Category Archives: Easter

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!

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!

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.

Easter Was Glorious!

 

We baked, we dyed, we molded, we decorated, we celebrated big at a wonderful Easter service, and then we ate together.

 

There were 9 of us for our Easter meal. Steve, Lana, Josh, Laura, Steve, Pat, Katie, Dear and Me. We had to put the 2 Steves at the opposite sides of the table since they are both lefties! We had a wonderful time celebrating our risen Savior.

Tonight we’ll get to see our son Dan. The last time he was here was for my birthday in March. Hope your new week is starting well. We’re back to rain here…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with these blurred out versions and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Christ the Lord is Risen Today ~ Hymn

Christos Voskress! Voistina Voskress!

Христос Воскрес!

Воистину воскрес!

Christ is Risen!

Truly He is Risen!

Christ the Lord is Risen Today

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is o’er, Alleluia!
Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids Him rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail, the Lord of earth and Heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail, the resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, Thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing and thus to love, Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

But the pains that He endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation have procured, Alleluia!
Now above the sky He’s King, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!

Words: Charles Wesley, 1739. Stanzas 8-10 unknown author.

Busy In The Kitchen Today…

…preparing for our Resurrection Sunday Celebration. Here’s what we’ll be making ~

 

Our Russian Easter bread that we call Kulich and my friends call Paska.

 

And then we’ll make this yummy sweet cheese spread called Seerney Paska to spread on the bread.

Dear will be marinating the lamb that he’ll grill tomorrow. It’s another Russian tradition of ours. The way we’ll be preparing it for tomorrow is in Shish Kebab form which we call Shashlik. My sister Lana will be bringing rice with raisins and almonds and vinagrette, a Russian salad with beets, sauerkraut, pickles, onions, and potatoes. We’ll also have a green salad. Our DIL’s mother will be bringing the strawberries! There will be 9 of us for dinner this year. My mouth is watering already.

We’re going to go to Qwest Field for a big Easter celebration service in the morning that Mars Hill is hosting. It will be cool to be in a stadium with lots of folk praising our Savior together. Oh Happy Day!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with these blurred out versions and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Washing Feet ~ 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.”

The Lenten Season

Today marks the beginning of the Lenten Season. Lent is the 40 days leading up to Easter. Sundays aren’t counted in the 40 days. This year lent begins on Wednesday March 9th and ends on April 23rd.

Helleborus Orientalis is the botanical name of the very popular, early blooming shade perennial more commonly known as the Lenten Rose. Lenten Roses grow hardy around the world in temperate zones 4-9. In the English speaking world they are known as the Lenten Rose but are not roses at all. They are actually of the Butter Cup family. Their flowers bloom during the Easter celebration of Lent.

Hebrews 12: 1-2 (ESV)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!