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!)

Titus 2 Tea and Testimony

This morning, some ladies in my church held a tea for the women in the church and their daughters. The theme was Titus 2:3-5 "Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled." 

As part of the Titus theme, a few women gave their testimonies on what Titus 2 means to them personally, and I had the great opportunity of giving my testimony with my mom and grandma.
It was difficult to find an angle to go after; I kept thinking: what does Titus 2 mean to me? It was hard because I was going to be speaking to many women who are older than I am and who I respect.

So I was a little bit nervous about doing this: I prayed that I would be able to do as well as my mom and grandma were sure to do.

We all did fine. My grandma was amazing, my mom was amazing, and I actually did okay and was told by several people afterwards that I did a great job. Even though it was very cool to be able to do that with Mom and Mimi, I am glad it's over!
But it was very cool and exciting to be included in the testimonies, to be able to really share what was on my heart with the women and girls in my church.

Here is my testimony below. I didn't follow this exactly, just used it as a guideline. Please don't be too critical! :)

 One of the things I think that God wants us to do, like this passage says, is to teach those younger than we. And I think that by nature, we do that.  We do learn from godly woman around us who have lived longer than we have, who have walked through more things spiritually. We have conversations with them. We tell them about we might be going through, about what we are thinking, we ask for advice because we know that these women are wiser than we are. God designed us to look to those whom we respect and who have more knowledge than we do and to learn from them. God also uses these people in our lives to help shape our character.

For example, I have two younger sisters who look up to and what to be just like me. So when I handle a situation in a wrong way, they see that and learn from that. Same goes when I handle a situation in the right way. I constantly have little eyes watching me, seeing what I do, how I do it, and how I handle certain things. So even I, who am more in the learning stage of my life than the teaching stage, have a responsibility to show, mostly in my actions, that God is the center of my life to my sisters, cousins, or anyone who is watching, because they will pick up on how I do these things; with a sarcastic, angry, and selfish heart, or with a heart that truly wants to honor God.

God has blessed me greatly with several women that I love and respect that I have been able to learn from throughout my life. My mother, grandmother, and aunts, to name a few. It is interesting to talk to these women about many different things and ask them questions about their walk with Christ.

As a specific example, often, my mom and I will have a conversation about God or just about anything while we’re cleaning the kitchen or folding laundry. It means a lot to me that my mom is willing to stay home, even when the budget is tight and she has to wait or say no to certain extra fun things, so that she can be at home with me and my siblings because that is what she believes is right.  I have learned from my mom, mostly by watching her live this out day-by-day, how to be content. And that sometimes you will have to sacrifice for something that is worth having. And I know that in eternity, it will mean a lot more to God that my mom invested in the years of my childhood and taught me these things, than if we had had a little more money to make our lives a little bit easier.

This is just my attempt to put what Titus 2 means to me into some kind of words. I know I still have much to learn, and that I will continue to learn until the day I leave this earth. And I am looking forward to someday being able to teach those around me, and share with them some of my personal experiences. And I want to never stop learning myself.