The Carpenter's Cloth

My friend Robin shared this with me this week and I thought it was awesome!

I have to admit that the passage in John 20 has fascinated me for many years. It really is one of my favorite passages in scripture. I've read it over and over again just imagining what it must have been like for Mary, Peter and John at the tomb that day.

I always wondered about the detail of the folded cloth that surrounded our Lord's face at his burial. Why was that detail worth mentioning?

Don't miss a detail even if you are familiar with this passage:

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.

So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.

Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.

Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.

Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (John 20:1-8)

Then go here --> THE CARPENTER'S CLOTH

It is finished, indeed!

Blessings,
Dori

Losing My Words...

 

Tearing the house up, that's what I've been doing!

It wasn't where I last left it -- or maybe it is and I just have no idea where I last left it!

But honestly, I haven't been in desperate need to find it -- until yesterday.

I needed to be reacquainted with my old friend.

How could it be that it has been more than a month since I last put pen to paper?

Did I leave it at church? Oh, LORD, please tell me no! What would the person who found it think of me? Not that there is anything written there that is immoral. I have a lot of faults -- A LOT OF FAULTS -- but nothing is written there that I couldn't stand and testify about in any given setting if God said to do it.

But it contains my words. My innermost thoughts, prayers and heart cries. The "in pencil" thoughts about God and His Word that may or may not be theologically or doctrinally correct. The things that just my Lord and I are working out and the things He is teaching me.

It contains my insecurities -- almost every single one that God has brought to light of late. Struggles with my outward appearance. Confessions of my inadequacies as a wife and mother. The war that seems to never end between my spiritual man and the carnal one who wants to be lazy, gossip, antagonize, irritate, never exercise, eat too much and watch television all day.

It holds the things that make me giddy with joy, but might make someone else think I'm crazy! It holds the sighing and groaning of days of despair that might make someone else think I'm depressed. It holds the cries of shame from long ago confessed and forgiven failures that still seem to haunt me. He listens and cares. Someone else might judge and find fault.

It's ALL in there -- the good, the bad and the sometimes very ugly!

I would not be ashamed for my family to find it and read it, but right now I prefer it to be riches stored in a secret place -- a place reserved for me and God. It's a work in progress, really. The story of my life written in broken sentences, unfinished thoughts, quick Words spoken into my heart by the Holy Spirit, song lyrics that moved me to tears and then to the floor in a heap on my face before God, devotionals I read that cause me to live life differently if even for just a day, scriptures that were spoken directly from His heart into mine for "such a time as this" or that.

I'm not really ready for it to be public - read by anyone else. I still need this private place that's just for me and Him.

But this morning, I FOUND IT! Tucked away in a corner of my closet, there it was!

Thank you, God, for leaving it there and for drawing my eyes to it this morning!

On this Thankful Thursday, I FOUND MY JOURNAL!

Blessings,
Dori

Sunday Afternoon

I just sat on the sofa for about 30 minutes with my 12 year old boy studying for upcoming Bible Drill competitions in April. Usually we have worked hard by now and have most of the scriptures ready to go, but something about the first 2 months of 2008 has caused us to not make it a priority.

I'll be honest. I needed some quality time with my boy. Goodness gracious, being 12 is so stinkin' hard for him and me, too! It seems that I'm always saying "no" to something and he's always calling me "mean." It's just a hard time of life.

So, I loved these quiet minutes sitting with him on the couch, encouraging him to hide the Word and watching God speak through him. The kid can memorize scripture! 

And when I have these times with him it challenges me to hide the Word more in my own heart. Despite all of my excuses it isn't that hard. I realized today if I would just use the same techniques that I use with him and learn the scriptures that he has to learn for Bible Drill, we would both benefit. He would make Bible Drill State Superior again and I could overcome this huge obstacle that keeps me from memorizing scripture.

Together, we both build an arsenal of weapons against anything that comes our way --

That's the living, active, powerful and effective Word of the Living God!

So will you join me right now:

"Trust in the ____________ with all your ____________ and lean not on your _______ ___________________. In all your ways _______________________ Him and He _______ ________________ your __________ straight." Proverbs ___: __ - __

Blessings,
Dori

No More Whining

Okay, I promise I will do no more whining but I REALLY REALLY need you all to pray for me to get over this flu!! I am still running fever today and we have some things going on next weekend that I and the rest of my family need to be well for.

Pray that Lysol really works!

Pray that my children don't get sick!

Pray that my husband doesn't get sick!

Pray that my fever will break TODAY!

Thanks, friends!

Blessings,
Dori

It's Snowing? In March? Really?!?

 

Well, I knew if I said the words... those words... you know the one's I'm talkin' about...

"Well, it's almost Spring. I guess we'll have to wait until next year for snow!"

And here we go -- 3 to 5 inches accumulation before it ends!

And I'm too sick to go play!!!

Sigh...

Blessings,
Dori

P.S. Did I mention that it was 70 in Tennessee last Sunday?

Sigh...again...

The Little Things

Things I miss while lying in bed with the flu:

1. Hugs from my kids -- trying not to spread germs.
2. Kisses from my husband -- trying not to spread germs.
3. Walking in my neighborhood if I have a mind to.
4. The way my house used to smell before Lysol.
5. Good TV -- there is very little on worth watching I have found.
6. Talking to my friends on the phone -- no energy
7. Doing my freelance work without feeling totally drained
8. A good hair day
9. Makeup
10. Contact Lenses
11. Being able to taste my food
12. A homecooked dinner -- even if I have to do the cooking

Surely, this thing will pass soon! I'm going a little crazy here!!

I've also learned some things by watching too much television over the past few days:

1. There is a foot pad that draws toxins from your body while you sleep. This commercial grosses me out and they play it over and over and over and over and over and over again during the day!!

2. Scott Baio (Chachi from Happy Days) is 46 and pregnant! 46!?! How can that be seeing that he still has the same hairstyle and looks exactly the same? Is he really pregnant??

3. Donny Osmond is the new co-host on The Insider and he still wears purple shirts! Did you know that I went to an Osmond concert when I was 8 and dressed head to toe in purple in hopes Donny would spot me from the crowd?

4. Everything Rachael Ray cooks these days looks exactly the same -- like slop poured over rice, noodles or bread. And why does everyone applaud her for doing things that any cooking show host should be able to do -- chop garlic, pour olive oil (EVOO) into a pan, run a food processor, etc.? I don't get it! And why does her voice always sound so hoarse?

5. Apparently the FDA released warnings yesterday that Tamiflu can cause psychotic behavior.

6. Did you know I'm taking Tamiflu??

Pray, friends, pray -- I'm going crazy being all cooped up in this house!!!

Blessings,
Dori

Yep, It's the Flu!

Yikes -- I've got the funk and the test came back positive for flu.

So pray, friends, that I get well soon and that none of my family gets it!!

Moms can't get sick!!! :)

I'll be back in a few days!

Blessings,
Dori