Lent

Today begins the first day of Lent for 2014.  Those of you who are Catholic need no explanation, but for those that are not let me explain why I celebrate this thing called Lent. When I was younger, being raised in a  traditionally Catholic home, Lent was always about something that you gave up for a really long time, and then Jesus comes alive and you get to have said thing back in your life again.

Now as an adult, I've come to appreciate Lent in a whole different light. I now know that Jesus is ALIVE all year thru, and very much a part of my life. So it's not so much about taking away something that you really love only to get it back in 6 weeks and celebrate, with no true change.
To me Lent is the Spring cleaning of the soul. It's a time to move some furniture around and sweep out the cobwebs of your heart. 
I look at this time that is 6 weeks out from Easter, and I ask myself these questions;
What have you allowed in your life that has taken the place of God or What are your idols ?
What can you clean, purge, fast from that will remind you that you are NOT it's slave?
How could you be a better wife, mom, daughter, friend, sister, human being?
And after answering some of these questions I pray. I pray and ask God to really lead and direct me in a way that will bring a more purposeful way of life.  I no longer celebrate the season of Lent because I have to. I don't do it to look like a better Christ-follower or like get brownie points from God. (There are no such things by the way)
No, I approach the Lent season a little differently.  With freedom in my heart,  I know that only God and his amazing grace has allowed for me to be a part of this awesome thing called Christianity, and that by no means could I ever achieve salvation through giving up sugar, or coffee, or television.
I'm grateful that I have the freedom to participate Lent,  and that I have the perspective that I do about it.  I wait with hopeful expectation for good things to come from every Lent season. I take the time to thank God for the little things that come my way during this time. The things I would otherwise take for granted.  The things I pray and ask God for during this time are not quickly forgotten. And when Easter Sunday morning comes I really do feel like the living room of my soul is de-cluttered, dust free, and ready for hosting, the Lover of My Soul. 

Oh Happy DAY!!

Beloved Reader I have missed you something fierce! 

It has been a long six weeks of no Facebook, No Instagram, No Twitter,and No YOU! It seems like forever and a day that Lent began, and now I'm finally "reunited and it feels sooo good", and  while I was away there were some majors that took place; A very beloved cousin passed away at the young age of 44 years old(more on that later), The Oscars,Daylight Savings, me working out M-F for a solid 6 weeks in a row .. What what? Hold the phone ... Noël, NoDots working out for over 30 days now that is some crazy talk if I have ever heard crazy talkin !! Some Village members moved on to greener pastures, A trip home to Nevada for a beloved friends baby shower and BASEBALL SEASON!! Woot WOOT!! 
All of which, was hard to process without you, but I managed to survive ;)

 I realized some very profound things during this 6 week break from social media, and the first one is my need for people. I love people. I love my people deeply. My love for you beloved reader is deep.

Are you getting that there is a deep theme going on here? 

If it weren't for you I wouldn't be here. I have other places to write so that my outlet is fulfilled and you better believe those places looked a lot fuller during this Lent season, but I was longing to share what I was thinking, what I was learning with YOU, because LIFE is just better when it's shared.
Can I get a witness?

 Living life is just not nearly as fulfilling without my fellow sojourner. All that to say I'm happy to be back.
Sheesh, I sure am long winded sometimes.

Another not so profound thought, but still meaningful at the same time was that I had social interactions face to face that I might not have pursued otherwise. I started talking to people in the grocery store again, and not looking down at my phone while waiting in line. Ya, know... living life in real time!

Now hold the phone...
I don't want at all to discredit the social interactions that happen here or in other places with social media. Because, honestly,
  I feel I have a whole community of people here that I truly love and I know you love me and that is just amazing! Like, people try to always point out the negative about social medias and they neglect to mention the positive.
Like totally they do that!!(Do you like my inner valley girl I'm channeling there?)
 Where else can you go and by writing one tweet or status update have hundreds of people praying... That's some awesome sauce if I've tasted awesome!!

What I'm saying is its all how we look at this thing called social media.

Balance in all things, freedoms should be applied, but not taken for granted that to look up from the computer or the phone every once in a while is a VERY GOOD THING!!

And before I say too much more I mostly just want to communicate that I am happy to be back with you all.
And without further ado the song I feel like singing today...
HE's ALIVE!!
and
SHE's ALIVE!!
It's all Abundant, Beautiful LIFE!!




I'll get down to some meatier topics I processed while away later this week but for now,
Go ahead and enjoy a little Oingo Boingo on me today.

Ash Wednesday and Lent

Good Morning Beloved Reader, Today I want to talk about the topic of Ash Wednesday and Lent. Ash Wednesday is tomorrow and many of you that may have been raised Catholic or are still Catholic know what Ash Wednesday signifies, but those of you who don't may have just seen people walking around with a black mark on their foreheads and maybe you thought they just got messy while making their fire that morning.  But, Nope. 
That's not what the ash on their foreheads is about. Before I get into a bit of history on the actual meaning of Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent I would like to get personal for a minute. 

I would like to share my story, on why I celebrated the season of Lent as a child, and why at one point I didn't, and then now why I do again.
When I was younger I was raised as a Catholic, and not just your everyday average Catholic my parents both were very spiritual people. My dad was in the seminary intending to become a Priest and My Mom was a teenager who lived in a Convent for a time. Clearly, that didn't work out because otherwise I most assuredly would NOT be here. However, even though they were both Convent/Seminary drop outs they still had a very strong faith, and ever since I could remember we were having bible study or Catechism lessons in our living room, and going to church faithfully on Sundays. We celebrated Ash Wednesday and Lent every year and this is what I remember as a child about those days. 
One- Ash Wednesday was not my favorite because not only did I get this black stuff on my forehead that messed up my whole look, but I also had to give something up for 6 weeks.   Two- I didn't ever really understand  the WHY,  behind these occasions so they meant nothing to me.
 And C. -They were in my mind, almost like a punishment for being Catholic that I never enjoyed and certainly had no intention of carrying on once I was old enough to stop the madness.

The reason I think these are my memories as a child of this season is because I believe that  somewhere along the way for my mom and dad these acts became just that, ACTS.  I'm sure if you were to ask them today they would say that they both were not doing these out of love and devotion to Christ, but out of duty. They just did what they had always done without really asking why?  It's important that we never forget the WHY behind the WHAT. Why is a powerful word.
It was at this point that my sister Jenny worked with a woman who sought out her faith so differently, and my Uncle Gene introduced both of my parents to a new way of pursuing their faith in Christ. It was like God was working on their hearts all along for this moment in time, and the rest is my family of origins spiritual history so to speak. Needless to say, when they stopped marking my forehead I was beyond glad to end that silly tradition and I never looked back until....
About almost 4 years ago now I attended a church service that explained some things about these days that I never understood before. If you want to read up more on Ash Wednesday Here is a great link to read about Ash Wednesday's original origins American Catholic dot Org ;) but for the sake of what I'm trying to say here I'm just going to say that somewhere along the way in my faith journey I realized that it isn't the outside that matters so much to God, but rather what's going on in your inners that HE cares about. And, it's not just once a year that we should take inventory of our faith walk but on a daily basis. 

What I'm saying is that, I know now  to walk around in "sackcloth and ashes" and give sugar up for 6 weeks is not what God really wants from me. But, what does he require of me then? 
And that brings me back to that powerful church service 4 years ago where I realized in many ways I had thrown the baby Ash Wednesday out with the Bath Water Lent.  Hee hee hee... I make myself laugh.
These acts in and of themselves are not bad, but rather the motive behind them. If my motive is to be seen as a great spiritual person who can give up Coffee so that the world can stand in awe of me, then umm... I  might need a check up from the neck up, or down really... cause my heart is what would really need a transplant.  But IF however I feel fasting from Coffee will help me realize my great need, desperate need, for God to give me strength and not that dirty drug Caffeine then I think I'm tracking what God is laying down.
We are told as Christ followers that our numero uno call or command is to Love God above all else.  Which brings me to the word Idols. That word has become a household acceptable name now with American Idol, but make no mistake that is a NAS- TAY word!!  We can have all kinds of idols in our lives and they don't come in the form or the fashion of statues anymore. They come in Wine Bottles, Celebrities, T.V. shows and dare I say even in the form of Blogland. But oh beloved reader, they are not to be trifled with. They come to rob, kill, and destroy our original design and purpose here.  And I believe the only way we can even realize they are there is to get on our knees and ask God to reveal them to us.  I now look forward to this time of year because I walk into it with Freedom. Freedom to know that even if I say I am giving up sugar for 6 weeks and I goof up and have a donut one day, God doesn't really care.  He doesn't require sacrifice and fasting anymore. 
"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and to love kindness and mercy, and to humble yourself and walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8 Amplified Version.
This will be the fourth year of celebrating Lent with this new understanding.  Every year I ask God what may have crept into my life and taken the place that only HE should have. And every year HE has been faithful to reveal to me something that would be good to give up for a while.  Beloved reader this space here, and all of my social medias are going to be quiet for the next 6 weeks while I soak in and soak up only HIM.  I will still be answering emails, and your comments here through email, but you won't find me living here or on Instagram,Twitter, or Facebook. For the next 6 weeks I'm going to take this time to reflect, repent, and renew what it is God has called me to.  I will miss you, and I sure hope you are still here when I return.  I certainly gave you enough to read in this here  Book of a post.  Sheesh... long winded much!! I'm already having withdrawals can you tell? Pray for me.

Revisiting The Word Determination

At the beginning of this year, I decided not to have a New Year's resolutions, but rather to pick a word that would encompass my over all goals for 2012. You can find the post about it here;
Determination

Determination, the word I chose to highlight my year is one that I have had to revisit recently as I am now on my third week of Lent and finding it hard to stick with my fast.

I still have another 3 weeks to go, and although I am confident that I will finish well, I have had to be "Determined" about what it is exactly that I want this fast to do.

I read yesterday in John 5, where Jesus is at this pool that sick people used to hang out by, hoping to get healed. They would wait for the water in the pool to stir, and when it did the first one to get in the pool would be healed from whatever ailment was bothering them. If you don't know the story check it out. It's a little hocus pocus if you ask me, don't quite understand why a pool would bring healing, but whatevs!

Back to my point, in this story there is a man who can never get up quick enough to be the winner in the hocus pocus pool, so he is left with his disability, and a good portion of self-pity, Eeyor-ish attitude. Anyone who has had chronic pain, or a lifelong disability I am sure can relate to how he was feeling.

Jesus comes in one day and says, "Do you want to become well?"

Hmm...

My initial response to reading this was, 'Well of course he wants to get well Jesus'. But then I started to think about a whole other side of this story. Like, would if Jesus knew, because he knows everything, that this man was just coming up with excuses? Maybe, he enjoyed the attention he got, the pity party was more fun than real life party, hanging out by the pool had become so comfortable it was scary to think of leaving??? These are all thoughts that maybe Jesus knew about this man and so that's why he asked him;

"Do you want to become well?"

It made me think of how many times I set out to do something to get healthier and in the end give up.

I am nothing, if not consistently, inconsistent. (Say those last 2 words 5 times fast)

So if I take that story and apply it to myself, I would say, Yes I want to get well. I want to be the person who forever changes my lifestyle habits, and never returns to my former ways of life. I want to be the "dog that does NOT return to it's vomit"

I want to be consistent.

I want to be determined.

I want to get well.

Lent

I am preparing for Lent to start tomorrow.
I have celebrated the season of Lent actively as an adult for the past 3 years now.
But, when I was younger my family as Catholics would observe lent.
It didn't really make sense to me in my younger years as a Catholic, so I abandoned the practice all together when I became an Evangelical Christian.
Now,today as a grown woman, not affiliated with any religion I think I get it.


And so I ask myself this,What does giving up something do for my walk with God?
I realize now it's not about getting some kind of spiritual eternal brownie points.
And that it doesn't make me a better follower of Christ to participate.
I know that if I don't participate(as I didn't for many years) I'm not going to hell.

What I think it's about now is remembering a sacrifice so profound, it deserves our time and attention.
Remembering what was done so long ago, that it resonates still 2000 years later.
We have 6 weeks before Easter Sunday. 40 days where we can remember the greatest sacrifice, by the sacrifice we make.
Whatever is given up is gained a thousand times over in ways that can't be measured.
It's and act of worship.


And today I read this in My Utmost for His Highest;
"There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him even small gifts of surrender, just to show how genuine our love is for Him. To be surrendered to God is of more value than our personal holiness. Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God. “. . . but perfect love casts out fear . . .” once we are surrendered to God (1 John 4:18). We should quit asking ourselves, “Am I of any use?” and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time."

I realized along time ago that my stinky flesh is of no true use to God.
He could use anything or anyone to accomplish his plans and purposes.
No, I know that mine is not your model life for Christianity.
I'm not your perfect, cookie-cutter Christ follower.
I am however, so in love with Jesus.
I am still after all these years longing to know more about this God-man.
His life, death, and resurrection is still what gets me up in the morning.


And so I celebrate Lent to take time out of my routine life.
To remember why I am here.
Pondering on what He did for me, FOR ME.
Thinking back upon the greatest love of all time does my heart good.

Coffee Fast Is Over...

It's a funny thing, my fast from coffee ended yesterday and I think I had about 3 or 4 very good, very full cups of coffee, but here I sit today with a cup of Green Tea and one stevia. (My replacement drink of choice in the mornings)

Giving up coffee was not an easy fast for me.
I am still not entirely sure why I did it.?
I know I wanted to give up something for Lent that wouldn't have a dual purpose.
By that I mean, often times when I fast, to be quite honest I hope that it will help me lose weight.
I mean, I don't set out going "I am going to fast from sugar so I can lose weight!"
I definitely disguise my fasts with a much more spiritual expression as to why I am fasting from whatever it is.
So a true confession I am giving you here is that, when I fast from time to time to pray, seek God's wisdom, or for a friend or whatever the reason, deep down I think this will help me too!

Shocking I know, but there you have it!

But coffee never entered any of those categories.
In fact, I think I remember telling myself that I could never give up coffee.
It was like the one thing in my life I would never do.
When others would talk about not drinking coffee anymore I would actually feel bad for them.
As though they were missing out on something so precious in life, so wonderful, so essential... why would you ever give it up?

Well, here I sit on this gloriously rainy, perfect Washington morning and although I could have coffee I want Green Tea.

Huh? I didn't see that one coming!

Fasting I have learned over the years is more a matter of choice.

And how luxurious a life I lead that I GET the choice to FAST from anything!

If there is just one thing that I really took away from this Lent season it is that.
I have the choice to fast from food, drink, television, certain clothes(free trade), stores i will shop at, etc.

And what a gift that is.

Truly we (Americans especially) are saturated with choice.
It is a freedom, I know I have taken for granted over the years.

This Lent season helped me to realize that, and so much more and I am hoping I don't soon forget it.

If there is nothing else you have to be thankful, grateful for in your life today let it be that you have the choice to choose whether to drink coffee or tea, or clean water and be blessed by that alone.

Lent

I'll admit I haven't been a participator in this Lent tradition since I was a Catholic child who somewhat unwillingly participated, if at all!
I remember families giving up T.V., Sugary Treats, and a variety of other crazy talk happenings! I remember never really understanding a lot of things that were spiritual concepts back then, but one thing I did understand was that I didn't want to give up sugar right as I was selling Girl Scout cookies :)


Up until a year ago I thought the season of Lent was just another legalistic way of trying to take away from the greatest sacrifice ever made. A kind of earning your badges of being a good, better, best follower of Christ.

That was what I thought, until the church I was attending a year ago at this time had such a different take on this thing called Lent. They spoke of this time of preparation, remembering others who are suffering, sacrificing for a greater good, fasting from some things in order that other things might come in abundance, and just an over-all time to take note of your spiritual life. A time to take stock of your inventory as a Spiritual being, and prepare your house for the day of new life. New Beginnings. A kind of Spring cleaning spiritually. They inspired me to take a second look at this thing called Lent.



I remember coming home and sharing with the kids about the fact that I was inspired to do something for Lent, that it was a special time, and that I was going to give up sugar. At first they looked at me like I was crazy, eyes wide as saucers. At some point they too were all excited about this new found thing called Lent. They took an interest with mom and got on board until later that evening when Isaiah asked if he could have Hot Cocoa and I said, "Buddy that has sugar in it". He said without even a second thought, "Oh well I'm out" as though it was a game or something.
That was when I realized:
1) guess I am not that good of a teacher as I thought, and
B) it might have been too big a concept for a 5 year old to get, dunno?



So this year, I told my kids that Lent was coming, and told them what I was giving up. I gave up coffee(that's a blog post for another day), and
I didn't ask any of them if they wanted to join. But, to my surprise they all chimed in with what they were going to give up.
I think that I might have done a better job describing this Lent season to them. At least a little better than last year, because they are all still going strong with all of their fasts.(excluding Isaiah... refer to point 1. and B.)
I told them that usually people give something up, but also some people add some new good behavior or habit in place of what they gave up.


So as if I wasn't challenged enough already....

On top of participating in the traditional Lent Season of giving something up for six weeks, I had decided this year that I wanted to begin adding new challenges to my life.
The challenges I wanted to incorporate into my life are motivated by LOVE. After all, the greatest act of LOVE that the world has EVER seen is what we are preparing to remember and celebrate so what better time than this to take these; LOVE challenges.

Instead of doing this all at once, I have been giving myself one week challenges.
To me it seems more attainable to do things in one week increments.
Once one week is over if I have accomplished these goals and feel inspired to keep going with them, I do.
And then I add a new challenge.

There are about 3 weeks to go until Easter Sunday, and I can honestly say that this Lent season for me has already been pretty amazing. I have learned a lot about myself and what motivates me. I would like to think I am learning even more about this amazing God that I get to serve. I hope and pray that eventually I will be able to describe/teach about this Lent season thingy in such a way that even Isaiah will whole-heartedly get on board, but until then as I am learning I am confident that one day he will too. Because isn't it so true that you can't really teach something to another person unless you fully, completely, whole-heartedly get it yourself?