Thoughts...in the key of me.

Regardless of what your Easter tradition is- whether it's eating Peeps (it's okay...I forgive you), getting together with the family, that good ol' Easter ham, or buying a new dress every year- we all need to make a point of remembering what Easter truly means. Easter has a very special meaning for me this year. For those of you who don't know yet, I'm leaving Macon on Wednesday to move back with my parents in Dalton for a while. I'm going through some really tough stuff right now and I really need to be close to my family. I really do think it's the Lord's timing that the crux of my struggles is happening right around Easter. My church in Macon, New City, has been doing a message series leading up to Easter that has really spoken to me. Last week the message was about redemption...how Christ has covered us with mercy. Because of Christ's sacrifice, God now sees us through rose-colored glasses, if you will....he used to see us as tainted, imperfect, disgusting. Now he sees us through the lens of Christ's sacrifice and we appear perfect, blameless, and hopeful to him. I am so thankful that Christ's sacrifice has crossed out all of my sins I have done and will do and that I am now a clean, freshly clothed, innocent child in God's eyes. The resurrection serves as backup for this. If Christ had just died, the process wouldn't be complete....but, because he conquered death and rose again, his death was validated...our faith is validated...our lives are validated! I am so thankful for my faith and my foundation in Christ....I am trying to hold onto that now more than ever.

God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

2 Corinthians 5:20-21

It's nights like last night that make me thankful for life in general. Great friends, great times with stories and laughter, great wine, gorgeous weather and a clear night sky....I love my house. I wish I could transport it somewhere other than Macon, haha....

Hello, blogland....here's what's happening in the life of Sarah Jo lately....I started taking Tae Kwon Do about a month ago and I'm really enjoying it. I've always wanted to try martial arts, but was always so busy with basketball, dance, and theater when I was growing up. I recieved my yellow belt (1 stripe) last week and I will be competing in a tournament on March 14th...forms and sparring! It's going to be a lot of fun. We had an interesting weather weekend in Maconga...very wet and warm (which is normal) until Sunday, when I woke up to find it sleeting. By the time church was out it was coming down a bit harder, and by the time lunch was over it turned into a full out snowfall! Around 3 we had definite flurries. It was so unreal! I remember having an ice storm while I was at Mercer, but other than that I don't recall ever seeing winter weather in Macon. It was so beautiful to watch out the windows at the house and at the restaurant. Anyways, I must get ready for TKD class....more posting to come!

I gave up MySpace and Facebook for Lent, so perhaps this means I'll be posting more frequently here in blog-land....thinking of giving up MySpace altogether, with the exception of a music page....if I ever get my butt in gear enough to merit one. I will say this: did a open mic/ coffeehouse type thing in Dalton a couple of weekends ago, and it was one of the coolest experiences ever. I think I was made for music.....

Tell me where our time went
And if it was time well spent
Just don't let me fall asleep
Feeling empty again

Cause I fear I might break
and I fear I can't take it
Tonight I'll lie awake feeling empty

I can feel the pressure
It's getting closer now
We're better off without you
I can feel the pressure
It's getting closer now
We're better off without you

Now that I'm losing hope
And there's nothing else to show
For all of the days that we spent
Carried away from home

Some things I'll never know
And I had to let them go
I'm sitting all alone feeling empty

I can feel the pressure
It's getting closer now
We're better off without you
I can feel the pressure
It's getting closer now
We're better off without you

Without you

Some things I'll never know
And I had to let them go
Some things I'll never know
And I had to let them go
I'm sitting all alone feeling empty

I can feel the pressure
It's getting closer now
We're better off without you

Feel the pressure
It's getting closer now
You're better off without me

This is taken from Eugene Peterson's devotional, Living the Message: Daily Help for Living the God-Centered Life. You may recognize Peterson's name because he is the translator of the Message paraphrase of the scriptures, which is one of my favorite versions to read. It's not very useful for study because it is a paraphrase and thus the translations from the original languages aren't accurate, but it brings the verses of the Bible to life in a very unique way. Anywho, read this this morning and thought I would share it with you, my few readers.

A person has to be thoroughly disgusted with the way things are to find the motivation to set out on the Christian way. As long as we think that the next election might eliminate crime and establish justice or another scientific breakthrough might save the environment or another pay raise might push us over the edge of anxiety into a life of tranquility, we are not likely to risk the arduous uncertainties of the life of faith. A person has to get fed up with the ways of the world before he, before she, acquires an appetite for the world of grace.