Let him loose

I read a familiar passage this morning, in those wee dark hours before the pitter patter of little feet, before the bunny baskets discovered, before the smell of resurrection rolls greeting my being like a warm fuzzy blanket in the deep of winter (BTW, I finally made them right this year!!!!!).

The passage was one from the book of John surrounding the death and resurrection of Lazarus.  It got me thinking about the fact that Jesus was watching, watching everything and everyone, their responses, their fears, their astonishment, their denial, their surrender.  All different responses, from all different people.

The Message is my favorite version of the bible to glean new insights from a script I have read many times over my years.

"You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live.  And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all.  Do you believe this?"  John 11:25-36 (The MSG)

Jesus said this to Martha, who was imploring, "Master, if you had been here before my brother died, he would have lived, like here on earth...I get that he will be raised with you at the End of time, he will be raised in new life.  That I believe..." (my paraphrase)

I think it is awesome that Martha believed that Lazarus would be raised from the dead at all!

I cannot imagine, being there with Jesus and in the midst of all of the naysayers - to his face, naysayers.  They exist now, they crowd out the light in this world.  But, to be present when they were plotting Jesus's death because they feared him, they carried their own status so highly that the threat of one more powerful, more loving and forgiving proved too risky.

Martha then ran and told her sister, "Jesus, he is here, he is asking for you!"

Mary ran and fell at his feet, "Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died."

The text then speaks to Jesus's emotion. He had "anger welling inside" and asked, "Where did you put him?"

Then Jesus wept.

After seeing Jesus weep, the crowd, unfamiliar with Jesus's tears...said, "Well, he could have prevented this!!!"  (My paraphrase)

Jesus became angry again inside, he walked to the tomb where Lazarus had been laid and said, "Remove the stone."

I can hardly believe what happened next, Jesus said, "Father, I am grateful that you have listened to me, I know you always listen to me, but on account of this crowd standing here...this same crowd that will turn around after seeing this and have the SAME response to my death...I have spoken so that they might believe that you sent me."

You know what then happened...Lazarus walked out, covered from head to toe with grave clothes, Jesus saying, "Let him loose..."

Let him loose speaks volumes to me this morning.

Let him loose from death, from darkness, from doubt and fear.  Let him loose from the voices of this world who come to kill and destroy hope.  Let him loose from the bonding strangling grave clothes that sin wants...and gets.  Let him loose from self doubt.  Let him loose from pain, from death.

Friends, today, as I am reminded that Jesus had emotions that day...he had anger, he had sadness, sadness that brought our KING to tears, I think about him preparing himself for his own death and resurrection and how he watched...each one and their response.  He was experiencing a foreshadowing of his own death and resurrection.

I think about how he watches me now, how he watches all of us, as we read, we experience, we worship on this day, Easter!  We say, HE IS RISEN.  We do experience anger and sadness leading up to the cross, as we reflect, we read, we pray and we try in our puny little minds to grasp the reality of a God who came so near as to live among us and then die, to be raised again.

Do we believe this?  Do we doubt as those people did at the tomb of Lazarus?  Yes, Lord, I know that one day, I will be raised with you when I die...but today?

Yes, today.  Today, you are offered the chance to believe, to be freed from the tightly wrapped and strangling sin of this fleshly world.  Jesus came to cut those grave clothes, TODAY.  He wants you to live with him TODAY. Dying to sin today, allows us to live with him, today.  Live in the light that he offers, not the darkness of the grave, for today is our foreshadowing...

Happy EASTER!!!!

AMEN!

Connor's First Dance Competition

Well, look at these two little gems.  I just love this mischief...so so cute!!  Those smiles are so sweet as they were preparing for their very first real dance competition!

After almost a year of lessons, it was time to put those skills to the test at the Freddy Ball at the Renaissance Hotel in Raleigh.  Big time, folks, big time.  

Connor and our sweet dear friend, Sophia, take dance lessons together over at Fred Astaire Dance Studio off Garrett road, and yes, you can consider that a plug for the best dance studio around- in our humble opinion!!

The kids have been learning the waltz, cha cha and the jive.  And, let me tell you what, it is truly the cutest thing ever!  It is also amazing how quickly the kids pick up on the steps.  Stan and I have been taking for about 3 years now and we are no where near as quick as these kids!  It is a life long skill that we have been talking with Connor about and for now, it's one of his things.  :)  I am hoping we can keep it up...we shall see.

 Can you stand it?  This mama can't!

Before we hit the dance floor, we had a delightful dinner with this crowd!!  Janise and Derek and their girls, along with Kay and me and my three enjoyed a delicious dinner at Mia Francesca's right there in the hotel!  It could not have been more perfect.  We ate, enjoyed wonderful company, very well behaved kids, had time to put plenty of product in Sophia and Connor's hair and enjoyed the gift of friendship and family.  Truly one of my favorite nights ever.

This next series seriously melted my heart...

Stan was perfecting Connor's number for the competition.  Connor was so cute, still and proud, as you can tell.  Stan was also proud.  :)

Our sweet little ballroom dancer.

And part of the fan club...not sure where she learned that hip out with the hand on it!

 Nice little pose, pre-show.

Reality...

Sweet Sophia and her family.

Sweet Connor and his family!

Oh, how I love little girls and their presence...so sweet.

And, sweet Connor, standing proud (and a little stiff...)

This little boy has my heart in so many ways. He is the child of mine who gets me.  He and I share a lot of similarities, most namely, our love language.  I know he will always take care of me.  Tearing up...

Sweet pose before they hit the dance floor!

And Janise and I snuck one in too!  This was such a treasure to do with Janise and Sophia!  Our kids have been buddies since they were old enough to call out a friend's name.  So, to be able to be a part of something so special together and get the chance to cheer on Sophia at the same time I cheered on Connor was so dear to my heart.  When you have opposite genders you often find yourself at different events, simply because of the differing interests.  I love how ballroom dance crosses over and spans both genders, enabling me to be a part of something like this with Janise and her girls. What a true treasure, especially since I feel like their aunt in many ways!

Moms don't get to stop for pictures much, so we took the opportunity to get several shots, especially since we weren't in our "mom clothes"... ;)

Mother daughter love!

Sophia and her partner.

 Connor and his partner.

 All of the little dancers...

And...all of the little dancers and their fabulous instructors!

The anticipation!!!

Perfecting their waltz, Connor's self proclaimed, best dance...

Love this one!!  Caught having such fun!

I know that was a lot...but it is really hard to pare down when they are all so stinking cute! The Jive is so much fun to watch...and is pictured in this last shot.  Seriously, they look like a bunch of deer. :)

Nanny and Landon enjoyed watching and I have to say that Landon was an awesome spectator!  He did not complain once and was such a supportive big brother, a hard thing when you are such a competitive athlete and your brother is taking up ballroom dancing...yes, we have had many talks about this topic.  Landon has really taken to supporting Connor and actually calling it out, that his brother is a good dancer!

Stan and Lindsay Jane practiced a few moves of their own...

And posed for an absolutely adorable picture.  Love.

Connor and Sophia got medals!

I would say they were as proud as they could be!! And so were their cheering section!!

Don't worry, there was still plenty of time to be silly kids...

And, just in case anyone ever wants to say that dancing is not hard work...

I hope you enjoyed my memories from one of my favorite nights of being a mom so far.  It just keeps getting better...truth.