Good Friday

Some Good thoughts on Good Friday with Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday Five and Tricky's F.A.S.T.  Five on Friday....

1.  I used to be a little puzzled about the name "Good" Friday when it's the day Jesus was crucified.  But now I realize it was GOOD for Him to sacrifice Himself for us...and without that crucifixion, there would have been no Ascension!  We approach Easter hopefully with Reverence.  Those with smaller children of course will be enjoying the joys of spring with their kids a la Easter egg hunts, chocolate rabbits, colorful new clothes and baby ducks and chicks (hopefully not to take home, but just to see).  Yet, hopefully also will be the lessons of Christ's sacrifice for them, and the hope that is in Jesus for us all.  It is a family time, like Christmas, but also a HOLY day, like Christmas, and we need to remember that....

2.  A powerful song....Mary Did You Know by Mark Lowery

3.  Alleluia,,,From Psalm 150 (The Mormon Tabernacle Choir) POWERFUL!

4.  He Is Risen (Keith Green) ....one of my favorite Easter songs as a young Christian, and one I always sang to our daughter....

5.  Happy Ascension!!!!

Friday Thoughts

1.  This week we mourn with Brussels, Belgium for another senseless terrorist attack on innocent people.  I always wanted to visit Belgium but am certain I will never have an opportunity.  It is a small country, nestled between Germany, France and England. I do not agree with much of the political leanings of this country...what interests me more is the history with it's sobering, tragic WWI "Flander's Fields" and it's art and architecture.  And the people who are innocent victims of this horrible event this week did not deserve this any more than those in Paris did, or those in NY and Washington in 9/11, or in any city that has felt the hatred of these terrorists.  God be with their families, and heal their people.

Here is a beautiful work of art by Jan van Eyck...

2.  Today is Good Friday and this marks the beginning of the most important weekend celebration:  Easter, and the rising of Jesus from the grave to sit on the right hand of God and make intercession for us!  I am thankful this Easter weekend for His great sacrifice for me and for us all!  I hope you have a blessed Easter, each of you, dear blogger friends!

3.  The moving time has come for the kids.  By Tuesday morning they should be on the road to Oregon!  Not moving west as the pioneers did, but moving north! :-)  The pods are to be delivered today, and loaded tomorrow.  The cleaning crew will clean on Monday.  The kids will stay with us these last few nights.  Our own move will not happen for several more months but I have started packing!  I can't wait!

4.  I love it when the Palo Verde trees bloom here in Tucson!  The city is turning lemon yellow just in time for Easter!

5.  I don't have anything else I guess.  Am reading an awesome book right now but it's slow going because I am packing and also sewing.  For book reviews, check out Springtime in Magnolia.  I am trying to finish off several baby and child quilts and blankets because once these are done we will be taking a load of things to the AZ Baptist Children's Home and the Pregnancy Center.  Then, no more "sewing for others" for me for quite a while.  I have a quilt I want to make for my grandson for Christmas, an that's the only thing I will be working on while all this packing is going on.  Hoping to leave here by the end of August and I probably won't have access to my machine for at least a couple of months, so I need to get most of it done this summer.

God bless!  Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Connecting to Tanya's Willy Nilly Friday Five, Amy's Five on Friday and later to Monica's NF Trees & Bushes.

Friday Fives...the "List" returns

Let me begin by saying I thoroughly enjoy these wonderful memes that celebrate five random things about us or our world or whatever.  They are just plain fun!  Join in at Willy Nilly Friday Five and Random Five Friday if you get a chance!

It is Easter Weekend, and I pray that you all have a very blessed Easter.  Our kids are going to church with us...daughter, SIL, grandson and great-nephew....then we are having a brunch here at our home.  It is time to celebrate Jesus's precious gift of Salvation, of God's drawing us into His presence by sacrificing His Son so there would be no more eternal punishment for sin for those who accept His perfect Gift!  He rose again and waits for us at the Father's right hand.  It is a joy to be celebrated!

 Romans 10:9 - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

It thrills me to know that the image of Jesus on the Shroud of Turin is a negative photographic image produced by a powerful force like a nuclear blast!  That is RESURRECTION!

A depiction of the image on the shroud, done by an artist.  The face of Jesus!

And back to our world in Arizona...

A windmill near oracle, AZ

And Rose's fun "If I were a..." list.  For 6 through10 here are mine:

1. 
If I were a direction I'd be the road home.
2.
 If I were a piece of furniture I’d be an Arts & Crafts book shelf...a HUGE one that covers a whole wall!!! :-)
3.
If I were a liquid I’d be iced tea. Just saying...I am a pure Southern girl!  We go through iced tea in my house like gangbusters but don't worry....no sugar.  I use Truvia. :-)
4.

If I were a gemstone I’d be a garnet.  It's funny that it's my favorite gem because it is also my birthstone.
5.

If I were a tree I’d be a dogwood, I think.  This is hard because I LOVE all kinds of trees!


I just read these to my hubby and he is teasing me that I don't want to hurt the "other" trees feelings by picking one.  He's doing that because I admitted to him this morning that I tend not to like shorebirds as much as songbirds and I feel GUILTY about that.  He thought that was funny and said I was worried I will hurt the shorebirds feelings! Not REALLY...I mean they don't KNOW I prefer the songbirds! :-)  I suppose everyone has their favorites.

A beautiful Easter weekend  to all my blogger friends!  God bless you all!

Flowers and STUFF:-)

I have been busy this week.  There's no other excuse for it being a week since my last post, except also that I just haven't gotten a chance to get out and get more flower and wildlife pictures.  The weather has been gorgeous...and I promise that I will.  Still, here are a few...

The ocotillo are blooming...always a beautiful showing every spring.  This one is in my neighbors yard.  The stalks are heavily laden with thorns and were used for centuries for fencing material.

The lily I bought for Easter.

And my new geranium. Ooops, it's price is showing! :-)

My macros just don't come out in focus too often!

Easter was wonderful!  We went to sunrise service, then stayed for breakfast and later morning services of Sunday school and Church, then an Easter egg hunt for the kids that they all enjoyed immensely. 

This was the table decoration that our grandson did on our diningroom table.  Lots of ceramic items I own, plus a few little plastic bunnies, etc.  He had fun setting it all out.

His  goodies at home.

He enjoyed coloring eggs.

Some we added some painted designs too as well.  Here he is with the final 18 all decked out in their finery.

This was our breakfast at church.  We love our church family!

And the kids at the Easter egg hunt!  I don't show other people's children up close, but you get the idea. :-)

Our grandson joined right in!  And had a great time.

Goofing off with grand-daddy.:-)

And, finally, here is the best I could do with shots of the blood moon--the first of four, that happened on Passover.  The next will be in September. I know most people in the eastern section of the US didn't get to see it.  Sorry that my camera doesn't like it much when it's dark, but it didn't do TOO badly! :-)

The "star" to the right is Mars, which is larger now than it has been in a very long time.