative Commons License: Okay for noncommercial use if you attribute this post to me and link to my permalink and blog.