{Happy Spring!}

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!

Springtime is here (in Nashville at least)! I am now officially 21, and I must say that I had the best 21^st birthday EVER! Mitchell and I both had our moms here and they met for the very first time! I am so so so SO happy that they hit it off, and now I hear that they talk all of the time and even exchange recipes. Oh mothers. We love you.

We spent my birthday at the Son of God tour here in Nashville, volunteering backstage and then attending the show. It was an amazing night of worship, and it was the best way to spend my birthday. Now would be a good place to share some pictures, right?

 We had lunch in Brentwood! 

 We spent our day with Francesca Batistelli, Natalie Grant, Chris August, Meredith Andrews, Jason Grey, and Sidewalk Prophets. No big deal! 

 Mama and I.

After the show, we went to Cheesecake Factory. Jared came too! :)

"22"

Mitchell turned 22 on April 14^th. I knew he would be at work most of the day, so I decided to have something fun for him that Sunday. When he got back from playing at Crosspoint, I had a picnic ready for him. It was a GEORGEOUS day with a capital G!!

On Monday, his actual birthday, Mitchell had a very hectic day at his internship. It was his birthday and I wasn’t okay with him being stressed out at all. I took a trip to Wal-Mart, picked up a few things, and headed home to prepare a surprise! Around 5 o’clock, Mitchell opened the door and saw me with my phone, dancing around, blasting Taylor Swift’s “22”. How appropriate for his 22^nd birthday, right? ;) Then, I covered his eyes and led him to the kitchen where a brownie sundae buffet was waiting for him! His favorite!!! (Besides his mom’s raspberry cake desert that he says is “dang good!”) Mitchell is feeling 22 now!!

Our picnic!! 

The end of the semester is near; finals start on Thursday. What’s odd is that I don’t feel any sort of anxiety about them. Some would say that is a bad sign, but I am choosing to believe that it is because I have developed a stronger trust in God. J I am SO excited to be going home for a couple weeks in May. My mom and I have various wedding appointments, and hopefully, I will find my wedding dress! Planning our wedding is a ton of fun; I hope I can keep that perspective and not turn into a total Bridezilla! If all goes well, I will have my dress, our flowers, and engagement pictures all squared away. For updates on all of our wedding plans, visit: mimilywedding.com

 Good Friday

Mitchell and I attended a Good Friday service at a church out in Brentwood last night. Our best friend Jared was on the worship team, so we decided to go and support him.; we were both so very glad we did. The service was filled with songs about the cross, and scripture was read telling the story of Jesus’ death. When I think about it, my heart aches for what Jesus went through for me, but then I remember WHY Jesus had to die, and my heart is overwhelmed with love and gratitude, and I’m literally so willing to lay everything down for Jesus, because that’s what He did for me.

You see, Jesus really did pay it ALL.

Jesus paid the price for crimes He did not and would not ever commit. Even a criminal on a cross beside Jesus says in Luke, “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” (Luke 23: 41). Jesus lived a sinless life; He was literally perfect and yet, He died a sinner’s death. This same criminal hanging next to Jesus, says later on in that same chapter, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” To this Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23: 42-43). Jesus wants so badly to share heaven with us. He was the only one who had the power to conquer death. If we had been put to the deaths that we deserved for our sins, it would’ve been over right then and there.  Without Jesus, you and I wouldn’t have had victory over death. Jesus knew that He was the only one who could take our punishment and then rise again. Jesus took our place to literally save our lives. We owe Him our lives. We owe Him everything.

Why did Jesus have to die?

The answer is simple. As humans, we are sinful. Sin separated us from God, and separation from God is death. Of ourselves, we can do nothing to become united with God again. Jesus made a way.

 Jesus was sinless and perfect. Since He was the only person who was without sin, He is the only one who can bridge the gap between the sinless God and sinful people. Jesus took our past, present, and future sins on Himself and took the punishment for it all to close the gap between God and us forever. Once you know this to be true in your heart, it changes not only the way you live; it changes everything.

“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” –Romans 5:8

Nothing can separate

There are so many people out there who simply have not grasped this, and have not experienced the joy and love that comes when you accept this truth. To them I say, stop FIGHTING something you literally cannot escape. You cannot run away from what Jesus did for you, and you can’t hide from God’s love for you. He loves you anyway, so why not love Him back? Love Him for who He is. What kind of love He must have for you to do what He did FOR YOU! THIS is what life is all about. Death has lost and love has won, all because of Jesus.

There was a song they played called, “At the Cross”. It is a song I have heard before, but for some reason, it hit me so much harder than it ever has before.

“You tore the veil. You made a way, when you said that it is done.”

In the gospel of John (John 19:30) Jesus cried out from the cross, just before He died that “it is finished”. At that moment, it was done. There is nothing you and I could have done to pay for our sins, but in dying, Jesus finished it for us. There is nothing you or I can do to save ourselves from our sins, it has already been done for us. We have been saved by grace, and it is a precious gift that came at a high price- Jesus’ life.

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His spirit. At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”

The veil was what was used to separate the holy place from the holiest place, or Holy of Holies. The very moment Jesus died, this veil was torn!!! At that moment, nothing was no longer separating us from God. Jesus tore that veil and made a way for us to be right with God.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor ANYTHING ELSE IN ALL OF CREATION, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –Romans 8:38-39

We were there

Another song they sang at this Good Friday service is an old hymn that my church back at home used to sing during Lent.

“Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”

I remember thinking when I was a little girl that no, I wasn’t there. How could I have been? I knew that this happened over 2000 years ago. Even at a young age, I could do the math and figure out that I wasn’t 2000 years old. As I grew older though, and began to hear the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection year after year, I came to a stunning realization. While I know that I wasn’t there in person, I was there when Jesus was crucified. You were there also; we all were. I was there in the form of my sins. Jesus didn’t just die for the sins of the people living at the time, but for the sins of everyone in all of creation. Even before I was born into existence, Jesus was thinking of me personally on that cross, and He loved me even then. He did that as much for us now as He did it for those living then.

God’s not dead

“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

These are the words we know that Jesus spoke to the other man on a cross. Jesus knew that He wouldn’t be in the grave for long. Death lost and love won! God is not dead; He’s surely alive and He is alive and as real as you and me. He is alive and because of Him, you and I are no longer separated from the love of God.

What does it mean?

Our pastor at our home church here in Nashville is the bomb; both Mitchell and I absolutely LOVE Pastor Pete and Crosspoint Church. He gave a message last week that has been running through my mind all week. He titled it “A Barrier Removed Forever”, and in it he talked quite a bit about the veil being torn and the significance of that. He had 3 points that I will share with you.

1.     A barrier is removed forever. The veil being torn meant the barrier between us and God was removed permanently.  

2.     A Hope is confirmed. There was a hope confirmed in the life after death, and hope was confirmed that Christ would always be with us. Here he talked about how you never graduate from grace. There will never come a time when you won’t desperately need God’s grace, but there also won’t ever come a time when you won’t have it. This hope that was confirmed on that day is a hope that no shame can ever erase. No matter what we do, and no matter what happens, this hope and this grace will always be there for us.

3.     A grief was expressed. This was the most interesting part of his sermon because in this part, he expressed a very insightful theory. Have you ever been so sad or so mad that you literally felt like you had to tear something? You were so sad, that the only way to express your grief was to grab something and tear it in two? Pete shared the thought that when Jesus, the Son of God died, God tore the veil of the temple in half out of great grief, removing the barrier forever.

Oh man. Jesus. There is so much I could write about Him and His love for me, but you have all been troopers and have read through this entire post. If there were an award or something, I would give it to you. My prayer for you is that you would all know Jesus as the loving Savior that He is. Accept what He did for you, and love Him back because He, more than anybody else, deserves it.

Have a blessed Easter weekend! I am serving at Crosspoint Kids this weekend for 5 services! Wish me luck!!! Just kidding. I'm soooo looking forward to it, and I just pray that God will use me in big ways to touch the lives of those who step foot into church this weekend. I have big things to share very soon!!! Big, exciting, God-written things that I promise to post about next week!

 Until then, Keep Calm and Listen to Music.

Love,

E

Hawk Nelson – Faithful
Sidewalk Prophets – Live Like That
Sidewalk Prophets – Help Me Find It
Meredith Andrews – Strong God
Natalie Grant – Your Great Name
Natalie Grant – Held
Natalie Grant – Alive (MARY MAGDALENE)
Francesca Battistelli – Oh, Son of God
Chris August – Center Of It
Chris August – The Upside Of Down
Hillsong Live – Cornerstone - Live
Hillsong United – Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)
Hillsong United – Scandal of Grace
Hillsong United – Relentless
Passion – White Flag - feat. Chris Tomlin
Passion – Lay Me Down - feat. Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman
Chris Tomlin – Whom Shall I Fear [God of Angel Armies]
Jenn Johnson – For the Cross
Jeremy Riddle – Furious
Love & The Outcome – He Is With Us
Vineyard Worship – Sweetly Broken (feat. Jeremy Riddle)
Planetshakers – The Anthem
Stuart Townend – In Christ Alone
Francesca Battistelli – Lead Me To The Cross
Gateway Worship – O The Blood
Jenn Johnson – For the Cross
Kari Jobe – What Love Is This
Chris Tomlin – Crown Him [Majesty] [with Kari Jobe]
Kari Jobe – Healer
Natalie Grant – Hurricane
Natalie Grant – Greatness Of Our God
Natalie Grant – Power Of The Cross
Natalie Grant – In Christ Alone (Bonus Track)
Phil Wickham – Divine Romance
Phil Wickham – Messiah / You're Beautiful
Audrey Assad – Restless
Avalon – I Don't Want To Go
Tenth Avenue North – Times
Jon Foreman – Your Love Is Strong
Charlie Hall – Center
Cambridge – Invitation Fountain
Hillsong United – Arms Open Wide - Live
Hillsong United – With Everything - Live
Colton Dixon – You Are
Hillsong – At The Cross