Finding the "Good" in Good Friday

It is Good Friday, and as I look around my house, the past 24 hours and my own heart, I have to look a little deeper to see the good.  My mother-in-law's car broke down with us in it while on the way to Maundy Thursday services at church.  The good is that we were in a parking lot when it happened instead of on the road.  My kitchen island was found infested with roaches.  My 3 year old asked me today, "Why did God make roaches?"  I replied, "For His own glory."  (But I'm not sure how much I really believed it.)  Tonight I know.  The messy reveals the beautiful.  The cross reveals the Savior.   Not only is this Easter weekend, but it is also the last weekend we are in town before we fly around the world for another family adventure in Russia.  We leave in less than 5 days. 

Our mess trying to pack! 

So, as I look around the state of our house and hearts, it would be easy to despair.  BUT for God.  Life is messy and our life is no different.  My husband has been sick with bronchitis for at least 5 weeks, and today spent 2 hours in a doctor's office waiting to see the doctor for the 2nd time to get a prescription.  He goes to sleep every night coughing.  Of course he was hoping to be well before we returned to Russia.  We had to clean out our entire kitchen after fumigating the intruders.  We need to buy a new transmission or another car.  There is a lot of packing to do!  And then there is the ugliness in my heart and that of my children's hearts and in our relationships with each other which can rear its' head especially in times of pressure.   Yet in the ugliness there lies the cross and the redemption of all things.  Did you know that roaches can reduce pests to cotton crops?  And that they are used in medical research?  Maybe there is a purpose for them!  Sickness hurts but shows us our frailty before an all-powerful God.  Car troubles are inconvenient but show us that our "plans" are subservient to God's.  Relationships can be painful but through them we are sanctified.  Jesus' death was not the end.  He rose, is ALIVE; our trials are temporary.  So we rejoice in our troubles, no matter how small or big.  He is GOOD!

Our "empty tomb" project and its' dead grass - symbolic?