Easter Weekend in the Desert

Easter weekend was nearly a month ago, but I don't want to miss remembering what a special and different kind of celebration we enjoyed with our friends in the south of Jordan. At the end of our three plus hour car trip on Thursday afternoon, we were welcomed into the home of our friends and served a delicious dinner. After dinner, Dear Husband, Tayta,  and I walked through the village to the medical clinic at which our friends work, and which serves the local community.

A clinic with a view

Our friends and some local children had colored the eggs earlier in the day, and we added the Sharpie pen embellishments. Tatya, who loves to doodle henna-style, was the most fluent egg-decorator and I copied a lot of her patterns.

Friday was a full day of visiting with our friends and all of their local friends who came to wish them a happy Easter, or "feast day". After the visits ended, we gathered for a delicious chicken dinner, which we ate on the veranda. Dessert was served as we enjoyed the sunset together.

On Saturday, our friends helped us to enjoy more beauty of the semi-arid desert:. First we went out to enjoy the end of a fantastic spring wildflower season. A highlight for me was viewing the Petra Iris, Jordan's black iris of the south, for the first time.

Petra Iris

Iris petrana

Yellow Asphodel

Asphodeline lutea

Egyptian Henbane

Horned Poppy

another desert asphodel

After some very satisfying wildflower spotting, our friends took us on a hike, down into the gorge/valley behind their house. Tayta and I had our first experience of rock scrambling in long skirts and headscarves! I appreciated the headscarf as it protected me from a lot of wind and dust--the long skirt, not so much, but it really wasn't too bad.

And still more wildflowers to be discovered:

Zilla

Zill spinosa

This was my first spotting of Wooly Saltwort. It first appeared as a field of lavender "fluff" and reminded me of something that might be found growing on the planet Malacandra in C.S. Lewis's "Out of the Silent Planet".

Wooly Saltwort

Bassia eriophora

Another pretty thistle

On Sunday morning we met with friends to celebrate Jesus's resurrection in the ruins of a Byzantine church in Humayma. After the service, the children hunted for chocolate eggs...

...and I hunted for a few more wildflowers. The south was new wildflower spotting territory for me and I was intrigued by the flora beauty to be found in the near desert environment.

A type of Cousina thistle (I think)

Gymnarrhena

Peganum

Desert beauty

Wheatear

Easter

~George Herbert
EASTER

RISE heart ; thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise
Without delayes,
Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise
With him mayst rise :
That, as his death calcined thee to dust,
His life may make thee gold, and much more just.

Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy part
With all thy art.
The crosse taught all wood to resound his name
Who bore the same.
His stretched sinews taught all strings, what key
Is best to celebrate this most high day.

Consort both heart and lute, and twist a song
Pleasant and long :
Or since all music is but three parts vied,
And multiplied ;
O let thy blessed Spirit bear a part,
And make up our defects with his sweet art.


I got me flowers to straw thy way ;
I got me boughs off many a tree :
But thou wast up by break of day,
And brought’st thy sweets along with thee.

The Sunne arising in the East,
Though he give light, and th’ East perfume ;
If they should offer to contest
With thy arising, they presume.

Can there be any day but this,
Though many sunnes to shine endeavour ?
We count three hundred, but we misse :
There is but one, and that one ever.

Wishing a blessed celebration of Jesus' Resurrection to my friends celebrating in the west. Christians in Jordan, who celebrate according to the eastern calendar, will celebrate next Sunday.

Preparing for Easter: The Gospel of Mark

In the weeks that led up to Easter last year, our family read and discussed the Gospel of Mark in our family devotions. Along with that I read Tim Keller's newly released (at that time) Kings's Cross, the Story of the World in the Life of Jesus, which was inspired by Keller's sermon series from the Gospel of Mark. My heart was so filled with encouragement and joy from reading the Gospel of Mark, along with King's Cross, that I decided to read them again this Easter season.




Mathematician, philosopher, and Christian apologist, Blaise Pascal wrote that Christians should “make good men wish that Christianity is true, and then show them that it is.” Tim Keller does this he writes about the actions and words of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. Keller says of his book:

"It is an extended meditation on the historical Christian premise that Jesus's life, death, and resurrection form the central even of cosmic and human history as well as the central organizing principle of our lives. Said another way, the whole story of the word--and how we fit into it--is most clearly understood through a careful, direct look at the story of Jesus. My purpose here is to try to show, through his words and actions, how beautifully his life makes sense of ours." (p. x)"

A gifted apologist, Keller's writing encourages the heart of one who has already believed, prompting her to rejoice again and again in the GOOD news of Jesus Christ, who came to this earth to reveal the Father's love and accomplish all that was necessary that we might join him in enjoying the fellowship of the Father and the Holy Spirit. I don't read many books more than once (though I wish I did). Highly recommended.

Devoted to the Word

If I had to pick the one thing about my Husband that I most appreciate and that has been the most important in our marriage and life of our family, it would be, without hesitation, his diligence in intentionally and regularly bringing our family together around God's Word, and by it, faithfully shepherding us and guiding us.

I know that it is this is not an easy role to fulfill for many parents, and indeed, we have not always made Dear Husband's job a joy and delight. I've spoken to a number of parents that have a desire to lead their children in regular times in God's Word, but they don't know quite where to begin or how to do it, so whenever I find a worthy devotional guide I am glad to recommend it.



Lord, Have Mercy: Discovering Jesus in the Days Before Easter, a Family Devotional Guide for Lent, by Amy Edwards

I recently downloaded this Lenten season/Easter devotional guide, now available as an e-book for only $2.99. Written by cyber-friend and fellow homeschooling mother, Amy Edwards, this book looks to be a wonderful resource for families with younger through middle-school aged children. Features that makes this devotional guide especially accessible for parents are numerous questions provided, some simpler comprehension questions, and some broader discussion questions AND thoughtfully written answers.

From the introduction:

My prayer is that this book of family devotions will help your family prepare for a glorious Easter and help you succeed in bringing your family together in the Word. Rather than observing Lent as a set of rules and regulations, let’s make it a time to fix our eyes on Jesus. Lent should be Christ-centered, not me-centered. What a wonderful opportunity Lent gives us to focus on Jesus and His earthly ministry and the meaning of the Gospel.

It isn’t easy to maintain a family devotional habit. Evening activities rush us, leaving little time to gather. Differences in the ages of our children make it difficult to keep everyone engaged in what we are reading. Inevitably, at least one of the kids tunes out. Worst of all, sometimes our kids complain about our attempts to have devotions. Devotions are a time devoted to worship, Scripture, and prayer. These things are not always entertaining, and some kids lose patience and complain of boredom. For parents who yearn for their kids to know and love God, this is crushing. May this devotional help you overcome these challenges.

THE CROSS
by John Donne

SINCE Christ embraced the cross itself, dare I
His image, th' image of His cross, deny ?
Would I have profit by the sacrifice,
And dare the chosen altar to despise ?
It bore all other sins, but is it fit
That it should bear the sin of scorning it ?
Who from the picture would avert his eye,
How would he fly his pains, who there did die ?
From me no pulpit, nor misgrounded law,
Nor scandal taken, shall this cross withdraw,
It shall not, for it cannot ; for the loss
Of this cross were to me another cross.
Better were worse, for no affliction,
No cross is so extreme, as to have none.
Who can blot out the cross, with th' instrument
Of God dew'd on me in the Sacrament ?
Who can deny me power, and liberty
To stretch mine arms, and mine own cross to be ?
Swim, and at every stroke thou art thy cross ;
The mast and yard make one, where seas do toss ;
Look down, thou spiest out crosses in small things ;
Look up, thou seest birds raised on crossed wings ;
All the globe's frame, and spheres, is nothing else
But the meridians crossing parallels.
Material crosses then, good physic be,
But yet spiritual have chief dignity.
These for extracted chemic medicine serve,
And cure much better, and as well preserve.
Then are you your own physic, or need none,
When still'd or purged by tribulation ;
For when that cross ungrudged unto you sticks,
Then are you to yourself a crucifix.
As perchance carvers do not faces make,
But that away, which hid them there, do take ;
Let crosses, so, take what hid Christ in thee,
And be His image, or not His, but He.
But, as oft alchemists do coiners prove,
So may a self-despising get self-love ;
And then, as worst surfeits of best meats be,
So is pride, issued from humility,
For 'tis no child, but monster ; therefore cross
Your joy in crosses, else, 'tis double loss.
And cross thy senses, else both they and thou
Must perish soon, and to destruction bow.
For if the eye seek good objects, and will take
No cross from bad, we cannot 'scape a snake.
So with harsh, hard, sour, stinking ; cross the rest ;
Make them indifferent ; call, nothing best.
But most the eye needs crossing, that can roam,
And move ; to th' others th' objects must come home.
And cross thy heart ; for that in man alone
Pants downwards, and hath palpitation.
Cross those dejections, when it downward tends,
And when it to forbidden heights pretends.
And as the brain through bony walls doth vent
By sutures, which a cross's form present,
So when thy brain works, ere thou utter it,
Cross and correct concupiscence of wit.
Be covetous of crosses; let none fall ;
Cross no man else, but cross thyself in all.
Then doth the cross of Christ work faithfully
Within our hearts, when we love harmlessly
That cross's pictures much, and with more care
That cross's children, which our crosses are.

...and a wonderful meditation on the cross by Peter Leithart.

Resurrection Letters, Volume II~He Makes All Things New

From a favorite soundtrack for the Easter season:



"All Things New"

Come broken and weary,
Come battered and bruised 

My Jesus makes all things new, all things new 

Come lost and abandoned,
Come blown by the wind 

He'll bring you back home again, home again

Chorus:
Rise up oh you sleeper awake 

The light of the dawn is upon you 

Rise up oh you sleeper awake

He makes all things new

All things new 

come frozen with shame,
Come burning with guilt,
My Jesus loves you still, loves you still

Chorus 

Bridge:
The world was good, the world is fallen,
The world will be redeemed,
The world was good, the world is fallen,
The world will be redeemed 

So Hold on to the promise,
The stories are true.
My Jesus makes all things new,
The Dawn is upon you.



Chorus