Easter: What One Person Can Do for Jesus

Posted on by March 26, 2021avatar
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EasterComing up this weekend is Easter Sunday — the day we celebrate The Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In the week prior to Easter each year, by way of the scriptures, I visit the sites of “The Greatest Story Ever Told.”

I enter The Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was betrayed. I stroll down the Via Dolorosa path trying to visualize the sights and sounds of that horrendous day. Moving past the city gates of Jerusalem, I make my way to Golgotha, where He died on the cross. Ending my visit at the tomb, I leave rejoicing that He is not there.

During my visit this year, not only was my heart filled with gratitude for what Jesus did for me, but it was also stirred with an awareness of what common ordinary people were doing for Jesus.

I invite you to pay a visit to these people with me, and let’s examine our own lives to see what one person can do for Jesus.

Mark 14:1-9 – One Woman Did What She Could
A certain woman heard that Jesus would soon die and wanted to prepare his body for burial. While He was eating at the home of Simeon, the Leper, she came into the house with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head. The people rebuked her harshly for not selling the perfume and giving the money to the poor. But Jesus said: “Let her alone. She has done what she could. She has done a beautiful thing for me. The poor you will always have with you and you can help them any time; but I won’t be here much longer.”

When we do what we can do with the abilities we have,
or give of those things we treasure the most,
we are doing a beautiful thing for Jesus.

Mark 15:17-21 – One Man Carried The Cross
Jesus was sentenced to die and began his journey to the site of the crucifixion. The Romans recognized that Jesus had grown weak and ready to faint under the load of the cross and feared he would die before he got to the site. So, they drafted Simon of Cyrene, a visitor to the city, to carry the cross for Jesus.

When we help carry the burden of someone who has grown tired and weary,
we are doing a beautiful thing for Jesus.

Mark 15:42 – One Man Risked Persecution
After the crucifixion had taken place, Joseph of Arimathea, went in boldly to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus for burial. He did this knowing he could incur displeasure, reproach, and persecution of the Jews. He was not ashamed of being associated with Jesus nor afraid to appear in his behalf.

When we are willing to risk the persecution of others
to be obedient to His call on our lives,
we are doing a beautiful thing for Jesus.

Mark 16: 9-13 – One Woman Told the Story of His Resurrection
Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene, a woman whom he had cast out seven devils, came to the tomb. Not finding him there, they fled trembling and bewildered. Soon, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene. Running to his weeping disciples, Mary shouted, “HE’S ALIVE!” Bible commentaries say it is possible that Jesus made His first appearance to this woman to show us as an example of his abounding grace.

When we catch a glimpse of grace, God’s unmerited favor,
we will do a beautiful thing for Jesus by sharing the gospel with everyone we meet.

Luke 23:39 – One Man Accepted Jesus as his Savior
As Jesus hung between two criminals on the cross, the conversation went like this: First thief: “So, you are the Messiah, are you?” “Prove it by saving yourself and us, too!” Second thief: “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus said: “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, not only are we doing it for our eternal life,
but we are doing it for him so that His suffering will not be in vain.

My friends, when we think of the Easter story, may our hearts cherish what Jesus did for us. But, when we think of ordinary people like you and me, may we be reminded of what one person can do for Jesus.

Could it be that what we do for Jesus will also be written down as a memorial to us like these people? Oh, I long to hear Him say: “Well, done, my good and faithful servant.”

Hannah and I wish you a most joyful Easter Sunday with your family and friends.

Today is a Great Day to Learn Something New!!

Posted on by January 30, 2016avatar
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learn something newMy website is devoted to helping children in all areas of their lives, and encouraging others to get involved. I think it is safe to say that “teachers are at the top of the list of involvement in the lives of children.” Their involvement extends long past the dismissal bell.

My guest today is Laura Croom, a teacher of fourteen years, who takes up the cause for kids, along with other educators, straight to the Georgia Capitol.

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I believe every day is a great day to learn something new. Personally, I feel like I learn something new every day. As an educator, it is my responsibility to learn new things. I need to be aware of new policies, techniques and general information. I think that is the best way to educate the future. I also think it is a way to educate the past as well.

Recently I attended a Legislative Day at the Georgia Capitol. Educators from all over the state met with Senators and Representatives to express their concerns on the current path of education. The legislators that we were able to speak with seemed to have an understanding of the situations we as educators are facing. However, that was only a handful of people.

It seems that there are many politicians out there that do not have any understanding of what is going on in classrooms on a daily basis. Our Governor established an Education Reform Committee this past year to lead education in the right direction. The most interesting thing about this committee was the fact that there was not one current or previous educator on it. Personally, that was a slap in the face. It said any Tom, Dick or Harry could make a decision about my profession and the future education of students. I have never heard of anyone making a committee of businessmen and women to decide how to prepare hospitals and doctors to complete brain surgery.

Educators do not receive respect. They continue to have more and more work piled on them, and they receive less and less pay. Many of you may think I spend my summers on vacation. I will assure you that’s not true. I teach swimming lessons and take extra courses through RESA to keep current with teaching techniques that are required of me. You may also think I get off at 3:00 every day. That is also a false statement. I usually get home around 5:30, but my phone and email are always on. I do not have to provide this for my parents, but I feel it is my duty to support my students at school and home.

As we are listening to candidates and preparing to vote, let me encourage each and every one of you to be sure you are registered to vote. When the time approaches, VOTE!!! Let’s make a difference in our country, in our states and in our schools. It’s time we take our country back and make it a place for students to learn without being tested continuously! Make it a place where my coworkers and I are respected for educating tomorrow’s leaders.

Make it a place where every day is a great day to learn something new!

Thank you, Laura, for shedding light on situations teachers are faced with today in the education system. I am sure that teachers in every state can identify with your pleas to the Legislature.

As a former teacher myself, and now a grandmother of four, my thanks to all teachers who are investing in the lives of my grandchildren and kids all over America.

learn something new

Delta Kappa Gamma International Society promotes professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education. It was founded May 11, 1929 in Austin, Texas. Since that time membership has grown globally. There are 77,000 members, 2,400 chapters, and 78 state organizations in 5 regions of the world.

Laura is a member of the Alpha Theta Chapter in the Psi State organization. She has been a member since 2011. Since this time, she has attended several regional, state and national conferences. She has completed the Leadership I and II seminars. She is currently the Vice-President of her chapter. When she was invited to attend DKG Legislative Day at the Capitol, she jumped at the opportunity, even taking a personal day to attend.

Laura has been able to make numerous new friends and connections across the state and the country through this society of women educators.

 

A Memorial of God’s Faithfulness: Joshua 4

Posted on by January 4, 2016avatar
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God's faithfulnessWe’ve all heard the miraculous story of how God pushed back the water of The Jordan River and the Israelites walked across on dry land into their long-awaited Promised Land of Canaan. Only God can turn an ocean into a major highway.

But, what I want to draw your attention to is what happened after the army of Israelites got across the Jordan River.

In Joshua 4:1-4, God gave Joshua instructions to choose 12 men, one from each tribe to take a stone and carry it back out into the place where the priests were still standing in the middle of the Jordan River. They were to pile the stones up as a monument.

Verses 6-7 tells the purpose of the monument: “In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What is this monument for,’ you can tell them it is to remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the ark of the covenant went across. The monument will be a permanent reminder to the people of Israel of this amazing miracle.”

How can this monument of stones be significant to us today?

First of all, I believe that it is important that our children and grandchildren know what God has done in our lives. Telling them things He has brought us through should increase their faith.

Second of all, “What about, shall we say, ‘the new trials’ that we continue to face? As you know, just because the Israelites miraculously crossed the Jordan River, life wasn’t easy for them in their new land. They faced walled cities, and of course, had war with the Philistines many times.

Oh yes, God helped them, but in between the great acts of God, the people lived in a real world. and they often got discouraged in between the powerful acts of God.

In his book, You Were Made For More, Jim Cymbala, summed their predicament up this way:

These Israelites who stood on the banks of the Jordan River after a great miracle, will experience times when they will not be able to see by their present experiences that God is God at all. There will be times when they will not be sure if God is present among them. There will be times of no miracles. There will be times when their world is thrown into such chaos that they will be able to see no future at all.

It is those times, they will need a reference point. They will need to be able to look at that pile of stones by the Jordan River and say, “We are not sure right now about God’s presence, but we know for certain that God is God because this pile of stones bears witness to Him.”

What about you, my friend? What did you experience in 2015 that might have left you discouraged? Perhaps you had a loved one to die, faced financial losses, or experienced a divorce, to name a few losses.

Perhaps you are at that point in your life that you are not able to see by your present circumstance that God is beside you. Oh yes, I have been there.

I encourage you today, before you try to go forward in defeat, look back and remember from where God has brought you, and the many miraculous things He has done in the past for you.

As a symbolic reminder of this, why not find a stone (or any object) to place on your desk or your bedside that can be used to remind you of God’s faithfulness in the past.

Sometimes, we just need a reference point like the stones at the Jordon River to look back in the past of God’s faithfulness, that will move us forward into the future.

My granddaughter and favorite illustrator, Hannah, want to wish you a Happy New Year and may blessings come your way in 2016.