Easter followup....is spring finally here?

Just gotta love this picture of Ken and I with all of our wonderful grandchildren on Easter.  There is just something about these special times that makes my heart so happy!  I love that I can put the yearly Easter pictures side by side and watch the kids grow up.  The girls dresses had butterfly's - a perfect Easter symbol of resurrection.  We had a wonderful day together.  It was a sunny and warm day, perfect for an outdoor egg hunt.  A great dinner was followed up with a trip to the local playground.  Susie snapped this "selfie" of our entire group!

I love that Gracie and Ellie are wearing bunny ears headband from their Easter baskets and Zeke has on his sunglasses from his basket and so does Lia!. So much fun and so many wonderful memories to capture and hold on to. 

Taking the time to capture these moments is just what my current Bible Study is encouraging me to do!  The problem for me is so many memories and so little time to actually capture them in writing!
In just a couple of weeks since Easter we have had two snowstorm/ winter storm warnings.  What?? Doesn't it look like spring in these pictures?  Yep, but if you live in Chicago, the weather can turn on a dime.  And this year, it did.  Add to the snow, we have had days and days of rain that have led to major flooding. The temperatures have been mostly in the 40's.  None of this has helped it feel much like spring.  I have been telling Ken that I am going to put away my winter snow boots.  But he has cautioned me against doing so. Yesterday I finally decided to take a chance and put them in the back of the closet.  Hopefully, spring is finally here and there will be no more snow for us.  Because Spring has seemed so far off, I am capturing every little moment!  This week the rain finally ended and our tree began to bloom.

Our yard is filled with the heavenly aroma of apple blossoms.  Yesterday the tree was covered with bees.  There had to be hundreds on our tree.  I stood there for a moment and just appreciated nature and the provision that God had so artfully designed.  I could almost taste some of that honey!  Those bees are endangered and so needed to pollinate our food supply.  Yes, this was a little moment that I captured.

Another special moment in these last few days.  A trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden and so many wonderful blooms everywhere.  I especially loved this cascade of purple blooms (I failed to get the name).  They just look so happy to me - so hopeful.  Sitting in the garden, surrounded by the colorful flowers all around me, hearing the birds chirping, and the frogs singing their songs, it was possible to think that winter has past and the springtime has come.  Even as I typed those words, I was singing Dance with Me by Paul Wilbur.  You can hear those words around 2:15 in that song.  I love that older worship song.  It is a great reminder for us to take time to "dance" with Jesus and to reflect on the the hope and expectation we can all have when we realize the cold darkness we once lived in, those times of despair and heartache can be eased when we spend time getting close to Jesus.  I don't think it is an accident that Easter is a springtime celebration.  The resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate springtime event.  He put an end to our winter and brought us into His glorious springtime of new life.    I am so thankful to be recording these lovely moments right now so that I do not forget them!  Happy Spring!

Jesus, thank you for trees and flowers and buzzing bees and family fun moments. Holy Spirit, remind us all to keep track of the small things that bring us hope and love and faith.  Thank you Jesus, that you will say yes when I stop and ask for a dance.  Thank you Jesus for your love.  Amen

A well planned event...that ended with a dance

It is always such a treat to be with these cuties and Monday was extra special!  Lia had planned a special day for us - a "Grandma and Me Tea Party".  Anna was invited to join us since it is not a good idea to leave an almost three year old to their own devices!  And you certainly can not trust a five year old and a seven year old to "watch" their little sister.  The idea came from this book that I had gifted to Lia.....

For anyone not familiar with American Girl, they have quite the cult following and most girls between the ages of 4 and 12 are familiar with these much sought after dolls, clothes, accessories and books, as well as craft items and much more......well you get the idea.  There are giant magazines filled with items that always seem to appear on our girl's wish lists.  This is a really cute book, filled with ideas and things to do for a girl and her Grandma.  Lia decided that this was the week for our special day.  

We started with a special tea party that included various snacks.  Anna's favorite part of the party was pouring the "tea" (which was actually water).  Over the course of the morning she filled (and drank) that tea pot full of water more times than I could count.  Needless to say, she got more than her daily recommended water intake.  The party continued with a very complicated dance routine (this is Lia's 8th year of dance classes) that I tried my best to follow.  At the end of this dance time I had several things that I had discovered....... 1.  I am not a dancer   2.  I am pretty much out of shape   3.  Even the stuff that looked easy was really hard for me   4.  I should probably be doing this kind of thing more often.  

The girls had a great time.  They actually had me video their dance presentations and invited Ellie and Zeke to be the audience.  Zeke believes that the audience should be constantly cheering and shouting (which, of course, is really fun for a five year old boy).  Anna was able to do a very long dance routine all by herself.  It is amazing how quickly she picks up the dance moves from her sisters.  I suspect she will be a dancer also.  I was quite happy to be part of the audience and rest on the sofa by this time.  

What a wonderful, refreshing time this was for me!  Lia had made this very special plan and had everything all set up and ready to go.  How can you not just feel special when someone goes to all this trouble for you?  The best part is how much fun we had spending time together.  I am so thankful for Gwen and Tim's decision to home school the kids.  Instead of just a few short minutes before the bus on the day I am there, we have the entire morning.  This time together is so precious to me.  

Time together - just being together - doing the small things.  I needed this time.  What a reminder it was for me of the call that I have been hearing from Jesus over the last months.  All he wants is for us to spend some time with him.  He asks us to come like little children and just be with him.  It doesn't have to be a only on Sunday morning while seated in a church.  As a matter of fact, I think that Jesus is so much more desiring that we just invite him into our homes for a little tea party!  For so many years my "quiet times" were actually just forced minutes squeezed into my day for a short devotional from a book, followed by a list of my prayer concerns.  Now don't get me wrong here.  There is nothing wrong with this routine.  The problem was that I never really invited Jesus to join me in it!  Some how I had missed this really important step!  My tea party with Lia reminded me that I need to remember to set aside this precious "face to face" time with Jesus.  It might include a devotional or a bible story.  But just imagine how differently you might read that passage if you had Jesus sitting next to you on the couch.  He wants to be with us.  To eat with us - yes to have tea with us!  Even pretend tea!  And I know that he would want to dance with each of us also.  One of my favorite songs is  Dance With Me by Paul Wilbur.  

I expected that Monday would be one of those really tense days because of the election on Tuesday.  There was so much heavy stuff no matter where you looked.  I actually was thinking on Sunday how nice it would be to just skip Monday and Tuesday and go directly to Wednesday when it would be over.  Thanks to Lia, I was reminded again, that all I needed was a tea party to lighten my mood.  A dance and yes, some face to face time with Jesus.  My Monday and Tuesday were calm and peace filled days.    

If you are feeling done in by the stress of the world, your life or your situation, I encourage you to have some tea with Jesus.  And be sure and listen to that song and have a dance with Jesus.   

Thank you Jesus for knowing exactly what we need each day.  Thank you for Lia and her desire to just spend time with me.  Holy Spirit remind all of us how much we need time with Jesus.  Thank you for the faith of little children.  Amen

Dance with me.....

Monday at Gwen's, I actually played "teacher" and did home school with the girls.  Gwen had a dentist appointment after work and the girls decided to do school in the morning rather than the afternoon.   I was just fine with this, however keeping an almost two year old busy and out of trouble while trying to do home school is really quite an experience.  Fortunately, Anna somewhat cooperated and we were able to get most of the work done before Gwen got home.  This is how Anna spent the morning......

How can you not love this little one???  She was all set for her picnic with her basket and her shoes and her hair, and of course her phone.  It kept her busy and we were able to our work.  We had about 45 minutes after school before Gwen arrived and the girls wanted to have a dance competition.  (When you are sisters EVERYTHING is a competition!)  For the first part, I was the "judge".  When there were no winners, the girls made ME a dancer!  Let's just say it was a very good laugh and they got a real kick out of my style of dance.  But I loved when they all....even Anna....wanted to dance with me!

Then, today at my small group, there was one of those moments that just stop you in your tracks.  We first listened to a song I have blogged about "Just Be Held" by Casting Crowns.  As we were talking about being held by Jesus it transitioned into dancing with him.  And so we listened to an older favorite of mine, Dance With Me, by Paul Wilbur.  Monday I was totally in love dancing with Lia, Ellie and Anna.  Today I was totally in love dancing with Jesus.  What a gift these times are!  Over and over in Scripture, Jesus tells us to be like a little child.  On Monday those beautiful girls convinced me to dance.  Today while listening to "Dance With Me" I was remembering how easy and free they were just dancing.  As the words of the song flowed over me, it was suddenly easy to see myself dancing with Jesus.

Dance with me oh lover of my soul, to the song of all songs.

Romance me oh lover of my soul, to the song of all songs.

Behold you have come, over the hills upon the mountain

To me you have run my beloved. you've captured my heart.

With you I will go, you are my love, you are my fair one.

Winter has past and the springtime has come!

Dance with me.  

The Casting Crown song tells us to just let go and be held.  When you do that, you can let Jesus lead you in an amazing dance, as He says Dance with Me!

Isn't it great how Jesus uses the children around us to help us hear His call to us?  Jesus wants to dance with each of us. I am so glad that I listened to the girls on Monday and danced with them.  Even though I felt very silly and it was out of my comfort zone for sure.  Because today, it was that much easier to see myself dancing with Jesus.

There is so much shaking and conflict in our world.  The news is full of political drama, conflicts and horrible events.  But in the midst of it all, Jesus is having a dance party!  He is calling all of us to just dance with Him and let Him take care of all the "junk" of the world.  Jesus Reigns!    Nothing else matters.  So if you are feeling the stress and heaviness of life today, listen to the song and let yourself dance with Jesus.  You will be amazed how free you will be!  Dance on!

Jesus, thank you for inviting us all to dance with you!  Holy Spirit, help us all to look up to Jesus and away from things of the world.  Remind us that there is a dance party going on!  Jesus, thank you for the carefree hearts of children.  Give us all grace to be as little children as we dance with you.  Amen