Author Archives: Ellen

He is Risen!

Christos Voskress! Voistina Voskress!

Христос Воскрес!

Воистину воскрес!

Christ is Risen!

Truly He is Risen!

At the Feet of Jesus

At the feet of Jesus,
Listening to His word;
Learning wisdom’s lesson
From her loving Lord;
Mary, led by heav’nly grace,
Chose the meek disciple’s place.
At the feet of Jesus
Is the place for me,
There a humble learner
Would I choose to be.

At the feet of Jesus,
Pouring perfume rare,
Mary did her Savior
For the grave prepare;
And, from love the good work done,
She her Lord’s approval won.
At the feet of Jesus
Is the place for me,
There, in sweetest service
Would I ever be.

At the feet of Jesus,
In that morning hour,
Loving hearts, receiving
Resurrection power,
Haste with joy to preach the word;
Christ is risen, praise the Lord!
At the feet of Jesus,
Risen now for me,
I shall sing His praises
Through eternity.

Words: Philip P. Bliss, 1876.

Getting Ready…

…for my favorite day of the year! Celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus tops my list.

The house is getting ready with a little bit of Easter decor.

The yard is coming back to life after being dead all winter.

Churches all over the world are getting ready for Easter services.

Pansies that are yellow and purple are such a sign of Easter to me and they are ready for Easter.

Looking way back at Easter’s past in Southern California. Part of getting ready for Easter were new outfits every year.

One of our favorite little bunnies doing her favorite thing way back in 1987 or 1988…

This year 2 of our 3 kids will be celebrating in different parts of the country. Katie colored eggs in her own home this year.

Lana, Laura and I finished our Paska/Kulich on Good Friday to enjoy on Easter.

Easter tables from previous years. I’ll be getting our Easter table 2012 ready tomorrow for our celebration on Sunday.

My sweet cheese spread (Seernaya Paska) is in it’s cheese mold getting ready to spread on our Kulich/Paska on Easter.

Are you ready?

…”So people get ready, there’s a train a comin’
You don’t need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin’
Don’t need no ticket, you just thank the Lord”

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  ~ John 14:6

Good Friday 2012

 

John 17: 1-5

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.  For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

John 19: 16-18

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

This week in history is so important to our world. It’s no wonder that we still take notice 2000+ years later. The events leading up to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ are powerful. His Resurrection will never be trumped by any other event in history. The name of Jesus has more power then any other.  Today my DIL Laura and I will be baking and keeping with our Russian traditions of making Easter Bread (Kulich) and a sweet cheese spread for the bread called Seernaya Paska in anticipation of our Resurrection Sunday celebration. Lana G! usually participates but she had a softball injury and crushed some bone in her left wrist/forearm. She had surgery on Wednesday and is in a temporary cast so she’ll be supervising and giving us tips. Growing up Good Friday was a day of fasting until our church gathering Friday evening. After the service the congregation would break bread together and have a meal to break the fast. Good Friday was a very sorrowful day for the followers of Jesus 2000 years ago because they could not understand yet the miracle of His resurrection that brought them out of their despair. I’m glad we know the end of the story. Our Savior conquered death and He lives and still saves today. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Have a wonderful Easter Everyone!

Maundy Thursday…

Thursday of Holy Week or Passion Week is Maundy Thursday.

GOTW-practice035

 

Excerpts from John chapter 13…

It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;  so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.  “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

“Maundy Thursday is the Thursday of Holy Week (the Thursday before Easter). It was the day on which Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples, sharing a meal with them which we call the Last Supper.

In those days it was usual for a servant to wash the guests feet on arrival. On this occasion there was no servant present and none of the disciples volunteered to do the menial task. Instead, Jesus got up and washed his disciples feet, giving them an object lesson in humility and service.

In some churches priests carry out a ceremonial washing of the feet of twelve men on Maundy Thursday as a commemoration of Christ’s act.

The word “Maundy” comes from the Latin for ‘command’ (mandatum). It refers to the command given by Jesus at the Last Supper, that his disciples should love one another.”

 

~~~~~

What Jesus did here to teach his disciples is very important for Christ followers to consider. He showed the “full extent of his love” by washing their feet and instructed them to follow his example and wash each others feet. We can’t miss the fact that serving one another is a very important truth that Jesus wants us to understand and follow. I need to put others needs above my own. Who does God want me to serve? Who am I suppose to wrap the towel around my waist for? Who am I suppose to lay down my rights and privileges for? Who am I to show the full extent of my love to?  Who am I suppose to humble myself for? It’s not easy to be a disciple/follower of Jesus but it is worth it.

The photo of the statue of Jesus washing Peter’s feet was taken by me at the Garden’s of the World in Thousand Oaks, California.

I’m linking up with Teacher Jenny for Alphabe-Thursday and we are on the letter T.

Let’s Dish ~ Palm Sunday

We had a relaxed lunch on Palm Sunday with Josh and Laura. It was nice to catch up over some good food.

This is my pre-Easter table. On Easter I’ll have my Russian Easter Bread (Kulich/Paska) as my centerpiece.

I didn’t arrange my plate for a photo op so it’s hard to tell what we served. We had rack of lamb, roasted vegetables, and a loaded salad. Our dessert was simple with just sugared strawberries and angel food cake.

We’re looking forward to our Easter celebration coming up this Sunday. We’ll be having a small group for Easter this year. All is good because God is good.

Click over to Cuisine Kathleen to Dish!

All the B’s…

My maiden name started with a B and my married name starts with a B. Dear only has one brother and I have 4 brothers and 3 sisters. My B’s way outnumber Dear’s B’s so I wanted to devote a post to Dear’s side of the family. Dear’s brother has 3 beautiful daughters. They live in Southern California and in New York. We don’t see them often enough but we are happy when we do. All our B’s get along and have good history together!

Jenna was our very first niece! She just had her first baby, Miss Skylar.

Annie was born a few months after our firstborn Josh. Our third niece from this family came several years later in 1991.

Jenna is married to Justin. Skylar celebrated her 4 month milestone while she was in Seattle for Katie and Andrew’s wedding.

My sister in law was enjoying all her grammy time since Skylar lives so far away from her. Dear’s brother and his youngest daughter were not able to come up for the wedding.

A little nap was in order before the reception!

Annie and her guy Jeff got to stay with friend’s who live in a floating house on Lake Union while they were in Seattle for the wedding. That really made for a fun trip for them to the wedding. They got into their friend’s little boat and motored across the lake to the wedding venue which was on the opposite shore. It was so much fun to see them pull up to the dock.

The Monday after the wedding was Miss Skylar’s 4 month anniversary so I will leave you with the best photo yet (that’s coming from a true Sounder’s fan!)

Fun times in Seattle with so many of our loved ones!

Passion Week

This is such a meaningful week that we are beginning. The Easter season is my favorite. Our pastor prepared a devotional guide for Passion week that I’m looking forward to spending time with this week. Today we celebrated Palm Sunday.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
He is just and endowed with salvation,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

~ Zechariah 9:9

I think it’s fitting that this very humble plant is called the Lenten Rose.

May your week be filled with reflection on how much God loves you and may you be filled with his peace.

I’m linking up with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

Jesu, Our Lenten Fast of Thee ~ Hymn

Jesu, Our Lenten Fast of Thee

Jesu, our Lenten fast of Thee
We duteous learn to keep,
A healing time, by Thy decree,
For all Thy wounded sheep.

A time in which towards paradise,
Once lost by carnal sense,
The souls redeemed by Thee may rise
Through chastening abstinence.

Now with Thy Church be present, Lord,
In all Thy saving grace,
And hear us as with one accord
Mourning, we seek Thy face.

Most Merciful, forgive the past,
The sins which we deplore;
Thy sheltering arms around us cast,
That we may sin no more.

To Thee our sacrifice we bring
Of Lenten fast and prayer,
Till, cleansed by Thee, our God and King,
Thy Paschal joy we share.

Grant this, O Father, through Thy Son,
And through the Spirit blest,
Who art with Them forever One,
Eternally confessed.

Happy Palm Sunday Everyone. Hosanna in the highest!!

Lazy Saturday…

I’ve been having fun with the new Picasa editing update! So many more interesting things to try with my photos. Saturdays are slow in blog world so I’m putting up some random collages and photos from the wedding day…

Last night I received some more photos from my niece in New York and I’ll be sharing some of them, too, soon. So you have been warned!

Niece and Grand Nephew

Grand Nephew and our son Josh

Nephews

Harv captured this photo of Katie and Andrew during the ceremony.

Can you believe today is the last day of March?! Palm Sunday tomorrow and the beginning of Passion Week. I’m looking forward to celebrating Easter. Blessings…

FFF ~ Never a Dull Moment…

Another week with the chance to pause and look back and remember the good things in our lives. Thank you to Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for hosting this event every Friday. My days have again been full.

We had a sermon on gratitude a couple Sundays ago and the pastor shared 2 Killers of gratitude. One killer is complaining and the other killer is comparing. I’ve been on the lookout for these two killers in my heart and mind.

Now to my 5 favorites…

1. Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine! When the sun shines in the Seattle area we enjoy it to the fullest. On Friday morning I walked the Sammamish River trail with a friend and we enjoyed the extra shot of Vitamin D!

2. Friday night I met up with Josh and Laura and we traveled to the Seattle Sounders Soccer game via Kerry Park where there are great views of Seattle. We were showing Flat Stanley what makes Seattle special. Have you experienced Flat Stanley? We took Flat Stanley to the game and we were so happy they won and it was a fun game.

3. Saturday I packed my Mennonite Girls Can Cook Apron and headed north to the Blaine Library for a presentation of our book and story. Lovella did a wonderful job of sharing our story. My friend Cindy who works in the children’s area of the library and her boss Debby baked goodies from our cookbook to serve to the participants at the seminar. It was a great time and we all had lunch together at the Blackberry Cafe after our time at the library.

4. On Monday I finally took the leap and joined the 21st century with a new phone and I’m in a new learning curve. I was even able to text my son. I laughed because it took me about 2 full minutes to type out 2 sentences and send them on their way. OYE!

5. Homemade spaghetti sauce. We had a lot of tomatoes leftover from our wedding weekend so I decided to make homemade tomato sauce. When it was finished I added some mild Italian sausage to the sauce and served it with pasta and some fresh basil. It was delicious.

Hope you all had a good week. Waiting to see if my friend and I can fit a walk in today between rain showers…