This week the boys had to be back in Georgia in order to take the CRCT testing. Our assigned test-taking site is in a small little town called Fitzgerald. I never knew there was such a town in Georgia until this week. This is the most curious and bewildering little town by far that we have ever been in. This is definitely a little country town. It’s so far out in the country my phone keeps flashing “No Service”. They have no AT & T cell phone towers here. I now do not believe the AT& T commercial when it states “More Bars in More Places”. This town has NO BARS!!

Ok, so if the no bars did not bewilder us the chicken running through the streets sure did. Yes, I said chickens ! Come to find out, this town is know for it’s wild chickens. “Fresh Chicken” ,on the KFC sign has a whole new meaning in this town.

Back in the 1960’s, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources stocked Burmese chickens all over the state as an additional game bird to be hunted like pheasant or quail. Flocks of chicks were released several miles from Fitzgerald at the Ocmulgee River. Populations of the bird never took hold in other parts of the state, but for some reason, they left the river site and made their way to downtown Fitzgerald, where they have propagated and prospered ever since. Fitzgerald residents have a love/hate relationship with these wild birds. Some folks buy seed and feed them regularly, while others chase them out of their yard and gardens. An annual festival celebrates these unique residents called The wild Chicken Festival held in the downtown area during the 3rd weekend of March.

Every town needs to be known for something, so why not chickens. The boys finally caught them a baby chicken. No they are not keeping it. These are wild chickens not pets!!

The Holy Land Experience

During spring break my family came to visit us at our Florida home. We had a great time, and the time seemed to fly by. We visited the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, FL. It was an awesome experience too. Their drama presentation of the crucifixion was a very moving and heart wrenching display of what our Lord went through for us. Needless to say I cried most of the way through it. Just to see what pain and suffering our sinless Savor endured to save us and all because he loved us and wanted to spend eternality with us. Wow ! “Thank you Lord for your love!”

While in the park we did several fun activities. Our favorite was watching Heston participate in an on stage play of the Good Samaritan. Heston played the role of the injured man that laid on the road side. He did a great job. His very first acting role and he did not even get paid. Oh well, it was fun to watch! Bryson and Korbin each bought a sword to help David fight off Goliath, and fight each other also. Heston climbed a rock wall. We played games in Noah’s Ark., and were able to walk into the mouth of the whale and hear Johan tell his story. Hannah and Heston took a stroll through a prayer garden, while we all stepped into a recreation of the tomb.

Here is a pictorial of the drama presentation of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. These pictures are just a small example of what we saw. If you ever get the opportunities to see it live, it would so be worth it. Hope you enjoy my depiction through pictures of the Holy Land’s Experience of the Passion of Christ.

Our Lord in the Garden praying to God.

After supper Jesus goes with the disciples to spend the night in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus asks God if he can escape his fate..."Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."Despite this prayer he willingly submits to God's will and continues to prepare himself. Jesus continues to pray and his distress is such that 'his sweat was like drops of blood'.

A group of armed men, sent by the Jewish authorities, arrives in the Garden to arrest Jesus.

Judas betrays Jesus by identifying him with a kiss - the signal he had arranged beforehand.

Jesus is tried by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, on a charge of treason. The Jewish authorities were not authorised to execute people, so they needed to transfer the case to the Roman authorities.

Pilate is not convinced that Jesus is guilty of a capital crime and suggests that it would be sufficient to flog him.

The crowd objects to this and demands that Jesus be killed. Pilate gives in and sentences Jesus to be flogged first and then executed by crucifixion

 

The crucifixion takes place at a location called Calvary or Golgotha.

Jesus is stripped and nailed to the Cross. Above his head is placed a sign that says 'King of the Jews'. Two criminals are crucified alongside him.

Jesus' body is taken down and buried

Then a big stone was rolled in front of the tomb to make sure no one stills the body. Then soilders where placed outside to gaurd the tomb.

On Sunday the tomb is found empty, where is our Lord?  He has risen !!

How wonderful for us that our Lord paid the ultimate price for our sins.

The Bible says in Romans 10:9 (New International Version)

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Camping at Disney and going to Hollywood Studios

Our first trip to the land of Mouse while here in Florida went great!! We decided at the last minute to take off and stay over night there at Fort Wilderness (Disney Campground). We have stayed there before, never in a tent though. It was a great stay, the boys all worked together to put our tent up. They did a supper job. Thanks to Aunt Sandy for allowing us to borrow her ginormous tent. It worked great for our big family.

Our first day down in Orlando we went shopping in Downtown Disney. This is a Disney Attraction in itself. One of the boys favorite spots in Downtown is the Lego store. They could spend hours shopping and playing at this store. Downtown Disney has a new restaurant that was just amazing. It’s has a dinosaur theme. We will be putting that on our to do list while here in Florida.

One reason our family loves the Camp Wilderness at Disney is because of all the fun activities they offer. Our favorite is the Campfire Movie Night with Chip and Dale. The staff light up the best campfire and we bring our s’more fixens or hot dog dinner to grill out. There is always plenty of entertainment by the Wagon Banjo player with a special guest appearance by Chip and Dale. When darkness falls they start a Disney Movie on the big outdoor screen. This time we watched “Brother Bear”. And all this fun happens every night at the camp ground.

The next morning we were off to Hollywood Studios. This is one of the boys least favorite parks, but still has several favorite activities. One of their favorite rides is the Star Tours. On this visit we were able to ride the new Toy Store Ride which is now the new Family Favorite. Heston enjoyed the Rock’n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. Bryson’s favorite activity was the Jedi Training where he learned to be a Jedi and fought against Darth Vader. Trent loved the Star Tours ride, I think he rode it 5 times in one day.

We had a very fun filled day. The boys can’t wait to head off to their most favorite park, Epcot. Another park for another day. Epcot is really a two day park. There is always so much fun to be had.

.........Happy Easter!!!!!

All the Jones grandchildren were together so we took the opportunity to get a picture.

Easter is a very special time of the year for our family. The trees are budding green, the flowers are blooming and the sun is getting hotter! Signs that summer is fast approaching. But more than all this it’s the time of year where all this new life reminds us of the new life we have in Christ. Easter is the one holiday that is sad and yet also a time of rejoicing with thanksgiving to our Savoir. Our Lord Jesus came to earth, born of a virgin, was sinless but choose to die for our sins. But that is not the end, He died was buried and then arose and that’s reason to rejoice; our Lord conquered death.

John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life” God, the creator of the universe, sent his only Son, Jesus to earth to die for each of us. He’s blood made the atonement for our sins. We can now have eternal life through Christ Jesus. We can not get to heaven on our own merit. The only way we can have this everlasting life is by accepting the free gift of salvation that the Lord offers us.

And for this is why we celebrate Easter with joy ! We pray that you will find this joy also in your life.

We spent our Easter weekend with my parents in Cordele. The boys participated in an egg hunt at church where they decorated eggs and heard the Easter Story. They had a great time.