So how was your Easter this year?  Are you the type to go hunting for easter eggs, buy lots of chocolate, and have a big turkey dinner?  Or do you prefer your celebrations a bit smaller?  Is it your time to gather family around the table, or take your first spring camping trip?

In our house, we celebrate Christ's death and resurrection by way of remembering the Passover feast.  Easter weekend was filled with choir singing engagements, doing sound for a funeral, and of course time spent in my Father's House Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.  This meant having our meal Thursday evening.  You can find a bit of a write-up I did about Easter on my blog at this link here: http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/2014/04/17/the-lamb-who-takes-away-the-sins-of-the-world/

NEW BOOK PROJECTS IN THE WORKS!

Two new book projects are in the works!  That's right, I said TWO!  The first is my next book, "A Year in Prayer With Jesus".  This book, as usual, darn near wrote itself, and is now in the hands of reviewers/editors as of roughly 2 weeks ago.  I'm looking forward to their feedback as I prepare this book for publishing.

If you've ever wondered how to use The Lord's Prayer as a prayer guide, this book will be for you.  Read more about this new book at this link.  http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/2014/04/12/introducing-my-latest-book-project-a-year-in-prayer-with-jesus/

The second project just began a week ago, and is a collaborative work with my daughter, who is sharing lessons God has taught her from life spent working with horses.  Titles are still being bantered around, but the early stages look good!  We've already picked out cover art, but won't be sharing that with you till her book enters it's own review/edit phase.  So stay tuned!
 
IT'S GRADUATION SEASON!!!

Have you bought that grad gift for your high school graduate yet???  If you are a parent of a graduating teenager, or know a parent of a graduating teenager, or perhaps you know youth pastors of Senior Highs, send them over to Createspace to buy their grad gifts early! (https://www.createspace.com/4249405)

If they prefer digital books, head on over to Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=f7TYk-aPDdwC&rdid=book-f7TYk-aPDdwC&rdot=1&source=gbs_vpt_read), Scribd (http://www.scribd.com/doc/148810037/Mom-s-Little-Black-Book-Godly-Advice-for-the-High-School-Graduate), New Christian Books (http://www.songsfromtheword.com/idevaffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=123&url=32),  or get them a monthly subscription at Inkbok.com and direct them to this book first among the many they will read. (https://inkbok.com/book/moms-little-black-book-godly-advice-high-school-graduate)

Every parent wants to be sure their graduating teenager enters life on the best footing possible. This book contains practical tidbits of advice from a Mother to her teenager, along with verses from Scripture. In addition, there are sample calendars for things like chores, daily devotions, etc. The section on food has a sample grocery list, and the financial section contains a sample budget sheet.

At $10 - $12, I'm told the price is a steal for a paperback book of this size.  Digital prices are roughly half that.  Youth pastors looking to get a bundle for their youth group's graduating class should contact me about potential discounts.

Wrap-up

 Over the past few weeks, we have celebrated Christ's ride into Jerusalem on a donkey with the people crying "Hosanna!".  We have contemplated and expressed gratitude for Christ becoming the ultimate sacrifice to take away our sins and make way for mankind to once again enjoy direct relationship with the Triune God.  We have rejoiced at the celebration of Christ's Resurrection, again expressing gratitude for offering us eternal life with God forever!  And now we wait. . .

40 Days after Jesus rose from the dead, He ascended into heaven.  The heavenly Bridegroom still sports the scars created by the nails that held Him to the cross as He took the sin punishment for His Bride, the Church.  He promised to send a Comforter and Teacher who would guide us into all Truth.  The disciples were told to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit's advent.  Another 40 days would go by before that amazing day when the Holy Ghost rushed into that upper room, filling every person present with His power and might to go out and turn the world upside down!

Waiting has it's challenges.  It can be boring.  It can cause fidgiting.  It can lead to fear and doubt.  In the disciples' case, they lived in fear that the ruling religious leaders would come looking for them at any moment to drag them off to prison for being heretics.  Now their fear did actually come to pass, but not before the Holy Spirit had landed and given them ample opportunity to begin spreading the Gospel.  The first martyr would be a man named Stephen.

Sometimes our fears do come to fruition.  It's important to remember our focus when we are in a season of waiting, and not let fear, doubt, or anxiousness and that antsy feeling that can give way to taking matters into our own hands, get the best of us.  Sometimes when fears arise, we become fearful of our fears and they become our focus!  But when the Holy Spirit brings the awaited answer, promise, or open door, our focus should be on Him and what He is doing instead.  It isn't up to us to order our steps.  God says in His Word that He orders our steps.  Many times, what we fear and/or worry about, never comes to pass.  But if it should come to pass, we can know that God has a plan through it all that we would not have seen on our own.

The Early Church suffered many things, but that suffering and scattering meant that we have the Word of God today, and can celebrate with them in Heaven at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

So how are you handling the wait?

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