Good Friday...and what a good Friday it was!

Dresden and her sweet friend, Grace.

 A family in our homeschool group's neighbor owns a small horse ranch in the country, so yesterday our homeschool group got to spend a fun afternoon at the ranch learning about horses and even riding one of the older, calmer ones. Dresden loves horses, so she was very excited!

I snapped a quick picture of little Georgia. :)

Joey, a very, very large horse. He.was.big.

Joker, the 27-year-old horse...he was a lot calmer than Joey and was more well trained.

Cheryl and Lily, who will be 2 this month. She is named Lily because she was born on Easter, so she's an Easter lily. :)

Georgia and one of the friendly barn cats.

I took a lot of pictures of this pond. Nature is one of my favorite photo subjects, because it always stays still. :)

Grace found two very long dandelions. :)

I love Spring!

Dresden, brushing the horse.

Megan got to brush, too!

You might have to tilt your head to see this better; I couldn't figure out how to put this right side up and it was the only close up of Dresden on the horse!

Cheryl walked beside each child that rode and talked to them; Dresden loved it!

Liam

Megan wanted to ride, but she got scared so Cheryl rode with her; poor Joker was so patient and gentle and just stood there while kids who are not experienced riders got on and off, on and off of him; he was a great horse for children to ride.

Even I got a turn to ride! The kids lined up youngest to oldest, so I was the last one except for a few kids who stepped out of line who went after me.

It was a very fun day and I learned a lot about horses that I didn't know before. Cheryl was great with the kids and really loved working with the horses. We all had a great time. Yay for homeschool field trips!

Today is Good Friday, as I'm sure most of you know. I always feel kind of sad on this day because it makes me think about what Christ went through when He died on that cross all those years ago to pay for the sins of me, you, and so many more.
And tonight I'm going to experience all of that in a more real way, because I will be watching The Passion with some of my family, a movie that realistically shows, as much as a movie can, all that Jesus went through that day. And to know that He could have stopped it with only one word, but He did not. That He loved us so much when we did not love Him, that He would die in such a terrible, terrible, way to save us. Knowing these things makes me so thankful and so undeserving. I can't really put it into words, so that is all I will say. I am grateful.

Yep. That's me...

What is this?! A picture of Liam where he is actually smiling and looking at the camera? Can it be?

I found this about why "Good Friday" is good, and thought it was well said.

Why is Good Friday referred to as “good”? What the Jewish authorities and Romans did to Jesus was definitely not good (see Matthew chapters 26-27). However, the results of Christ’s death are very good! Romans 5:8; “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” First Peter 3:18 tells us, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.”

Many Christian churches celebrate Good Friday with a subdued service, usually in the evening, in which Christ’s death is remembered with solemn hymns, prayers of thanksgiving, a message centered on Christ suffering for our sakes, and observance of the Lord's Supper. Whether or not Christians choose to “celebrate” Good Friday, the events of that day should be ever on our minds because the death of Christ on the cross is the paramount event of the Christian faith.

Even though this day is always a bitter-sweet day for Christians, we have joy because we know that that was not the end. Oh no! It was only the beginning. But we're not quite there yet...that story was saved for another day...

Have a Good Friday. (ha, ha!)