Archive for April, 2009

Today’s post is from my dearest sister, Breezy. She wrote this over the past few days and read it today at Granny’s after the meal. It is a beautifully written story of the wonderful love of Christ and what He did for undeserving sinners.

I hope that you have had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday celebrating our Savior!

His grace is amazing and His love is unfathomable!

“God’s Glorious Sky” – Photo by Emily Rose.

The prophecies of His coming spanned over hundreds of years, saying that He would come. They said the Son of God would actually come to earth, and that He would die for a reason. Some who heard believed, and they all looked, waited, and longed for the day when He would appear.

The very first prophecy was spoken in the Garden of Eden. When God made Adam and Eve, He placed them in the garden and would visit them in the cool in the evening and talk with them.

But one day, they used their will to rebel against the order God set up for their happiness. God told them to completely avoid the Tree, and even though they had a whole garden to reap from, they were tempted by Satan and chose to actually eat of this Tree. It was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And as soon as they ate, they knew they had done wrong. Shame and horror filled them as they realized they had committed a crime in a prefect world. And for the very first time, the birds stopped singing.

A deadly hush crept through the branches as guilt snuck up behind them. It laid hold of their shoulders and its vile stench would not let them go. They searched for a place to hide and cover themselves, and bitter, angry whispers rasped between them, and before they could even realize what their choice entailed, they saw Him enter the Garden. And God could see their guilt.

While they frantically blamed each other for their fall, God told them of the consequences – labor pains, envy for power, cursing of the ground with sweat and thistles, and a death of returning to dust. And even though the pain and death of their bodies would come, more terrifying than that was the separation. They had been severed from their relationship with God.

Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden forever, but God in His love for mankind had a plan for rescuing them (and all mankind) from eternal death and cleansing them from their guilt. But it would take Blood. Perfect blood. Thus came the first prophecy when He said His Son would come and destroy the tempter (Satan) and eternal death. “He shall bruise [Satan's] head, and [Satan] shall bruise His heal.”

We can move forward into history and see just how God began to work His plan. He chose a nation named Israel, to whom He gave His law. He also gave them His temple where, where through a holy priest and the offering of sacrifices (spotless sheep or cattle, with no blemish), they could receive forgiveness for their sins. When Israel lived by His law and rejoiced in it, God richly blessed them and it grew into a strong nation. But after awhile the people turned away from God, and followed the practices of the heathen nations around them.

The pictures of sacrifice they saw year by year was just that — a picture. The ultimate sacrifice was Jesus, the One prophesied to come. God, in His overwhelming love for mankind, made a way for His children to be permanently redeemed from their sin and guilt – bought back and rescued from the consequences. But to buy us back it would take Perfect Blood. And so He chose to send His Son Jesus to earth as a man so that He might suffer and die on our behalf.

While He was on earth, He lived a life free from sin. When He was handed over to be tried and executed for claiming to be God, they refused to believe Him – His very own people, the Jews who had been told so many times and had been given so many signs that He was The One – and so killed Him like a criminal. His execution was gruesome as He was stripped and beaten with fists and whips until He bled.

With His body nailed to the wood, His perfect Blood flowed from His punctured wrists and feet, while the ugliness and weight of our guilt covered Him. And while Jesus never once disobeyed any of God’s commands, God could not look at His Son any more. He could not look upon even one “little” sin with approval, and so He turned away. He had to turn His back on His only Son with whom He shared the greatest fellowship. Jesus’ lasts moments were spent in the torment of knowing that His Father had rejected Him. This was the final sacrifice for our sins, Spotless Lamb of God.

The prophet Isaiah, hundreds of years before He was born, foretold His suffering and sacrifice:

“He was wounded for our transgressions;
He was crushed for our iniquities;
upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.

…like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
…although He had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in His mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him;
He has put Him to grief;
when His soul makes an offering for guilt,…
He poured out His soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet He bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

- Portions from Isaiah 53:5-12

All this for for love. Because He loved His people so much, He took on this suffering so that we might be with Him in everlasting life and eternal joy. But this would be such a sad, pathetic story if this was the end. “God came to earth and died. The end.” But its not the end!

The Sunday morning after He died, He rose from the dead and left an empty tomb. And that is why we are celebrating Easter Sunday today. God was pleased with the sacrifice of His Son’s perfect Blood, and now He reigns victorious over death.

“…And which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” – 2 Timothy 1:10

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” – Romans 6:4

“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!‘” – Revelation 5:11-13

Categories: Encouragement, God's Creation, Inspirations | 2 Comments »

We had a wonderful time at the beautiful Callaway Gardens two weekends ago! I was blessed to get to spend the weekend with my father and sister at 2009 Vision Forum Father & Daughter Retreat, an event I will never forget! Below is a “brief” review of the weekend accompanied by photos (the notes are on their way!).

The trip down to Georgia from Indiana on Thursday went smoothly with the exception of getting stuck in Nashville during the morning rush hour. We arrived at the hotel in the mid-afternoon and settled into our temporary “home”.

After we were settled in we went exploring and then spent a couple hours in the small garden outside the lobby. Breezy painted a little pond and I took photographs of the flowers while the three of us visited and delighted in each other’s company.

Friday morning was relaxing as we had some much needed rest (the day before we had risen at 3:15am). We refreshed ourselves we went down to the ballrooms where the messages would take place. There were several young ladies putting tussie-mussies together (for the next day’s High Tea) and when we were asked if we could help we gladly accepted and got to work.

That afternoon we enjoyed visiting with other fathers and daughters. We were able to meet Madeline and Caroline whose father met ours at the Men’s Leadership Summit earlier in the month. We also had the privilege to meet Rebekah, Jasmine, Cassie, Hannah, and Elizabeth, (and see McKenzie and Julia again, who we originally met at the Crossroads).

On Friday evening was the “picnic”, but instead of being on the Grand Lawn (as it was raining) it was indoors at tables. Our fathers had matters to discuss, so several of us ladies sat on the floor in a small hallway enjoying fellowship with one another.

Friday evening, Saturday morning and evening, as well as Sunday morning we heard messages that were encouraging, inspiring, and challenging about our relationships with our father. They were presented by Doug Phillips, Voddie Baucham, Scott Brown, as well as Geoffrey Botkin and his two daughters, Anna Sofia and Elizabeth.

Saturday we awoke bright and early, ate a delicious breakfast at the buffet, and listened to the speakers. We were dressed in our High Tea attire because there would not be enough time later on to change into them. There were so many lovely outfits, all were quite charming!

High Tea was at 12:30 and we all went to our tables, each was set for ten. There were scrumptious delicacies, including delicious scones. Following tea we spent the free time with our daddy (though we did visit with other fathers and daughters beforehand).

That evening we listened to more encouraging messages. Afterwards there was a special time for the fathers and daughters. Randomly selected from the crowd (out of those who volunteered by waving their hands, and some by standing on chairs in addition to waving their hands), eight fathers with their daughters went to the stage and each had to serenade their daughter by singing either “You Are My Sunshine” or “Edelweiss”.

The winner was chosen by how load the audience was when it was time to vote for each one. (There is a picture below of the father and daughter who won, theirs was so sweet I almost started to cry.) Then with eight other father-daughter couples they had to pretend that they were getting their fathers ready in the morning for work.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at the buffet and following that we listened to a sermon by Voddie Baucham which was followed by fellowship with other fathers and daughters (a lot of this went on all throughout the weekend – I just love being around so many like-minded young ladies!). The Retreat ended at noon, but we stayed an extra night so that we would have a whole day to travel home.

In the afternoon, Daddy drove Breezy and I through the lovely gardens. I am always in complete awe of God’s amazing creation! The two days before were rainy, and then Sunday was chilly, so we did not walk in the gardens much at all.

Monday we drove home, only stopping once, and arrived back at our cozy home an hour earlier than we had expected. We gave Momma a nice, long report about the weekend, and we were all glad to be home – safe and sound. Words that were spoken during the weekend by the speakers still ring through our heads, such a blessed weekend it was!

I took over a thousand pictures during the weekend, and after going through them I picked the ones below for you to enjoy!

The pond in the garden where there lived several large coy fish and a couple small turtles.

Breezy painting the pond.

Making the tussie-mussies for Saturday’s High Tea.

A small look at God’s wondrously intricate creation! For more butterfly photographs, click here.

Picnic on the carpet with kindred spirits.

After High Tea on Saturday.

The father-daughter serenade that made me tear up — it was so very sweet!

Daughters getting their fathers ready for work.

We got to meet Elizabeth, a very sweet young lady who we originally met through blogging.

Friends both old and new.

Just a snippet of the beautiful Callaway Gardens.

My wonderful father and I. He is the best father ever, my hero!

Categories: Conferences, Day-to-Day Life, Encouragement, Family, God's Creation, Reviews | 14 Comments »

For pictures of the lovely flowers at the Callaway Gardens, click here.

“Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;

Sing the glory of His name;
Make His praise glorious.

Say to God, ‘How awesome are Your works!
Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You.

All the earth will worship You,
And will sing praises to You;
They will sing praises to Your name.’”

- Psalm 66:1-4 -

Categories: God's Creation, Inspirations, Photography | 8 Comments »

Last Thursday through Monday, my sister and I had a wonderful adventure with our daddy. It was not dangerous per say, but rather an adventure of encouragement, inspiration, and growth in our relationship with our father.

We attended the Vision Forum Father & Daughter Retreat at the Callaway Gardens near Pine Mountain, Georgia. What a wonderful experience it was!

During the weekend we were able to listen to encouraging and challenging sessions, visit with other like-minded fathers and daughters, and, most importantly, spend time with daddy.

For the majority of the time we were there it was raining, so we were not able to spend much time walking in the beautiful gardens, but God ordained it that way and the weekend still turned out lovely!

Photographs and notes of the memorable event are on their way!

Categories: Encouragement, Family | 10 Comments »