I BELIEVE

”Christ died for our sins...;and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

A week to reflect on the last week of Jesus’s life. As I thought about my blog and was excited to do my weekly post I kept feeling sheepish about the fun garden ideas, the mothering stories, how to balance life and more subjects I was deciding to share. They all seemed trivial in comparison to this Holy Week and what Easter is about.

I want to share a beautiful moment in my life in the Holy Land. In 1999 I was in Jerusalem as Mrs. America competing with forty nine other women for Mrs World title. It was a blessed 21 days to be able to see the place Christ walked and travel all over Israel! Forever thankful to the Mrs America and Mrs World organization for that gift in my life. When I won Mrs America and they announced the Mrs World pageant was going to be held in Israel I started crying. I was more excited about going to the Holy land and walking where my Savior walked then winning Mrs America.

The time in Israel was beyond what I could have hoped for. The river Jordan, mount of olives, Bethlehem, Sea of Galilee, Nazareth, the wailing wall , and so much more.

The pageant had our days filled with appearances, and our schedule was very tight with undercover guards following us everywhere, due to much unrest and conflict in the country. As the pageant started coming to an end it became clear to me that seeing the tomb of the Savior was not on the agenda. I researched where it was and how far from where we were staying.

I reached out and asked if anyone wanted to hurry, during a break we had one day after lunch, and walk with me to see the tomb of Christ. We didn’t have google maps and I was a bit nervous heading out leading a group of women on my own in the streets of Jerusalem.

We hurried through the busy streets and what happened next that day will forever be engraved on my heart💗We walked in the area of the tomb and fell in with a tour group and listened to them share the history and scriptures from the Bible concerning what happened in the tomb and more on the life of our Savior.

I was able to walk inside the very small tomb and touch the stone where our Savior laid. It will forever be a sacred moment for me. Then the eight of us went and sat in another tomb where there were seats set up and they brought us the sacrament. None of us were of the same faith. We agreed we wanted to sing a song together and have prayer before we took the sacrament. From eight different countries and different faiths what song? We sang Amazing Grace💗 the spirit was so strong. As we left Mrs India a beautiful peaceful soul, who was a practicing Hindu said to me “Starla we believe in Jesus as a good man in history. Not as a God but we believe he lived and did good as many other men we study in history. What we just felt in that room I have never felt” I embraced my friend with a smile and tears in my eyes and said “that is the Holy Ghost, the spirit of Christ testifying that Christ is our Savior our King”

We hurried back to the hotel to join in the next event. It is the only time I left the group in the 21 days and it was beyond worth the risk. I shared a part of my heart with those seven other women that day and will forever love those women. We share that moment as a bond for eternity.

As we focus on his Grace this week may our hearts💗 be filled with the spirit of Christ testifying of our Saviors love for us 💗

I know HE lives! I know we shall live again. I am forever thankful that my sins have been atoned for and for the gift of repentance.

I BELIEVE in CHRIST🙏💗

He is my king!

With love until next Monday.

May Gods grace fill your soul and may you find the healing you desire in your Savior.

You are loved💗 you are never alone 💗

Starla 😘

The tomb of our Savior

Mrs World

Eight women from eight countries sang Amazing Grace and shared Gods love