Fire Drill!

Fire Drill!

This morning a few minutes after arriving home from taking my daughter to school...I heard the familiar sound of  the schools fire alarm...I watched out the back window of our home, as all the teachers and students filed out of the school to their predetermined locations in the field behind our house.  I could recognize the teachers from my daughter's kindergarten class, and knew that among all the kids dressed in bright colors, my daughter was there...learning what to do in the event of a true emergency.  

As I stood there and watched, until they all gradually went back inside...I thought about a couple things.  

1. I was thankful that today's alarm was just a drill, a practice, there was no fire, no true emergency...my kiddo is safe! 

2. I felt gratitude to all the teachers and staff who work so hard to prepare our young children for a true emergency if/when they have one. 

3. I thought about life.  Every thing we do, everywhere we go, the good times and the bad, and how we even as adults could learn much from these kids who are practicing how they will react when the emergency comes.  

We never know what today holds, or how tomorrow will go.  We can however work today, to be prepared and ready for whatever life may bring.  

How? How do we prepare and get ready for something that is unknown?  

By getting to know the One who holds all of our tomorrows. By learning to trust, and lean on God, even in the good times. We must make sure our source of strength, and our source of hope is God and God alone. 

We cannot place our trust and hope in this world, in money, in our job, in the roof above our heads, in the food we've packed into our pantry, or friends and family we love and depend on daily. All of these things are great, and wonderful...but we must realize that all of these things can fail...they can run out, wear out, disappear, or leave us wanting...Only God, the creator of Heaven and Earth...the one who formed the stars, and knows the number of hairs on our head...He and He alone can be our everything. 

 When we come to the place of trusting Him completely, of making Him the source for all we need...the things of this life, the good and the bad, the known and the unknown, past, present and future, will not shake us, will not wear us down, or knock us out. We will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, bringing forth fruit in it's season, our leaves will not wither, and whatever we do will prosper. (Psalm 1:3) We will mount up with wings like eagles, we will run and not grow weary, we will walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31) 

Today, right now, this is the time to get ready, to be prepared...to start working on a growing, and vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ.   Let's dig our roots down deep into God's Word, so that when the storms of life come, we will be planted  so deeply in Him, nothing can move or shake us! 

Grace!

Grace

Normally I would have posted some kind of cute clip or brief post wishing everyone a great Easter, along with a small reminder of the true meaning of this holiday.  But this year, our family was so busy enjoying ourselves, I completely forgot to post anything! 

The great thing is that even though Good Friday has passed, Easter has come and gone, the egg hunts are over, baskets of candy are opened and candy is disappearing quickly...

The message of Easter is so good, so true, and so powerful, being a day late doesn't matter!! 

What a wonderful gift of grace, Jesus gave us, when he willingly took all our sins - past, present, and future on himself.  He took the weight of this world on his shoulders and carried them all to the cross.  No burden we carry too heavy, no mistakes we make too bad...Jesus' sacrifice on the cross paid for it all once and for all.  

Sunday, Pastor Nathan said this..."Mercy and grace are very different things...Mercy is when we don't receive something we deserve, like when you punch your brother in the face and he doesn't punch you back.  Grace is when you receive something you don't deserve, like when you punch your brother in the face, and not only does he not punch you back, but he gives you a million bucks."  

That, my friend, is grace, and that is exactly what Christ had given to all of us.  Grace!! 

Here is a song that tells so well, what Jesus did for you and me!!