The Dogwood - Virginia's State Tree and Flower

Yes, it is both a flower AND a tree.  I don't understand the biology of that, but it's a fact.  The Dogwood also used to be tall and straight and strong - but after its wood was used  to make a cross to  crucified Jesus on, God made it small and crooked and weak so it could never again be used for such a horrific thing,

and the petals of the Dogwood's flower show the scars of the rusty nails and the stains of Christ's blood.

Come Fall, the leaves turn red representing the blood of Christ, the blood that was sacrificed in atonement for the sins of man - that is, IF a man (woman or child) accepts His sacrifice.  In the Old Testament, especially in the book of Leviticus, it spells out what sacrifices a priest could accept to pay for a person's trespasses:

Leviticus 1:1-3

Then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying,  "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock.

'If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect..."

With Christ, there are no more blood sacrifices necessary - only the acceptance of Christ's blood as the last, ultimate sacrifice made to cover OUR sins in the sight of God.

There were offerings to:
atone for sin (a burnt offering),
as an expression of thanksgiving and dedication to God (a grain offering),
as an expression of gratitude and desire for fellowship with God (a peace offering),
for unintentional sins of weakness or carelessness (a sin offering),
or atonement for specific sins (guilt or trespass offering.)

A burnt offering would be an unblemished bull, male sheep or goat, a male or female dove/pigeon (based on a persons wealth);

A grain offering would be your best flour or grain;

A peace offering would be an unblemished bull / male or female goat;

A sin offering would also be an unblemished bull / male or female goat;

A guilt or trespass offering would be an unblemished ram.

There were incredibly specific, time-consuming ritual things that one had to do in order for a sacrifice to be acceptable to the priest.  Today, all that "stuff" is called religion.  But the truth is, all that you need in order to be accepted into an eternal life in heaven is to believe that Jesus is (not "was," IS) the Son of God, that He lived, died (sacrificed Himself for you and for me, His blood to atone for Our sin) and was resurrected, shared a meal with His disciples, walked on the earth for days, was seen by hundreds, and was watched as He ascended into heaven to be with God.  Watched by EYEWITNESSES! 

Christmas is big because that's when Christ was born.  But Easter!  EASTER is what Christianity is all about!!  Easter is when God allowed the sacrifice of His only Son - totally perfect-in-every-way Son - because not a day goes by when each of us doesn't sin in some way, and God can't look on our sin without great grief and sadness.  (Well, He WON'T look at sin, period.)  Even saying your sinless is a sin because it shows pride.  And the only way to cover our sin so that God CAN look on us is by the blood of Christ covering our sin.

Easter is about coming to life free and clean.  Oh, sure, I'm gonna sin again, but God knows my heart.  He knows I try as hard as I can to be more Christ-like every minute of every day.  Believe me, it takes a LOT of Christ to cover this ol' girl.  But I won't give up trying because to give up trying is to give up loving, loving Christ, loving me, loving you...

Christianity is about LIFE.  Other religions are based on cruelty, submission, revenge, rejection, death even.  But Christianity is about freedom - the freedom to choose Christ and His ways.  Trying to follow His way is proof that you really DID accept Him and what He has done for you.

Wanna learn more?  Go to church.  Not just one church, though.  Shop around!  Preachers are just men, and all men are sinners.  Just because he's standing in a pulpit doesn't mean he's a Christian!  Listen to what he says, but then VERIFY what you hear by going to the BIBLE.  Watch the preacher when he's out of the pulpit.  Does he practice what he preaches?  If you like what you hear and what you see, STAY.  If not, shop around.  And always remember to worship God - not the preacher!!!!  Sooner or later you will see or hear something about a preacher that upsets you.  You might be tempted to stop going to church.  HELLO!  It's not about the preacher!!  It's about YOUR relationship with God!  It's not about religion or ritual.  It's about Christ.

Am I preaching?  Heavens no!  I'm sharing my heart with you.  If I had a box full of chocolates or a bowl full of the finest fruit, or a yummy steak and baked potato, I would be wanting to share it with you (or at least the recipe or store that I got it at :-)  That's all I'm doing.  I'm trying to tell you about this marvelous, wonderful person I met, who's become my best friend (along with John), and I want you to meet Him and become His best friend, too.