Encouraging Deep Roots

Matthew 21:6-11 ~ The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt; then they laid their robes on them, and He sat on them. A very large crowd spread their robes on the road; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. Then the crowds who went ahead of Him and those who followed kept shouting: Hosanna to the Son of David! He who comes in the name of the Lord is the blessed One! Hosanna in the highest heaven! When He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds kept saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee!” The Unexpected King By Terri Groh Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed be the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Here comes the expectant King, riding towards Jerusalem, not with sword As was thought. Not on horse, tall and proud. But on a young beast of burden, before the expectant crowd. They shouted and through the streets the men, women and children ran,...

We are entering into Holy Week and the events that lead up to the death of Christ. One of my favorite celebrations is the celebration of Palm Sunday.  I love the symbolism of this event and enjoy celebrating it. As I was reading this morning and looking at this passage of Scripture again, something new struck me. Mark 11:7-11 ~  The disciples brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and he sat on it. Many people spread their clothes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven! He went into Jerusalem and into the temple. After looking around at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. Jesus enters into Jerusalem on a young and borrowed donkey that no one had ever ridden. It was untamed and yet, willingly submitted...

My heart is full this morning as I sit here and reflect. I am also very humbled and honored with some recent happenings in my life. Normally, life bumps along and there are good days and not so good days. But overall, it's not really that exciting. I'm an average woman doing average things and mostly, enjoying my life.  But every now and then, God blesses me in a way that takes my breath away.  The first way this has happened in the past couple of weeks is that my new book, Fostering a Positive Ministry Environment, was accepted into a marketing bundle called, A Year of Expanded Grace. That will go live on March 31st and for one week my book and video overview of it will be free, along with other leadership resources. I'll share the link here when that happens. You can find the details on the link at the top of my blog under resources.  I am leading a webinar on this on April 28th and the book is also being translated into Spanish, French and Portuguese and distributed to...

I've spent the past two days in this room, painting it from an ugly flourescent green to this camel color and looking out on this little garden area. My son-in-law and daughter purchased their first home and I'm visiting for a few days to help out with the painting. But as I'm painting, I'm also praying. Praying that God would bless them in their new space. That they would recognize His hand in their daily lives. That their marriage would be blessed and that any future children they have would grow up feeling loved and safe. I love to paint, but after doing it for long hard hours, there comes a moment of feeling completely overwhelmed and wanting to throw in the towel. But I pressed on, got mutiple second winds throughout the day and the finished result is beautiful.  That's a lot like parenting or anything hard and yet, worthwhile in life, isn't it? It's long difficult work. It's exhausting at times and exhilirating at others. There are ugly moments whe...

The past few years I have put together prayer stations  for Good Friday for our church. This is a time when people can come and visit the different stations which will be set up around our sanctuary. It's a time of reflection and prayer. There is usually some sort of activity at each one. As I work on the stations this year and am  reading the account of Jesus' death and resurrection, I am amazed at how rich these passages are.  This year's prayer stations will walk the congregation Jesus' time in the Garden of Gethsamene and tie it to Psalm 23. I always enjoy working on these type of activities because it also speaks to me as I prepare. Some beautiful preliminary observations as I work through this: Jesus, the Good Shepherd, faced his darkest valley and is with us when we go through our darkest valley.  The disciples struggled to stay awake and kept falling asleep and we are told the Good Shepherd gives us sweet rest. Jesus was the living water sand the Shepherd lea...

It took a long time, but the snow has melted from my front lawn. The temperatures have been warm and wonderful the past week and I've been able to get back out at our local Audubon center and walk a few times during the week. The sun has been shining and my energy levels are up. It's been great! My activities have ramped up over the past few weeks as well. This is always a busy time of the year and it seems as if everything is happening all at once this year. I'm leading a leadership webinar next month so am working on that. I'm working on a program for this Friday night, prayer stations for our Good Friday service and getting ready for our district women's conference next month. I have a couple of articles to write. Whew! These are all enjoyable activities, but I also am taking time each day to sit and reflect, to get outside and do the things I love such as walking, hiking and photography. I have been trying to take time to do fun activities so that I'm not ju...