Mary;

Jesus says, "Mother, I couldn't stay another day longer."
Flies right by me and leaves a kiss upon her face.
While the angels are singin' His praises in a blaze of glory,
Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place.
- "Mary" by Patty Griffin

I wonder what it was like to be Mary. To give birth to the boy who would someday save the world. To learn more from your son than you could ever teach him. To live with the knowledge that someday he would be killed for the good of the world.

To watch him be scorned, beaten, humiliated and hung on a cross.

I'm always, always baffled by her. If there's any woman in the Bible that I would love to sit down with and talk to, it's Mary.

I wonder if she was terribly conflicted. I wonder if she knew it had to happen, but wished it wouldn't. I wonder if she tried to stop Him. I wonder if she tried to convince Him otherwise. I wonder how hard that woman prayed.

And I wonder about the pain she must have felt watching Him hanging from that cross in agony.

I mean, I can't understand the way she must've responded to His death. How could she watch her son die in such a way? Did it even register with her that her own life depended on His? Or was she blinded by the pain that only His earthly mother could possibly feel?

What was going through her head? What was going through her heart?

It's fascinating to me, to think about the people who were closest to Jesus. The ones who touched Him, who spoke to Him, who were with Him in his first days, and who were with Him in His last days.

I wonder what Easter meant to them, and I then I think about what Easter means to me.

Easter fills me with the largest range of emotions.

I'm so so thankful. Thankful that He laid His life down for me.

I'm ashamed. Ashamed that He had to lay His life down for me.

I'm sad. Sad that He endured such incredible pain.

I'm in awe. In awe that He showed the world His unfathomable glory by rising from that tomb.

I'm filled with love. Love for the one that showed, and continues to show me love that is so pure, so true and so real. Love that gave everything for me.



I wish you all a blessed Easter, one of contemplation, love, reflection and celebration!
(He is Risen!)

that's my shepherd;

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

I am the sheep.
Sometimes I get lost, sometimes I run astray. But He is faithful, and He will always pull me back. He keeps me safe, He is my refuge.
He provides for me everything that I need.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.

He gives me peace. He gives me rest. He gives me silence.
He knows when I am broken, and He puts me back together again.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

He knows what's right, and He shows me the way.
He points me in the direction that I need to go in, so that I can bring glory to Him.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

There is nothing that I can't handle - because He's at my side.
Early fears are futile, with His hand on my shoulder, there is nothing to be afraid of.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

He readies me for whatever I may face.
I am prepared.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

The blessings He bestows on me are endless. They are more than what I could ever dream or imagine.
I have so much to be thankful for.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

Every day. Every hour. Every second.
He'll be right there behind me.

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Forever.