RebeccaPriceJanney.com

I woke up this morning grumbling. Why is it that the respiratory illness that started a week ago is still hanging on? Why is it that my little boy is still coughing and wheezing in spite of two doctor visits and daily nebulizer treatments? I want my normal life back!

Of course, being the historian that I am, I immediately began to think about those hearty souls who first came to America, as well as those a century and more later who “tamed the wilderness.” They were, according to Dr. Peter Lillback, a “premedical society.” When they got sick, they had no doctors to go to. (Of course, later on in American history, you could always consult a barber if you had a medical complaint.) They had no 24 hour pharmacies or a plethora of cold remedies. They had to keep on working, or their survival would be in jeopardy. Illness was often more than an inconvenience–it could be life threatening.

And yet, they accepted that life was hard. They knew they could die from an accute sickness. They knew they were “dust.”

That being said, I think I have a grip now! This congestion will pass. Thanks be to God!

Hey All–

I am so looking forward to doing Tricia Goyer’s “Living Inspired” radio show today at 2 PM eastern. You can log on and listen live at http://toginet.com/shows/Livinginspired

Tricia and I go way back. In the mid-90s, Word published my first books, and I met fellow author Bill Myers. I remember telling him that although I had reached my dream of having books published, I often felt lonely, that I didn’t have colleagues to talk to around a water cooler.

Bill understood. He introduced me to two other writers through the internet, Lissa Hall Johnson and Robin Jones Gunn. I remember him teasing me about all these women with three names! Through those dear ladies, I began to grow a community of friends I could chat with regularly around an e-mail “cooler.”

Robin invited me to join a group of fellow writers led by aspiring author Tricia Goyer. Calling themselves the One Hearts, we quickly bonded to become a network of sisters in Christ. I have cherished those ladies literary through the thicks and thins of my life. I have always appreciated Tricia’s hard work to keep us together.

And today, here we are, about to do a radio show together! I rejoice with all that God has done through Tricia’s fabulous ministry that has reached so many people with powerful messages about life today.

I hope that you can join us! Who knows what may happen!

While I was a student at Princeton Seminary in the 1980s, I met the exiled Bishop Paulos of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. He had taken refuge at Princeton, where his tested and unshakable faith in the Lord inspired many of us students.

We learned of his six years in an Ethiopian prison with one more spent under house arrest after communist rebels overthrew the Emperor Haile Selassie’s government. A few years later, suddenly, inexplicably, the new regime freed the bishop. He realized that staying in his country might lead to further danger, so he escaped to the United States. He began a doctoral program at Princeton while pastoring a congregation of other Ethiopian exiles in New York City.

Bishop, as we called him, looked extraordinary on most days. He was easily distinguishable on campus, wearing a purple robe and Coptic-style hat, austere beard, and bejeweled cross against raven-colored skin. But on Ash Wednesday, the drama intensified. When Bishop appeared in the cafeteria that morning, it seemed as if Darth Vader had come to campus. The Ethiopian prelate wore so much black that even his cross hid discreetly in a breast pocket. He patiently explained the Coptic tradition for clergy to dress totally in black throughout Lent.

Seeing him enveloped in that ominous attire, I sometimes felt gloomy. I reflected on the battles Christians wage daily over the powers of sin and death. But the Bishop’s costume also reminded me that a Savior rescued me, bringing hope for this life and for eternity.

When Easter morning dawned, I hurried across campus for a sunrise service. Suddenly I stopped in my tracks as a vision strode toward me. As the dazzling white figure neared, I wondered if I was seeing an angel like the one who greeted Mary Magdalene so long ago! Then I realized, “It’s Bishop!” He wore so much white that even his spats testified to the message of Jesus’ awesome victory over death.

Bishop’s face glowed as he lifted his voice above the campus’s hushed stillness and proclaimed the ancient Easter greeting, “He is risen!” I joyously echoed, “He is risen indeed!”

May that message stir your soul this blessed Easter.

The other day I was driving to my dentist’s office to get a broken tooth fixed, and a sign I saw at a busy intersection seized my attention. It hung inside a store window and announced, “Easter Made Easy.” I suppose the intention was that if you come inside, you will find whatever it takes to make entertaining and gift giving easy, but whoever made that sign couldn’t possibly have thought the idea through. I mean, Easter made easy?

If Easter only means getting spring clothes, egg hunts, baskets filled with candy, and a bunny, sure.
This holiday, however, is the most sacred to Christians because it marks the ultimate sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus, who came to take away the sins of the world. What Jesus went through on the night of his betrayal, his arrest, trial, tortuous beatings, carrying his cross through the streets of Jerusalem on His body, broken for us, then the crucifixion was anything but easy.
Perhaps, if Charles Schulz were still alive, he could make a sequel to his brilliant 1965 “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” In it, Linus would give a little speech explaining the events of Holy Week and Jesus’ Passion, concluding with, “That’s what Easter is all about, Charlie Brown.”

I’m excited about the news release Moody just sent out about THEN COMES MARRIAGE? Feel free to check it out–there are so many neat features, including an excerpt and interview questions. Enjoy!

http://www.mpnewsroom.com/?p=1094