My Holy Week Attitude

It's Holy Week.  Certainly doesn't feel like it by the weather outside.  But is it about a feeling?  No.  Christ came into this world, died, and rose again.  It doesn't matter that our week doesn't feel like the season of Easter.  The fact of the matter is that, it is! 

I have to admit, it has been rough to get my mind around everything and be reflective of this time of year.  I do have a reason.  Perhaps not a good reason, but a reason for my bad attitude.  I've noticed so many changes in the Church over the last several years, and in my view, not good changes.  It makes it very difficult to have a good attitude.  I'm not talking just about the church we're attending now, it's happening all over.  Things of the past, traditions, meaningful events, are being thrown out the window and replaced by what our culture seems to like. 

I attended the Maundy Thursday service last night.  I figured this would be the best of the services being put on this year by our church.  I could really focus on what Christ did for me, and the music was appropriate, and the service, for the most part, worked.  While groups were going up for communion, the background piano music played appropriate songs that turned my mind to the amazing work Christ did for me. 

Today is Good Friday.  We decided we weren't going to attend Good Friday and Easter services at our church this year.  In the past, the Good Friday service has been a complete joke.  The head-banging music is anything but reflective of what Good Friday is actually about.  Songs had nothing to do with the day at hand, didn't focus on Christ going into the grave.  In fact, there were songs of the resurrection last time I was there.  Really?  What day is it?  Christ can't rise until he's been put in the grave.  The preaching has been less than stellar as well.  Now it's a combined effort from many churches, so things will vary.  But let's get our act together and put together a service regarding the day that it in fact is!  I was asked to play flute for a piece, and really struggled with what to do, since we said we weren't going to go.  Then I learned that Pastor Jon will be preaching, so at least the message should be good and appropriate.  I also rarely get to use my gifts anymore, so this was another opportunity for that (but that's another issue).  So, I decided to do it.  We decided to give it one more try.  I don't have high expectations, but I hope this service will honor Christ's death and not be a mockery like I've seen it in the past, at least in my view.

I have a degree in church music.  This stuff is very important to me.  It drives me nuts when things aren't cohesive, aren't appropriate, aren't well-planned.  This is about worshipping our Lord, so why do we let things slide and seem to not do our best in planning?  We are going to Illinois to go to church on Sunday.  It was actually my idea to visit the in-laws and go to church somewhere where I hope the service will be pleasing to the Lord.  Imagine that.  Not something I suggest often.  After last year, we just couldn't go here anymore.  It's one big show.  While planning is great and needs to happen, this was a down to the exact minute type of plan that made one feel tense.  It was just so showy.  Many congregants didn't participate in many of the songs.  This is Easter Sunday!  Shouldn't we be rejoicing and lifting our voices in song together? 

For the record, we are not going to the Lutheran church.  No way!  Tons of people who come to take communion on Easter, because that and Christmas are the only days they go to church.  I cannot stand being in that environment.  People receiving communion who shouldn't.  Talk about me getting a bad attitude.  At least that one is biblical, for certain.  While I like tradition, it's not everything.  There should be a reason behind why we do something.  My sister-in-law has been complaining about the fact that their church isn't doing a Tennebrae service this year.  I think this kind of service is fabulous.  Great meaning to it.  I wish there were more of those around here.  But, the reason she's complaining is because of the tradition.  No care as to what it really means.  When just told that it will not be similar to a Tennebrae service, the only reason she's going to is to hear a particular person sing Via Dolorosa.  While that is a great song, that's why you're going to church?  Really?  Jesus took on all our sins and died in our place.  Does that not matter to you?  Has our culture so lost the meaning of what events took place during Holy Week?  It's sad.  Really sad. 

While my attitude is probably not where it should be, I hope to be able to recognize ALL the events that took place during these few days, and thank my Lord and Savior for what He did for me.  Amazing.  This song tells it all:

Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;
"It is finished!" was His cry;
Now in heaven exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we'll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

God Gave Us Two by Lisa Tawn Bergren—a book review

God Gave Us Two is a precious children's book about a mother and father explaining to their child that they are having another baby, only this book uses polar bears. The Little Cub questions whether she will still be loved, how can she love a new baby when it cries, can she move if she doesn't like the new baby, and so forth—all questions a child would probably ask, if old enough to understand what is happening. Mama and Papa bear explain they will still love her as well as her new sibling. They constantly repeat the phrase, “God gave us two.” Two to love, two to be the parents of, etc. The book portrays that children are a blessing from the Lord. If you don't want the ending given away, do not read this last phrase, but I thought it was a clever play on words how the repeated phrase ended up being just that in the end. God gave them two, twins! Now Little Cub is the big sister to both a little brother and little sister. The illustrations are cute and delicate, and show the love of a family. My one and a half year-old daughter enjoyed the book as well.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Max on Life by Max Lucado-a book review

Max on Life is a book that asks Max Lucado questions from various aspects of life, and he answers them to the best of his ability. It is cleverly divided into sections all beginning with the letter “H,” that of hope, hurt, help, him/her, home, haves/have-nots, and hereafter. Common questions related to death, money, marriage, children, eternal life, are asked. Lucado begins each section with a hand-written answer to a letter someone wrote, then seeks to answer more questions.

While the book cannot possibly answer every question in every area of life, he picks major ones. The answers are concise. They rarely take up more than one page, and occasionally bleed onto a second. It makes it easy to read. A particular subject is simple to find since the book is divided into categories. Lucado uses Scripture in a lot of his answers, though I think he could have used more. At times, there seem to be a few proof-texts, but most of it is true to the context of Scripture. This book may not appeal to those stronger in their faith or who have been Christians for a long time as many of the questions are those that young Christians, or even non-Christians, may ask.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program.

Secure Daughters Confident Sons by Glenn T. Stanton—a book review

Gender matters. It makes a difference if one is a male or female. One of the first questions everyone asks when someone is having a baby is, is it a boy or girl? Everyone wants to know, because gender matters. Our initial judgments of someone are based on our views of maleness and femaleness. How we perceive someone else has to do with them being male or female. Glenn T. Stanton discusses the differences in boys and girls. Even if a parent has what has been termed a “tomboy,” she will still possess some female qualities and go about life in feminine ways, though it may be more subtle. As a somewhat “tomboy” myself, I was skeptical at first about this book, but the way Stanton explains in great detail the differences in males and females, I do have to say that I do possess the female qualities more so than the male ones. The first part of the book discusses these differences and how to help our children grow into the men and women God has created them to be.

The second part of the book focuses more on the role of the parents. Parents need to teach their children how to be boys or girls. Responsibility is put on parent to teach. Children need both a mother and a father. They see different aspects of their boyness or girlness by having both parents. A girl can learn a lot from her father about being a woman just as a boy can learn a lot from his mother about being a man. Parents are an example to their children of these qualities, especially in how they treat each other. Children also need to witness built-in qualities that are specific to each parent that are prevalent across each gender. For example, dads tend to roughhouse and be more physical with their children, encouraging them to prepare for what might come in the future. Moms, on the other hand, tend to nurture and protect their children, trying to keep them from ever getting into harm in the first place. Parenting styles may be different because of this, but that does not mean one parent is wrong. Children need both of these aspects to grow up to be healthy adults. This concept became incredibly real to me through this book. Just because my spouse does things differently, doesn't mean he's automatically wrong. We need to work together in the areas of discipline, play, and so forth, to give our children a healthy balance in life.

Stanton gives many personal examples from his life, so he is easy to relate to. He includes many studies that have been done on subjects pertaining to this book, including scientific studies that aren't necessarily Christian research, which helps solidify his writings. He also uses many biblical principles to validate his points. This was a great book with helpful insights for anyone with children desiring to raise them to be the men or women God created them to be.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

"Pop" Tarts

I am going to start out by saying that I do not condone eating Pop-Tarts for breakfast on a regular basis, especially for a young child.  However, Sunday morning can get a little crazy around here with having to be to church by 8am.  I usually let Elizabeth sleep as late as possible and just get her dressed at the last minute, often times not giving her breakfast, or maybe something she can eat in the car.  She's not a big breakfast fan anyway, and, I know she gets animal crackers at church, so it's not like I'm starving her. 

The other Sunday though, she woke up a little earlier.  Mike took her downstairs with him to eat breakfast.  I didn't think he'd give her Pop-Tarts, but he did.  I was showering or something.  One of her favorite words is "pop."  Mike told her they were "pop-tarts" to which she quickly caught on.  She's just starting to talk and repeat lots of words, but they're usually not real long words.  He would ask her, what kind of tarts do you have?  She would respond, "pop!"  It was so cute.  I just had to share this story, mostly so I don't forget it, but also because I think it's just hilarious.  But it gets better...

About a week after eating the Pop-Tarts and repeating the pop frequently that day, we were eating some blueberries.  Mike made a comment about them being pretty good for being fresh blueberries, as he doesn't really care for them much plain.  I proceeded to say I thought they were kind of tart.  Right after saying that Elizabeth speaks up and says, "Pop!"  I can't believe she made that connection.  I was, of course, using tart in a totally different sense, but it was so funny.  I didn't expect that one. 

Sabbath by Dan B. Allender--a book review

Sabbath by Dan B. Allender—a book review

The fourth commandment, found in Exodus 20, is “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Because this is one of the Ten Commandments, Allender writes this book about the importance of observing this day of the week. Delighting in this day is a prevalent theme throughout the book. “The Sabbath is an invitation to enter delight. The Sabbath, when experienced as God intended, is the best day of our lives” (p. 4). Allender gives personal examples and suggestions of how to delight in this day, especially through enjoying God's creation. He recognizes the fact that most Christians do not observe this day or even think twice about it.

This book, overall, has some interesting points to ponder regarding how to observe the Sabbath, points that I have never given much thought to before. For example, delighting in the day, rather than just resting and not working, is a new thought to me. I have tended to be somewhat legalistic on how to approach the Sabbath, so this book was refreshing in that regard. Experiencing new parts of God's amazing creation brings us into closer relationship with Him and is something we can truly delight in. It gave me a new perspective.

On the other hand, Allender did not address the issue of rest, other than saying there is more to the Sabbath than that, or that one doesn't necessarily even have to rest at all. In the passage in Exodus above, God commands His creation to rest and make it holy. Other passages throughout the Bible indicate this concept as well, such as when Moses was leading the Israelites in the wilderness and they were to collect manna for the day before the Sabbath as well as the Sabbath. While I understand the need to make it holy in ways other than rest, not working, and not being caught up in legalism, I thought leaving this important piece out of the equation did not do justice to these Sabbath verses.

I would recommend this book to someone looking for new ways to approach the Sabbath. Otherwise, I was somewhat disappointed. I was hoping for a book encompassing the whole of the Sabbath, to challenge me. I have read books by Allender before and have appreciated his writing, but in my opinion, this is not one of his best books.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program.

Price vs. Value

This past Sunday I heard a very profound statement during the sermon at church.  If I were to remember one thing, this would be it:  "Our society knows the price of everything but the value of nothing."  The sermon was on the first set of verses of Mark 14.  How true this is.  I pondered this for quite a while and admittedly did not catch much in the following minutes because I was left running that statement through my head.  I have been wanting to write about it for a few days now and have had even more time to think about it. 

As a bargain shopper, with coupons always in hand, never a person to pay full price for anything, I was thinking about how this affected me.  Sure, I know what the price is of things.  I try to get that price down as low as I can.  But do I sometimes take a cheap price for a crummy value?  Just because something is cheap doesn't mean it is worth much of anything.  I probably tend to take this too far and risk losing some value on things.

Mary used a jar of perfume on Jesus that cost a year's wages!  Would I have done something like that?  Unless it was something inherited, I probably would not even have something that expensive in my possession.  And even at that, I may not have thought much about it because it's just perfume, right?  Why would I want that?  I'm guessing it had more significance back in those days.  But still.  I'm so hard up on spending money.  I want a good deal.  I try to be wise in spending, not frivolous. 

Regarding value though, I was also struck by a comment someone made to me on Sunday.  Asking how Elizabeth was doing in the nursery, I responded with the usual up and down answer.  Sometimes she's okay, sometimes not.  She can't be on her own long without her mommy.  Sure, it seems the price I have to pay right now is extremely high.  I don't ever get a good night's sleep, I don't ever get time alone.  Actually, this person said, so, is this the only hour you have without her all week?  Yes!!  It's true!!  That hour during early service is my only hour without her all week. That is no exaggeration either.  She sleeps with me, so she's there all night too.  This cost may seem high to some, but I hope there is a lot of value in this.  I hope my daughter will be secure and know mommy's there for her.  I hope all this time spent with her will be for the good, that she'll value what I value, come to know Christ, and so forth.  If that happens, no price can be too high.  I want her to become God's child.  I love you, Elizabeth, and I want what's best for you, even if it means a high price for me to pay right now.