Easter Services at church were great!  I went Saturday night and it was an awesome celebration of our redeemer's resurrection!

I picked up this book tonight on a trip to Barnes and Noble with my honey.  As I was sipping my cappuccino in the cafe area and reading the introduction, I knew immediateley it was a keeper.... and a life changer.  

Rwanda looms as a vastly uncharted case study in forgiveness. Why are survivors who lost entire families willing to forgive and befriend those who destroyed their lives? Why are once-militant and murderous Hutus now repenting of their crimes? These questions beckon the humble to explore the pain, the mystery, and the heartbreaking beauty of the process. 

...

Though the global community is shrinking through technology and travel, it is not erasing the prejudices and the ideological tensions that have divided peoples for centuries.

...

Could there be a common roadmap to reconciliation? Could there be a shared future after unthinkable evil? If forgiveness is possible after the slaughter of nearly a million in 100 days in Rwanda, then, today more than ever, we owe it to humanity to explore how one country is addressing perceptual, social-psychological, and spiritual dimensions to achieve a more lasting peace. If forgiveness is possible after genocide, then perhaps there is hope for the comparably smaller rifts that plague our relationships, our communities, and our nation. These stories of Rwandan reconciliation provide a roadmap not just for national healing, but for healing on a personal level as we learn what it means to forgive and be forgiven.

I am excited to read this book to learn more about what happened, and to read about the amazng work that God is doing in that country through forgiveness.  And since this is Good Friday, I am also reminded of the amazing forgiveness that this day signifies for all believers.... its not a day of a million casualties, but it marks the brutal death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  And with that death, he took on the sin of all nations, all peoples.... you... and me.  And ultimately, it is because of his forgiveness, and his death on the cross that we have hope in him!  It is Friday.... but Sunday is coming.  The victory is won!  

As I sit here drinking Diet Pepsi, listening to Rich Mullins, and enjoying an overcast day I figured I can't go wrong writing in the blog that I created that my wonderful wife has taken over. Sometimes I simply wonder is there anyone out there like me? Not that I am something special that people should strive to become me (unless you want to eat enough Taco Bell to gain 60 pounds, and let me tell you the promise is a lie) but I wonder does anyone else feel plagued by questions that never seem to be answered. I wonder what the world would be like if each Christian looked into their own heart and asked the tough questions that God is asking us each day. Questions really do haunt people every day. I hate questions right now because spiritually I am not at a place where I can truly distinguish where the questions come from. Do these questions come from my own sinful nature, or is it the Holy Spirit prompting me to action. Questions are so essential to our lives.

People become so wrapped around trying to answer the questions of life, marriage, betrayal, pain, fear, shame, addictions, and so many more without first seeking out what questions God might be asking. I can tell you that I am so guilty of this, of becoming so worried and entangled by my own web of questions that I have to answer for my own life that I am probably missing out on a greater direction from above that God wants to give me.

One of my favorite authors is Henri Nouwen, and he writes about how our lives are not a series of complex problems that need to be solved, but that life is a journey to be taken with Jesus as our friend and guide. Another questions spawns from this thought, what would the Church look like if we all followed Jesus with our whole lives. This question may seem silly to most because most would believe that their lives are being led by Jesus. Silly right? Then why is divorce so high in the Church? Why are there organizations for the homeless, because I find it pretty clear in the Scriptures that God wants His children to look after the homeless? Why are Christians hell bent on killing "those terrorists" as opposed to sending missionaries to show them the true way of God through His son Jesus? By our fruit the world will know who we are, and I am affraid that going down to Michaels and buying the fake stuff and hanging it up is no longer cutting it.

Today I will sit in silence and let Jesus guide me and allow the Holy Spirit to probe me with questions that God has for me. This is difficult because we must open ourselves up to the pain that we have experienced in our lives. We must be humble enough to hear the question that God might ask that will change our lives forever.

Spring always gives me the cleaning bug. There's so much that I want to do, I need a grown-up person spring break to do it all!! (I wish we got spring break in the real world! Summer and holidays always make me want to be a teacher....) But, slowly but surely, I am working away at my list. It may be next Spring before I get it all done, but we'll see! Here's a peek at my list:

Get/Hang Curtains for Master Bedroom (see pics below!)
Clean Out Junk Drawers:
Kitchen
Dresser in Master
Bedsides in Master
Bathroom
Hallway Desk
Wipe Down Kitchen Cabinets
Re-Organize Pantry
Thin Out Closet
Organize/Clean Office
Hang Pictures in Office
Paint Fireplace Mantel
Dust Bookshelves in Dining Room
Get Together Garage Sale Stuff

Its amazing how much cleanliness makes me happy. We've done pretty good at keeping the main living areas of our house really neat and tidy the past few weeks, and it just makes the few hours I have awake at home in the evenings so enjoyable!!

So here's some pics of the curtains/window mis-treatment I did for our bedroom... it cost a little more that I was hoping, but I did a lot of bargain shopping and got good prices on most everything. I couldn't find ready-made curtains that I liked or that matched our comforter... they were all way too short. (We have HUGELY tall ceilings throughout our house!) But, while I was at Tuesday Morning looking around, I found a table cloth was both the perfect color and long/wide enough! So, when I got it home and hung the curtain rod and sconces, I hung the table cloth then cut it in half. Then I sewed a hem on the rough edges and voila! I still need to work with the red swag fabric at the top, but all in all I am pretty pleased. For more on my mis-treatment inspirations, check out these great ideas at The Nester's blog (one of my FAVE daily reads!!!)!

I am so excited to share that I will soon have another sister-in-law!  My brother-in-law, Kyle proposed to his super sweet girlfriend, Anne!!  I just love her/them and cannot wait to raise our babies together and go shopping after Thanksgiving while the boys watch Football and comiserate during the tense times of those crucial sports games!  And, well, no one else knows what its like to be married to a Wilson boy.  So I'll be glad to have someone else who understands.  :-)  Here's a photo of the adorable couple!  (Please, look past the blue and yellow...they really are good people!)

I'm excited about something!!!!