What comes AFTER the Resurrection? Or what can we take with us besides chocolate and eggs…

I love to celebrate Resurrection weekend! I always have! It is a weekend generally filled with deep focus on our Savior and his sacrificial gift.We surround ourselves with family, good food and fun! Our attention is drawn to springtime. Everything reflects it, the clothes we wear, the gifts we give, ( flowers, rabbits, baby chicks – okay maybe that’s just for us country folk.) But we honestly surround ourselves with visuals of newness. Life starting over, beautiful and fresh. Those are all lovely things and after viewing all of the colorful reminders on social media of how  everyone spent their weekend I came away with a question in my heart…. What now? What happens after the Resurrection celebration? Do we just go back to our life as we know it until the next big thing…. Mother’s Day, Graduation, whatever is on your calendar? Or is there something more we can take away with us besides the memory of full stomachs, colorful dresses and chocolate smiles?  I truly want to know… What comes after the Resurrection celebration ?

So I went to the Word….

John 20:19 says,

” On the evening of the first day of the week……Jesus came and stood among them and said,’Peace be with you.’

And in Luke 24:15

” As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them. ”

These are two different accounts of what happened after the Resurrection. But they both have something similar.

Jesus came. He CAME !  He came as a babe, He came and died, He came back ( He arose), He is coming back! ( When the trumpet sounds! )

I love that Jesus came to his disciples. He sought them out. He seeks us out dear ones. Everyday he seeks us out and He longs that we notice Him. Sometimes noticing Him is easy to do, like on weekends we have just experienced and sometimes it can be very difficult.  But when we DO notice Him we hear Him say things like, ” Peace be with you.” and ” Do not be afraid.”

Those two phrases are words to hang your hat on , so to speak. They are words that you can be sure your Father wants to speak to you!  The words ” Do not be afraid” were spoken 365 times in the Bible. Our Father knows us and he knows how life’s trials would tempt us to fear. The word peace is spoken ( in the KJV) 429 times in the Bible. Our Father desires that we have peace.  These are two things that we can take with us long after the ham is eaten and the spring flowers fade. They are eternal. The gifts we will need on a lonely rainy afternoon, or a cold winter night.  The gifts that will comfort our souls and renew our strength. Our Savior came and He is still coming ,…into my life and into yours if you want Him too. He is waiting… 

Hard paths, treasures and peace that flows like a river.

 Being still and listening to the Spirit’s voice doesn’t happen in one night or one blog post. It is a process.

As hard as these past few weeks have been, there has been a simple beauty in the stripping away of everything else. Don’t get me wrong, the stripping away process is not pain-free. Removing all excess things even good things isn’t always  “fun” ,  and yet, listening to the Spirit guide you and doing things His way is so freeing! It’s the Voice of Truth and Peace!

It feels like peace in it’s leading and it produces peace in the process of obeying.

” He will whisper in our ear, this is the way, walk in it. ( Isaiah 30:21)

We are choosing to walk this path moment by moment , and day by day. This path feels so dark and rocky and then I remember…

He is the light to our path!

You don’t go out into the dark woods and race down an unknown path with only a flashlight to shine on the next step. That would be unwise. There might be a cliff up ahead you may not see in time to stop, or there could be a boulder in the middle of your path.

However, you could walk it ,if you walked slowly, with the light shining on the step right in front of you, able to illuminate treasures on the path.

” Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105

What?  Treasures? Why in the world would there be treasures strewn about on the middle of a dark path?

Because, dear ones, we serve a Mighty God, who loves us! He is the God who is not willing that any should perish. He has definitely strewn about treasures in our pathways. If we are willing to slow down and listen to His sweet voice, we will be able to see that they are right before us!

I desire to slow down, to listen to His sweet voice, to see the treasures in our pathway. Sometimes those are gifts that remind us to stop and praise Him in the midst of the darkness. Sometimes they are the treasure of being able to participate in the lives of others on our path, that will change us and them forever.

I desire to be changed, transformed more everyday into the woman He has planned for me to be, doing the good works He has already laid out for me to do! ( Eph. 2:10)

If He is a God that is not willing that any should perish?  ( and we know that He is ) Could he not also be using this path that seems so very dark as a blessing? An opportunity for us to grow and be transformed even more into the ones who bring that life saving message to others?

Last night I slept on my Mama’s couch. It’s one of the things that was whispered in my heart to do that would ease the hard, for yesterday, at least… I woke up this morning to look down and see that she had gently covered me in the early hours with her beautiful old quilt. It was a comfort to my eyes and my soul. One of those treasures the Lord is helping me to see and STOP and appreciate and give thanks for.

Then I reached for His Word, to speak truth to my heart. This is literally the page it opened to.

For thus says the Lord:

” Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,

And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.

Then you shall feed.

On her sides shall you be carried.

And be dandled on her knees.

As one whom his mother comforts,

So I will comfort you;

And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

When you see this, your heart shall rejoice.

And your bones shall flourish like grass;

The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants .”

*Just as the Lord’s promises to Jerusalem are faithful and will continue to be. He is faithful to us in all things.

As my mother’s hands comforted me , so the Lord says He will comfort us. He will carry us, feed us , even give us those joyful moments like when we were bounced on someone’s knee. When we see the faithfulness of the Lord our hearts rejoice and we flourish! What an awesome thing to see the hand of the Lord at work in our lives. Then the sweetest gift…peace.

Peace will be extended to us like a river! Like a river my friend, not a pond! It is ever flowing!

How are you choosing to be still and listen to the Spirit’s voice? What treasures on your path is He showing you? I would love to hear your heart.

Cobbler, coffee, and the Voice of Truth.

“I knew I wouldn’t break! ” These words have resonated in my spirit all evening! Words spoken to me by a dear lady who has walked this road of grief, the same one  I am walking,not too long ago. She will send me a random message fairly often to shower us with her love in the form of amazing food, like the above fruit cobbler! (Isn’t that absolutely beautiful?) It is a true expression of the love of the Father continuing to pour out upon us. She remembers that we aren’t at the end of the road but rather we have just rounded the bend and are facing more steep grades ahead.

I asked her today, ” How did you do it? What did you think about or remind yourself of immediately after? ” She responded, I knew where my strength came from and I knew I wouldn’t break! I would hurt like the dickens! But, I knew I wouldn’t break! ” I can’t even begin to tell you how this ministered to me. When trials come our way, what do you think the enemy wants us to believe? He always wants us to believe the opposite of what the Lord wants us to believe.

*He wants us to think that we are overwhelmed and overcome by our circumstances!

Truth: ” Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry or destitute or in danger or threatened in death? No! Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” ( Rom.8)

One of my personal favorites and name of this blog…

Truth: “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.…That is why we never give up! Though are bodies are dying our spirits are being renewed day by day! “( 2 Cor. 4)

Truth: “He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle.” ( Isaiah 42:3)

I don’t know what lies the enemy may be speaking to you or what the road looks like on this part of your journey. It may be smooth and the sun may be shining where you are. If so, ask the Lord who you can bless and how. We have been blessed by so many people! Some of the sweetest have been random cobblers, our favorite drinks from Midnight Oil given again and again, a sweet note tucked in the mail.

Don’t underestimate the power of a sportea on a sunny day or a hot woodsman when the skies are filled with rain and your soul is too! We are so thankful!

If your path is steep and filled with rocks blocking your way. Go to the TRUTH my friend! For every thought that brings you down and holds you captive, confront it with His Word.

It is powerful and effective dear ones, sharper than any double edged sword, able to divide soul and spirit. It can lay your heart bare and pluck out the lies from the enemy of our soul so that it can be filled with healing power of the Voice of Truth.

Pray, fill your house with praise music, take a walk , take a deep breath and remember, ” You will not break! ”

Press pause...

What does rest mean? Freedom from activity or labor; peace of mind or spirit. (n) or to cease from action or motion, to take relief or respite. ( v)

As I was seeking out what the Word of God had to tell me about rest, I was surprised by this verse. I think it is one of my new favorites.

This is what the Lord says: ‘Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘ No , that’s not the road we want! ‘ Jeremiah 6:16

Why is it SO hard for us to rest? I think a lot these days about the things that were important enough for Alan to talk about. He was a man of few words. By, that I mean he didn’t go in much for small talk and he didn’t feel the need to give his opinion on many topics.  He did share regularly with anyone in His presence ,His love for God’s words and its transforming power. He talked about his sadness that the church as a whole often didn’t know what was in it which led to him randomly gifting  The One Year Bible to many people through the years.

He also was very passionate about the busyness that we allow to consume us. He didn’t speak of this from a position of being better than others but from a position of ” been there , done that.” When our kids were small we were extremely busy.  Sports and other activities were keeping us busy everyday of the week. The Lord began convicting us that we were spending a lot of time on things that were not eternal and they were taking us away from each other.

Are sports bad? Is what keeps you busy bad? Maybe not.  They can even be good. However I believe we need to give ourselves permission to ask ourselves how we are spending our time?  And then ask… what are we going to do about it? Are we spending it on eternal things? Are we spending it on self? Is it taking us away from each other?

When we come to a crossroads in life are we just pushing through it, or are we being still enough to listen?

I love being outside with Ava when she hears an interesting sound. She literally freezes and holds her tiny hand up to her cheek and says, ” Listen! ” Then we have a lively dialogue on what we hear and how amazing it is!

Why don’t we do that? Why is it SO hard to STOP? Why can’t we freeze in our tracks and listen to the Spirits voice? But, it is uncomfortable. Everyone else is still moving swiftly like crowds through an airport terminal. We might get passed by  in life or at the very least stared at, because  stopping is not what you do? Don’t you know we can do it all? We can have it all! We just need to keep going. Whatever you do don’t stop!

Jesus said , ” Come away with me. Let us go alone to a quiet place and rest for awhile.” Mark 6:31

He wants to tell us amazing things don’t you know?

The Lord is my shepherd;

I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows.

He leads me beside peaceful streams.

He renews my strength.

I have been hearing the Lord calling me to come away with Him since my husband’s recent journey to Heaven. My flesh tells me to be practical, keep going, don’t stop, just go, go , GO!  But I want to be like Ava, I want to freeze in my tracks, put my hand up to my face and say,

” Listen!” my Savior is calling me!  I want to hear what amazing wonderful things he would  have me know. I want to be led by peaceful streams. I want Him to renew my strength!

So, come with me my friend. Let’s go to our Father and at least ask Him what it looks like for us to rest. Maybe you are at a crossroads, or maybe you are so stuck in a pattern of living you wish you were at a crossroads so you could see your way out of it.  Will you join me?  Will you join me in asking for the old and godly way so that we can walk in it?

But we live in a different time you say… Times they are changing and we must change with them!

Father, as the times change may we always make time to seek your face! You are the God who is the same! You are the same, yesterday, today and forever! ( Heb. 13:9) Show each of us individually what it looks like to come away with you. Let us be brave and courageous and rest for we know that it takes courage to rest just like it does to fight. For you tell us ,

” The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still!”

We ask for the old and godly way Father, we desire to travel it’s path so that we might find rest for our souls!

When you fully discover that home is a person and not a place.

I knew that coming home  would be harder after having time away. But I was willing to risk it because I needed to breathe so badly.  The beach was a sweet gift from the Lord that I can’t even put into words.  We were all so physically ,mentally and emotionally exhausted it was the perfect place to let go.  It was ok to sleep, or not sleep, talk or not talk.  We took walks alone and together,  read our Bibles and drank coffee on the terrace, dug in the sand, picked up treasures spilled up onto the sand from the mighty waves and we laughed at Ava’s delight with the the ” snow” or sand as we call it. We remembered the hard and the happy. We shared our fears and hopes and talked about the Sovereignty of God.

I am so very grateful for that time we had together and how the Lord perfectly provided it. I would do it all over again! I also knew that it would come to an end. Our last morning was one of the sweetest! We ate breakfast at a restaurant overlooking the beach right before we left town. It was early and we had the place completely to ourselves. It was perfect in every way right down to the amazing coffee. The sweetness continued as we walked back to the van and began to share with each other the different thoughts the Lord had placed on several of our hearts concerning our waiter. It was good to be reminded that even with empty wounded hearts, our Lord lives! He still wants to speak to us and use us to pray for and bless others. This is only possible because His Spirit lives in us. Without it we would be consumed in ourselves.

With His Spirit we can do mighty things. The Lord has impressed upon my heart how important it is to be “real”.  To fully acknowledge the hard while still speaking the truth! Our Father created us. He knows us! When you fully love and invest your heart in people you will fully feel! We will feel disappointment, sadness , anger and grief AND we will also feel joy, peace and love! How bleak life would be without those things!

To deny we feel those things and try to pretend we are all fine ,all of the time, is a great disservice to ourselves and each other. It is in our weakness that He is strong. It is when we bow our heads that he can be the lifter of them.  ( Psalm 3:3) He makes the deserts into a pool of water. (Psalm 107 :35) There is a beauty all it’s own in letting go. In telling the Father I cannot… but you can, you are surely able!

I have always loved to get away for a trip and no matter how fun or amazing the trip was, it always felt SO good to come home. However this time was very different. As we approached town and were about 45 minutes away the tightness in my chest became so tight I could barely breathe, literally! It took me by surprise. This is the hard part of transparency. Whenever I would feel fear or discomfort in any situation in the past, I would tell Alan and he would stop and pray with me and that feeling would leave. How Lord? How do I navigate this new road without him? How do I process the intense feelings I am experiencing without my other half?  This place I’m returning to is not my home , he was! In a sense that is true. ” Home” is the people we live with rather than the place. It isn’t about the walls that surround us but rather the people within those walls. But our true ” Home” is Christ. We carry His Spirit within us wherever we go. His peace is available to us.

We must give ourselves permission to be weak so that HE is strong. We must be okay with hiding in the shadow of His wings. We must give ourselves time and space to be transparent, to breathe His word in and exhale our faith. To confess to each other, as I did to my children in the car as we drove and give others the opportunity to speak truth to us. For, something happens when we communicate our faith with others. We find our own faith being built up when we share it with others.

There is freedom in not having all the right answers  but seeking the Lord for them together. There is beauty in giving up being “in control ” and watching your children seek the Lord for direction themselves. There is peace in trusting the God of the Universe loves them more than we can possibly imagine. That he loves us all more than we can imagine.

So, even though home doesn’t feel like home anymore, “it’s going to be okay”. Because, we don’t walk alone. We walk together! We will speak life and truth to each other.  We will confess our weaknesses to each other and we will allow the Lord to be the lifter of our heads! He is able! He has good plans for us! He loves each one of us! So set your gaze upon the one who has your name written on His Hands. ( Isaiah 49:16) Walk beside each other on this journey to our homeland that is both hard and beautiful! Speak truth, speak life and love fully as we are FULLY loved by HIM until we are all HOME!

• Our son-in-law Adam Cappa’s song “Home ” comes to radio March 18th. It was one of the songs we used in the slide show celebrating Alan’s life. It’s been one of the songs we have loved listening to during this hard season and I know it will bless many others. To God be all Glory!

When hardships become grace.

Today when we finished a late breakfast I went in to use the restroom and found myself evaluating the state of the wheelchair accessible stall. It was actually quite impressive. Then I realized how gracious the Lord was to allow us to experience so much more.

We didn’t just experience the ” cancer battle”. Because Alan’s battle was with glioblastoma, brain cancer our experience was quite diverse.  We walked through dementia symptoms ( memory , reasoning and mood changes) as well as loss of mobility requiring the use of a wheelchair. We had good days and bad days. This is the part of our journey that is the most difficult to share. But it is my desire that the Lord use all of it to be glorified, so we might be encouraged that in the most difficult trials of our lives we are comforted that we are NOT alone. Even more that as we  press in to the Father in the hard we  begin to see his Hand even more.

As I was examining the impressive bathroom, this is the thought that came to my mind, “This is what it looks like to be cared for by the King. ” Does that sound crazy? It isn’t. We serve a mighty and loving Father! Our Savior wept when he heard that Lazarus had died even though he knew he would raise him from the dead. This personal story of our Savior and the loss of his dear friend  has been so comforting to me this past week. Realizing that my Savior is Sovereign and yet fully cares that we are human and ” feel” all the feelings! He works ALL things for our good. In his graciousness he allows us to experience things that later help us to empathize with others or even serve them better.  He has allowed my children and I to experience the ” hard”, AND the beautiful! I say AND because in the “hard” the beautiful also exists. They are not mutually exclusive.

There is a laying down that occurs. We begin to see the world with new eyes. Our hopes, dreams and even priorities change.  You begin to examine the people around you and wonder at each story behind their eyes.  You start to hear the Father’s heart for them and hunger to have them KNOW Him! He makes all things new! To be honest, today was one of my ” hard days”.  I woke up around 4:30 a.m. from a disturbing dream and couldn’t sleep. I missed Alan multiple times today. I miss him all the time ,and at moments, even more deeply. Today was that kind of day… And I laughed with Ava, saw a beautiful sunrise and sunset, cried, prayed, ate gelato, paid a bill  walked the beach with my children and just lived!  Life is hard AND beautiful! While these experiences have been so hard and I  constantly,  prayerfully consider even sharing them, I believe that it is important to be able to fully recognize the depths of ” hard” so that we might see the fullness of the 

” beautiful.”

The Holy Spirit allowed me to see this morning that he has given us the gift of experiencing  so that we might identify with others, comfort them, and remind them and ourselves of God’s great faithfulness through it all. We don’t LIKE to be weak. And yet…  it is only when we are, that He is SO mighty!