An Easter Tradition - Pink Saturday

This year we are anticipating our annual Easter tradition where we gather with our close friends for food, fun and hunting eggs. The best part is that the adult men are "forced" to donn pink Easter hats to go out and hide the Easter eggs for the annual hunt. They are always good sports and we all get a few laughs at their expense. But it is just a genuine good time where even the adults get involved in the festivities. The day comes to a close with the Easter story told via the Resurrection eggs. Here are some photos from last year's gathering.

After the oldest kids get the plastic eggs filled with candy, the dads and friends donn the Easter hats and head outside to hide the eggs.  Meanwhile the children are anxiously waiting inside for the go-ahead to be allowed outside to begin the hunt. Once the eggs are hidden, everyone gets into the act - young and old, looking for the eggs.

And the day is topped off by delicious food, fun and games.

Please head over to Beverly's place at How Sweet the Sound to check out other Pink Saturday posts.

Why Are You Downcast O My Soul?

Sometimes my heart just feels heavy. Sometimes I feel sad and down. This week was the anniversary of a very difficult time in my life. It was a difficult week for me. I really always want to be happy and peppy and up, but sometimes things just don't work out that way. LIFE happens. Things are hard. I love reading the Psalms of David and I used to be amazed at how brutally honest David would be to God with his feelings. I used to wonder why God didn't just zap him when he shared his anger and his anguish and his heart. But I also knew that God said David was a man after His own heart, so there must have been something to his sharing and crying out to God. I've come to realize that while life is hard - God is still good. God is there, He hears our cries and He knows (in the words of Beth Moore) that it is scary to be us. He does not take lightly what we are going through. I am sharing this Psalm today. Hopefully it will encourage you as it has me this week.

Psalm 42

For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.

1As the deer pants for streams of water,

so my soul pants for you, O God.

2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can I go and meet with God?

3My tears have been my food

day and night,

while men say to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”

4These things I remember

as I pour out my soul:

how I used to go with the multitude,

leading the procession to the house of God,

with shouts of joy and thanksgiving

among the festive throng.

5Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and 6my God.

My soul is downcast within me;

therefore I will remember you

from the land of the Jordan,

the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

7Deep calls to deep

in the roar of your waterfalls;

all your waves and breakers

have swept over me.

8By day the Lord directs his love,

at night his song is with me—

a prayer to the God of my life.

9I say to God my Rock,

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning,

oppressed by the enemy?”

10My bones suffer mortal agony

as my foes taunt me,

saying to me all day long,

“Where is your God?”

11Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and my God.

And here is a link to a short exerpt from a presentation on You-Tube by Beth Moore:
It is Scary to Be Us

I am also linking this post up to Spiritual Sundays. Take some time to visit and read other posts on Spiritual matters that are posted every Sunday.

Everywhere You Go, There You Are

The majority of you know how important it is to spend most of your time with someone positive, but what you might fail to understand is that person is you…..everywhere you go, there you are.

This has to be one of the hardest lessons for me to learn - and that is that I am important and that I am worthwhile! And that I deserve to take care of myself.  I am positive to most of the people that I am around (with the exception of my best friend, to whom I dump my bucket once in a while!), but I am pretty critical and negative to myself in my self talk. With help from my therapist, I am learning to say nice things to myself. It takes a lot of effort to rewind and record over the old recordings from my growing up years that said, "You are not good enough, you are worthless, you are a failure, you are a slob, you are inferior, you are "MY" problem....."

Even though I know that Christ died for me and loves me unconditionally, it is hard to get that knowledge from my head to my heart.

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. I Cor. 13:6-7

This is a verse I need to take to heart to remember to treat myself with kindness, rejoice in the TRUTH that Christ died for me, therefore I am worthy, I am good enough, I am precious to him. I need to protect myself, trust in my Savior, hope in the future that he has already purchased for me, and to persevere through the struggles.

"I am worthwhile, I am beautiful, I am loved, I am talented, I am gifted by God, I am His child, I am ok".....Not that I have done anything of myself to have deserved this, but that He did everything to give me the gift of who I am and who I am going to be.

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Phil. 3:12

Success to Parenting

My good friend has worked with families, kids and juvenile delinquents for many years. He has a new website on Parenting that is really awesome. Here is an excerpt from his website Success to Parenting: He has great insights and is a strong Christian.

List of Factors That Influence Teens’ Negative Behavior

March 9th, 2010

Listed below are several factors that contribute to the negative behavior of teenagers. It’s important to understand these factors in order to properly respond to their issues. These factors were identified and discussed during a workshop with teachers. The more we understand the behavior of children and teenagers, we will have gain sufficient knowledge to teach them how to deal with life’s issues.

Responses to question why do students get in trouble?

1. Peer pressure
2. Lack of good decision making skills
3. Poor home environment
4. Lack of attention
5. Lack of skills to perform specific tasks
6. Lack of parental supervision and involvement
7. Lose-lose situations no matter how hard they try
8. Lack of motivation
9. No way out of their situation

Society needs to work together to help our children and teens to fill the void they have in their lives. The family is the heart of society. Parents have the power to influence and impact the hearts of their children to make right choices.  Those of us in the profession of providing services to families can equip parents with additional tools needed to ensure the success of their children.

So if you have questions about parenting, please check out his website:
Success to Parenting.