What's a girl to do?

What are you supposed to do when your undergraduate school is playing your graduate school (ranked #1) in the NCAA tournament? You bite your nails and cheer for your first love!

I never watch basketball, expect for tonight. The Panthers played KU and actually won! It was so exciting and I'm sure there is a huge celebration in Cedar Falls tonight. I did feel torn though-excited for the history that my alma mater made tonight, but bummed that a team with such a great season lost. My thoughts are with KU players tonight. It was a close game and to most people around the country, it was just a game. I'm sure the players feel much different, though, tonight. I do, however, know who I'm cheering for the rest of the tournament-I may even make an effort to watch the games. I guess that shows where my loyalty does lie, I wouldn't have tracked KU until the final game :)

Hail our Panthers, we are ever loyal,
Showing our strength and unity.
As we rise, we firmly stand behind you,
Urge you on to victory.
Rah! Rah! Rah!
As you lead us on to fame and honor,
Fight! Fight! Fight! will be our cry.
So, give us a yell, Ho! the purple and the gold,
Victory for UNI!

Thankful for the Savior

In doing my Bible reading today, I reviewed the story of Jesus' crucifixion in the Book of Mark.While the scripture I read took me through Pilate's interrogation of Jesus, the nailing of Jesus to the cross, and Jesus' last breath, I was most astonished by one small sentence.



Jesus has been brought to "Skull Hill" where he will be nailed to the cross. Scripture tells us that in preparation:
 

"They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it."

-Mark 15: 23

The Message translation tells us that wine mixed with myrrh would have been used as a mild painkiller. This one sentence is amazing to me.

1. It makes me feel that the soldiers knew they were doing something wrong. One thing I have learned in our recent study of parables is that I have a lot to learn about the context which the Bible is written around. I have learned about traditions and norms in Biblical times. Maybe it was normal for criminals to be offered painkillers before being put to death. I don't know. I do know the way Jesus was treated before being put on the cross. I can't fathom why anyone would make an effort to be kind after all that was done up to that point unless they truly knew they were in the wrong. That is my hope anyway.
2. Even more amazing, Jesus did not take it. In fact, The Message says, "He would not take it." Not only did Jesus not accept the pain killer, He absolutely refused to take it.

As we come upon the Easter season it is vital that we take a few minutes as often as possible to remember Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for us. In His darkest, loneliest hour, a time which He was facing for the sins of all of us, He refused to have anything but a clear mind and a clear body. Isn't that amazing?! God loves us so much that He sent his Son to this earth to save us. WOW. I am not worthy.

Most of us find refuge in something when we are distraught. Anything of this world can be a mixture of wine and myrrh for us, a painkiller of some sort. Some of these things may not even be sinful in nature, but, Satan knows how to use them against us. The list is endless and personal to everyone: alcohol, food, gossip, sleep, drugs, money, etc. What is it that you turn to when you feel you have nothing else to give? In the perfect world it is God whom we turn to. It is God whom I strive to have faith in and trust. If Jesus can refuse a painkiller after being brutally beat and on His way to crucifixion, I have hope that I can beat whatever painkiller I use when I am facing turmoil.

Isn't it amazing what God can show in one sentence? I hope that someone was supposed to hear this today.

On a separate but related note I dug into scripture a bit further. I've always been attracted to Jesus' cry out to God but never took time to read much about it. In his last moments on the cross Jesus cried out, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" To truly understand this, I did some research. I always wondered, why in the world did Jesus doubt God? He knew the plan that was made for Him-to be the lamb whose blood was shed for us all. Here is what I found:

When Jesus came to Earth he came as human. He did not exercise omni-presence, He had real, human emotions, and most of all, He lived in completed dependence of the Father just as we are made to do. Fortunately (for us), Jesus endured God's wrath. The Bible tells us how much God hates sin and how holy he is. Jesus took on God's wrath for all of us. "And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins" (1st John 2:2) 

Propitation is appeasement-Jesus satisfied God's wrath for our sins. God can not be next to sin because of his holy nature. When Jesus took on our sin, He was experiencing something He had never been through before. He was apart from God, His world was without the light. How forsaken He must of felt, as a human, to live a life free from sin and still be punished by death. Another explanation shared that forsaken relates to be left for a long time. Jesus' Suffering probably lasted longer than even He had imagined.

For a better explanation visit here: http://www.baptiststart.com/print/forsaken_me.html

As depressing as that may seem, the fantastic news is that when Jesus gave his last breath, the veil was torn. The relevance here is the veil in the temple which seperated the Holy from the common. When the veil was torn we now had access to God. 

Thanks be for that.

It's about time I posted again! I've missed writing on the blog but haven't missed the pictures. In fact, I haven't picked up my camera at all in the last week. This is in part, due to the fact that my largest memory card needs to be formatted and my camera won't do it. I don't have a clue what to do, so, if anyone knows, please help me out! It stinks because the pictures I took from New Mexico were on the card and now they aren't. Raymond and I always go to New Mexico for a reason and never make time to just be tourists. On our last full day in town, everyone was back home or not in town, so we had a whole day to ourselves. We went to Old Town Albuquerque-how neat! One of my favorite parts, besides the cool architecture, was a little coffee shop called, "Keep it simple, Stupid!" I thought that was so cute.

Raymond and I are both back in the swing of work, although, my body is ready for another vacation, already! This was a long week. I even had to go in today by 7AM. Needless to say, I'm relaxing tonight. I'm working on a gift for my stepmother's birthday-it's a surprise so I'll post pictures when it is finished!

Between tonight and tomorrow, I hope to get some good reading time in! I'm currently finishing up Wicked-The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. I've been wanting to see the Broadway show for awhile now. The book is not at all what I thought it would be, so, I'm interested to see how the play goes. It almost makes me feel sorry for witch-she even has a name! Elphaba.

Reading makes me think of careless summers. One of my favorite things to do is lay on my back deck and read. Nothing beats shorts, tanktops, sunglasses, a cool drink, and rays of sun beaming on you while you melt your cares away in a book. Today it was near 60* ( I think). Summer will be here before we know it.

Raymond and I hope to get some work done on our yard this year. We always seem to find other projects that come up and take the funds we have planned for plants. For example, we just spent around $900 on car repairs and tires. Unexpected and of course, not covered by the extended warranty we purchased.

Raymond's brother has been working on his house, specifically replacing carpet with different flooring. It got me excited to make changes in our house. We plan to start with the smallest room first-the guest bathroom. We just recently painted in again, but, I would like to tile the floor and put in a vessel sink and new fixtures.