holy holy holy

last night my sunday school class hosted a prayer and worship service on some land set aside to build a new church. last night was maundy thursday, the night before Jesus was crucified. i've been reading the gospels; matthew, mark, luke, and john and the accounts of the last days of Jesus and finding all the significance of that night. the last supper, washing of the disciples feet, Jesus praying in the garden, and his betrayal and arrest- deeply personal, reflective acts.

our class wanted to offer a gift to our friends, family, and church; the opportunity to come to a quiet place and come face to face with our own inequities and our need for the Jesus on the cross. we wanted to ponder what it must have been like on that thursday before Jesus was crucified and ultimately rose from death.

as we sang, wrote confessions, prayed, meditated, took Communion, were blessed, and washed feet it rained and subsided, rained and subsided. it was dark, cloudy, and solemn. the weather fit the darkness that was coming when Jesus was crucified. my sweet jessica was singing "my sin held you there" and i sang out "Jesus" and the rain came upon us, hard. while we cried out our brokenness it felt like we were being washed clean. it was holy. then the rain cleared away.

sometimes in the day to day i forget what is holy. i get busy, don't stop and look. i wrap myself in what seems so important; and leave behind what is holy. when i don't stop and invite God to be the center of my life, to pray- to listen. i miss God's blessing.

i don't know who reads my words. i put them out there because i need a place to share my heart. my heart for today is this; ask God his heart for you. be still, but cry out if you need to. life is more than the day to day, Easter is more than bunnies and candy. it's about a God that loves us beyond measure and wants to give us life.

The curtain tore and the saints awoke and the whole earth seemed to tremble, at the fury of God's anger, or was it the fury of His LOVE? - andrew peterson

broo-SKEH-tah

Bruschetta- there's a K sound people. it's not nearly as annoying as hearing giada de laurentiis (who my son loves) say speghetti, i promise.

one of my goals for 2011 was to learn a new skill. i decided i wanted to learn something new in the kitchen- i LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook for people and wanted to learn some techniques.

my friend carly invited me to a cooking class at bella napoli in brookside. amazing- and well timed, thank you carly klock. if you've not been to bella napoli, go there- you will love it. call and thank me later.

our instructor, alex, showed off his mad kitchen skills starting with bruschetta. he roasted red peppers, which i believe next to hummus are my favorite food- in fact i love them so much i put them in my hummus and eat a whole whole lot of it.

then we made gnocchi! i love gnocchi. (the g is silent friends) boiled potatoes made into a beautiful dough, rolled out, cut into cute little pieces, boiled and devoured by yours truly.

2 sauces- a basic tomato-a-mazing. and brown butter with sage and walnuts. had i no self restraint i would have picked up the bowl and licked the remainder of the sauce- but i'm a lady, sometimes, so i didn't.

i had a great time, met some new friends (including this cool girl) and laughed with old ones.

i've had a lot of coffee this morning-sorry.

what i've been up to

my sister in law sent me an email a while back and asked if i'd moved my blog. she said she missed my words. i've missed them too.

i hate it when people tell you how busy they are, like we aren't all in the same boat. but over the past 7 months i've made some decisions. like; you can use your towel a couple of times before you need to wash it, then you don't have so many to fold and put away. a little dirt on the floor is good for the soul. and going to bed at 8:30 makes me much happier when midnight, 3, and 6 roll around. so i'm fudging on things. figuring out what i can do right now and what i can't. sometimes that includes finding words.

i'm enjoying really investing time in my family. for the first time i'm not trying to validate myself with a number of blog posts, photo shoots, and calendar entries. i'm trying to figure out what fits, what's worth saving, how to live simply, and what i need to give up.

thought i'd share a little piece of what's been going on.

meeting new friends


playing




trying new foods.....




fixin' feet


celebrating with each other


GROWING!






praying


hope you're having a great day!

good morning friends

in your busy day, take a minute and pretend you're 4. take a deep breath, do something totally un-adult, let the sun hit your face. think of something incredibly wonderful in your life and say thank you for it.