A Very Foreman Easter In Photo Form

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. - John 3:16-17

Finding Candy Filled Eggs

Searching for Candy Filled Treasure

Treasure Found!

Where Mom?  I don't See it...

Checking out the loot.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.... - 1 Peter 1:3 

Silly Girls

Happy 95th Birthday Grandpa!

Beautiful View as We Leave My Grandparent's Home

Happy Easter from Our Home to Yours!

We love because he first loved us.- 1 John 4:19

The Happy Couples Dressed in Orange

Skypeing with The Florida Foremans

Happy Easter Baby Roey, Christy and Brian!

Maundy Thursday - Living Last Supper

Mango Salsa

Today is Good Friday.  Both Abby and Emily asked me, "What is so good about Jesus dying today?"  The fact that Jesus had to die was sad and the people that were close to Him were very sad, but the gift of salvation and new and eternal life that His sacrifice gave us is more then Good.  Our Father in heaven loves us so much, that He not only came to Earth as one of us, but He conquered the grave to save us from ourselves. 

At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.  And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).  When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”  Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.  With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.  The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!"    - Mark 15: 33-39

Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

2 Ripe Mangoes
½ Cucumber
½ Red Pepper
½ Red Onion
Local Honey or Agave Nectar (approx 1 tsp)
Sea Salt
Lime
Fresh Cilantro

Directions:

Dice mangoes, cucumber, pepper and onion and add to large mixing bowl.  Add honey and salt to taste with lime and fresh chopped cilantro. 

Alone?

“Emily, I am going downstairs to do the wash.  Do you want to stay upstairs or come down with me?”   I inquire to the four year old playing ponies in the living room.

“I will stay up here, Mommy.”   She quickly replies.

“Okay, I will be right back; I am going downstairs right now to fold the wash”

“Okay, Mommy.”

Less than two minutes pass as I make my way toward the washing machine, wading my way through various stuffed animals and Lego creations that litter the family room floor in the basement.   As I open the dryer door I hear a startling scream of “MOMMY!  MOMMY!”

As I dash up the stairs a flood of various scenes run through my mind.  Missing fingers, broken bones, bleeding heads, any number of horrible things that can happen in a short two minutes time come to mind. 

“Emily!  What is wrong?  What happened?”  I take a quick survey of the room and my daughter and there are no large pools of blood to be seen so my muscles start to loosen.

“Nothing Mommy, I just didn’t remember where you were and I got scared.”

Phew.

I find I often feel lonely.  Partly because I stay at home and only one of the three kids are not in school full time, partly because my husband works long hours, partly because most of my friends work during the day, but mostly because I forget to look up.  I forget that God is with us when we need and when we don’t.  I forget that even when there is no one to call because they are all too busy to listen to my latest story or just to talk to someone that is older than four, God is happy to listen and he even responds if we are willing to listen and read his word.  We needn’t feel lonely, scared and scream to find him because God is “folding the wash” and ready to come when we call, desperate or otherwise.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."  Deuteronomy 31:6

Less is More

Guest Blogger...Enjoy!

I think it’s important to consider the word of God every day.  Some days though, the reality and trials of modern life seems to take all our attention.  Are we really that busy that we can’t find a moment to think about God?  Or is there something else tempting us to excuse ourselves?  Either way, there are days when we just can’t imagine finding just the right bible verse.

Thankfully, He gave us a simple and perfect prayer that we can always use when we’re lost for words, noting that sometimes less is more.

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen" -  Matthew 6:5-13

Simple Summer Salsa

Summer is coming and there is no hiding that fact.  The kids are already counting the days until freedom from school and homework and they are enjoying longer days with outdoor time on weeknights.  Playing SPUD, watching the birds build nests and laughing with each other as the sun sets has become a regular evening activity for us.  While swim team and soccer practice will soon steal evening free time from us again, we are really enjoying the beautiful simplicity of life in the springtime.  As the cool breeze wraps around us each evening, we drink in the awesomeness of His creation and are grateful for the lot we have been given to live. 

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? - Matthew 6:26

Simple Summer Salsa

Ingredients:

• 4 Fresh Tomatoes
• 1 Green Bell Pepper
• ½ Spanish Onion
• ½ Red Onion
• 4 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Lime
• Sea Salt
• Fresh Cilantro

Directions:

Dice tomatoes, pepper, and onions and place in large bowl.  Mince garlic cloves and add to mix.  Add the juice of the lime and chopped cilantro and salt to taste.  Mix together and enjoy!

Only Human

When Abby was four years old, she was a lovely, purple Unicorn Pegasus for Halloween.  While trick or treating Halloween evening, a neighbor took her up on the offer of trick and asked, “What trick will you do?”  A look of confusion washed over Abby’s face and she quickly responded, “Well, nothing.  I am only a human.”

Four year old Abby was worried that the neighbors thought she really was a Unicorn Pegasus and that she could do some sort of magical trick.  Knowing Abby a bit better now, I am also certain that she felt sorry for their misunderstanding and really wanted them to know she wasn’t magical at all and could not fly like a Pegasus or do whatever it is that Unicorns do.  But what does being “only a human” mean?

I am pretty sure I cannot fly like a Pegasus, though I have not and will never officially try.  I can state with complete certainty that I do not have a magical horn on my forehead.  I am definitely a human and I am definitely bound by my limitations as such.  Despite the limitations being human presents, such as the inability to fly, I know that free will is a trait that we alone carry.  While birds can fly, cheetahs run fast and chameleons hide based on their environment, humans alone have free will and the ability to choose when, where and how we do everything.  A bird can fly, but he has no will to change the way he builds a nest.  Have you ever seen a nest with a two car garage or fenced in yard?  Cheetahs run at lightning speeds, yet they have no will to change their diet.  The speed of a Cheetah would be useless if he were only hunting vegetables and grains.  Chameleons can adapt their outer layer to hide in any environment, yet there is no will to move to a new neighborhood with fewer predators.  How many for sale signs have you seen in the rainforest trees?

With free will we have the exclusive ability to choose and create.  Without free will there is no creative thought and no deductive reasoning.  There are no artists, writers or scientists in the animal kingdom.  We were created in God’s image and the creativity we have through free will is what connects to God and separates us from the animals that roam his creation.  So what does being “only a human” mean to you?   

Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground." – Genesis 1:26

Palm Sunday

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King  John 12:12-19

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³ They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!^[d]”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”^[e]
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
¹⁵ “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”^[f]
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
¹⁷ Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. ¹⁸ Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”