Celebrate Today : March 2013

Sunday, March 31, 2013

March Twenty Thirteen and HAPPY EASTER!

March 2013

"Celebrate God all day, every day.

I mean, revel in Him!

Phil 4:7 The Message

Abiding in this truth from the UPC Women's retreat at the beginning of this month:

" Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is your true self. Every other identity is an illusion." -Brennan Manning

Seattle Hot Chocolate 15K run... (wearing Elizabeth Hutchinson's 4th grade Halloween costume for the race to be festive)

Just a little nuts, but why not?!

But here's the thing: the more we try to compensate for our weak places, the more we try to edit the "us" others encounter, the more we attempt to hide the fact that we really aren't nearly as smart or agile or profound or intriguing as we suspect others judge us to be (or as we desire for others to judge us to be), the less we become our true selves, the less beauty we're able to give away. Worse, as we maneuver and manipulate in all these places, we will find ourselves exhausted by our self-absorption….The world does not need perfection. It doesn't need the best 'you' that you can dream up. The world needs you. The actual you. Foibles and giggles and goofiness and all. http://winncollier.com/an-inadequate-grace/

HAPPY 42nd BIRTHDAY TO JASON!!

"The grace of God means something like: Here is your life.

You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you." - Frederick Buechner

"The world is charged with the grandeur of God." -Gerald Manley Hopkins

"Go slow. Be God-struck. Grant grace. Live Truth. Give Thanks. Become the gift." –Ann Voskamp

more unicycling/ videos of the Huff circus act below:

http://celebrate-2day.blogspot.com/2013/03/partner-riding.html

http://celebrate-2day.blogspot.com/2013/03/circus-acts.html

"The art of really celebrating life isn't about getting it right – but about receiving Grace." –Ann Voskamp

GIVING THANKS FOR A FABULOUS 40th BIRTHDAY!! (3/16/13)

"There are few things more subversive in this world than someone who sees grace in every corner, who chuckles easy and loves easy and has both whimsy and mirth mixed in with even their honest assessments of the way things truly are. These glad-hearted people have discovered that thankfulness is not merely a discipline but the only sane way to live in a world offering so much gritty beauty, so much possibility for love, so many joys.

These unlikely provocateurs have not caved to rose-tinted glasses or withdrawn from bitter reality. They simply know that sorrow does not finally own the day. They do not ignore the pain. Quite the opposite, their heart has grown so large that the life they know possesses the courage to see all that is wrong and yet has strength enough to gather the afflictions into itself, allowing love to tend to the wounds. They know that joy, not misery, holds the ace. And they are so very, very thankful.

"Grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth," say Barth. "Grace evokes gratitude like the voice of an echo. Gratitude follows grace as thunder follows lightning."

– Winn Collier http://winncollier.com/like-thunder-follows-lightning/

http://celebrate-2day.blogspot.com/2013/03/you-are-every-age-youve-ever-been.html

"Your problem is how you are going to spend this one and precious life you have been issued. Whether you're going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are." -Anne Lamott

"Look at the lines beside these eyes of mine. Like parenthesis. They cup all that I have seen – a testament to the fact that your mercies are actually new every morning." –Lisa Jo Baker

"I'm something like halfway. Today, the calendar flips to 40. There's that moment in every good novel when you're mid-through, the pages to the left as thick as the pages to the right. And you pause. You sigh deep for the story that won't let you loose, resting to breathe in the words and characters and memories before you eagerly dive into the long second stretch. This is that moment in the story of my life. I'm grateful for the place I find myself...." http://blog.winncollier.com/2011/11/halfway.html

Lauren Winners shares the wisdom of her friend's mother: "Every ten years you have to remake everything." Reshape yourself. Reorient yourself. Remake everything. Still pg 31

St Patrick's Day 2013

"I will ask my Father for help when I fail. I will swim in grace. I will take joy in His help."

Famous UW Cherry Blossoms above

"Drawing on nothing fancier than the poetry of our own life, let us use words and images that help made the surface of our lives transparent to the truth of who we are and who God is and the gospel of our meeting." – Fredrick Buechner

"And when I give thanks for the seemingly microscopic, I make a place for God to grow within me." -Ann Voskamp

giving thanks that because of Easter,

tomorrow is in His hands...

Easter people

As I tucked Anna into bed tonight, she said, "I think Easter is my favorite holiday!" Hard to beat after the day we were given today. Giving thanks that we are indeed Easter people and that we have been given the gift of forgiveness and grace..

at UPC this morning with Natalie Zimmer (sweet freshman at UW we have gotten to know this year)

3/31/13

Taylor took this picture this morning.. WOW!

Easter bunnies we made as gifts to give to a few friends today

notice the cottontail :)

nice touch from Anna....

Ellie and Caroline White with one of the bricks we gave them this morning

Easter lunch at the Atkins

E & T

Arboretum this afternoon

peace...

Resurrection Cookies

Resurrection Cookies

On the Saturday before Easter, we make resurrection cookies (meringues).

These cookies have been a fun way to talk about the Easter story since 2007 in our house.

2013

I found some of the recipe and script below to be a bit of a stretch for me and the kids so I only use parts of it and adjust it to make it work for us. I also eliminate the vinegar as it does not taste very good and add some vanilla instead.

For this recipe you will need:

1 c. whole pecans

1 tsp. vinegar

3 egg whites

pinch salt

1 c. sugar

zipper baggie

wooden spoon

tape

Bible

Preheat Oven to 300 F. (this is important - don't wait till you are half way done with the recipe!) Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested he was beaten by the Roman soldiers.

Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink.

Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.

Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.

Read Luke 23:27.

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 c. sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us, He wants us to know that and He wants us to love Him as well.

Read Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.

Read Isaiah1:18 and John 3:1-3

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.

Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed.

Read Matthew 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Sunday morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On Resurrection morning, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

Read Matthew 28:1-9.

JESUS HAS RISEN!!!

HE IS ALIVE!![i]

[i] http://www.cobblestoneroad.org/p_resurrectioncookies.html

Saturday, March 30, 2013

the Saturday before Easter...

giving thanks that

because of Easter,

tomorrow is in His hands...

at Cowen Park

a view this morning from the egg hunt...

a girl on a unicycle with her Easter basket...

a good Friday

good words to share for Good Friday and this Easter weekend...

"When we use the word 'hope', we say things like 'I hope we win!' It's like wishing for something we're not sure will happen. But in the Bible, hope means being absolutely certain something will happen. Jonathan Edwards, a preacher, said there are three things we can hope in if we belong to Jesus:

1) God will turn even the bad things around for your good in the end.

2) Your good things can't ever be taken away from you.

3) The best things are yet to come.

It doesn't mean everything in our story is happy today. But that God is making the story end happily for the world and for his children."

-Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd Jones