Good Friday!

Today we celebrate the day that Jesus took all the wrath our sins deserve on Himself as He died on the cross in our place. What glorious grace!

We are celebrating with these hymns:

Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed

Jesus Paid It All

Nothing But the Blood

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

I love these ideas from Doorposts:

• Look for a recipe online, and make hot cross buns together, or braid a batch of bread dough into a wreath, and then poke toothpicks at all angles into it to form acrown of thorns for an edible centerpiece at your table.
• Darken the house on Friday evening and all day Saturday. Turn off or dim most of the lights and put a black tablecloth on the table. Have your children help remove any flowers or plants, and decorate with bare branches or stones instead. Leave the house dark on Saturday, and before everyone gets up on Sunday morning, redecorate with candles, plants, a bright tablecloth, and an Easter lily or other flowers.
• Use this great idea from Mustard Seeds. With a permanent marker, make a red mark on the top part of each family member’s hands to remind each of you of the nail wounds Jesus endured on the cross to save us. Use a fine-tip black marker to write each person’s name across their red “wound”. What a visual reminder of the fact that Jesus died for each of us! Don’t be afraid to tell your children that Jesus suffered for them!

Our Favorite Christmas Books

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

by Robert Frost

illustrated by Susan Jeffers

The Legend of the Candy Cane

Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend

by Julie Stiegemeyer

OR

The Secret of St. Nicholas

by Ellen Nibali

A New Coat for Anna 

by Harriet Ziefert

This classic tale of redemption needs no explanation. I highly recommend it for big kids.

The Little Fir Tree

by Margaret Wise Brown

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

by Susan Woiciechowski

When a widow asks the town hermit to carve a nativity set for her son, a new friendship is slowly formed and a man gets a reminder of joy. We always follow up the book with the movie. Love both.

Christmas in the Barn

by Margaret Wise Brown

One Wintry Night

by Ruth Bell Graham

This is the Star

by Joyce Dunbar

Christmas Tapestry

by Patricia Polacco

The Donkey's Dream

by Barbara Helen Berger

Happy Spring!

What an awesome Creator we serve! Even the flowers bring Him praise.

A Biblical View of Motherhood

Adoption and Abortion

With so many Christians feeling forced to vote for the lesser of two pro-choice candidates, I thought this was very thought-provoking.

Best Adoption Movie I've Seen (so far)

 I really loved this. So many adoption truths in this movie.

 

Judah Update: 10 Months

Judah is pulling up on everything and has started cruising now. His main form of transportation is crawling though, since I now know how important it is. He has recently been going through a growth spurt - "a sleep spurt" as I call it; he's sleeping late in the morning and taking long naps. I miss him! 

So, I've been struggling with this big dilemma since Judah was a newborn: What to do with his hair.

He has a cowlick in the front that makes his hair go his left, and a cowlick at his crown that makes his hair go to his right. What's a mom to do? The struggle of how to handle this has kept me up nights (ok maybe it was just insomnia).

Well, I won't keep up the suspense. I know you're on the edge of your seat. I decided to part it on his right. 

And it looks great. I am so relieved.

You may now go on with your day knowing that all is right with the world.