April 2010 – Page 10 – Lemon Drop Pie

He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The banners above were made in praise to God by my mother. She truly spent all her days praising God. My mind is still trying to wrap itself around the fact that she has died.

As Easter begins tomorrow morning, my lips will be singing along with the choir,

I know that my Redeemer Lives!
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, he lives, who once was dead;
He lives, my everliving head!

but yet my heart may be saying,

“My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1)

I’m reading Psalms tonight. David knows the anguish and despair I’m feeling. But yet he amazes me…the very next psalm, Psalm 23, is the most comforting psalm in the Bible.

Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:6)

How can this be? How can David be so distressed in one verse, and then so uplifted in the following verses?

Faith. He had a great faith…a faith that I seem to be lacking.

Some events in the past week have made me think about my mom. I’ve been looking back; remembering; caught up in the past.

This past week was also Holy Week, and so I’ve been preparing for Easter. I’ve been looking forward to celebrating Easter. I’ve been looking toward the Resurrection.

In this journey of grief, I mourn every day that takes me further away from my mother. Every day that passes takes me farther away from the time when my mother was alive.

But what if I look at this passage of time in a new way? Every day that passes is one day closer to when I will see my mother again. My human mind cannot comprehend this; Mom died; she is gone. But with faith, I know I will see her in heaven again.

And so I need to look forward. I need to look to the cross. I need to look forward to the day I will join my Savior in heaven.

Because I know that my Redeemer lives!

Easter blessings to you and your family,

Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney

My daughter, Emmy, has a HUGE sweet tooth. Not surprisingly, she often throws tantrums when I don’t give her what she wants, such as Easter candy that recently found its way into the house, or fruit gummy snacks, which are basically candy! This is the anatomy of a tantrum:

Emmy demands candy at eight o’clock in the morning.
I say one little word. No.
Serious pleading for candy begins.
No!
Crying ensues.
I get a book. I ask Emmy if she would like to read it with me. If enough time has elapsed, and Emmy feels as though she has shown me her displeasure long enough, she will agree to read the book with me!

Llama Llama Mad at Mama is one of Emmy’s favorites, and when I read it to her after her last tantrum, we talked about how Emmy was mad at Mama. Llama Llama is also mad at Mama, after Mama drags Llama Llama away from Saturday morning playtime and takes Llama Llama to the dreaded Shop-o-Rama. Llama Llama has THE meltdown of all meltdowns at the store. Llama Llama’s Mama proves to be way more patient than this mama would have been with that kind of meltdown! Together Llama Llama and his mama work through the “llama drama”.

Llama, Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

It’s been a while since we read this book, since we don’t own a copy. Llama Llama is delaying bedtime, just as all children do! I remember loving Llama Llama Mama’s response to all the bedtime delays. I’m thinking I need to include this book in Emmy’s Easter basket!

To read some more reviews of wonderful children’s books, click on Janna’s button below!