Experiencing the Blessing

I'm back! I missed all of you! Thank you so much for your sweet comments and emails encouraging me to take some time away and see about what it means to "Experiencing the Resurrection!"

It was an interesting twelve days, filled with caring for sick children and a whirlwind weekend to my sis-in-law's to celebrate Easter. Even if I hadn't taken the time off from Extravagant Grace, I wouldn't have had much time to write. God used the intentionality, however, to show me what it means to lay something down and leave it alone. Many times I wanted to post a snippet or thought, only to remember my plan to focus on Jesus and the lessons for my heart.

God certainly revealed the heart of issues that have been the underlying cause of stress, tension, anxiety, and worry. With new understanding, I saw that my faith has been leaning too far on the side of "works" instead of grace. Ironic, seeing as the whole point of this blog is to declare God's extravagant grace. Yet, in my daily struggle to recognize my identity in Christ, I fell into a habit of seeking approval from the Lord based on my work instead of His grace, only to spiral into condemnation instead of His mercy when I sin. The Lord brought me to the cross--during this resurrection week--reminding me that He chose me to be His own, that Christ died for the forgiveness of my sins, that His risen body secures my eternal life as my faith, not works lies secure in Him.

The Lord also revealed some of the ways I have been working toward the cross instead of following it, and set me free to be able to be in His will through loving Him and obeying His commands, instead of bound by His laws. He also exposed another dimension of the theme to Live, Love, and Laugh, showing me that I can only be a living sacrifice as the love of God is at work in me through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, thereby producing the Fruit of the Spirit, in which a dramatic portion is indeed love.

These lessons are certain to continue, not only as I learn more about God's love for me, but also in learning how to love others deeply by His remarkable and extravagant grace. I know one area the Lord is at work in is in the call to care for the orphans and widows, a call that has been on my heart for years. Interestingly enough, this past week I heard a five-minute clip on XM Family Talk radio and followed links to a half-dozen orphan and adoption sites. I'm not sure what God wants of our family in this way, other than to continue to care for the many teens we know and already love. But I do know that I can spread the word to others to care for orphans, too, so go ahead and check out these links...

• http://icareaboutorphans.org
• http://www.cryoftheorphan.org/
• http://www.hopechest.org/
• http://www.bringmehope.org/
• http://www.buckner.org/

God did not leave laughter out of this week of lessons either. Our family of six, plus my mother-in-law, slipped out of our girls Spring Concert last Thursday under the cover of darkness to drive to my sis-in-law's for the holiday weekend. It was after 8:00 pm before we were all settled into our seats and cruising down the highway. I was certain the twins, now 2 1/2, would be ready to fall asleep with the hum of the engine and tiring day behind.

Instead of snoozing, there was nothing but giggling and giddiness abounding in our squished car. Out of the blue, our littlest one pronounced,

"I Am the Queen!"

We all cracked up, not ever hearing this from her before! So I asked, "Oh really. And what are you the queen of?" And she declared,

"I Am the Queen of Everything!"

With that, she put her hands on top of her head in a "walk-like-an-Egyptian" fashion declaring it was her crown. Of course, her brother had to chime in with, "And I am the Queen of Everything, too!" debuting his own crown. After trying to explain that that would make him a king, I gave up and insisted that "Well, I am the Queen of Everything!" I put on my crown, of course, but sighed, "although I just don't feel like it!" My usually serious mother-in-law, piped in from the back seat, "Well you don't look like the Queen either." We all lost it, squealed, laughed, and I even cried, happy tears, for the next ten miles.

For the next three days, our family joked that I was the indeed the Queen of Everything, that our little princess was just that, and that my mother-in-law was the Queen Mother. I doubt our lineage will ever be the same, with this new sense of royalty and a Queen of Everything mug reminding us of what really isn't true at all!


No joke! I stumbled on this mug at The Christmas Tree Shoppe after finding out that I am now the Queen of Everything!

Yes, so far it has been a year to Live, Love, and certainly Laugh...

Thank you, Jesus.