March is for the Shake!!!

Anyone that knows me, knows I look forward to the month of March if only for the return of the Shamrock shake.
Not everyone shares my enthusiasm for the green flowing minty iced what ever they make it out of, but I usually try to get as many as I can while they last.
I'm not much of an ice cream fan of any kind but when these come out in March I make a beeline to the popular fast food joint and buy one to enjoy right away and one to take home for the freezer to have later. I will bribe anyone to buy me one too!!! A real glutton I am for these shakes!!

SITTING AT THE CROSS

I stood at the edge of the crowd, watching the events unfold before me. I wasn't really sure just what was happening but I knew they were about to crucify someone who so many believed to be the Messiah. He had been betrayed by one of his own. The crowd murmured.
My curiosity was peaked and even though I didn't want to continue watching the gruesome scene I could not walk away.  I followed the noisy crowd as they chanted Crucify Crucify!!!
The man was bloody and beaten so severely that his body was a mass of blood and he had a crown made out of thorns, smashed onto his head, with blood dripping down into his eyes and they were making him carry the heavy cross beam of the cross they were about to hang him on.
He stumbled under the weight of the wooden beam, and struggled to stand and put one foot in front of the other. Each step sheer agony, the beating had been so severe his energy was sapped from his being. The soldiers grabbed a man out of the crowd and told him to carry the cross beam for the man, while they continued to mock and spit on him calling him the, "King of the Jews".
 Could this be the man who was called the " Messiah, the" Savior" the" deliverer", the one who was going to save us and defeat our enemies? It was a hope that so many had spoken of for years, how could this man be the one???
And yet, I saw his eyes, they were full of compassion, love, kindness he looked gentle and meek, he was not fighting against the soldiers like some of the other criminals did. What could this man have done to deserve this treatment.  I saw no fear in his eyes only sadness and compassion.
I watched the whole thing, my heart sad and filled with remorse. They took him to a place called "the Skull". There they nailed his hands and feet to the cross and raised it allowing him to hang, they offered him some sour wine but he refused it. Then, I saw the soldiers throwing dice and gambling for his clothes and they put a sign above the cross that read: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews" !!!
 I saw some women near by, weeping, crying, someone said one of them was his mother. Oh, how my heart went out to her, tears welled up in my own eyes, my heart was breaking for this man and for the woman who was his mother. All we could do was stand helplessly by and watch.
The people continued to mock and taunt him saying horrible things to him about how, was he going to raise the temple he spoke of in three days now?
There were two other men on crosses, one on either side of this man and one was mocking him, while the other was asking for him to remember him in his kingdom. I wondered what all of this could mean, did it have any impact on me?? Why should I stand here and watch this happening.
 It did have a huge impact and I could not leave the scene, I knew it would change my life forever.

Soon it was noon and the sky darkened, we all became afraid of what was going to happen,the earth shook violently, rocks fell, tombs opened,thunder and lightening clamored all around us, but I still could not leave. I was terrified but frozen just as were all the others around me~~
 I watched until  the man yelled out "Eli,Eli, lema sabachthani? He was calling to his God, and it was then I knew that this was truly the Son of God and He was enduring the most horrible moment that anyone could ever experience, He was paying the sins of human kind from beginning to end of time,because of the sin His Father had turned away from Him. What agony he must have felt, far more painful than his physical wounds. His heart was broken.
 I felt such shame, it was me that put him there, on that cross, my sins had crucified this innocent man, He had paid the price for me.
Later they took him down from the cross and someone had offered his place of burial in a tomb and they rolled a great stone over the entrance. Guards were placed near the tomb to watch over it, because they remembered what he had told them when he was still alive. He said," after three days I will rise from the dead".
My heart was heavy because how could someone come alive after three days dead???
 But, God the Father had this all in His eternal plan.

 It was three days later that angels in glorious dazzling white robes came to the tomb, astonishing the solders, rolling away the heavy massive stone and  announcing that this man who was so cruely treated was risen and He truly was the Son of God who saved the world from sin.



Jesus showed up in the flesh to some of the diciples as they walked on the road he talked with them but they didn't know it was Jesus, not until they sat down to eat, and Jesus broke the bread and opened their eyes. It was then they knew who He was!! He was the Risen Lord!!
Oh, the Joy, in the hearts of the believers to see Him once again and to realize He was truly the Messiah, the Savior of the world just like He said He was!!! He was alive !!!! The news spread quickly and the excitement could not be contained. All of the deciples became filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to preach the "Good News" 
And as for me, I quietly know in my heart that He is God and He did come to save, just as He said He would.

Last and the first

I surely hope this will be the last of the snow for the season, our Michigan weather has been as unpredictable this winter. Not to mention the weather anywhere. This picture was just from a few days ago and I hope it will not occur again this year.

This is the new flooring in the lower level bathroom that needed to be replaced after our water damage, its very similar to what we had in there and that was just a couple of years old. Now that the floor is a different height we need a plumber to reset the toilet so that is out of commission until he can get here, ( thankful we have more than one bathroom) and for the finishing touches to be done. Just got word the new carpet is to be installed tomorrow. Yippee!!!! I'm so tired of the disruption and unorganized living we have been dealing with. Not to mention the dust and everything out of place.

These last pictures are of the tile in the back hall, I know they look pretty close but there is a difference its just my picture taking abilities are very limited and the lighting is not so hot.

While the guys were here installing the floors, Sweetman was outside getting his (stuff) organized in the trailers for the season of flea marketing to start soon and I decided to bake some blueberry bread. Feeling a little guilty about staying inside when the temp outside is almost to 60. Whoo Hoo.!!!!

I might just have to take a walk this afternoon, but I'll need my mukluks, I live on a dirt road and it is muddy.

LIGHT VS DARK

Christians are not sinless, they are confessors!!!
Do you live in the light or in the dark????
If we live in the light of the risen Son we have benefits that far out weight our worldly insurance plans.
We have liberty, meaning we are set free from sin through the blood of Christ.
In Christ we are light.
We have security, meaning we have an advocate with the Father through Jesus. We are incapable of NOT sinning, its our nature. We were born in sin, but Jesus has taken our sins upon himself and cleared us. He took our sin and we can not out sin the death of Jesus.
1 John 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for ours sins; and not for ours only but also for those of the whole world.
How do we know if we are saved??? Not just because we prayed a prayer, or walked an aisle. Do we have the certainty of salvation??? Has our life style reflected a changed heart??? Are we obedient?? Do we keep the commandments, and live out God's word by reading it daily?? Are we motivated by Christ and our love for Him??
Stay faithful, be focused, be fruitful, walk faultless, and be humble.
Here's some verses for you to look up:
John 14:31
john 6:38
Matthew 20:26
II Cor 5:21
Philippians 2:5-8
Salvation is always a present reality
A changed life =180 degree change from what we once were!!
Praise God for His Son!!!

THIS IS MICHIGAN

A couple days after we got back from our month long reprieve in the sunny State of  Florida, I had to return to work. I know don't you feel sorry for me??? Well anyway this is what we came home to...After almost the whole winter without snow it decided to dump on us the day after we got home.

I found my usual  parking spot available, right in front of the lamp post, ya I live in sort of my own little fantasy world. Its my entrance into the Narnia world of working with the elderly it can be like a fantasy world of sorts. We often  have to agree with some long lost memory of one of our sweet little elderly charges. And this is Rex, my trusty Jeep with the four wheeled drive that gets me to my destination without to much trouble on snowy days

This is one of the trees outside the dining room at the Nursing home, the residents like to look out at the beauty but enjoy the warmth inside. Many of them never get to go out side.

This tree is out of one of the end halls, you can see beyond it we still have some open spaces and occasionally will see deer or other wild life roaming about..
As I type this most of all the snow has since melted and today, were getting a mix of rain and maybe snow later in the day. The forecast was for freezing rain but I think we missed out on that at least for now. One just never knows what the weather is going to do in Michigan winter or any other month for that matter.. makes life interesting at times.

Do you think I will qualify??

With all the talk of the beautiful people walking the red carpet lately with their fancy gowns I just thought I would put this out there for all of you to decide.. Here's my ensemble for the day in the life of a normal down to earth type person ready to paint.
 

I'm walking the road of a regular blood washed born again believer of Jesus, waiting and hoping for the coming of the Lord, but in the mean time we had to do some fixing up after our water leak,

Here's one of the messes that is part of the clean up.

Here's another one, I hate disruption of the normal flow of life but I am so thankful that our homeowners is covering the cost of new carpet and flooring on the other areas that were damaged.

And another, gotta put all that stuff somewhere out of the way!!

Sweetman does the detail work, like the corners and around the tight spots or near the ceiling.

We didn't choose to go with any weird colors but it will be a slight change from what it was. Were just simple folk, don't ya know.

Here's me I get to do the big areas, that way I can't mess up to much. I usually get more on me than on the walls. I'm no painter by any means.
So what do you think will I qualify for the red carpet???

THE PERFECT BABY SITTER

I've found the perfect baby sitter, its just to bad I don't need one any more but for all of you youngin's with kids who get under foot just take a gander at this nifty fun thing you can get for the kids.

Its called a walking ball, as you can see it helps to have a pool or some type of body of water as well, but if this would have been available when my kids were small they would have loved it. Even adults can fit into one, first they deflate the ball, unzip it and the person climbs in then they inflate it with a air pump and roll in into the water person and all.

 It looked like so much fun and lots of laughs, if you can get upright in a standing position you can run inside the ball and make like a human gerbil.  I checked it out and a small child can stay in the ball for up to 25 minutes, an adult about 15 min.  There are even games you can play while bobbing around, like walking ball tag, or who can run the longest without falling down.

We were at another flea market when we saw these. Fun idea don't you think????

THE ZOO

Its always fun to visit the zoo so that's what we did yesterday. There were several diffenent sections at this one. I think we covered all of it. The day was warm high 70's and partly sunny, just perfect for causally wandering to look at the different areas.

They were in the process of renovating the aquatic section so the Manatees and sting ray's were not available to see. Of course that is one area we both would have liked to view.

These little Joey's are so cute and we could have touched them but they weren't very sociable and wouldn't leave there little sitting post.

 There was a bit of excitement from the Rhino's though, all of a sudden one of them started to snort and roar and started fighting with some of the other ones in the pen. There was a baby that got in the middle of the commotion and all the zoo keepers came running to make sure  the spectators were out of harms way. They started yelling at the animals, blowing whistles and waving their arms to try to distract the aggressor. It all took about place in about 2 minutes and it was over. But for a few seconds I was so concerned for that little one because it looked like he got smashed in between two of the big ones. As soon as all was quiet we could go back to the fence to watch them, and they all appeared to be just fine including the baby.

This monkey was a show off he kept coming close to the fence and making faces at us, I think he was showing off its beautiful orange coat. I can't remember the names of these guys but they were all different from what we have in our zoo at home. 

This is a baby cloud leopard, I'm not sure how old it is but it kept jumping up on the fence to look at the people. I think it was curious about us watching it.

These horse like creatures are not related to horses or Zebra, but to giraffes, go figure, and they have smelly feet, something about glands in their toes that leave a sent to mark their domain.

The flowers here are so pretty, not sure what this is either but we thought it was worth taking a picture of. My friend Shelly and Mari both have some beautiful pictures of trees and flowers, so Sweetman said, if they can take pretty pictures so can I..~~~~That was our day yesterday.
Its overcast today but warm and were just hanging out. Sweetman want to some garage sales this morning, and in his words hit a bonanza!!!!