Suffering

Wilson is getting a lot of blog press this week!   😉  He is two weeks away from graduating so there will be more fun to report soon but this is a packed season for him both literally and emotionally as he turns the page on this very special chapter in his life at APU and transitions to the next.

Thanks to technology, we got to tune into a livestream of Wilson’s last chapel on campus and his worship team led the students in one of my favorite hymns.  How special!  Wilson’s prayer after the song ministered to me specifically when he prayed “may we be reminded of the visceral reality of the crucifixion”.  More on that in a minute but here is the hymn and prayer filmed from the comforts of home…;)

I led worship at our church on Palm Sunday and got a little weepy missing Rudy as the children paraded around the sanctuary with their palm fronds…

Through my tears, I shared an insight that came to light for me the day before while reading the gospel accounts of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem (what we commemorate on Palm Sunday).  I always considered Jesus’ suffering beginning in the garden of Gethsemane right before He was arrested when he asked God to take away what was to come and cried tears of blood…such a vivid image of his anguish.  When I read Luke’s account, however, it’s clear that Jesus was heartbroken even before entering the city days earlier.  He knew what was coming and wept for Jerusalem.  What a sad and lonely few days that must have been for Jesus.

Although I’ve spent lots of time thinking about it,  I’ve never really been able to identify with Christ’s suffering.  I don’t know why…maybe it’s because of my Protestant upbringing where we can sometimes rush past the sorrow of Good Friday to indulge in the much more fun truths of Easter morning…or maybe it’s just how I’m wired but because I have the benefit of knowing Christ’s amazing victory, the depth of His suffering is hard for me to grasp and I think that’s okay…maybe the practical take away and value of pondering the Passion is not that I identify with Christ’s suffering but rather that I know that Christ is able to identify with my suffering…particularly comforting to me now.  So, for me, today, to be reminded “of the visceral reality of the crucifixion” is to be reminded that my God, my humble Savior, the One who conquered the consequences of sin for me understands what it means to suffer and therefore understands my deepest heart cries.  Thank you Jesus!  Thank you for your empathetic love in the here and now and for the gift of eternal life to come…your journey of suffering gives me both!!!

In other news:

Olivia is TWO goals away from reaching her 100th varsity goal…we’re hoping she’ll reach this LAX milestone at Tuesday’s home game against San Marcos.  If you’re local, you’re welcome to join us at DPs football field at 6pm.  No individual athlete reaches these kinds of milestones alone…it’s a reflection of the whole team working well together and it’s such a delight to watch these girls play!

The MOHD Squad is excited to have the boys home this weekend.  ‘Wishing you a blessed Good Friday and Happy Easter dear ones!!!!