Easter Weekend 2011

Wow, what a blessed weekend we had! Zach's parents came into town and we got to spend the day with them Friday, while the kids made up a snow day at school. Zach and his dad got a round of golf in, while Mom and I did some Easter Dinner shopping, and then waited for the kids to come home. They were thrilled  to come home to their Farmor (Swedish for father's mother, and what they call Zach's mom), and were also happy that I suggested Shaved Ice for an afternoon snack. (This was such a hug hit, Farmor and I repeated the trip Saturday afternoon after stopping at HEB for some dinner groceries)

Saturday Farmor, with the help of Branden, made plattar, small thin Swedish Pancakes.  They were delicious, and I perfected my ability to flip the pancakes... These particular ones are quite tricky!  Then we ventured to downtown Abilene.

The first stop was the Grace Museum... The children's section was a huge success!

The kids got in touch with the Fine Arts!

Kristyn definitely has a flare for the dramatic... I have no idea where she gets that from (wink, wink)

Branden enjoyed playing this fun musical instrument... He wanted to play it all on his own! After The Grace we enjoyed some terrific art at the NCCIL, walked through the 12th Armored Division Museum and tried to take a look at Relics, but it was closed for the Easter weekend.

After walking around downtown we enjoyed lunch at Cypress Street Station.

Saturday night we enjoyed dinner at home and terrific company. Then rested up to celebrate our risen Savior at church Sunday morning.  Zach woke up extra early to help out for breakfast at our church. After a great service we headed home and took a few family photos.

After our photo shoot we had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard.

They were very eager to find the eggs... Zach hid them really well.

And of course you know this South Texas girl has to keep the tradition of cascarones going with her own kiddos!

We even got the Georgia boy in on our fun! :)

I'm pretty sure I was finding confetti in my hair Monday morning!

After the "egg"citement (sorry I couldn't resist) we finished preparing our Easter dinner and: Leg of Lamb, Au Gratin Potatoes (They were extra cheesy), Pineapple Casserole, Spinach and Strawberry Salad, Cherry Pie & Strawberry Pie with homemade whipped cream. It was a delicious feast! After our dinner we watched as the clouds rolled in. We were a bit skeptical, since we have seen the clouds and lightning, and heard the thunder, but have not seen rain in quite a long time... In fact, we have probably seen snow more recently than we have seen rain.  It did indeed rain however, and it didn't stop there. We were treated to a hail storm. We watched, entertained from the safety of our kitchen window as the golf ball sized hail fell onto the trampoline and bounced really high... But you know what they say about hail, "it's all fun and games until someone loses a back windshield." Well, I don't think it's really a saying, but it is now in the Fulton house! :)

It's better than one of our house windows, and no one was hurt. Praise the Lord for the much needed rain.

After dinner, the weather excitement and bath time the kids treated us to a puppet show.

All in all we had an amazing Easter weekend. We were so grateful and blessed to have our family here to celebrate with us!

Rejoice, rejoice oh Christians lift up your voice and sing

Eternal Hallelujah to Jesus Christ the King

The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find

None other is so loving, so good and kind

He lives!

He lives!

Christ Jesus lives today!...

You ask me how I know He lives

He lives within my heart!

"Why"

God as my friend…
Throughout my life, and my walk with the Lord, there have been various analogies that I have drawn about my relationship with God, and in turn they have led me into a closer relationship with Him. I remember being a teenager in high school, and my youth pastor told us that it was okay to tell God we were mad. This was a new concept. When I didn’t like the way things had gone I could just tell God? It stemmed from the lesson that God wants a relationship with me, His child. A relationship is one-sided and non-productive if we don’t communicate and have conversations. So, I began conversing with God. My conversations ranged from the good, the bad, and the shallow (I was a teenage girl I had my moments). The conversations I had with God, allowed me to draw closer to Him, and feel His presence. A song by Nichole Nordeman describes this stage in relationship with God ideally.

“When I was weak, unable to speak, still I could call you by name. And I said, heartache healer, secret keeper, be my best friend, and you said I am.”

Christ as the groom…
Being married my eyes have been opened to the marital relationship as one that is parallel to Christ’s relationship with the church. In Ephesians there is a command, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” As a church we are submit to Christ’s authority, so as a wife we are to submit to our husband’s authority, as it is God ordained. This isn’t a bad thing, or a restrictive measure. It is a glorious thing because our husbands love us as themselves! This is a whole debate on it’s own and actually not what I have been meditating on today.

God as a parent…
Mother of two and a “cub,” I would lay down my life for these kids. I have an undeniable instinct to love and protect them. I feel pain when they are suffering, a physical pain inside of me when my child is hurt, emotionally or physically. They are my babies.

When Kristyn was about 6 months old I was cleaning house and listening to a new CD I had just bought, This Mystery by Nichole Nordeman. As the song Why was playing, I stopped in my tracks. I stood in the middle of my living room, listening to the lyrics of this song. By the end of the song, I was on my knees sobbing into my lap. I cried, unable to get any words out to God, but cried to Him.







I had heard the Easter story countless times. It never felt redundant or old, I knew Jesus was killed for my sins, and because he was raised from the dead and alive, I was able to accept Him and have eternal salvation. This was not new to me. Somehow, for the first time in my life, Jesus the Son stepped aside and I saw that God was a Father.

A parent.

Like me.

He had the same instincts to love his child, protect his child, hold his child when he was hurt. And somehow, for some reason, He pushed aside those instincts and let his Son suffer…. For me… I saw my God in a new light. I had a different understanding and appreciation for the sacrifice that was made on Calvary. Jesus the Sn made a sacrifice, but so did God the Father. He watched as His son was hurt and rejected and killed. Praise His name that the story doesn’t end there. Because he lives there is eternal salvation, and Glory in heaven for someone as imperfect as me.

As my relationship with God grows, so does my understanding that He cannot be kept in a box. He is not just a “heartache healer,” or a “bridegroom,” He is the Alpha, Omega, King of kings, Lord of lords, Prince of Peace, Yaweh, I Am… Glory be to God in the Highest as we celebrate Easter.

Why by Nichole Nordeman

We rode into town the other day

Just me and my Daddy

He said I'd finally reached that age

And I could ride next to him on a horse

That of course was not quite as wide

We heard a crowd of people shouting

And so we stopped to find out why

And there was that man

That my dad said he loved

But today there was fear in his eyes

So I said "Daddy, why are they screaming?

Why are the faces of some of them beaming?

Why is He dressed in that bright purple robe?

I'll bet that crown hurts Him more than He shows

Daddy, please can't you do something?

He looks as though He's gonna cry

you said he was stronger than all of those guys

Daddy, please tell me why

Why does everyone want him to die?"

Later that day the sky grew cloudy

And Daddy said I should go inside

Somehow he knew things would get stormy

Boy was he right

But I could not keep from wondering

If there was something he had to hide

So after he left I had to find out

I was not afraid of getting lost

So I followed the crowds

To a hill where I knew men had been killed

And I heard a voice come from the cross

And it said, "Father, why are they screaming?

Why are the faces of some of them beaming?

Why are they casting their lots for My robe?

This crown of thorns hurts Me more than it shows

Father, please can't You do something?

I know that You must hear My cry

I thought I could handle the cross of this size

Father, remind Me why

Why does everyone want Me to die?

When will I understand why?"

"My precious Son, I hear them screaming

I'm watching the face of the enemy beaming

But soon I will clothe You in robes of My own

Jesus, this hurts Me much more than You know

But this dark hour I must do nothing

Though I've heard Your unbearable cry

The power in Your blood destroys all of the lies

Soon You'll see past their unmerciful eyes

Look there below, see the child

Trembling by her father's side

Now I can tell You why

She is why You must die"

First Day at a new school

Here are the precious duo. They love each other and stick together. Here they are on their first day of school. Branden was so brave and excited as he walked straight into school, no looking back. He gave us each a quick hug and didn't even turn around! Kristyn was a little more nervous, but she put on a brave front and sat with her classmates as they all waited patiently in the gym. I can't wait to hear the stories of first day of school when I pick them up.

We found a church home

One of my least favorite things about moving to a new town is church "shopping."  Especially since I had was leaving a church that had been such a blessing to me and my family, Yorktown Baptist. I had made great friends and watched my children grow exponentially in God's Word through AWANA.  So Zach and I began the search and seemed to find every extreme, but not quite what we were looking for, except for one church. 

This particular church was the first one we tried, but my Lutheran husband was hesitant because Baptist was in it's name, :). We tried a Methodist church, it was a United Methodist church gone rogue! Then we tried a Lutheran church and there weren't many under AARP age. So, Zach and I agreed that maybe this Baptist church should get another look. I was excited because this particular church had a a string of "signs" (for lack of a better word) that led us there.
1. A dear friend of mine from high school, Rachel, whom I have not had a close relationship with since I was married and a mother by 19, lived in Abilene, so I reached out to her so I would have a friend in my new hometown. She told me about her church and I was eager to try it on her recommendation.

2. After I left BAF I began going to Yorktown and was plugged in, and through that church God grew me during a tough year away from Zach. During my last Sunday School class before I left for Abilene, another couple said I must try a particular church with a pastor who had a heart for speaking God's truth and not necessarily speaking popular messages and filling seats. He had also been their college pastor. This church in Abilene was the church Rachel called her church home.

3. A friend from Yorktown, had made friends with an Air Force wife who had gone to Yorktown while in training at NAS-CC. Leah had e-mailed her friend telling her I was coming to Abilene and would she pray for a swift and easy transition because of our turbulent year. She had been praying, when Rachel asked her bible study group to pray for us, turns out Leah's friend was a part of Rachel's bible study, so I had another connection to this church.


Zach and I visited the church earlier in the summer, but the pastor was on vacation so the college pastor was guest speaking. It was not as traditional as Zach is used to, but he was willing to try it again once the pastor was back and make his final decision.
Well, we went back this Sunday, and all of the eggs for this church were in this sermon basket. Without knowledge to us, the pastor spoke a message directed by God, to us, to our hearts, to our life. It was on the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, and he spoke on the command for forgiveness. I cannot tell you the last time I felt God speaking so directly to my heart. Zach and I have found ourselves in a place of bitterness and resentment towards the kids' dad, unwilling to offer forgiveness (even if he hasn't asked for it). The truth this pastor spoke was amazing. Before we left the sanctuary, Zach affirmed what I knew, we had found our church home.

We are excited to start finding ways to get connected and minster through this church, especially starting with AWANA again this fall with the kids. A number of guys in our Sunday School group also work in Zach's squadron, so it will be a great group we will be getting to know!