God is Squishy

After reading through a child's anatomy book (replete with various cross sections of a child's body), I put Eliza to bed.

Maggie followed shortly afterwards to provide prayers. "Mama", Eliza asked, "What is inside of me?" At a level just above Eliza's childlike comprehension, Maggie responded "God is inside of you", challenging her young faith.

Reaching down with her two hands and playing with her belly, Eliza reported, "God is squishy, Mommy."

What is the Point of Jesus, Part 1

It is 40 A.D.

Jesus has fulfilled the desires of His Father, Jehovah God. He has served as the ultimate sacrificial lamb, and completed the work of reconciliation. That which we ignorantly trusted in ten years ago has been brought to fruition.

Before, we trusted that God would provide a means to overcome our sins and separation from Him.

Now, we trust that Jesus' sacrifice is the means by which to bring about justification.

This justification is the foundation of the Christian Salvation promise. By faith in the works of Jesus and the promise of Jehovah, we are brought into relationship with God.

In some manners, it is now easier to trust God; we have the teachings of Jesus and an additional Testament to share His works. In contrast, there is a greater challenge: to face the One who has sacrificed on our behalf. And this causes us difficulty, as we dislike the specifics of our salvation. No longer are we allowed to generically trust in the work of Jehovah, we must accept the work of Jesus.

All of this without Jesus

It is 30 A.D.

You are able to relate to Jehovah God in the following fashion: as one who sees God for who He is and yourself for who you are. In recognition, you seek the mercy of God to reunite [reconcile] yourself to Him. Positionally, you (a marred creation) are withdrawn from the presence of God. You need to be made right [justified] in relation to God to be found in His presense.

Without knowledge of Jesus or comprehension of how God will go about fairly bringing the two of you together [reconciled], you (in faith) are made right [justified] with God.

The result of this justification:

• Access to Jehovah God,
• Presence of Holy Spirit,
• Recognition as 'son of Abraham',
• Expectation of eternity with God in heaven.

All of this without Jesus.

Daddy, watch me!

We have embarked upon my favorite holiday - the day each year that we celebrate kicking our proverbial parents out the door and declare our Independence.
As is our tradition, the weekend is spent at Gramma Gramma's house (Papa Boo lives here too). The upside of such a trip is two trips to the pool each day; the down side is that I end up sleeping in an oversized closet.
Today, when Mommy, Gramma, Emily and Louise disappeared on an errand, Daddy took me and Garrett to Dollar Tree and let us run the store at our leisure: $12.63 donated to the Chinese economy.
Tonight, we went to the beach, and after a nervous introduction, jumped and played and did as much as Daddy would let me before pulling me out of the water. It got a bit tight sometimes, but I was always in control. You've got to know your limit. Daddy said we can come to the beach again 'next time', but sometimes I think he and I have a different opinion as to what 'next time' exactly means.

these are a few of the my favorite things...

I just returned from a frolic on the beach.
We jumped in the waves and let ourselves get slightly carried away,
Faced the currents that matched us in height and dwarfed us in weight,
Swallowed and spit and coughed and
Giggled until our hearts hurt with joy.

Give me a few precious moments with family and activity, and my satisfaction will last through the hour;)