Muddy Easter

This morning Chad and I woke to a bolt of lightening followed directly by a loud clap of thunder. If it's true that the distance can be told by how many seconds pass between the two, I'd say the storm was at our front door. The sound of rain hitting our window replaced the sun that would usually shine through.

Already, we had cancelled the outdoor Easter picnic plans because of the chance of rain and cold temperatures. We were hoping it would atleast hold off until after church this morning.

Last week was beautiful. Kids were out playing so we just opened up the front door. We fed lots of kids and our families breakfast then I taught 12 children in Sunday School under the tree.

This week, Chad was ready to preach his first Easter sermon, but I had to pare down my lesson plans for lack of space and participants in doors.

Still one faithful little family, the Balderas' came across the yard with a hot breakfast in hand.

For Ruby's birthday her Mimi and Papa had given her a perfectly white polka dot dress which she wore this morning with her light pink tights and white shoes.

After they had eaten breakfast, while the adults were still visiting, the kids went straight out the front door to play like they always do.

Ruby lead the way. David and Josiah came back in immediately. They're not crazy! It was rainy and cold.

About five minutes later Sean came up to the door with Ruby. Ruby ran through the front door giggling and scot free, but not Sean! Sean was covered knee deep in red Oklahoma MUD!

I jumped up from my seat and stopped him at the door. Made him leave his boots off, but his socks and pants were soaked and muddy.

I took him back to the room, scolding him all the way. Really I was upset with myself for letting him go outside in the first place.

We replaced his pants and he put on his sandles. While I huffed and puffed about it he said, "Mom, do you know why Ruby didn't get muddy but I did? I saw her about to step in the mud and I had already stepped in it so I picked her up and carried her to you."

Now, having been a mom for a while, I'm sure this may have been a clever attempt to get himself off the hook. But tonight, as I think about what Sean did, it is a picture of what Jesus does for His children.

One day we will stand before our Heavenly father. The only explanation for the stain of sin missing off of our lives will be when Jesus comes to our defense.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says

"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

It is only through Jesus we can be made clean and granted access to the Father. Because He bore our sin on the cross. On this day and every other I am so thankful for this truth.

We Are Not Alone

Chad and I both woke up at 5 am yesterday morning with a kind of “deer in the headlights” look in our eyes. The room was reserved, by faith, we had purchased some sound equipment and bought food to share. I had a lesson prepared for the children. Chad worked all week on preparing the sermon and I was ready to lead worship. It was time to have church.

I stayed with David, Sean and Ruby while Chad loaded up the TV to use as a monitor. As Chad loaded up all the equipment I had to crack Dad’s old joke about naming our church, “The Church on the Move.”

We set it all up and ran through the worship songs. Then we waited and wondered if any of the people we invited would show up. At ten-till-eleven in walked five little girls and their mother/aunt. It was the lady who told us earlier in the week “we need to go to church.” Here she was! The girls were hungry and went right to the fresh fruit. They ate and ate and ate!

This week we had two girls who are 16 and 18 move in with their parents to the apartment above us. They are from what they described as a “ghetto” close to San Diego. Their father is working to get his Masters degree in education. We invited them to church when we helped them move in some of their furniture. They came!

Another young family walked in. They are ex-Navy from Gulf Port Mississippi. They brought their six-year-old son who became fast friends with David and Sean.

We all ate breakfast together then gathered together for worship. After we sang I explained that we want to pray for them and pray for one another. As we visited over breakfast Rafael’s mother and I talked about how disappointed we were that our apartment complex was zoned out from all the good Edmond schools.

So, we prayed for her little boy to adjust well to his new school. Her husband shared about the impossible time he is having finding work to support his family. Here we were all recently new to Oklahoma City, trying to find work, good education and make a life for our families.

I realized how all of the pain, loss, frustration and dark times our family has been through in the last few months brought us to this place. We are able to understand the needs of the thousands of people surrounding us right down to the maintenance problems in our building. I see the trials have meaning and purpose now. What better way to encourage someone; to know how to pray than to share in their hardships. Was not Jesus the ultimate example of this?

It’s one thing to leave Amarillo and come to Oklahoma. It’s another thing to leave Heaven and come as a little baby born in a barn. Jesus even knows what it is to stare in the face of doing the will of God. This morning I read in The Rev. Billy Graham book about Angels called, “Angels: God’s Secret Agents”

“The night before His crucifixion Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane. Only a short time later, He was to be seized by the soldiers, betrayed by Judas Iscariot, set before the rulers, beaten and at last crucified. Before He was hung on the cross He went though the terrible agony in the Garden which made Him sweat, as it were, drops of blood. It was in this situation that the Son of Man needed inner strength to face what no other being in heaven, hell or earth had ever known. In fact, He was to face what no created being could have faced and gone through in victory. He was about to take upon Himself the sins of men. He was to become sin for us.

Then it was in that crucial moment that the angel came to assist Him ‘strengthening Him’ The Greek word for strengthening is eniskuo, which means to make strong inwardly. Where the disciples of the Lord Jesus had failed to share His agony, as they slept the angel came to help.”

We all might face difficult circumstances and endure trials. As we endure, it is important to realize we are not alone. I’m thankful for a Savior who endured the full weight of my sin so that I can go free and tell others about Him.

Do you know Him?

Trading Places

This past month has meant a lot of changes for the Clement family. Our house goes on the market tomorrow. In preparation for the showing of the house we moved out of the closets and did some rearranging.

Ever since the boys have moved to the front room two years ago, Sean has said he was scared. He and David would end up sleeping like puppies in the top bunk.

Sean has expressed to me some specific fears. He's complained about noises and lights, bumps, a mouse and a cat named "Carlos" who comes to their window.

Most of the time I tried to minimize his fears. It was easy to explain the cars driving past and road noise. I refused to believe there was a mouse in his room, but "Carlos" would get it if there was.

One of the moves we made this week was to move our bed in the boys room because it is the biggest room with it's own bathroom. This put the boys in our old room tucked away safely in the back corner of the house.

Tuesday Chad went to Oklahoma because he had to be in town early Wednesday. So I spent the night by myself in the front bedroom. I didn't have a problem falling asleep but about an hour later I was jolted awakes by a loud noise coming from the attic.

What Sean didn't know was that just above the room is the heater and when it came on in made a "roar". Surely to an imaginative boy like Sean this sounded like a wild animal!

To go back to sleep I had to fight the noise of basing hot rods and motorcycle engines. Even closing my eyes did not help block the constant stream of headlights through the side window.

I was pretty restless but felt better after checking on the kids who were snoozing away, fast asleep on their end of the house.

It turns out we do actually have a cat who prowls around our garage at night and he can still help himself to the mice.

Unable to go back to sleep, I turned the lights on low and laid in the bed. I thought about how much more compassionate I am to Sean's fears now that I've taken his place.

Philippians 2:4-10 says "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."

God knew that in order to relate to us He would have to be one of us. While Jesus walked the earth He experienced, grief, loss, temptation and betrayal. He even took the punishment we deserved, the beating we had coming and the death we earned.

Jesus did all of this so we could know Him as Lord and Savior ; So we could feel his compassion when our heart breaks and win the wrestling match with fear.

It gives me great reassurance to know my God is not cold and uncaring to my anxieties. He knows, He understands and He is the way to overcome.

The next morning, after my adventure in the front room, Sean and I had a funny talk about the lights, sounds and wild animals. He said he likes it better in his new room, so he's going to stay there forever. :)