AM~Erica Has a Pondering Moment for Blogging

So anyway...

I was reading a daily devotional today, and it was about Jeremiah being told to write down what God was telling him! And it was more than just to show up in scripture...

It's Ash Wednesday, everyone! It's the beginning of the Lenten season. It's a time to ponder about our faith & how we can grow in it. I have TALKED ABOUT IT BEFORE, as well as HOW IT SHOULD BE HANDLED along with THINGS YOU SHOULDN'T DO FOR LENT.

Because of that, I won't discuss what I am doing or not doing or whatever during this time. I pray on it & it's between me & God. If I went all Pharisee on you, you would totally laugh at how holy I was trying to make myself sound...or how big of a victim or martyr. Any way you look at it, it would look, sound & be ridiculous!

However, I noticed in the reading of Jeremiah 30:2 (what the devotional was based on today), it talked about making sure to write down His words. It struck me. It struck me because the devotion talked about how we all have such short memories. We need to write things down to go back & remember!

Humans have this really weird way of misremembering things. The story gets mixed up, or we forget it even happened. You know...like going to the store to get a few things, but going without a list. You might remember a few things, but forget others...or just happen to remember something you "need" but really didn't. Yeah...kind of like that.

So, it made me think about my blog. I can tell you that it's something I probably could not give up at this point. Why? Well first off, my brain might explode. We can't have that, now can we? I have a whole lot rolling around in there & getting crowded. But it also allows me to share memories. I have actually gone back over past postings, and been amused at the stories I had forgotten I had told.

God wanted Jeremiah to write down His words so that people would remember! They were going thru a difficult time, and they needed to remember that so they could grow from it...as well as tell the story for history's sake, too.

Yes, there's a lot more to that story, but it's kind of what the devotion spoke to me about. It told me that I needed to just keep blogging. If you all enjoy it &/or get something from it...then...great! But I need it for me. I need it to see my growth, and to help me continue to grow as a person in my faith & in everyday life.

Plus, it will help me keep track of the memories I want to share at another time. They can be pretty amusing.

So there...something to ponder. What a beautiful start to a blessed journey we are beginning for another year...
Who's joining me?

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica Wonders Why Holy Week Gets Overlooked

So anyway...

It’s Holy Week. It’s a difficult journey to the cross so that we may celebrate Easter. Everyone just wants to celebrate Easter, but without dealing with the yucky, messy death part. But that part is so very necessary so that we may celebrate Easter.

I was reading a daily devotional this morning. The author, who is also a pastor, pointed out that there is no issue with so many people filling pews for Easter, but it is the dark & ugly side that churches commemorate with services that are so much less attended. Maundy Thursday & Good Friday are only 2 days out of all of Holy Week…and they are so important. Few want to face that part of it. Instead, they feel like they have to be at church on only Easter Sunday morning, hoping to find some eggs, eat candy & wear pretty clothes without the full understanding & witness of how & why we really got to that celebratory point.

I am a full believer in having the full gamut of Holy Week services. No combining. Jesus went thru all of these things & it was much harder for him. Just take a good look at ‘The Passion of the Christ’ to get that idea. We can take 2 nights out of our week to remember what else Jesus went thru for us.

When churches start combining or leaving things out because people don't come, we become a Church of Convenience &/or the Church of Warm Fuzzy Feelings (which is a whole other soapbox). Well, guess what, folks...there is nothing warm & fuzzy about Holy Week & there was absolutely nothing convenient for Jesus to give up his life for every one of us. Yet so many hide from this fact & become like Peter...denying Jesus & what he was going thru.

People, if you are willing to take part in the Lenten season by giving something up, then take an hour out of your Thursday & out of your Friday to understand why we change our lives for Christ thru this time. Then you can truly celebrate Easter with the understanding it deserves.

Do you have guts to do it...the heart? How's this...I DARE YOU! The WHOLE experience.

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica Presents: Near Escape

So anyway...

After reading a couple of posts concerning my youngest's knack for escaping, you will understand why we now own a monkey back-pack leash & have added alarms to the front door, back door and the door going into the garage that makes a horrible chirpping noise when the door is opened while the alarm is set. Our basement door came with a dead bolt lock located very high up.

With that being said, here's what happened:

This one night, I believe it was a Monday, I was exhausted, my hubby was channel surfing & we were talking about stuff, and the kids were playing the PlayStation in older boy's room - this was after we had been to the store as a family. It was getting close (actually past) bedtime, so my hubby started getting the kids around, and I had to try to finish up some laundry in the basement that I forgot about; I heard crazy running around upstairs and got a bit irritated since they were so riled up at bedtime, when my hubby threw open the basement door & asked if lil guy was down there with me...he wasn't...

We looked in all of the weird places he likes to hide, we tried to find new ones. The last place we knew of was in the bedroom watching the kids play the game. None of the alarms had gone off, so we didn't think he'd gone outside, but we thought we'd check the doors anyway...the alarm wasn't reset on the door going to the garage. We forgot to reset it when we came in, so we figured he was playing in the garage...GRRR...so...we opened the door...and found...the garage door open! Apparently a broom had fallen into the laser path of the garage door opener sensor & never closed! GULP!!

Little boy...new town...after 10:00 @ night...how did he get past all of us?? We are replaying the night in our heads: were the kids too into their game to see him leave the room?; were we too into our conversation to hear the door to the garage being opened? So, I did what any mom would do - I ran out of the house to search for him! Teen Girl? Hysterically crying & SCREAMING his name through the neighborhood, so much so that she fell in one of our neighbor's sloped driveways & scraped herself up...I am trying to keep her as calm as possible while I am terrified inside...older boy is joining the search on the other side of the street & my hubby takes off in the minivan...

OOPS!! That leaves no one at home incase he shows up! So Teen Girl & older boy go back to the house, hubby continues search by driving & I go the the church parking lots to see if he has tried to get into any of the doors or is playing on the playground equipment. As I searched the last parking lot with no sign of him playing on the playground, the minivan pulls up to see if I had seen any sign of him...

At this point, I drop to my knees in hysterical prayer, praying to God that my son is safe & fine & we will find him OK...then I hurry up to run to the other side of the church & across the street...because...there are woods there - what if he'd gone there?

As I am running (barefoot) toward the woods, the minivan pulls up again...my hubby tells me to get it...he's been found...

At home...

Asleep in bed...

WHAT???

Yes indeed, the kids got so into their game they didn't realize he'd put himself to bed. Uh, he had no nap that day.

Apparently the kids got home & Teen Girl made older boy hold our prayer shawl with her (a beautiful ministry at our church that we were given a gift of when we moved), and pray hard for lil guy to be found...then...they heard something...like a creaking of a bed...

So, they looked & there he was, fast asleep. He had no idea what chaos had been going on.

My hubby used this as a devotion soon afterward. He told some campers that when we want to see God, we expect to see Him right there & then, but if we don't see Him out in the open, we search frantically...but He is there all along, we just tend to look right past it.

Oh yeah, and we ALWAYS make sure the alarms are set, too.

Stay tuned for more...

God Bless, AM~Erica