You Were On The Cross

Several months ago I was lucky enough to be one of the first 20 commenters on a Randy Elrod's blog to "win" a pre-release CD of Matt Maher's Alive Again I received it, really enjoyed it, especially Christ Is Risen.

However, during my church's Good Friday service, they played the video I posted above. And I fell in love even more with You Were On The Cross. The CD is good but some songs are really amazing; the words paint pictures and further contemplation. I love that in music.

Paired with this video which highlights photos of the Passion of Christ, it is not the easiest of videos to watch (and I'm certainly grateful my church had childcare that night for preschoolers) yet it really heightened my understanding of Good Friday, the cross and the resurrection. I hope it does for you as well. For a better picture, double click on the video and you can see it larger in YouTube.

Memories

In-N-Out has always meant vacation for me. When I was a small child, back when Disneyland switched over from E-Tickets to general admission tickets. (I guess E-Ticket means something QUITE different these days!)

My Aunt Ginny lived in SoCal with her family. I have so many memories of this time; I can recall their backyard, how intrigued I was by the water cooler they had in their kitchen because where I lived we always just used tap water. But the thing I remember most was their parrot, who once belonged to my Uncle John who was a military man with quite a colorful vocabulary.

The bird also had a colorful vocabulary.

But even more annoying: the parrot could effectively mimic my Aunt calling for my Uncle John. JOHN!!!!! the parrot would scream.

And no one could tell the difference. Nor could anyone get the bird to stop.

In-n-Out has always signified a bit of freedom; a taste that we were nearing Southern California.

Every trip, we'd have this rare treat; tasting perhaps even better because it was anticipated all year long. Tasting better because of the meaning and excitement behind it.

These days I can have In-N-Out anytime I want. It is still very good; I still enjoy it. Yet I rarely go.

Instead, I choose to maintain the Tradition. Now my kids are associating In and Out with Vacations and visiting Southern California.

U2 360 Coming On DVD 6/3

Coming June 3rd, U2's 360 Tour Concert DVD will be released! Here is more information on the U2 website You can also pre-order on Amazon as well. There are several different versions, a special 2 pack, a "regular" version and a blu-ray version as well as a more deluxe edition.




From the U2 Website:

"U2360° At The Rose Bowl was the penultimate gig of last year's U2360° Tour in support of their Grammy nominated album No Line on The Horizon. The Rose Bowl performance was the band's biggest show of 2009 and U2's biggest ever US show, with a live audience in excess of 97,000.



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The show was also streamed across seven continents via YouTube. The first ever live streaming of a full-length stadium concert, U2360° at the Rose Bowl had over 10 million views on the channel in one week. "

I was there at the Rose Bowl and I have tickets to a show this coming June as well! (I can't get enough U2!) I thought this would be a great excuse to once again share some of my photos. :-)

The Search for God and Guinness

I generally enjoy books that are about real people or events, and this book, The Search for God and Guinness written by Stephen Mansfield, was no exception. Although the subtitle is "A Biography of The Beer That Changed The World, it is actually more about the extraordinary efforts and ethics of the Guinness family.

I'm not a beer drinker, yet I'm convinced that everyone equates Guinness with good beer. That's a given. But what most people may not realize is the amazing story behind the beer and the family.

Though well written, interesting and insightful, this book was a bit dry at times, as many history/biographies can be. Mr. Mansfield chronicles the various directions the Guinness have taken. In chapter 5, The Guinnesses for God, he brings up those of the family that became missionaries and ministers. He doesn't dive into this aspect too much, and even asserts that he doesn't want to lessen the following of the other Guinnesses that went into banking or brewing. (because many associate that with not being so "God centered") Because I really enjoy author Os Guinness, I was hoping for more detail on his family in this chapter.

The book, the beer and the history of the Guinness family is an interesting read and inspiring as well. If you are already a Guinness fan, your appreciation for the beer and the family will deepen considerably.

I am a part of the Thomas Nelson booksneeze book reviewers.

Toys!

I'm finally learning that less is more: the simpler is better, especially when it comes to toys.

First of all, toys are always so much more appealing when they are at someone else's house. I should have learned this over 8 years ago when my oldest (and then only) son was infatuated with trains. He'd spend hours playing with trains anywhere there was a train table.

I had to buy him a train table.

Because he loved it so much it was worth the price tag. There wasn't a great place for it but he HAD to have one, right? Of course, he never said that. He never asked for one but I just knew if he loved it so much at Barnes and Noble or at the Children's Discovery Museum, he'd spend hours on it at home.

Wrong! He still preferred laying on the floor to build his elaborate wood tracks.

I still have dozens of Thomas Trains and several feet of track and it still gets played with, now by my youngest.

The things I feel they "need" they hardly play with. Truly sometimes the cardboard box offers more time-consuming fun than the object it contained.

Yet my kids still love toys.

Sunday was Easter. This year I finally kept it simple and was amazed by their happiness. I still gave them some candy and each a small toy. My oldest just got money. (he's 10) The middle (6) wanted a very specific Bakugan set. My youngest (5) wanted another Zhu Zhu pet. (for the fortunate that don't know what Bakugans or Zhu Zhu pets are, I will refrain from telling you; you don't need to know and I'm not sure I quite understand what Bakugans are or their appeal)

I'm learning.

Hopping to Other Blogs

This is the second time a worship pastor has recommended this CD to me, so I truly hope I win it! This blogger/worship pastor CHRIS from Canada, is giving away 5 copies of Vicky Beeching's new CD Eternity Invades that releases tomorrow.

Of course, I want to win one. I get an extra chance by redirecting you to his blog HERE. Not only can you comment to attempt to win a CD but Chris is a very interesting blogger with a lot of good things to say and thought-provoking perspectives.

So, hop on over to his blog and comment to enter!

Dug Down Deep

A few weeks ago I wrote a post and quoted from Joshua Harris' book Dug Down Deep. I loved this video and wanted to share it with you but did not know how to put video on my blog. I do now, so here is a wonderfully done, creative video based on a few paragraphs of the book.

Enjoy, and see if this video doesn't entice you to read the book; it certainly did for me!
Oh, and it's not coming up wide enough on my blog, so just double click the video and it will take you to youtube.