Lent and Looking to Holy Week

In many ways, some of my Lenten practices will not end on Easter Sunday... and I don't think I ever really intended for them to.

I have faithfully read a chapter a week of Practicing Our Faith…

Times of Yearning, Practices of Faith.

Honoring the Body.

Hospitality.

Household Economics.

And this week, Saying Yes and Saying No.

There are lots of chapters left, and, turning to Holy week, I find myself convicted in some practices and wanting to more fully delve into the discovery of others.  Sabbath’s importance has been realized on this Lenten journey, and I have learned that there are many miles left on the journey. But the thing that is important to me right now is that the journey has begun and I am convicted in it.  

These practices interweave… When you honor your body, there is a sense of extension into saying yes and saying no.  Practices of good faithful household economics mean we are able to extend hospitality, and that we are encouraged to consider how we care for our planet and ourselves… and we learn to say no to the excess and the things we do not need in our lives, and to say yes with our time and our money and our energy to the things that matter and that encourage hospitality and honoring the body.

This is an AMAZING book.  For individuals and for communities.  I highly encourage it.

Ouch...

I don’t know if I have vented on this here, but man oh man, breaking your tailbone?

Hurts. 

And not moving when you’re used to moving lots? Oh, the frustrations abound, friends.

But there is much more joy in the little things, and I pray that when(not if, but when) I get back on a bike, I will appreciate so much more the ability to feel wind on my face and I will doubtless be wearing my helmet.  I’m going to enjoy swinging my hips and digging into the steps of Lindy and Blues like it’s my job, and I am going to pick up all of the little ones that God’s put in my life these days, and crawl around with them.

While I try to be still and let my bones knit back together, I have had lots more time in which to sit and write- and read… Does this mean I’m getting the schoolwork I need to done? Not necessarily.  It means I’m working on my soul though, and in this sort of mandatory stillness I have begun to explore a creative side and a spiritual side that lose out when we land solidly in a mind/body meld of the sort that comes with being an academic and training for something big.

It means I’m sewing.

It means I am sleeping (okay, the meds mean I am sleeping)deeply and, finally, somewhere close to enough. 

So, all in all, life’s good.  It's taken a little while to get past the pity party, but now that I am, I love the good I am seeing.

Soapbox

Consider yourself warned, but, no matter how many times it is said, it can always be said one more time.

Wear.

Your.

HELMET.

I don't care if it's a short ride, if it looks silly, or if you think you're too cool for it.  It could save your brain.  I'm not exactly a beginning cyclist, and certainly no expert, and I fell off my bike recently- not in traffic, and I am fine- and I hit hard enough to break my tailbone and crack my helmet.  I walked (okay, hobbled...) away from that because I was smart enough to protect my noggin.
So please, friends.  Protect yours.  We are tasked with the care of God's Creation, and we have to remember that we are indeed a part of that equation.

Noise and Sounds

There is something to removing distractions… and, it’s funny how sometimes it takes something disciplined to bring out the need for disciplines.  I think that one of the lovely things about silence is that it is an effort these days, and one so very worth it.

I can’t say I have been as successful as I would like in making room for silence in my life these days- there are so many noises that seem to demand attention- right now- and I, all too often, listen.  Computers whir away, and keys click-clack.  Ads play on the radio.  I respond to the email or I play that game someone just challenged me to… I check a little screen again and again, and the noises keep coming.

Noise is not the only thing demanding my attention though, and for that I am infinitely grateful.  Sometimes, and gratefully more often than noise, it is sound… Laughter.  Prayer.  Affirmation.  Thoughts voiced.  Soft chatter of people talking, really talking, in the background of a coffee shop.   And, a favorite, to which I hope to drift off this evening, the sound of rain pit-patting on windows.


Sound is God's music of the world when we're not quite ready for silence, and I am thankful for it these days.

Practicing Our Faith

So, this book is a big part of my lent.
Introduced in the book are a series of practices... And they are all things that in some ways are taken for granted, and in some ways are disappearing from our culture.  I read the first edition in college with a Bible/book study and I don't know that I really got it or wanted to take the time to get it then.
Lo and behold, in searching for a book a while ago for a group study, I found edition number 2- with 2 new chapters and the same great premise.  There is a lot that is the same, because these are ancient Christian practices- and these things don't change.  There are additions- thoughts on how Creation and the care of self and care of the world is present in these practices, and how we integrate them in our lives.
   But... The best happy coincidence? There is a chapter for every week of Lent and Eastertide- so, from now to Pentecost.
14 weeks.
And, I think it'll be really good. I can get it more now than I did then, because I'm ready to do the work.

Lent

Not past tense of 'to loan'. No grammar lessons here today. I know that's probably something of a shock, or not.

The weeks before Easter are a time when the church becomes a very reflecting and solemn place... People prepare for baptism and re-affirm one another as we all journey together in this very meditative season. We give up things-or take them on, in an effort to be mindful of all that was given up and taken on in the life, ministry and death of Jesus Christ- and then, we spend a season of celebration living into Spring- a season loud with the potential of blossom and planting- and into the resurrection of Jesus and the birth of Christ's church. Through Eastertide, out of our meditative state, we are renewed as creation is renewed around us.

So what am I giving up? What am I taking on?

Balance. God gives us amazing minds and bodies and places in us beautiful souls- and entrusts us with their care. So I am going to try to get closer to balance and learn more about how I can best serve. No better time than the present, right?

Putting away Christmas

I know... It's past the first of February.  I am very well aware that this should have happened looong ago, but Christmas did not get completely packed away till this afternoon... and I am a-okay with that.

Between you and me, it's been pretty busy here of late.
Travel did its bit... first to watch a dear friend marry her college sweetheart, and then for class to Central Europe.
My.  Oh.  My.
Put a new semester beginning on top of all of that, and it's no wonder...

But it is okay, because Christmas isn't the only thing I put away today. I've been working on quite a bit of late, and this whole organizing thing fits in pretty well with that.

If you recall Tuesday's post,  you remember I finally made some resolutions.  And one category was...

More Organized.
In my home.
My calendar.
My finances.

Well, putting away Christmas and quite a few other things which have hung around for some time left me with seeing my starting point.  Organizing my home will not be an overnight effort, because it's much more than just a place for everything and everything in its place.
I hope to simplify- keep only things that bring me great joy.  Not aquire new things- be a steward of what God has given me, and do it well.
I hope to decorate- make my space something I am proud of.  This will be the first time I will have lived in a place for longer than a year- I really want to celebrate that because it's really something to celebrate.  Kind of a marker to adulthood...
And I hope to enjoy the process and learn from it.  Pinterest is holding ideas, for sure, but it won't be the only thing I look to.  I've added a sidebar, and I hope to have resources linked over there, because there are lots of good ones out there.

Do YOU know of any good ways to organize your home? Any websites you frequent for tips?

Resolutions...

Never too late.

More dedicated...
In prayer.
In journalling.
In creating.
In relationships.

More organized...
In my home.
My calendar.
My finances.


More confident...
In my skin.
My food choices.
My fitness level.


I want to end this year further down the path to who I am... I think I got too specific too soon with resolutions for where I'm at last year, so I'm going to try this approach.  I'll say more about each category as time passes and I make progress.

Wordless Wednesdays: Central Europe

A symphony at a place like this in Prague is enough to make any girl feel grown up.

Holidays.

I love them so...

I have slept.  

I have eaten.

I have celebrated reason for the season.  I put a nativity under the tree, and participated in worship both Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  It was a 3+ hour drive one-way, but SO worth it.  Because...

I have hugged my mama:

Ain't life sweet?

Hope yours was good too.

Resolutions up soon.