Resurrected and Alive

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You care for the land and water it;                              

    you enrich it abundantly.

The streams of God are filled with water

    to provide the people with grain,

    for so you have ordained it.[d]

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You drench its furrows and level its ridges;

    you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

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You crown the year with your bounty,

    and your carts overflow with abundance.

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The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;

    the hills are clothed with gladness.

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The meadows are covered with flocks

    and the valleys are mantled with grain;

    they shout for joy and sing.

Psalms 65:9-13 NIV

This week has been a busy one for us. As I slowed to begin to rejoice in the Easter season, I began to see all of creation coming alive around me. It seemed to have suddenly gone from the dead of winter to bursting forth with life! Trees are blossoming. Tulips and daffodils are blooming. A pair of geese were searching the neighborhood watering spots for a nesting place. 

God tells us that creation has cycles to show us about Himself. The stark images of trees, sleeping bulbs, and dry seeds all give us the appearance of death. It seems all hope is lost, but suddenly with the warmth of the sun, life springs forth with buds, and leaves, and flowers and fruit. What appeared dead, is now bursting with life. 

Are not our lives just the same? Our dead lives, our dead souls, our dead works suddenly become alive when Christ enters in. Christ gives our lives purpose, our souls eternal life, and our works are no longer selfish, but fruitful witnesses for Christ. Yes, life will have rough spots, just as the summer will get hot and hard. These will be times of growth, times to help us through when the showers of blessing seem scarce. But in the end of our days, the autumn of our lives, we will see the fruits of Christ in our lives. 

May the resurrection of Christ bring hope and purpose to our lives.

Blessings, 

Gail

Hey Kids:

We often hear the analogy of living in darkness as being a life without Christ and without purpose. 

Let's try an experiment to see how darkness affects seeds and plants.

Place a damp paper towel in a plastic sandwich bag. 

Place 2 or 3 seeds on the towel and close the bag. 

Tape it in a sunny window. 

You have created a mini greenhouse.

Now do the same with a second bag only this time place the bag with the seeds in a dark place, maybe under a cabinet. 

Keep a daily journal noting the changes occurring in each bag.

How are they the same/different?

How do you think a life lived in darkness, without Christ, is the same/different from a life lived with Christ at the center?

Discuss your results with your parents and other kids. 

Do you know someone who needs the light of Jesus to shine in their lives?

Who Has Control?


The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. ~John 3:8KJV

March – kite flying season. I love the way the wind makes my kite dip and swirl and takes it almost out of sight. Sometimes the string breaks and takes my kite wherever it wants and I wonder where, and who sees it.

We are a lot like kites. When we are without Christ, Satan pulls the strings and directs our lives. Like kites, we pull against the string and try to break away. Jesus told Nicodemus that the wind is like the Holy Spirit that comes into a person’s life without being seen and causes changes that take a Christian in new unseen directions. It is the Holy Spirit through the power of Jesus Christ that breaks the bonds that tie us to sin. Only then can we be free to be carried by the Spirit to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives.

Is sin holding you down? 

Ask Jesus to forgive you and give you that new life of joy and peace that only He can give. 

Others will see and hear when the Holy Spirit directs your life. Your life may bring change to their life too.

Father, may we be directed by Your Holy Spirit, taking us in new directions for Your glory. In Jesus's name. Amen.

Hey Kids:

Have you ever wondered where your kite or balloon went after its escape?

Here's an idea.

Get together with a group of friends and ask permission from your church to use the church's address for this experiment. (Your parents may not want you to divulge your home address).

Tie a note with a Bible verse or invitation to a kite or balloon. Be sure to include the address of your church. 

When replies come in, use a map to find the distance your kite or balloon traveled. 

What direction did your kite or balloon travel? 

How long did it take to travel the distance? 

What kind of terrain or obstacles did it have to overcome? 

Be sure to follow up with the person(s) who was willing to answer your invitation. 

Perhaps you'll see a new face at church.  

Rooted and Grounded

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Ephesians 3:17-20 KJV

This past week, I was reading somewhere, if you cut off the core of Romaine lettuce, put it in water on the windowsill, in a few days it will begin to grow more leaves and roots. Really! I knew some root crops could be grown from tops, but I didn't know lettuce could be grown in water from a core. I thought I would give it a try. It seemed like a jump start on a salad garden. I didn't have Romaine, but I did have leaf  lettuce. I would throw the core away anyway. What did I have to loose? I kept adding water every few days when it evaporated.

In less than a week,  I saw little lettuce leaves begin to sprout from the middle of the core. Originally, I didn't have faith that this little core would do anything but rot. Now I saw hope. I'm trusting in a few days I will see roots on that lettuce core. 

Our lives can look a lot like lettuce cores, useless and rotting, but if we allow Jesus to give us the Water of Life, and place us in the Light of the Son, we can be rooted and grounded in Him.

Could your life use a the Water and the Light? Maybe you have a prodigal who needs to return to the Father. Bathing your life and the life of your loved ones in prayer will make a difference.

Blessings,

Gail

Hey Kids:

Have you ever tried to grow vegetables on your windowsill? Now is a good time to get started so you will have plants for your garden. 

In our area, sweet potatoes are a popular alternative to winter squash.

To make a garden full of sweet potatoes, take one or two potatoes.

Place tooth picks around the middle of the potato so they will hold the potato in a wide mouth pint canning jar.

Fill the jar with water almost to the toothpicks.

Hold the jar over the sink while you place the potato in the water. 

In a few weeks, sprouts will come from the top of the potato and roots will grow into the water. 

When the weather warms, pull each sprout loose from the potato and place it in rich garden soil or a hanging basket. 

This fall you will have some "good eating". 

If you want a salad garden try cutting the core from the bottom of several different kinds of leaf lettuces. 

Place them in cereal bowls of water. 

Put the bowls in a sunny window.

Be sure to check the water daily and add more when needed. 

In a few weeks, leaves will appear and so will the roots. 

You can place the lettuce plants in garden soil or pots near your kitchen for easy access to healthy salad lettuces. 

Sprinkle a few carrot and radish seeds around the lettuce to complement the salad.

Rise Up, Church

Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Matthew 13:33

Our church ladies, we named ourselves Mentoring Moms, met today for a bread making class, devotion, and fellowship. Making bread is one of my favorite kitchen activities. The two ladies conducting the meeting today helped us make crescent rolls. This is a yeast bread. We were shown how to bloom the yeast, mix and knead, rise and roll, finally we cooked and ate. Making yeast bread is time consuming. It also gives the baker a work out without a gym fee!

I think watching the yeast raise the dough is the most fascinating part. Less than a tablespoon of little dry critters grows a quart of flour into almost a gallon of bread dough. Making bread can be tricky if the water isn't the right temperature. Hot water kills the yeast and it will not raise the dough. Cold water also prevents rising. It won't wake up the critters. The temperature of the water has to be just a little warmer than body temperature. The dough also has to be kept in a warm place to rise. 

That is just what Jesus was explaining to those listening to Him the day he told them of the woman who put yeast in three measures of flour. It's fascinating watching as God uses a few disciples, then and now, to make a difference in the world. If we are so religious we become legalistic we kill the gospel message and no one listens. If we are cold, worldly Christians, the world doesn't see we are different. We have to be consistently burning so others see a real difference in our lives. Our lives have to be that warm, happy place where we can grow in Christ. We have to show others how to grow in Christ as well. 

Making bread is hard work. Kneading the dough takes time and energy. So does working the gospel into the world. We have to work at being a consistent, insistent Christian. We can't let political correctness cool down the gospel. 

Raising the dough takes time. We have to wait for the dough to reach the right rise or the loaf will be less than satisfactory. So spreading the gospel takes time, patience, a never give up attitude. It won't happen overnight.    

When the bread comes out of the oven, ahhh, the wonderful aroma and taste. Oh, when a soul is saved, what a sweet aroma the prayer of salvation sends up to the Father. As the saying goes, "All the world looks bright since I got right." 

Our consistent witness in the world will change us, our families, our churches, our communities, our country, and our world. What a wonderful promise of peaceful satisfaction a loaf of bread brings. 

Blessings,

Gail

Hey Kids:

Easter is only a few weeks away. This would be a great opportunity to make Braided Easter Egg Bread. You can watch the yeast change and grow the flour as well as present an unusual loaf of great tasting bread on your Easter table. There are many opportunities to use this bread as a witnessing tool as friends and family talk about the reason for Easter.

Making bread is a lot like playing with play dough. 

After mixing the recipe, kneading is folding, pushing, folding, and pushing over and over to make sure the gluten is stretchy. That's not exactly a good technical, scientific explanation, but the dough will look and feel stretchy. 

After the dough rises to double it's original size, punch it down and cut the dough in half.

Play dough time again. Roll each half into a loooong snake  of about 36 inches. 

Braid the two dough snakes and connect them into a circle. 

Now take RAW eggs and tuck them in the braids around the loaf.

Then bake the loaf according to your recipe directions. 

The raw eggs will now be cooked and taste very much like the boiled Easter eggs you have every year. 

My Easter Egg Chickens have begun to lay blue eggs. I think I might make a loaf with those eggs tucked in among the braids. Happy Easter.