Tracy's Blog

We are in Holy Week.  It is the most intense time of the Christian year.  In the days we are living through as we journey towards the cross with Jesus, we cover a large portion of the Gospels.  There is too much to keep track of!  Then we go through the most radical and drastic transition possible: from death to life!  The difference between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is what gives us hope, power, and salvation: Jesus is alive!  Death is conquered!  But I'm jumping ahead. Back to the story before the cross.  A particular passage from John stood out to me this year.  It comes from John 12 .  After teaching that in order to multiply a seed must die and " anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life ", Jesus says in verse 27: "Now My soul is troubles, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'?" I love Jesus' honesty.  I love that He admits His discomfort with what is going on.  I l...

NOT AGAIN!!!!  Another morning where I didn't wake up or get out of bed at the time I had planned to.  This has been a chronic issue in my life (see my first ever blog post here ) and while I am better at it more times than not, it is still an issue because of my tendency to indulge my fleshly desires and avoid challenging things.  But today when I didn't get up on time, I didn't know which path to choose.  I could think of a few options: - take time to analyze why I keep doing this - berate myself - don't worry about it The option I choose is very in keeping with the message that I sense the Holy Spirit is repeating to me over and over: remember grace.  I choose to be gracious towards myself.  What does this mean? According to Google, grace (in Christian belief) is the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings . The Epistle in this Sunday's lectionary expresses it wonderfully. Ephesia...