Happy Easter!

It has been SUCH a great week, hasn't it?!  I always felt like Christmas was my favorite holiday, but I certainly think that Easter has taken the lead now that I'm a Christian who lives and acts like a Christian. I've really enjoyed counting down the days until today, and I hope you've had a perfect week as well!  

Last Sunday we had church, which was wonderful as usual.  God is doing big things in congregation right now and it's such a unique feeling to worship WITH the Holy Spirit, you know? 

Monday I worked and spent the evening straightening up the house and getting everything ready for our Missions Sister's meeting on Tuesday.  It was my first time hosting, so I wanted it to be perfect (and I wanted the house to be clean!)  Cleaning our house is no easy feat...we're such slobs.  Anyone else? 

Tuesday I worked and we actually had 21 people at the Mission Sister's meeting that night!  I am pretty sure that's a record if you take out our Christmas meeting.  Everyone is always coming to church and church functions around Christmas.  Haha.  But Mission Sister's usually only has about 5-6 women show up.  We had TWENTY ONE (including three small children) but 21 women!!  God is good!  And I was terrified and nervous as the host, but it all worked out.  

Wednesday I went to the older women's meeting to share news and information of our women's meeting with their group.  We got a ton of positive feedback, and I really enjoyed their meeting!  God was THERE, y'all.  The lesson Mrs. Cinda brought was about being a person of influence and reaching out into your community.  Their weekly study had been about having a passion for the sinners in your community.  When these lessons were written, chosen, studied, and planned there was no way of knowing that this conference would be in planning stages and presented to them.  Does that make sense?  It was totally a God thing.  Ah-mazing! 

Thursday was a fun day (other than working) because we did something new at our church!  We recently got a new pastor, and he is used to celebrating Maundy Thursday.  We went to church and had The Lord's Supper to commemorate Jesus' Last Supper with His disciples before the crucifixion.  I'd never heard of this before, much less celebrated it by going to church!  And we took communion. 

Friday I changed up my schedule a bit with work.  I went in at 8 instead of 9, so that I could take a lunch break and participate in the noon-time prayer in our church garden.  I'm so glad I went!!  

Saturday we spent the night at the beach!  

And that brings us to today... Happy Easter!  I hope that each of you have a perfect and beautiful day!  Keep Him near your heart because He hung on a cross for YOU.  If you've never seen it, today would be a GREAT day to see The Passion movie.  Find out what our Lord did your You.  Worship Him.  Rejoice!  We love and worship the only living God.  Pretty cool stuff.  

Today we'll go to a sunrise service on the beach, to breakfast, to our regular church service, and lunch with the family at my grandma's house.  Seriously.  Happy Easter.  Love y'all!  

Easter Nails!

Those are supposed to be lilies.. I know it's a stretch.  I didn't draw them.  Which is why you can at least tell that they're flowers.  ;)  They're white lilies, which are also known as Easter Lilies.  This was my little way of preparing for Easter.  I know it's "silly" and "trivial," but let me explain.  A tradition that my mom has always carried out, for my entire life, was new Easter dresses.  Maybe it's a Southern thing?  But it didn't matter how much money we had, where we were at, or anything.  My sister and I got new dresses every year to wear on Easter Sunday.  This year, well, with Mr. Robinson changing jobs and working off of commission, the money just isn't there for a brand new Easter dress.  So I got my nails done instead.  =)  Back to what I was saying about lilies..   

Lilies come in all different colors.  My favorites have always been the pink and white starburst lilies.  But then, we got married and tiger lilies were one of more predominant flowers.  Why are white lilies called Easter Lilies?  

-Lilies are shaped like trumpets.  Trumpets announcing the resurrection of Jesus - the reason or Easter.

- Easter Lilies are white, which symbolize purity, perfection, and eternal life.  Jesus was pure and sinless.  He was 100% human and 100% God.  Wow.  He never sinned.  He never made any mistakes.  He was as white as snow, and His blood washes our sins away.  The blood spilled on the cross was payment for our sins, even though he was without sin.

The Easter story is one of the most amazing stories in the history of the world, and I'm so proud that I believe in the one true God.  The One who wrote history.

Tonight, we'll stay at my grandparent's beach house - the one we stayed out during our vacation. Then we'll wake up before the sun tomorrow and attend a sunrise service.  :)  Maybe I'll have some adventures to share with you guys when we get back.  

Tomorrow is Easter!  What makes Easter special to you?  How do you celebrate or prepare? 
One More Day!    

Children's Easter Musical

This past Sunday night the children in our church performed their Easter Musical, and it was absolutely precious.  I had no idea that we had so many talented children in our church.  I definitely teared up listening to them sing, so I just had to share a few short videos with you from their darling performance!

This is Jewel.  She is kinda new to our church, but very sweet!  And she has the most precious little, tiny voice!

And then this girl is Abi!  :)  She's our favorite.  Don't tell the others.

This girl is just so pure, you know?  Our families have always been close, and I love watching her grow up loving the Lord.  You can tell that she means it and that she understands.  Mr. Robinson has really bonded with her, and it's a pretty amazing thing to watch.  She's one of the reasons why I think that, regardless of our decision not to have kids (or at least any time soon), Mr. Robinson would make such a great dad.  However, this was the first time I really ever heard Abi sing.  All on her own.  It was perfect and I'm so proud of her!

Watching the kids from church perform their Easter Musical is one of the ways we are preparing for Easter. Kids are so excited, they have a passion that many adults lose as they get older.  Sometimes we get so focused on being "civilized" that we forget to be worshipful.  Watching children sing for the Lord is a great reminder of the passion we should always have.  Not to mention, the kids are pretty darn cute.  I don't know why, but kids seriously get ten times cuter when you put them on a stage with microphones.

  If your kids aren't in church...I'd like to encourage you to find a good church for you and your family to attend.  Raising children in church is beneficial on so many levels.  Even if you, as the parent, don't consider yourself a Christian or a "church person," I know from experience that growing up in church can make a huge difference.  It has made all the difference in my life.  As adults, we all deserve the right to make our own decisions.  And one day, your kids will be making a religious decision - to believe or not to believe, or what to believe.  Exposing them to church will help them at least make an informed decision.  (Not to mention it will help them learn good morals.)  And honestly...after watching these two videos...how can you honestly say that church is bad for kids?  I hope I'm not inviting a lot of negative feedback...um...I know that people believe different things.  All I know is that it doesn't matter that I don't have kids, how old your kids are, or whatever.  God is good, no matter what.  Whether you embrace Him or ignore Him, He is there and He loves you. I hope that you'll embrace Him this Easter.  :)

Easter Count Down!

Y'all.  Easter is only 6 days away, and I am so excited!  This will be the first Easter I've ever celebrated as a loud and proud Christian.  This is the first Easter that will really mean something to me as a Christian.  I can't wait!  Easter Sunday will the best ever because we will be attending a Sunrise Service on the beach.  I can't wait to share every detail with y'all!

Source: Uploaded by user via Kristina on Pinterest

All week long I'll be posting about my faith, about the love I have for my Savior, and about why Easter is so special to me.  I hope you'll join me for one exciting countdown!  I'll be sharing my testimony, different aspects of my faith, and how we'll prepare for Easter!  

What are you doing to make sure your Easter is Christ-centered?  He's the reason for this season, as well, you know?  It doesn't stop at Christmas because He can't be contained.  He can't be contained to a holiday, to a month, or even to a tomb.