HE IS RISEN!

MAJESTY

by Lola Cain

“A King who ruled in majesty”

That’s what people wanted him to be!

No crown of thorns or whip of shame

No cross on which to bear our blame

No nails, no spear, no agony

No death upon a criminal’s tree

No burial in a borrowed grave

…No resurrection power to save!

Thank God for his eternal plan

for justifying fallen man

By providing the atoning sacrifice –

Sending his Son to pay the price.

Coming incarnate to earth to die

He redeemed His created from Satan’s lie

Thank you, Sacrificial Lamb

…for overriding the will of man.

The veil was rent!  God’s plan complete!

We now can worship at his feet!

We enter his presence unafraid

by the blood that Jesus shed to save!

Thank the LORD, he rose again

victory over death to win

Thank Father, Son and Holy Ghost

…the anthem sung by the heavenly host!

“He’s risen,” we shout.  “HE’S RISEN INDEED!

The cornerstone of our Christian creed

And coming once, he’ll come again

God’s promised victory over sin

“It’s finished,” his final words on the cross

Our redemption sealed.   Our salvation bought.

Now he reigns eternally

…what both God and man wanted him to be…

“A KING WHO RULES IN MAJESTY!”

Thank You, LORD!  Love, Lola

AWAITING RESURRECTION

I just went back and read my Lenten blog entries from 2010 and 2011 for the Sabbath day when Jesus' body lay on a stone-cold slab encased in spices and burial cloths in the  cave-like tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea.  I am sooooo grateful for Joseph - - that someone was there in the midst of the pain and rejection to honor Jesus as He should be honored.  What Joseph did took courage.  I want that kind of courage!

I've missed not writing a Lenten journey blog this year....  My entries from the past are a reminder of the amazing spiritual journey where studying, thinking and writing took me in prior years....  On our recent road trip I was in the desert physically and 'in the wilderness spiritually' while in the desert.  I'm grateful for the lessons learned - - but I am ready for a new beginning!

The reminder of what Jesus did, and where He was at specific times has come to mind multiple times over the past few days.  I'm ready for the Resurrection!  I'm ready for His victory!  I'm so grateful we know the end of the story!

Hosea & Peter

In our 'small group' - - which is in reality an adult Sunday School Class called Understanding the Times, we just started a study of the book of Hosea.

It had never occurred to me before how reluctant Hosea might have been to obey God's command - - or how he would look to his friends in his obedience.  What a hard thing - - to marry someone who had all of the makings for being unfaithful; then name your children birthed by her such horrific names as messages to the people he prophesied to - - the chosen, the children of Israel.

Because of having just read the names of 2 of his children:  translated "No Mercy" and "Not my people", yesterday when I was sorting through the plethora of emails which accumulated during our 6-week absence, I found one of the "Love Notes From God" that quoted 1 Peter 2:10 in the KJV:  "Which in time past were not a people but are now the people of God:  which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."

My interest was immediately piqued!  Peter was writing very specifically to the people who had been mentioned in Hosea - - those who once were "No mercy" and "Not my children" who were now children of God - - His people!  And now recipients of His mercy!  I loved the timing of the connection.  I love God's WORD!

HAPPY NEW YEAR LETTER: 2012 in Retrospect

12/30/12

HAPPY NEW YEAR THE CAIN CLAN – 2012 IN RETROSPECT

I really wish I had written my annual missive on 12/12/12.  But I didn’t….  2012 was a year for which a few pictures would be better than a thousand words…but I’ll hit a few of the positive highlights.   

The first few months of 2012 Al recuperated from his 12/21/11 total shoulder replacement surgery.  I’m happy to report that went well, and he no longer has pain.  While he doesn’t have full range of movement because he waited too long to get it repaired, he is able to do everything he wants to do – including a lot most younger men wouldn’t attempt.   

April 6 he turned his little Farmall Cub tractor over on top of himself and was pinned under it for about an hour….  Everyone who might have heard him was gone, including me.  Our son-in-law, Tom, just happened to come home that afternoon – and it just happened to be a nice day out, so he had his window open and heard Al’s yell for help.   Al was very fortunate.  You’ll have to get the whole story directly from him….

Al and his chain saw have been very busy!   An ice storm accounts for most of that!  Between ameliorating the effects to our property here, he has done a lot of work at our 5 acres in Graham – with the awareness of the need precipitated by one of our maple trees getting hit by lightning, catching on fire, and creating a bit of excitement for the neighbor!   Most of the time I join him when he heads to Graham.   It’s been fun working on that project together.   We made lots of piles, which we burned one at a time as required once the burn ban was lifted – and in the process had the joy of getting better acquainted with the neighbors there.   

Kami and I took a 5-day trip to Oahu August 11–17; and Al and I hiked up to Spray Park on our 42^nd anniversary August 21.   We didn’t take any long trips this year.  But – we progressed a long way toward making the 5 acres at Graham park-like!

The biggest news for me in 2012 was completing the written phase of my long-term children’s musical project.  A Letter from G. O. D. has been in print since October. I’ve been working on it for several years – and it is a relief to have that phase of the project completed!   I still have to do a simple CD so people can hear the tunes – and complete editing the choreography – but the actual musical is done!  Hooray!   I couldn’t have done the project without Kami’s computer expertise.  We spent many hours editing and refining.  Even before the final edits were completed my friend Mary Beth directed it at Grace Foursquare Church in Centralia in April.   That was a special joy! 

Some of the other highlights of the year included various family events, wonderful theatrical productions our grandkids performed in, soccer and swim meets; the special visit of my niece and her family from Utah; involvement in worship team music, being one of the storytellers for children’s worship and being part of an amazing adult Sunday School class; and for Al – hunting, woodworking and flint-knapping.  (This year consumed way too much time in politics for my liking!  I’m still recuperating!)

Remembering the good of the year diffuses other memories – and is a reminder that whatever is good, pure, lovely and of good report is what we are admonished to think about!  We are very thankful for our kids and their families – our greatest joys!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013 from the aging-but-not-old-yet Cains! 

Lola & Al;  Lola & Bud;  Yo & Pa

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I love new beginnings....  Starting over....  A clean slate....  Clear pages....  Hope....  Possibility....

What will be written on the pages of this year?  I don't know.

I'm glad for the fresh start, but I also face this year with palpable apprehension,  rooted in things that are unresolved from the past year, personally and nationally.  For my part I purpose to move forward, with the Lord as Comforter, Guide and Source.   As for the direction of my country, I have to leave that in God's hands and center on Him and His direction in navigating what lies ahead.

As much as I'd like to just leave the challenges of 2012 behind, it is impossible.  So - - I haul them with me onto the new pages of another new year.  2013.  Will this be the year of the Lord's return?   I don't know, but I know I want to live it intentionally, faithfully and with eyes open to clearly see what God is doing.  I want to spend more time in prayer and less time being worried about the direction my government is heading.  I want to resist the resultant apprehension and focus on the JOY the Lord has in store.   New pages.   New days.  New possibilities.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT

This was sent to me as an email forward.   I had to share...even though I am doing so a bit late!  

THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT
  


My husband and I had been happily married (most of the time) for five years but hadn't been blessed with a baby.  I decided to do some serious praying and promised God that if he would give us a child, I would be a perfect mother, love it with all my heart and raise it with His Word as my guide.
  


God answered my prayers and blessed us with a son.
  
The next year God blessed us with another son.
  
The following year, He blessed us with yet another son.
  
The year after that we were blessed with a daughter.
  
My husband thought we'd been blessed right into poverty. We now had four children, and the oldest was only four years old.
  


I learned never to ask God for anything unless I meant it.   As a minister once told me, "If you pray for rain, make sure you carry an umbrella."
  
I began reading a few verses of the Bible to the children each day as they lay in their cribs. I was off to a good start. God had entrusted me with four children and I didn't want to disappoint Him. 



I tried to be patient the day the children smashed two dozen eggs on the kitchen floor searching for baby chicks.
  
I tried to be understanding when they started a hotel for homeless frogs in the spare bedroom,
although it took me nearly two hours to catch all twenty-three frogs.
   
When my daughter poured ketchup all over herself and rolled up in a blanket to see how it felt to be a hot dog, I tried to see the humor rather than the mess. 
  In spite of changing over twenty-five thousand diapers, never eating a hot meal and never sleeping for more than thirty minutes at a time, I still thank God daily for my children.

While I couldn't keep my promise to be a perfect mother - I didn't even come close…. However, I did keep my promise to raise them in the Word of God.
    
I knew I was missing the mark just a little when I told my daughter we were going to church to worship God, and she wanted to bring a bar of soap along to "wash up" Jesus, too.
  
Something was lost in the translation when I explained that God gave us everlasting life, and my son thought it was generous of God to give us his "last wife."
  


My proudest moment came during the children's Christmas pageant. My daughter was playing Mary, two of my sons were shepherds and my youngest son was a wise man. This was their moment to shine.
   
My five-year-old shepherd had practiced his line, "We found the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes." But he was nervous and said, "The baby was wrapped in wrinkled clothes."
  
My four-year-old "Mary" said, "That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly. That's dirty, rotten clothes."  A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd and was stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost her left wing.
  


I slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary dropped the doll representing Baby Jesus, and it bounced down the aisle crying, "Mama-mama."  Mary ran out and grabbed the doll, wrapped it back up and held it tightly as the wise men arrived.
  
My other son stepped forward wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown, knelt at the manger and announced, "We are the three wise men, and we are bringing gifts of gold, common sense and fur." 
  
The congregation dissolved into laughter, and the pageant got a standing ovation.
  


"I've never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as this one," laughed the pastor, wiping tears from his eyes.   "For the rest of my life, I'll never hear the Christmas story without thinking of gold common sense and fur."
  
"My children are my pride and my joy and my greatest blessing," I said as I dug through my purse for an aspirin.
  
  


Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.  Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.  Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.  Had no army, yet kings feared Him. He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.  He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.  He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

And, just as He promised, He is coming again!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

MY TALK FOR A LADIES' BRUNCH LAST SATURDAY

Lola’s talk for FAL Ladies’ Christmas Brunch – 12/8/2012

I prefaced my talk by saying I argued with God about what He wanted me to say – that I wanted the ‘fun’ talk – but He specifically told me there was one person who needed to hear what He wanted me to say today – and that I wrote what I would say, or I could talk until tomorrow afternoon.  I also mentioned that as the eldest of the 4 speakers I was there to represent the ‘older’ generation. – Lola

When tragedy enveloped me as a child, I didn’t know who Jesus was – and I didn’t know His comfort.  I was 7 ½ years old when my mother committed suicide April 3^rd  1953.  It felt like my world had come to an end….but because of her death, my dad went on a mission to ‘find us a mother’ and he remarried just over 14 months later.  My stepmother got us into church.   My heart was absolutely open to hear about the God who loved me and the Savior who died for me, and when I was 8 ½, I knelt at the altar in a little white A/G church in Wilder, Idaho and asked Jesus to come into my heart.  

Then I grew up, disobeyed God, and married the wrong person. (Which means he married the wrong person, too.)  After a miscarriage and a divorce I was so angry at God for letting me make such a horrible mistake that I decided He didn’t even exist. During the time that I was away from God I met and married Al.  When I was pregnant with our first child, I came terrifyingly close to miscarrying.  I’d already been there and didn’t want to do that again – and in my desperation I prayed to the God I had abandoned, “God, I don’t even know if You are real, but if You are, and if You will save this baby, I will recommit my life to You.”  He did and I did. 

It hasn’t always been easy – but I have been faithful.  I’ve been through plenty of other tough stuff since then – and, in fact, am going through one of the toughest right now – but now I know that no matter what happens I have to place my trust completely in the Lord.   There is nowhere else to turn. 

God’s Word is my greatest source of comfort – and Jesus' words are the most comforting of all: 

“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.   Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-29)

He tells us, “In this world you will have trouble, but I have overcome the world.”

And He assures us, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” 

When I cling to those promises, I find comfort and I find joy.  True joy. 

Joy is a layered word.    There is a joy that elicits ebullient expressions of delight – pure unbounded visible joy – but there is also a much deeper joy – one that is not defined by emotion – but is an inner assurance that reflects the joy of the Lord in our lives.  That joy is an attitude – and a choice.  It is not dependent on circumstances.  In fact, true joy is based on the reality of having the Lord in our lives.  It is best stated in the phrase, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” 

The joy of having the Lord in my life is what gives me the strength to face difficulty.  He is my joy and my source of joy! 

There is another way to look at that statement.  It states “the joy of the Lord”….  When I ask myself what the Lord’s joy is – the answer is us!  Everyone who has received Him is His joy.   In fact we are His inheritance.  At the end of the age, we will be presented to Jesus as His gift, His inheritance.  Everything He did, He did for us.  He paid the price for us to have a relationship with God, a relationship with Him.

It is the kind of joy the songwriter experienced when he stood at the rail of the ship and peered into the waters that had taken the lives of his 4 young daughters and wrote the lyrics of IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL.   

The first announcement of Jesus’ birth was to shepherds in a field who were taking care of the sheep.  Luke tells us that an angel of the Lord appeared to them – told them not to be afraid  (Don’t you just love it how angels always say, “Don’t be afraid?”) – then proclaimed, “Behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today, in the City of David, a Savior has been born to you.  He is the Messiah, the Lord.” 

That Good News of great joy is the best good news ever given – and it is good news of great joy to us as well…. 

There is enormous joy that is yet to come!   Jesus promised before He left the earth, “I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go I will surely come again and take you to myself.  His coming could be very, very soon!  We are living in uncertain times.  Every prophecy that had to be fulfilled for the Lord to return, has been – and now we are just waiting for His timing. 

One thing I have learned in life is that God deserves our praise and worship no matter what our circumstances….   I cannot promise you a path of ease.   In fact, quite the opposite.   I have heard many people say that the Lord will never give you more than you can handle.  The truth is, not everything that happens to us is from the Lord.  Sometimes it is because of our own bad choices – or someone else’s poor choice.  (Sometimes life is a four-letter word.*)  I have had more than I could handle on multiple occasions, but I have never had more than He can handle.   He walks with us through everything! 

Whatever life brings our way, it will be worth it all when we see Jesus. 

He is my comfort.  He is my joy!

12/9/postscript

I wish I had clearly stated that while He doesn’t take away the memory, He does take away the pain.

My current pain is not because of what happened back then – it is because of now….but I definitely am aware of His HOPE and comfort even in the valley. 

*This statement was not in what I originally wrote  – it was an unscripted comment….which would most likely have been better left unsaid....