Looking Around the Trash Pile

I take out the trash every two or three days at the house. Except when Julie prepares a chicken dish, then I take it out the very next day, because raw chicken smells very bad after a while. You know that smell. It is putrid and suffocating. I wonder what the tomb smelled like when the ladies went to put the spices on Jesus. He was not there, but was there a lingering smell of decay or was the smell whisked away in the Resurrection? I just wonder?
A little further on in this same passage, I just love what the angel speaks to the ladies; "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" I think that they must have been taken a back to say the least and wondering what must have happened. They expected to find the body of Jesus in the tomb but He was nowhere to be found. He is alive... they said, just like He told you!
What a strong reminder that in my life that the life that Jesus offers in not where I often look for it. I must let Him lead me to the life that is only found in him. I look too many times in the wrong places, only to find that I am not satisfied in the end.

Looking Around the Trash Pile
Longing for Life
Haunted by Emptiness
Surprised by Grace
Filled with the Eternal

Lord lead me to the path daily that leads to life. I want to experience the life you offer even it takes me down a path that I am unfamiliar with or that I don't naturally consider. Jesus I need you and long for you!
This is my prayer... is it yours?

the normal routine of life

In Luke 22:39 we are told that Jesus goes out to pray on the Mount of Olives. We are told that this happens "as usual". I think that this is significant because Jesus is going to the cross and he goes out to commune with the Father as he normally does. Jesus found the strength to go to the cross during his usual communal moments.
All of this speaks to me for it is out of the normal routine of life that the craziness of life takes hold of us. We are completely caught off guard when we arise to shower and feel that lump that was not there before or we the phone call come as the unexpected has happened to a loved one. The job promotions comes on Friday and over the weekend you realize that you must move and uproot your family.
Regardless of the challenging events that happen in our lives, many of them arise during the normal routine of life. As Jesus found his strength during usual time with the Father, I too am encouraged to make sure that I find my way to the Father so that I am not at a loss when life goes into a spin... I want to experience the intimacy of the Father when life goes up or down.
May we each find our way to Father's side and deepen our walk with Him daily...