the Cross

The Cross by Max Lucado

The cross. Can you turn any direction without seeing one? Perched atop a chapel. Carved into a graveyard headstone. Engraved in a ring or suspended on a chain. The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity. An odd choice, don't you think? Strange that a tool of torture would come to embody a movement of hope. The symbols of other faiths are more upbeat: the six-pointed star of David, the crescent moon of Islam, a lotus blossom for Buddhism. Yet a cross for Christianity? An instrument of execution?

Would you wear a tiny electric chair around your neck? Suspend a gold-plated hangman's noose on the wall? Would you print a picture of a firing squad on a business card? Yet we do so with the cross. Many even make the sign of the cross as they pray. Would we make the sign of, say, a guillotine? Instead of the triangular touch on the forehead and shoulders, how about a karate chop on the palm? Doesn't quite have the same feel, does it?

Why is the cross the symbol of our faith? To find the answer look no farther than the cross itself. Its design couldn't be simpler. One beam horizontal--the other vertical. One reaches out--like God's love. The other reaches up--as does God's holiness. One represents the width of his love; the other reflects the height of his holiness. The cross is the intersection. The cross is where God forgave his children without lowering his standards.

How could he do this? In a sentence: God put our sin on his Son and punished it there.
"God put on him the wrong who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God" (2 Cor. 5:21 MSG).

Mom2Mom & More

I was looking for a stain glass piece to add to the doorway

to the girl's playhouse in the basement.

Not a fancy piece mind you.

So I went to Layman's Antique mall in Newton

and came out with this! Didn't seem like an antique but I knew the girls would just love this!

I had to get it!

I LOVE going to antique stores.

I get warm fuzzies in there, looking at all the toys I used to play with or books I read as a child. Sometimes I come away with great finds too. Like this doll house above.

When I was a little girl I had a doll house made of tin.

All the rooms had plastic furniture and I played with it for hours!!

I come across these in antique stores.

Again - warm fuzzies!

Here is what Sophie liked about the house.

Tuesday night and this morning we had our

last Mom2Mom of the year.

It has been such a blessing to me!

The speaker this month was Della Loewen.

She spoke on true submission.

She shared how Satan distorts the truth about that.

He wants us to think it is awful.

It is not being subservient. It is not being a door mat.

It is a divine calling to show honor and respect to our husbands.

Respecting his judgment. Not tearing him down.

It is a position we take under him to find rest and covering.

Just as Christ submitted to the Father

we also submit to our husband's leadership.

Della was very honest in her struggles

and I know she would love to talk to anyone

about it if you have questions.

Bobby Friesen took us out to the lobby

to do worship choreography - ok, dance.

Dancing to the Lord.

After giving a few lessons, the girls began the dance.

It was just beautiful and very worshipful!

"Let them praise His name with dancing..." Psalm 149:3


There were give-aways of beautiful flowers.

We also honored Marilyn Reimer.
She has served as the Mom2Mom Coordinator for a long time.
She has been WONDERFUL!
Next year, Carolyn Dewey will be taking the reigns.
The Mom2Mom team is really awesome!!
If you have never come, I hope you do next year!

Sweet Ike and his mommy.

Today was a beautiful spring day. Jill, Adam and the girls
came over for pictures and to walk along the lake.



"The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth;

the time of the singing of birds has come..."

Song of Solomon 2:11,12

Reunion

My granddaughter, Emeri Graber, would like to announce that she will become a big sister sometime in November! Her Mommy, Staci, is not feeling well. Not only does she have the typical nausea, but she contracted mono also. Pray for strength for her. We are all soooo excited and wondering if we'll have granddaughter #4 or grandson #1.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Back in the fall of 2003, our young married small group consisted of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy (aka Tony and Angela Estes), Cinnamon Life and regular Life cereal (Joel and Kendall Smith), and Samson and Delilah (Allen and I). We enjoyed being together until spring 2005 when Raggedy Andy and Raggedy Ann moved to Lebanon, Oregon. After the Estes went to Oregon, the Jordans, McClenahans, Collin and Andrea Siebert and Marc and Sarah Friesen joined the Smiths and us. Now they all are in various groups of their own. We still like to hang out with these young "kids"!

Tony and Angela decided to come for a visit this past weekend so we had a great reunion along with some new additions.

Kendall and sweet Lily

Tony, Angela and Emma

Oliver loves to hang around.

I took the Estes to the zoo on Saturday. Emma's first zoo experience!

We had to take the regular zoo picture everyone has been showing on their blogs.

The lion was up very close. Emma did NOT want to get any closer!

I put my nose right up to the

glass and quite frankly looked

right into his eyeballs. I about

freaked and thought he would

pounce at me!

Taking pictures for our blogs.

Al and Lily

So when Oliver got on his rocking horse like this, Kendall said, "Oliver, wouldn't you like to come down?" and Joel said, "Oliver, wouldn't you like to rock?" Ha!

It was a good time to catch up on one another's lives. We watched the basketball games and also played Imaginiff, one of our favorite games. Thanks for the visit Tony and Angela and Emma!

* * * * * * * * *

Today I was preparing supper. Jill and the girls had come over for supper while Adam had to go to choir practice. The tv in the kitchen was on and Hannah was intently watching this one commercial. She turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, do you know what Reclass is?" (Reclast, a bone density pill that Al says costs $1500 - you take one a year) Jill didn't understand. "Reading class?" "No. Reclass. It's for women who are swimming. It helps them swim. Maybe you should take some." The commercial obviously showed a lady with strong bones who was swimming.

* * * * * * * * * *

Are you following the NCAA bracket challenge? Our family has this ugly trophy that we pass around to the winner each year. The winner has to proudly place the trophy in a visible spot. This year our son is doing really well. Josh is 1,744th in the nation. With around 3.7 million people playing, that puts him 99.95% ahead of everyone! Needless to say, he will have to put that trophy on the mantel he is building for his fireplace!