Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts

National Pet Day: Meet Syd

Happy National Pet Day! This is the first time this day has been happy for me for awhile. The reason for the joy: Syd. I'm thrilled to announce this new family member and wanted to write about the path it took for him to come to us. 

Photo cred: Leia Anderson

 When my fur baby of eighteen years passed away, both Jason and I agreed that we didn't want to jump right into having another dog. About a year ago though, I started missing having a dog and just really felt an emptiness in not having a pet. Jason wasn't quite there though and for many good reasons. Dogs can be expensive and it's another thing to add to our routine, and life with an older dog hadn't been much fun the last few years. 

 Last fall, I had really bad doggo blues so I started doing some pet sitting and that helped. I also started just looking into puppies and different breeders. I knew I wanted another Pekingese or similar like a Shih Tzu or Japanese Chin or something small and just a good companion animal. We had a nightmare experience with a rescued Peke that I got from a shelter in Miami so I was very hesitant to do that again. However, the Peke puppies I was finding ranged in price from about $800-$2,500. That's a bit steep- and over and over I kept seeing friends with puppies bemoaning how hard housebreaking is and just how much chaos they bring with them. I also couldn't find a reputable breeder in the state of Florida and I was wary to go after an expensive dog sight unseen. When my buddy Jerry got a fabulous Shih Tzu from a shelter, that really opened me up to the idea of possibly attempting that route again.

 I began stalking Petfinder.com and PetTango.com and joined several rescue groups on Facebook. For months I saw nothing that fit my list of "must haves". I knew the only way to get Jason onboard and also just have a good experience for us and the dog was for the adopted animal to match the following criteria: adult 4-5 years old, good with children, under 15 lbs, must have a calm demeanor, must not have health issues, prefer Pekingese but open to other small dogs. It seems like a doable list, but among the rescues, I struck out over and over again. 

 Finally in January, Jason began to come around to the idea of adopting another dog and gave his support to my looking. I joined yet another Facebook rescue page, this one dedicated to Pekingeses internationally. The end of February, a cute little white Peke's profile popped up on the page. He hit everything on my list, but was way up in the panhandle, a 7 hour drive. It felt a little like the mishap that had happened before, but this dog's face just wouldn't get out of my head. I had to inquire and it took a few days and many emails but they approved my application and we started planning my trip up.
The picture from the rescue website
Yep, he's coming home with me!

For most of the seven hour ride, he either slept or sat and smiled at me.

 Easter weekend, I made the 14 hour round trip up to meet and check out Syd. Jason made me promise that if he seemed sickly or something was just off, that I would walk away. Thankfully, everything seemed legit and I was able to bring Syd home that day. What a delightful Easter morning surprise he was!

The Easter Doggy

 To wrap this up, I have been shy of rescues because of what happened with Einstein and the deception on that "rescue"'s part and the sorrow of having to put that dear old fellow down after just two weeks.  My interaction with the SaveUnderdogs.com organization was so very different and positive. Syd is everything we wanted in a pet and more. He is sweetness personified and even cuter than his pictures. I'm so glad we ended up going the rescue route and I would encourage anyone considering a pet to do the same. It may take a little longer and even be a little frustrating, but it is very worth it!

posted under , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 0 Comments

Musical Theater


Friday, April 13th~




   Juju's Easter egg is hatching a pretty awesome turtle. Going hard all day...but got to see our cute newborn buddy, Micah, and ended the evening laughing with friends so it's all good. Just a couple more days until we see Wicked! Now I just have to figure out how to get to Newsies. I so hope that show ends up going on tour.


posted under , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Easter Sunday

from Sunday, April 8, 2012~



   Happy Easter! We spent the morning at church, the afternoon and evening with family. Julian got three Easter baskets and spent hours in the pool so he's pretty into that side of Easter. On the spiritual side of things, our object lesson was well received.

   So this is the last day that I'll be talking about the Easter celebration. It's the culmination of the story, the week, the everything. Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus the third day after the crucifixion.* Our church does two services. The only difference between the two is the music: the earlier service is hymns, the later, more modern songs. We do read scripture and do responsive readings. The sermon focus is always related to the resurrection of Christ. Between the services we do a casual, brunch style breakfast. The rest of the day is spent with loved ones.

*Here's a summary of what we believe happened using Matthew 28:1-20; Mark 16:1-20; Luke 24:1-49; John 20:1-21:25. Following the crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea had Christ's body placed in his own tomb. A large stone covered the entrance and soldiers guarded the sealed tomb. On the third day, after the Sabbath was over, several women who were followers of Jesus went to the tomb at dawn to anoint the body of Jesus according to Jewish traditions of the time. Now sometime the night before or early that morning a violent earthquake took place as an angel rolled back the stone. The guards were paralyzed with fear, but when they recovered, they ran away. The angel announced to the women that Jesus who was crucified was no longer in the grave and said to them, "He is risen, just as He said." Then he instructed the women to inspect the tomb and see for themselves. He then told them to go inform the disciples.
As they were running to obey the angel's command, suddenly Jesus himself met them on their way. They fell at his feet and worshiped him. Jesus then said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see me." When the guards reported what had happened to the chief priests, they bribed the soldiers with a large sum of money, telling them to lie and say that the disciples had stolen the body in the night.

posted under , , , , , , , , | 0 Comments

Food Day

from Saturday, April 6, 2012~

Love having a freezer full of quick meals!


Had a great afternoon at Dinner Done with some friends today. It's the meal prep place that I happen to prefer. The only real drawback to places like this is that it's not cheap. For a family our size, we split the entrees so that makes it much more affordable. Tonight we had one of the entrees I made. It was steak stuffed with sun-dried tomato and spinach and then topped with adobo seasoning and feta cheese. Soooo yummy!

Easter Christian Traditions, continued...  Today there aren't many traditions that all Christians do for Easter. It is known as Bright Saturday. A lot of churches do egg hunts, but this has no biblical basis. Often the egg is used to illustrate the 3 in 1 nature of the Trinity.  Some more conservative groups oppose the practice as it is rooted in paganism. Some Catholic churches follow the Byzantine Rites for this day.

posted under , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 0 Comments

Good Friday

from Friday, April 6, 2012~



Yesterday was Good Friday. The commemoration of the day and event has been widespread since at least the 4th century (documented by Egeria). What is being commemorated is basically what happened to Jesus once the Jewish leaders turned Him over to the Romans as a troublemaker.* This is recorded in all 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John- click on the book to read the account). 

Within each Christian sect these events* are celebrated differently. The Catholic church observes the most elaborately. In that group,  Good Friday worship services often begin in the afternoon at 3:00 pm (traditionally the time that Jesus may have died). That can consists of the singing (or preaching) of the Passion of St. John's gospel. The Veneration of the Cross is also common. This is when Christians approach a wooden cross (or crucifix) and kneel before it and/or kiss part of it. In addition to these traditions, Holy Communion is practiced. In the Latin Rite of the Catholic church, no masses are said on Good Friday. Good Friday is an official fast day (no food) of the Catholic Church. Many churches (both Catholic and Protestant) also offer the Stations of the Cross.  


My church holds an afternoon service. Within that service we sing songs having to do with the crucifixion. Then we read the Biblical account of the crucifixion. Sometimes there is a short sermon. After that we spend some time in quiet reflection before partaking in communion. We end the service in song. Families are encouraged to do object lessons together. A popular one is always resurrection cookies. (Recipe & instructions found here.) We made a tomb and hill diorama then we did a simple (age appropriate) explanation of the event and then sealed a Jesus figure in the tomb. When we open it Sunday morning, the figure will be gone. (Instructions here.) In the past we've done a stations of the cross sort of thing, but it's been a few years.

Wikipedia actually has a pretty detailed Good Friday account posted with lots of scripture and even more detail about customs all around the world.

*I don't want to be overly graphic, but I think we all are aware of the brutality of the Roman Empire. I've included links if you want more detail. The first thing the Romans did was to strip Jesus naked and flog Him with a whip containing metal components, razor-sharp bones or hooks and lead balls. Flogging sometimes killed, but it always severely weakened the victim. The soldiers then commenced with the psychological torture: throwing a scarlet robe across His shoulders, making Him hold a scepter, and pressing a sharp thorn crown deep into His scalp. They screamed at and made fun of Him, they took the scepter out of His hand, and repeatedly struck Him on the head. Jesus then was in critical condition. A heavy wooden beam was thrust upon Christ’s battered body and He was led away to a place called Golgotha to be crucified.There Jesus was literally nailed to a wooden cross. Historically Romans used thick iron spikes driven through the wrists and ankles. The body would hang from the nails in a way that breathing became difficult as the person would have to push their body upward to grasp small gulps of air. The Roman system of crucifixion was intended to inflict maximum pain. Jesus would have experienced cycles of joint-wrenching cramps, intermittent asphyxiation, and excruciating pain as His lacerated back moved up and down against the rough timber of the cross. (In fact, the word excruciating (literally “out of the cross”) had to be invented to fully capture its horror.) As Jesus felt the end approaching, He was said to cry out, “‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?–––which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””† and then gave up His spirit. There was darkness and an earthquake large enough to break open sealed tombs. A follower of Jesus asked the Roman rulers to bury Jesus body. A short time later, a Roman legionnaire drove his spear through Jesus' ribs and into his heart to make sure He is dead. Jesus body is then taken and wrapped in a linen shroud and treated according to Jewish traditions and left in a sealed and guarded tomb.


†This is significant to the Christian because we believe that Jesus lived a perfect life but then allowed Himself this death to pay for all the wrongdoing of humanity. We believe God is just and holy and so He cannot tolerate evil and rebellion. When Jesus took on the sins of the world, God had to turn His back on Him.

posted under , , , , , , , | 0 Comments

Taking Care

from Wednesday, April 4, 2012~



Think we are just about ready for Easter! He's practicing his pixie stick technique. I could use a sugar rush about now. Today was full and it was mostly good stuff, but tonight I find myself just drained. We were in band practice until close to 10 pm so that's a big part of it. The rest is emotional, I think. I'm very up and down lately. It's late nights, poor food choices, and just a lot on my heart and mind. Think I need to pray more and take care of myself a little better.


Colossians 4:2 " Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart."

posted under , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comments

Move It or Lose It

Tuesday, April 3rd~


His shirt says King of the Road, hee hee...
   
   While our house was being cleaned, Julian and I took a lap around the neighborhood. It's heating up! Heat is something I'm not a big fan of. When I was a kid, I think it was fear of eternal fire that led my to accept Jesus as my savior. In time my reasons changed, but the idea of Hell just scared me to death. I hate to think of anyone being there. So I'm putting aside my anxiety, baking up some cookies tonight and walking over to the neighbors and inviting them to find out the true meaning of Easter this weekend. I don't think they'll be interested, but you never know.

posted under , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dirty Girl

Wednesday, March 21st~


So messy- to make and transport!
 And you are wondering what the heck this is... It's the start of an Easter object lesson. My friend Jessie discovered in on Pinterest. Jessie is probably my most creative friend and I love following her down the rabbit hole of craftiness. Here's the blog it's from originally. Now, this will be a little different than the blog one, but it should sprout edible wheat grass and we'll add crosses on Good Friday and put a small Jesus figure in the "tomb". There's a lid that we'll seal up. The night before Easter, when the child is in bed, we open the tomb and take the Jesus out. Sunday morning we talk about why it's empty now. I think he'll be into it and it's a good intro to the real meaning of Easter for us.

posted under , , , , , , , , , , | 0 Comments
Older Posts Home
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Swidget 1.0

Followers