Okay, so it’s Good Friday!

IT’S FRIDAY! This week, I wore two different shoes on Tuesday and have thought every day was Thursday, so I’m feeling really on top of things over here! 

How’s the week been for you? You might knee-jerk and say good! Or #survivingnotthriving. But really, how’s the week been for you? 

Your answer matters, because you matter, and I would love for this space to be a place of interaction and connection.

It’s not just Friday, it’s Good Friday. And it’s not just another week, it’s Holy Week. Today is the day we look with somber focus at the cross and acknowledge gruesome and glorious death of Christ. I’ve also spent the majority of this Holy Week writing a paper on the nature of atonement, answering the question why did Christ die and what exactly did his death accomplish, and thinking on Ecclesiastes 9, specifically verse 11 – 

“Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, not bread to the wise, not riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.”

Holy week, my paper and Ecclesiastes study were all unrelated, but at the risk of sounding morbid, the combination has led to having death on the brain. Christ’s death, my death, the finality of death in general and why remembering that we will die actually gives us a lot of insight on how to live. I will say, thinking on the topic of death without the current entanglement of grief does make this endeavor much easier. If you are one who is currently grieving death in some way or another and need to scroll on down, that is the power of email, friend, just scroll on down. 

Under the sun the race doesn’t go to the fastest, the strongest, the most wise or intelligent among us. More often than we would like, the righteous perish and the evil prevail. To quote my friend Mary, “the nice guy really does finish last.” 

We need only look at our own lives to know this is true. We can (and many of us have tried) to do all the right things and still don’t get the outcome we were hoping for. We’ve done all we know to do to the best of our abilities, and still don’t get into the school or get the job or have the husband or the kids. We pursue health and still our bodies fail. We safeguard and still disaster strikes. Time and chance happen to us all. Death is the only guarantee under the sun. It is final, unpredictable, and tragic no matter how or when it comes, but we live certain that death is coming. It can’t be avoided. It can’t be beat. 

Yet, that is exactly what Christ did on the cross. Christ our Lord defeated death, the powers of the enemy, sin, and darkness and rose to LIFE from that grave. For those that follow Jesus, we know this to be true. The resurrection is the cornerstone of our faith. Death, the great equalizer, the always looming, unavoidable, inescapable end, could not hold Christ. Jesus Christ died. On a Cross. To save us from our sins. Because He loves us. Even the youngest among us can recite this fact, but have we paused recently to think about the fact that Christ was dead and now he is alive? About what that means about our God? About what that means for you, today? 

For me, one of the difficult parts of reading Ecclesiastes is that it can be hard to find Jesus in it’s pages. The through-line to the gospel feels a bit tangled up. But, Christ came full into focus this week when a friend pointed out that instead of being frustrated that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, not bread to the wise, not riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, we need only remember that death came to the Righteous, in order that the wicked may live.

How quick I am to identify with the righteous, without first remembering that there was once a time when I was wicked, dead in my sin, and an enemy of God. May that reality not be lost on us this Good Friday. May we remember that God, the Son Incarnate, took on death to destroy the power of sin and bear the penalty of sin, so that we might know life and righteousness of God. Let’s rejoice that death was no match for Jesus Christ our Lord and that while it will still be a reality that we each of us face, it will also be no match for those who follow Jesus. 

Sunday is coming, friends! Happy Easter!

Right Now Round Up

Things I’m loving right this very minute!

Last weekend, I watched the Netflix Original, A Week Away, and it stirred up so many feelings. It’s a teen musical set at a Christian summer camp about finding a place to belong. The movie is made complete by a healthy dose of camp competition, teen romance, and old-school worship bops. It’s got serious High School Musical vibes and I loved every minute of it! Did Netflix accurately portray the Lord and the gospel? No, but that isn’t the aim of the movie. Do they accurately portray the Christian summer camp experience? Enough to make me truly nostalgic for my own first time at camp and the way the Lord really does use “a week away” to open eyes and cement truths about who He is. If you like musicals and have a summer camp experience of your own it’s worth an hour and a half of your time, especially if you went to the midnight premiere of HSM 3. Was that just me??

Y’all! I’m loving the set trend. I think the matching sweats, loungewear, and tracksuit situation is so fun! I’m not convinced I can pull it off, but this is the summer set that I have my eye on.

I’m wearing OPI Funny Bunny on my nails and it will always and forever be my favorite nail color. I still love Olive and June if I’m painting myself, but if I’m getting my nails done, I’ll choose OPI gel every time!

I love a good routine and I found this podcast episode about creating a 10-minute evening routine to be so helpful. So much so that I listened to it twice and took notes the second time. I’m well versed in opening the day with purpose and intention (not that I do that perfectly every day), but closing the day is a different story. I’ve been practicing Emily Freeman’s easy suggestions for closing the day with purpose and so far, it’s been a game-changer.

Happy weekend, friends! I’m praying your Easter weekend is full of Resurrection hope, beautiful weather, and a few Reese’s eggs! Until next time…

Thanks for being here!

Marissa

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