Skip to main content

Palm Sunday and Forgiveness

I will admit it. I was horrible at Lent this year. I didn't really choose anything that stretched me all that hard.  However, I learned several lessons along the way and had a really fabulous Lenten retreat that kicked my butt and gave me a lot of meditate on throughout Lent.  One of the themes that has been "a flowing" (there's a pun in there for Erin and Alyshia) has been about grace, mercy, forgiveness and trust.

God spoke these themes to me in many ways throughout Lent but the sweetest moment came on Palm Sunday.

Long story short I took the girls to a college campus Palm Sunday Mass because I knew the priest would do an incredible job with the liturgy and there would be a small procession which I thought would be great for Evie.  We were late to Mass. I was running all over campus in a dress, with Maggie in a front carry in the Ergo and Evie on my piggy back.   It was 11:30 am and I forgot to grab a snack for the girls to have during Mass. Rookie mistake.

Evie was fantastic through the extra-long Liturgy of the Word, and the priest's notoriously long (but worth it) homilies.  Around the Prayers of the Faithful, Evie had a meltdown and Maggie was falling asleep in the Ergo so I took the girls to the Narthex.  No sooner did we get out there did the incensing of the altar caused the fire alarm to go off.

The noise was enough to wake Lazarus from the dead.  It woke Maggie Clare and sent Evie into a further panic and tantrum.  But because the alarm siren was 3 feet away from us the only option was to go back into the church.  I certainly let Evie know this was NOT because she was being good but because we couldn't be so close to the loud noise.

Mass proceeded and Evie continued to lay on the floor kicking, pinching my leg and pulling down my dressed.  At the Sign of Peace I (ironically) laid in to her. I scolded her waving my pointer finger and all, until she bursted into heart felt tears.

The Lamb of God began and Evie tapped me on the leg.  She looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said,
Mama, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you or sissy. I love you.
It took everything in my power to choke back tears as the priest continued, "Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us."

Just as my sorrowful three year old gets forgiveness and second chances, so do we from our Heavenly Father.

It was as if all my prayers this Lent were exemplified in a single hour.  Without a doubt, God gave me my children to reveal an entirely new depth of his love.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Where has she been?*

It's been a while, friends. Hi! Where did we leave off?  Ah yes, the roach .  He's still alive.  It's been over 10 days.  Though, he's slowing down and looking a little skinnier than when we first found him.  Maybe I'm making it up. I've started my new job with my friends lawn maintenance company.  Most of my time has been spent learning all the new (to me) software, moving the office to it's new locations, and just learning what the company does and offers.  Chris and I have had a great time working together so far.  I'm really enjoying learning new things.  Chris has already taught me a lot about great customer service. This weekend was my last retreat with middle school kids.  It was bittersweet. We had a spirit filled weekend full of lots of laughs, low ropes, rock wall, ultimate frisbee, prayer, and learning about Jesus. Our theme was "You Never Let Go" and we discussed three parables:  The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, ...

Nathan: Six Months

Measurements: Weight:   16lbs 15.5ounces  Length:  27.5 inches Feeds:  nurses 5 times a day; about 10-15 minutes each session. Diapers:    Blueberry Simplex and Smartbottoms size 3 in disposables Clothes:   9 mos and 6-12 mos Shoes:  none Teeth:  two bottoms Firsts & Milestones: Dec 25 - First Christmas Dec 30 - Tried carrots Jan 12 - flu shots + rolled over Likes: Thumb attention from sisters chewing on anything he can baths Disikes: Tummy time realizing he's alone wet diapers  Nathan continues to be a dream baby.  He lives by his schedule. I can almost set my watch to it. 7-8 wake + nurse 930 car nap  10:30 nurse 12 cradle nap 2 nurse 3 cradle nap 5 nurse 730 bath 8 nurse and bath His six month visit didn't go as swimmingly as expected.  Nathan still isn't putting a lot of pressure on his feet (a 4 month mile...

Baking with Betty: Dunwoody Dip

You're probably asking yourself, what is Dunwoody Dip? And it's a great question! It's easy to make. Melty. Cheesy. Meaty. A little bit spicy. And everyone LOVES it!  The origin, though, it's a more difficult to nail down.  My grandmother, who is from Dunwoody, Ga, actually heard about this dip when she was visiting friends in Denver.  Urban legend has it that some guy brought the dip to a party in Denver and when prompted for a name he stalled and said "Dunwoody Dip." Because, apparently he was from Dunwoody.   Who really knows? All I do know, is that this dip is yummy, very easy to make, and is always the first gone at a party or family get together.  Also, Eric might have married me because of this... Dunwoody Dip Ingredients: One tube of Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage Two cans of Rotel Tomatoes - Hot Two bars of Cream Cheese Big bag of Fritos Scoops Directions: Preheat oven to 325. In a large frying pan over medium-ish heat, brown the sausage. ...