"Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, 

and I will tell of Your greatness.

They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness 

and will shout joyfully of Your righteousness." 

- Psalm 145:6-7 -

I have just arrived home from a wonderful evening spent with some beautiful women.  Tonight, our conversation began on what the meaning of Easter is.  While no doubt, the classic Sunday School answer "Jesus!" first came to our minds, conversation began rolling and the Lord directed our chatting in a neat way.

Easter can be a difficult holiday.  Take away the chocolate bunnies and colored eggs, we see the holiday where Christians are encouraged to remember that sacrifice that Christ made for us through His death. I struggle with this every year, to truly grasp the miraculous act that He made.  I don't want to just be swept up in the emotions or force myself to feel a certain way I think I should feel.  Rather, I want to believe without a doubt, in the depth of my soul, that I believe in the man who was willing to die for me, and that that act has radically transformed not only my life, but all of life.

There have been moments in my life where the Lord has shown himself to be extremely real.  He has revealed parts of His character in simple, yet beautiful and unique ways that have been so deeply rooted in my heart that I can never deny those qualities in Him.  These parts of Himself are as real to me as the chair I am sitting on, and as real as the conversations I had tonight with my friends.  Yet, when I reflect upon the historical facts of the crucifixion, that Jesus did indeed live over 2000 years ago, and chose to give His life for me and all humanity...I find it extremely hard to wrap my heart and mind around and really understand and appreciate it all.

But, how can one fully comprehend such a thing without experiencing it?  Yes...hope and faith in the things we have not seen is a huge part of this, yet thus far in my life, it has still proven to be a struggle.

While I have no clear answer, and much of these writings is my own mind rambling and processing, I know Easter still has great purpose and meaning.  My heart at least rests in the truth that I have indeed experienced Christ in my life, that He is a God who is faithful and true.  And while I 'know' in my head of His sacrifice, but cannot understand it in full, I can praise Him for His "awesome acts", "greatness" and "abundant goodness" that I have experienced in full in my own life.

Thus, while it may be hard to reflect on an event that happened so very long ago and feels far removed, may we give honor and praise for the things He continues to do today, and each day.  Because our Lord did not die long ago, He is movin' and shakin' up this world, and I want to be along for the ride.

Blessings on your Easter weekend, may you find the time to reflect and be blessed.

Pencil Shavings...

At school today, we celebrated being at school for 100 days.  It was a whirl wind of a day, and I still feel like my head is spinning a bit.  We crammed a lot of fun action into a day, let me tell you.

However, as I sit here...all I can remember of the day is the small interruption of two of my students fighting over pencil shavings.  I'm pretty sure that when I was in school, pencil shavings were not considered gold...they were garbage...unless they were shavings from my crayons, and that's a completely different story.  Nevertheless, today when I had to console a child who came to me crying after he was caught 'red-handed' trying to steal another child's pencil shavings when they fell on the floor, I could only shake my head.  If only pencil shavings were such a commodity in the real world, I'd be rich.

On a lighter note...I believe I am also 100 days smarter than I was 100 days ago, I hope.

Twenty-12

God is good and He has shown this in many ways this year - both in the large, small and minuscule ways.  Full of surprises, heartaches, miracles, blessings, realizations and all sprinkled with the Lord's faithfulness, hope and goodness.

For a blog post, there is far too much to write without overloading the computer.  And I know once my fingers start-a-typin', a book may appear.  Therefore, I shall keep this snappy and short.

Every new year brings me great joy and anticipation, to begin 'a fresh'.  I feel like I get a fresh start every summer, every school year, and it's nice to have another point of freshness in January.  I am eager to see what great things the Lord has in store for my life, and for those around me.

A few reflections of 2011...
...the passing of my dearest Grandpa, who I still greatly miss and occasionally grab my phone to give him a call.
...the finale to my university career as I finally began my teaching career, and was blessed with a job for the fall
...my dream road trip half way across Canada, where I got to drive through the beautiful prairie flat lands and reconnect with dear friends and family
...turned 24 :)
...a delightfully cute niece, Ella-Sophia, who I still have yet to meet in person, but absolutely adore from afar

New Years Resolutions?  No, thank you.  Yes, I do have dreams and goals to aspire to, however, that happens all year long.  The newest?  To learn ukulele.

Blessings to you all as you start off a brand new year.  May the Lord be your center and solid foundation, your deepest desire and greatest joy.  And may we all have eyes that are open to the world around us so that we may stretch out our hands to love.

JJ