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   Beholding Glory/Faith Filled Friday 

She stands at a distance. The sight before her pierces her heart as if thrust in by a javelin.

Her puffy eyes sting with tears, blurring her vision.

Deep sobs heave her chest as her heart pounds in agony.

The crowd jostles her, oblivious to her obvious pain, a pain so deep that no mother on earth will ever feel again.

What brings her to this gruesome sight? A mother’s love...

My son, she cries. Her name is Mary and her son is being crucified. Naked, exposed. Blood trickles down His face from the open wounds in His head when soldiers twisted a crown of thorns upon Him and out of every flesh-exposing lash He received earlier.

Each clang of the soldier’s hammer upon the metal spikes driven into her son’s body jars her whole being. She shakes with empathetic pain as they raise Him up and hang Him in place on the upright beam.

Memories rush through her mind of the child she once carried, of the One Who sat upon her lap and nestled against her. But another memory crowds those out; one she tried to lock away in a secret corner of her heart. Those prophetic words spoken to her after His birth, which now come back to haunt her, “And a sword will pierce your own soul, too.” (Luke 2:35 NIV)

And that moment finally arrived.

Now, greedy soldiers toss out dice to see who gets the bragging rights of owning the traditional garment she lovingly created for her son when he left home. The garment saturated with the perfumed oil of spikenard from the broken alabaster passion box.

She is exhausted from all that has happened to her precious Baby Jesus, the Son of God. Her body reacts to the dreadful stress causing her knees to buckle. But John, the disciple who had leaned upon this Divine Man so many times, stands close to Mary and shores her up.

Seeing His mother beside John, Jesus speaks in a weak whisper to her, “Dear woman, here is your son,” (John 19:26b NLT) as He nods to John. And to John, He says, “Here is your mother.” (John 19:27a NLT)

Moments later, all is over. It is finished, He sighs and gives up His last breath.

Mary wonders: what will it be like without Him, never again to embrace Him, to hear His infectious laugh, to see His ready smile?

Oh, what agony must have filled Mary’s mother-heart that day, probably never realizing the impact of that scene for the thousands of generations yet to come.

A mother’s heart...of love...broken. The greatest pain a mother will ever know, losing her child.

And the rest of the story?

Up from the grave He arose,With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,He arose a Victor from the dark domain,And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.He arose! He arose!Hallelujah! Christ arose!
“Amazing LOVE how can it be, that You, my King, would die for me!”

May your heart live daily within the rest of the story.



I'm also sharing this over at The M.O.M. Initiative. Please come on over!

“If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” so said Milton Berle. I love that.

But as we all know, a mother can do ten things at once, right? She must do all and be all to her children: nurse, chauffeur, economist, counselor, laundress, chef. As the saying goes, she is chief cook and bottle washer!

But a mother has a surpassing divine mission...To read the rest, join me at The Mom Initiative today.

Last year, I read a post and the last sentence made me think, “And the empty pot awaits, ready for a fresh batch.”

It reminded me of the story of Stone Soup. If you’ve never heard of it, here’s a synopsis of this version of the story:

Many years ago in Eastern Europe, people hoarded their food in a time of famine. One day, a soldier wandered into a village and asked to stay for the night. The people told him to move on as there was no food.

“Oh, I have everything I need,” he said. “In fact, I was thinking of making some stone soup to share with all of you.”

Pulling out all he needed from his wagon, he filled his cauldron with water and built a fire for it. Then, he took a velvet bag and drew out an ordinary stone and dropped it into the water.

The rumor of food spread and the villagers came to the square to find out.

As the soldier sniffed the broth, he said, “Ahh, I do like a tasty stone soup. Of course, stone soup with cabbage – now that’s hard to beat.”

Soon a villager brought him a cabbage he’d been hiding and added it to the pot. Then, the soldier said, “You know, I once had stone soup with cabbage and a bit of salt beef as well, and it was fit for a king.”

The village butcher brought out some salt beef and added it. Over and over, the soldier raved how good the soup is with added potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and so on.

Villager after villager brought out the necessary ingredients until there was indeed a delicious meal for all.

With all the added ingredients, the soup turned out to be delicious.

If your year was anything like mine, the cauldron of 2011 contained a variety of ingredients, some positive, some negative, and flavored with a dash of hope and a soupcon of joy or maybe even en grande quantité.

Now, the kettle for 2012 is empty and sits waiting to be filled, ready for all the ingredients of a new year.

What ingredients will fill your New Year? What will fill your heart?

I pray the Lord will fill your New Year with hope, peace, comfort, joy, and an abundance of blessings.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 15:13 NKJV)