What Day Did Jesus Die?

I posted this last year, but wanted to repost it. I love to know the whole story about stuff like this, and love when it's explained for me. :) I hope you're having an awesome Passion Week! This is no doubt my very favorite time of year. I can't wait for the Good Friday service at church, and our super cool Easter services. I am in the choir this year and I am so excited for Sunday, where we'll be accompanied by a mini-orchestra. I love Easter!!

Happy Good Thursday! :-)

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"Many people have been confused concerning the day of the death of Jesus. We know it was the day before the Sabbath, because the Jews wanted to get Him off the cross before the Sabbath. So traditionally people have believed Jesus died on Friday afternoon. But He had said He would be dead for three days and three nights, and we know He rose on Sunday morning, so that would only be two nights. Several explanations have been offered, but this passage here gives us a possible clue.

John tells us "that Sabbath was a high day." The day after Passover was the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was always considered a high Sabbath, no matter what day of the week it fell on. It was a special Sabbath day.

So I believe that Jesus was actually crucified on a Thursday, on the Day off Passover, with the next day, Friday, being the High Sabbath, the following day being the normal Saturday Sabbath, and the third day being Easter Sunday, the day He rose from the dead. This makes three days and nights. It also explains why His followers couldn't come to the tomb to anoint His body until three days later, as they couldn't do that on either Sabbath. We still celebrate the traditional Good Friday, but technically I believe it should be Good Thursday. "

Pastor Chuck Smith, Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa
an excerpt from The Word for Today Bible

Please scream my name to wake me up.

Sorry, I wrote this on Tuesday and just never got around to publishing. Which only further drives home the point of my whole post- I can't keep on top of everything.

I'm thinking today is not a good day to forego the coffee in lieu of tea. My eyelids are already hurting from the toothpicks that are supposed to be holding them open.

What I would love to know is how I'm supposed to get everything done if I don't stay up until 1am? The piles mountains of laundry my husband had promised to help me fold weren't moving on their own, and I didn't finish working out till 10:30pm. How do moms out there ever get any sleep? So instead I resort to folding laundry as I watch the two-hour premiere of Dancing with the Stars. Sitting there on the (dirty) floor folding endless pairs of underwear and mismatched socks almost made me feel as glamorous as those size 0 dancers with their fake tan. Almost.

Baseball has taken over our lives and I won't have a free moment again until at least May. Seriously, I am so glad I only have one child in sports right now. Those moms that have 3, 4, 12 kids in sports must never leave their car- or if they do, it's to live in the laundry room. A mom on Mikey's team told me the other day that she saw a shirt that said "I have no life, my son plays baseball." That sounds eerily accurate.

While it's not as bad now as it will be when Mikey is older (a day I'm not sure I'll survive to see), two games plus one practice a week is wearing me out. When you add on top of that Awana, church, choir practice (for both me & Mikey, so that's 2 1/2 hours out of our Sunday), Big Hunk's baseball games and our regular homeschool responsibilities, well I'm no expert at math but I think that *may* have something to do with my lack of sleep. I feel like I have no right complaining though because at least one mom has to be reading this thinking "You have no idea."

Mikey is doing so awesome in baseball, and he loves it so much. He's in the AA league which means after his practice games are over, no more coach pitch, they'll have umpires for the first time ever, and actual outs. It's the big leagues people. Okay, bigger. Last Saturday Mikey was having a great day. He hit two homeruns (ie. a great hit followed by tons of defensive errors that gave him enough time to make it home) and all three outs of the last inning were all him, unassisted. *Proud mommy here!* He did so great. Seriously- all three outs all by himself? :-) I am so proud of him. He definitely inherited his daddy's athletic ability. Thank goodness, because it's not rare for me to fall down the stairs for no reason at all, or to pull a muscle waving goodbye.

Other than 3 games in the course of 4 days this weekend, Mikey and I each had choir practice on Sunday, Big Hunk had his baseball game (which I missed) and I was able to go shopping for a couple hours with a good friend of mine, in search of the Perfectly Beautiful, Yet Extremely Affordable Dress for Easter (PBYEADE). I did not find a thing, unless you count my headache from trying to actually shop for something affordable and cute. More on that later.

Now as I start my day, I pray for the energy to make it through to at least noon before I pass out at the dining room table (deja vu). This is where that coffee would really come in handy. My handy.

Kingdom Assignment

Because this post is so dear to my heart and one I've been mulling over in my head for a month now, (remember me promising to write it "today"? About a week ago? Yeah. That one), it's been such a seemingly daunting task that I haven't even tried to tackle it. I suppose I want my passion over this to be so stinkin' visible that you can't help but be passionate with me. And I am afraid that I won't do this justice, so I haven't bothered. These words come to you as the result of much prayer.

Well over a month ago, our pastor introduced us to something called Kingdom Assignment. I had never heard of it, and I'm pretty sure most of the people in attendance that day hadn't either. The foundation for Kingdom Assignment stems from the Parable of the Talents in the book of Matthew. If you're not familiar with that parable, I would encourage you to read it here.

Simply put, we need to use what God gives us. He gives us all talents and abilities- He gives us all a voice. But what do we do with them? Do we hide them away like the third man in the story? Or do we invest them in any way we can, not worrying about how it will multiply and just trust that God will use it how He wills?

Do you use your voice? Or do you keep silent, hoping someone else will speak up?

When I signed up for Kingdom Assignment, we were given $50 to fund our assignment. Our prayer was that God would multiply that money in great ways for His Kingdom. I had so much passion, but little vision. I knew that God would somehow use our project to make big things happen. But what?

Well I prayed (lots) and contemplated. Big Hunk & I talked about it lots and would toss ideas around. But when we really thought about it, it was such a huge commitment and I wanted to be sure we were listening for God's voice and not our own.

It's not all hammered out yet, but we are really hoping to be able to hold a benefit concert. We are still waiting on the go ahead from the band we've invited to be part of this (friends of ours), but we are praying this will all happen in the next month or two. All proceeds are going to Morning Star Foundation in Ch!na (they don't even know yet! I'm so excited!), a home that provides care and love to orphaned children that have severe medical conditions- some of which are in need of life-saving surgery. Below are a few pictures of children Morning Star has in their care right now. Just try not to fall in love with those faces!

Luke

Josiah

Matthew

And here is a beautiful  post my friend Sally wrote about her recent trip there. We had been praying about using this concert to benefit Morning Star when I read this, and her words were completely God speaking to us, confirming that this is what He wants.

I covet any prayers you could offer on our behalf, and on behalf of Morning Star. We have NO doubt that God has big plans and is going to work in mighty ways through this event. We are so excited to be part of this! We just can't wait to bless the socks off of those precious babies over there, clear across the world. And of course we want to bless Bill & Lynsay, the couple that runs Morning Star, like crazy too. :)

bo to the ring

Okay I haven't disappeared. And we survived The Great Teenage Flake Out of 2010, despite the dramatic post that appears to be the last thing I'll ever write again. ;)

I get bored with my own thoughts and never feel like typing them out. But there's cool stuff going on and I'll hopefully share today. <3

heartbroken.

I am not going to go into it all now (mostly because I don't understand it), but Cracker Jack is moving out today. My stepson whom we have always prayed would come live with us one day; the same one that has been in our home for a month & a half. That one.

My heart can't take it.

And if you can spare the time, could you please pray for my little ones? They are going to be so heartbroken when they find out, Mikey especially.

Thank you for your prayers and I will post more as it happens.

When we woke up a little while ago my husband asked my why Cracker Jack was sleeping on Mikey's floor. This has never happened. I think maybe the decision isn't as easy on him as we thought it was.

We felt like our family was finally complete again.

Thankful Thursday: Miss Carol

I'm really excited for our day tomorrow. The kiddos and I are heading out to our old stomping ground to hang out with one of the dearest women we know, and we can't wait.

Back when I was about 8 months pregnant with Ikey, I joined MOPS. I loved it. The year ended quickly, and I of course continued going the following semester with my 2 year old and newborn in tow. Well for some reason Mikey then decided he couldn't handle being away from me, and would get himself so upset he'd even occasionally vomit all over himself when I'd leave. Fun times. But at that time he had the sweetest teacher that just took the greatest care of him, and was so patient even when he was screaming his everlovin' head off. Her name is Carol (Miss Carol, as Mikey adopted to calling her) and as time went on and we were at that MOPS for a couple more years, she became his dearest friend. He just adored her! He looked so forward to seeing her every other week.

Sadly almost 4 years ago we moved from that area, and I was no longer going to attend that MOPS. Miss Carol was so sad because she thought Mikey would never remember her. :*( I of course assured her we would never let that happen, and we promised to stay in touch and see each other often.

As the story always goes, time got away from us and we've only managed to see her twice in these 4 years. (Gosh I feel horrible saying that!) But we have still kept in touch by email and she has been so touched to know that Mikey still not only remembers her, but asks about her often. Before we moved out of the area, she had given Mikey a small photo album with a great picture of the two of them, and he still has it. She is the most amazing woman and I adore her so.

I almost completely forgot that for Mikey's 5th birthday (I believe) Miss Carol made the drive out to us to celebrate his special day. I remember her going out in the jumper with him and bouncing away, and how incredibly happy they were together!

About a year ago, after losing contact for several months, Miss Carol told me that she had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. It breaks my heart to think of someone so special and loving and caring going through something so torturous. Yet I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she will display the most beautiful amount of grace and faith that others will be so touched by her.

I am so blessed to know this woman, and I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to seeing her tomorrow.

Ficklicity

It has never been my intent to let this poor little blog become the redheaded stepchild (not that I have anything against redheads or stepchildren), yet I also don't want to be someone that offers twenty excuses every time I start a blog post about how incredibly busy I am (even though, you know, I am) or why I just can't be bothered to type out a few words.

Last week I decided to stop blogging. I convinced myself that it was no longer a passion, and that I would never get where I really wanted with it (that's a whole 'nother post). Then I told myself to shut up.

Have I ever told you that I'm a fickle person? I learned that word really early in my childhood, because I'm pretty sure my mom used it when referring to me about every other day. Sometimes it was just when I was picking out a candy bar, other times it was more important decisions like a major in college. {and sidenote here: why did I spend so much time hemming and hawing over choosing a major when I would end up giving up in little more than a year or so? Can I somehow get that fickle time back?}

So I won't be closing my blog, and I'll try not to complain when I finally do blog about the million reasons I haven't been here. Doesn't matter anyway, does it?

I have a post I've been wanting to share for about 3 weeks now. That's how lazy my brain is right now. Or my body. Okay both. Honestly, I am a total airhead and I can't ever remember! But okay- now I've totally committed to it and I WILL do it.

Later.

Little League is back in a big way. I have to say, since I only have one kid in practices and games that I have to chauffeur, I enjoy this time of year. (When Ikey starts sports, probably not so much.) I love how excited Mikey gets over his practices and his new coach and meeting his new teammates. He just has such a passion for it and I love it.

This year we moved him up to the next level- last year he was in T-ball, then for winter ball (you know, those 80 degree "winter" days in September when we were all sweating) he was in coach pitch. But now we are confident enough in his abilities to understand the rules and to really be able to hang in there with the older kids (most kids are 8 & 9 in this level). I'm excited for him. What am I not excited for you ask? The THREE games in 4 days every other weekend will hold. That I think will do me in.

But I know Mikey will have a blast and I love nothing more than watching my kiddos (or my man) doing the stuff they enjoy. So I suck it up.

I'm sorry, what?

[click on picture to enlarge, sorry it's not big enough]

Am I the only one not connecting the dots here? Did I flash back to 1982 (or whenever it was, because I'm too lazy to look it up) without realizing it? I mean, the wardrobe is back, so maybe I've been in a time warp this whole time and I just always thought it was Style Recycling?

Uninspired.

It's never a good thing when even you are bored of your own life and don't want to read about it. But I won't go on about how many blog posts I've started and deleted- I'm sure you don't care. ;)

Life has been going through some changes over here on our end of the globe. (do globes even have ends? should I say my curve of the globe?) On New Year's Eve my stepson Cracker Jack (18) came over for the first time in a year. We had only seen him for about 2 hours over the course of that year, and we were kinda to the point of giving up on that changing anytime soon. But it was so awesome having him over, and I can't even tell you how overjoyed (and rambunctious) Mike & Ike were to have him here.

Well, over the course of a few days, him being at our house for a 24 hour visit transformed into him moving in with us and enrolling in college here. A couple friends have told me I'm brave for this, but that just makes me laugh (a little awkwardly) and wonder what the alternative was? He's our son- doesn't matter if he's 18 or 8- he will always have a place in our family and if he's in need, we're here.

I'm blown away by how much he's changed over the past year- and totally for the better! He's responsible(ish) (he is still an 18 year old boyman, after all), he enjoys hanging out with his little bro & sis (despite the 5 trillion questions Mikey seems to shoot at him), and he is just plain pleasant to be around. I'm still thinking he doesn't get our sense of humor, but it's taken us 14 years to perfect our goofiness, so I can't expect him to get it in 2 weeks. But hey- if he's not on board by February 1, you can bet he'll be out on the street.

;)

My grandparents (grandpa & his wife of 20+ years) are visiting from Michigan, so while I'd like to say that my time on the computer has been limited, I'd be lying because quite often I find myself retreating to my bedroom to escape the near-constant blare of the TV (though we did finally figure out how to turn on the closed captioning and that has saved my eardrums- and TV speakers) and absolutely constant talking and repeating of stories I've heard 30 times. I love my grandma, but she is slightly lacking in the "I recognize that Melody needs a few minutes of peace here" department and tends to blab my ear off while I'm trying to do my Bible study or talk to Big Hunk, the kids, etc. I'm enjoying every minute though because I know in a couple days they'll be gone, and I'll miss them all over again. 2500 miles is a long way.

Speaking of which, I should regain my visibility and join the fam. As I write this Cracker Jack is roaming the neighborhood with a couple friends, looking for wet, slippery hills to sled down. Poor deprived LA kids.

No more wondering where the brain cells have gone

I haven't fallen off the planet. And believe it or not, one of my "goals" for the new year was to blog more. Hmm. I think I'm succeeding, what do you think? ;)

Our New Year has been packed to the brim with exciting changes and unexpected turns of events- none of which I will complain about, but am just taking some time adjusting and making it all my new normal.

And on a sidenote: I just spent ten minutes of my life that I'll never get back watching this. I won't even begin to tell you how incredibly obsessed I was with this in 9th grade. And I can tell now that if my husband ever asks why I can't remember to pay a bill, balance my checkbook or buy him deodorant, it's because all the lyrics to words I haven't heard in almost 20 years are still roaming around this mangled brain of mine. I was only a little embarrassed that I still know every word.