Learning About Good Friday

Today is Good Friday.  I asked Mommie to explain it to me, because I don't understand why we call today "Good Friday" if it is the day that Jesus died on the cross.  We have this cross in our front yard that my brother Benton built for Mommie last year:

I asked Mommie, "Why does it have that crown of thorns on it, and what does the purple cloth stand for?"

Mommie said that when the angry people wanted Jesus to be hung on that cross they did very mean things to Him.  This is what she read to me from the Bible, from the book of John chapter 19:1-3

"1.  So Pilate then took Jesus and had Him flogged. 2.  And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on His head, and put a purple cloak on Him; 3.  and they repeatedly came up to Him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and slapped Him in the face again and again."

That made me feel very sad. I don't understand why the same people who were waving palm branches and crying "Hosanna!" to Jesus on Sunday are now yelling and screaming for Him to be crucified and are doing such mean and terrible things to Him.

Mommie said that it was because of the sins of all people that Jesus had to die.  He was the only perfect Man who never sinned, because He is God's Son. 

"But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed."

(Isaiah 53:5)

Mommie said that the Bible tells us that all of us have sinned.

 

(Romans 3:23)

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

We've been selfish and have wanted to only have our own way, and not God's way.  And no matter how hard we try, we cannot be perfectly good and sinless. 

"All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

(Isaiah 53:6)

And so, because God loves us so much, He had to send His own Son to die in our place and take away our sins so that one day we can live in heaven with Him forever.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

I am so glad that Jesus loves us enough that He was willing to suffer so much and die so that one day we can live with Him in heaven.  Mommie said that is our great hope and promise.  Today may be a sad day, but she said we shouldn't forget that "Easter is coming!"

    

And that's the best day of all!!

 

A Little This and That

Hello my friends! Happy Tuesday!  We don't have anything in particular to tell you today, so Mommie said this will be a post about "A Little This and That".

We took a ride early this morning. It was still pretty cloudy and not any sunshine yet.

I love to take rides in the car. Mommie said I am a lot like a little doggy who likes to go for a ride, so she let me wear my little doggy shirt today!

We went on that highway where there is a lot of construction going on and I saw this big crane again. I like that it has an American Flag way up on the tip top of the crane!!

We ended up in that little town of Hawthorne again...

I've told you about this little town of Hawthorne here before,  and also HERE

Well, today we took a little ride over there again so Mommie could help her friend do some measuring in this building because her friend is going to put a store there in the near future:

It's going to be a kind of "Emporium", which Mommie says is a fancy word for a store carrying "many different kinds of merchandise."   Our friend is going to have lots of different people selling things there. Mommie said it is not like a "flea market", because these will be nice things that people either make or create and not second hand stuff like at a flea market, unless they are antiques or special vintage items of interest. She is looking for "vendors" to rent space there, so if you live in this area and are interested, or if you know anyone who might be, please let us know and we will let our friend know.

She hopes to get it open sometime next month. Mommie doesn't have anything to sell there but she almost wishes she did, just for the fun of it. But it is still a lot of work and once you start something like that you have to keep it going...kind of like writing a blog...

After we came back home we walked around the yard a little and saw that this rosebud in the Secret Memorial Garden is getting closer and closer to opening up.  It's going to be really pretty. I can't wait to see it!

And in the front yard we have four of these Amaryllis plants that are getting ready to open pretty soon! 

Mommie says they are going to be really pretty.

One day we saw this Red Bellied Woodpecker here at Still Waters Pond. Isn't he pretty?  

He must have been pecking for bugs and stuff in those pine trees beside the pond.

Oh, isn't this cat interesting?  She showed up in our yard yesterday. We've never seen her before, but it looks like she has a collar on. And guess what?  She has a bobbed-tail! Mommie said either something happened to her tail, or she was born that way. Some cats are like that. Mommie wants to know if this is what you call a Tortoiseshell Cat cat?  If so, it is most likely a female.  It is very pretty, but we don't want it around our birds...

It soon ran away when Mommie stuck her head outside to take its picture. It was a very big and fluffy cat.

And actually, she was looking at our Canada Geese in the pond:

They saw her and pushed out further in the pond until she left.

Speaking of the pine trees, have you ever noticed the little crosses on the tops of pine trees just before Easter?

This seems to happen not long before Easter, which makes us think about the cross on which Jesus died on Easter.  Some people think it is just a coincidence, but Mommie says just maybe God does it on purpose to get our attention and to help us prepare our hearts for Easter.

Which reminds me. Mommie put set up our cross for Easter this week.

I am starting to learn more and more about Easter and what it means to us.

It is very sad that Jesus had to die on the cross because of our sins, but Mommie said if He didn't do that, we would still be lost in our sins and not have any way to get to heaven. 

I am happy Jesus died for our sins, but Mommie said the best part about Easter is that He didn't stay dead! He Arose from the dead and is still living today! She said that is why we celebrate Easter.

I still have a lot to learn, but little by little I am starting to understand.

I hope you understand this and believe too.

Okay, I guess I have to go for now. But we will talk about this some more later, Mommie said.

Have a happy Tuesday!!

Bye bye for now,

Lily Grace

xoxoxoxo