The Saturday morning before Easter

There is a coconut cake* in the oven and the doors and windows are open wide to let the spring air flow freely.  I hear something (?) in the neighborhood – is some one mowing already? 

The washer and dryer are at their rumbly-sounds work and my dining room table is lined with colorful Easter bags, each designated for one amazing grandbebe or another, as I busily prepare for THE day, the day more important than all the rest of the days ever – the one celebrating what Jesus did.  Easter.  Resurrection – the complete and finished work.  New life, the new birth, the fulfillment of all longing.  I can’t help humming, singing, contemplating

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe

Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow

And we are rejoicing for we have a Savior and we are also waiting, longing for the new little bebe who will join us soon.  Jovan and Rocky were “due” on Friday and so, as every woman who has ever gone past her due date will attest, the longing increases to almost unbearable heights for birth, for what has been carried, to see the baby who has been hidden, being knitted by the very hands of God, right here, right now in our arms, in our sights, please, Lord!  From womb to waiting arms.  From darkness to light.  From will-this-ever-happen to the miraculous she is here!  From waning, worn-out hope to bright-light joy!

jovan pregnant

Mommy and daddy are ready!  Mommy is really really ready, doing the hardest of the work.  :)

All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.  Romans 8.22-25

We are enlarged in the waiting!  Oh, my goodness, our expectancy is JOYFUL!

jovan pregnant

So we are remembering Jesus, all He did, what His suffering and death on the cross gave us – while we were still actually sinners {don’t give up on this evil world, my friends and family – what Jesus did was enough and is enough for even these troubled days, for all men, for all times}.  Jesus is all.

And we are looking ahead with joyful expectancy for this new little girl, Baby-Girl Rhoades and we are blessed, so blessed.

So pray for Jovan if you think about it.  Pray for that promised strength to deliver (Isaiah 66) and Have a blessed Easter.

Jesus died.  But He conquered death and rose. And His blood washes white and His wounds brought us healing and what He has done means everything.  So be blessed on Easter!

I hear the Savior say, “Thy strength indeed is small; Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe

Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow”

Soon!

*About the coconut cake…Pure decadence.  I have been delivered of the very luscious, yet too-many-steps-from-scratch recipe I used to make to Heather’s delightful use-a-mix-and-you’ll-never-go-back-deliciousness.  It is a wonderful cake.  Maybe I will share the recipe with you!  Soon.

as promised {CLICK HERE} for cake recipe

2 thoughts on “The Saturday morning before Easter

  1. At age 65 I am still amazed at the way God works. He makes everything happen at the right time and the right place. I can’t help but think that there is a reason for the pain of child birth and of parenting. My new Grandson was born the 9th of March and is a Micro Preemie, He is so small but God has already made him a blessing to this man.
    What ever life holds for him I pray that he will grow up to be a mighty servant of the Lord. Just as some of his cousins have. May this new little one be a real blessing to you as well. Oh, I though tI heard the little one say, “Tell Mama I’ll be there, in answer to her pray!

  2. Oh, sweet. Thank-you Uncle Donald! I am praying for your great-grand-son. He is so very tiny and since we recently went through loving our little Malakai to health and vigor (he was a preemie), my compassion is strong for your family! There is SO MUCH to learn through these things, isn’t there? And, btw, I just learned that today is Vietnam Veteran’s Day – and you know you are always my favorite Vietnam Veteran. Love you, Uncle Donald!

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