Canyon Life

Easter! Done! Sheesh. That was a busy one. Lot's to do at church, lot's to do at home. I love Easter, but even more than Easter, I love Good Friday. I love the remembrance of what Jesus suffered for me on the cross. All so I could stand in front of a holy God. Did you know that? Do you even know what that means? Jesus died as a propitiation for my sin. And I don't deserve it. I'm not a good person. I never will be. I will never be good enough to go to heaven. But Jesus was. He led the perfect life, He NEVER sinned, and he sacrificed himself, the spotless lamb, in my place. And now because of what HE did, I can go to heaven. Insane. Amazing. Grace. LOVE. My God is so good. 

I know, I know, you don't even believe in God. You think I'm crazy for believing in a man who called himself the Son of God. But I ask you, have you read the bible? Have you studied the facts of history? Do you realize that there are over 250 DOCUMENTED prophecies that spoke of Jesus' coming in the old testament? Hundreds of years before Jesus was even born? Don't believe the bible? Too many historians can prove that the words of the old testament are dated accurately. There's too much proof that Jesus was who he said he was. But you can do the research yourself. I did. I didn't ever want to believe in something because I was told to. The more I read, the more I am convicted daily. The bible is not all stories. I always thought it was. Wow. Wrong. It's history, it's love, it's tragedy, it's the ugliness of the human heart. 

Think you are a good person? Really? Ever lie? Ever cheat? Think bad of someone? Wish harm on someone? Gossip? Lust after someone else's spouse? Sin Sin Sin. Fits of anger, bad attitudes, selfishness, drunkenness, the list goes on. God calls it sin, and NONE OF US can be called good people. NOT ONE. We are all prone to sin. God can see into your heart, doesn't even matter if you actually DO the sin, if you think it, that's just as bad! Because that's what is in your heart! We can't do enough good deeds to atone for our sin. There is no measuring stick available to see if we've done enough good in this world to get into heaven. We fall short. God cannot abide being around sin, that's just His nature.We can't stand in front of God in our sinful state. That's why Jesus did what He did. He died on the cross, as the sacrifice for OUR sin. He took the punishment meant for me, so that I CAN stand before God, blameless. God calls it love. Do you love anyone enough to die for them? To be flogged, beaten within an inch of your life, drag a giant wooden cross almost a mile, have nails hammered in between the bones of your wrist and ankles to support your own weight, and then slowly suffocate to death? Not to mention the humiliation of doing all this naked, being spit on, stoned, laughed at, and mocked. Could you do that? There's nothing in this world that can satisfy me, there never has been. Gratify, yes, sometimes, momentarily. But not satisfy. Only Jesus filled the holes I had in my heart completely, and I am eternally grateful. 

 Here's some pictures from Easter, I didn't get that many, I got home late and totally forgot to take more. Brett's sister came over with her family, and my newlywed niece Candice and her sweet hubby Josh. They were a crack up, I am so excited to see them grow together in marriage.

This is the music team at church. I'm the assistant to the kids music director, and this was a rehearsal for Palm Sunday. These kids are awesome.