“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NLT I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately, mostly about psychology and how our brains and minds work. One book mentioned that we as parents, can be a buffer for our children. To be a buffer for our children means that we take care of our health (physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional) so that when our children have hard moments, we are strong enough to bear their burden with them. I’m so thankful that our God is big and strong enough to carry every single burden and weight we may have. There is nothing too heavy for Him to carry, and we can take everything to Him at any time and know for certain that He hears us, and has already begun to work it out. What a relief to know that I don’t have to struggle…

“The angel of God that had been leading the camp of Israel now shifted and got behind them. And the Pillar of Cloud that had been in front also shifted to the rear. The Cloud was now between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. The Cloud enshrouded one camp in darkness and flooded the other with light. The two camps didn’t come near each other all night” Exodus 14:19-20 MSG We often sing songs in church that tell of God going before us, behind us, and around us. We read scripture that explains that we are never alone and that He fights on our behalf. When the going gets rough though, and we are in the trenches of difficult seasons, we often tend to become distracted by the chaos and forget that He is for us. The Angel that had been leading the Israelites out of Egypt (in front of them) shifted and got behind them, as did the Pillar of Cloud. What was leading them disappeared from their direct line of sight, and I imagine panic and a sense of abandonment began to creep in. There were formidable waters in front of them and a determined,…

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” Psalms 1:1-2 “Once from my poor sin-sick soul, Christ did ev’ry burden roll, Now I walk redeemed and whole, Hand in hand with Jesus. Hand in hand we walk each day, Hand in hand along the way; Walking thus I cannot stray, Hand in hand with Jesus.” I recently read a story about a little boy who was in a large crowd with his mother and somehow got separated from her. When she realized he was no longer by her side she immediately asked her friends to help her search for him. Fortunately, he was soon located, and the story ended well. As parents, we realize that even if a child is holding our hands, it is easy to become distracted and they can slip away from us. In thinking about this, I realized that it depended on who was doing the holding. If the child is holding the parent’s hand, he can…

“Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.  And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.” John 19:16-18 “On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame; and I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain. So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, till my trophies at last I lay down; I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it some day for a crown.” Why do they call this Friday good? “That terrible Friday has been called Good Friday because it led to the Resurrection of Jesus and his victory over death and sin and the celebration of Easter, the very pinnacle of Christian celebrations,” the Huffington Post reported. For the people gathered around the cross it did not seem like a “good” Friday. For Mary, the mother of Jesus, it was a day she would never…