40 days of Lent - Are they crazy?



Yes, that really is a Maple Bacon Donut and no, I am not
really eating one.



WHAT - are they nutz!!!!!!!

Are they crazy - OMG- okay - just breathe,  breathe - here we go.

Today's Lenten Message

February 27 ---  (I shudder just to write this)  Give up caffeine, sugar or meat for today.  How did you body, mind and soul feel.

What - I can't have a bacon donut with large coffee this morning?  How will I exist?

Back in the day I use to say that I ran on Coffee and Candy. 

But seriously (I wrote the above yesterday when I read ahead) I prayerfully considered what to do.  So I decided to sleep on it and start the day with elimating all three and see which one I could stick with, lol!

Meat, of course, is the easiest - but it will depend on what I make for supper.  The frozen pizza I have has meatballs on it - so it might be easier to order Papa Johns and have it either plain or with a veggie on it.  Lunch is a white bean wheat berry salad and some roasted carrots so that's already meat free.

Next there was caffeine - on a good day I could do without but not today.  Last night I came down with a major headache, so I took Benedryl and was foggy minded this morning, and I didn't want to not have caffeine and get a caffeine headache later.  So I started the morning with the usual cup of joe, but on the drive in my headache returned, but it is still not as bad as last nights, so keeping my fingers cross on that.  The coffee at work is decaf anyway, so I am not having a huge amount of it.  I'll skip the Pepsi Max tonight.

Lastly, sugar....Oh how I love thee...so since this is the most difficult - I will try to do without it.  (Good luck Barbara, since you sit behind me -- around 3 I should be getting the heebie jeebies).  I almost blew it this morning when I got jelly out for my toast, then I remembered so I switched to some laughing cow cheese.  Since sugar is indeed my downfall I will let you know tomorrow how I did, and how I felt.

So if you had all of the above already, you might want to try this challenge on another day, if not try one for today and remember - you can do all things with God who strengthens you.

40 days in Lent - Remembering

I avoided writing this all day - because today's Lenten thought is

February 24 - Remember someone you have loved and lost.  Sadness and grief have their place in Lent.  The pain of loss is the cost of loving well.  Risk it.

I wasn't sure where to take this Lenten thought, but what immediately came to mind are the friends I have lost over the years, those friends who have departed this life to the next.

Those are the ones that leave a hole in my heart.  The friends that I loved and miss dearly.  The first that came to mind was Missy, we lost her way to soon to cancer, along time ago. She left behind 2 young daughters and it was probably the first death of a friend that I had to experienced.

Some other ladies I have lost were Evelyn, Ginny and Miriam.  All ladies I have learned from over the years, all ladies that held a special place in my heart.  Thinking of them brings tears to my eyes, but I know they are in a great place, waiting for me to get there someday.

If you choose to remember a relationship that was more of the man/woman love relationship feel free to do so.    I have had my share of that kind of love and lost, but time heals all wounds.

For those who have gone on before me, this day I remember you.  They are so many more that I will include in my prayers tonight, they are gone but not forgotten.  They live here, right here,  in my heart.

40 Days of Lent - Grace

Grace - as is saying Grace.

Today's Lenten Thought from the UCC Calendar is -

February 21 - If you don't already, start saying grace before your meals.  You can do it silently or start a new practice in your household with others.

Since I only grew up saying grace at Thanksgiving, I never really got in the habit of saying it at my every meal.  But, as with all things good or bad, it could become a habit.  In this case a good habit.

Research shows that it takes 21 days to develop a habit. That’s 21 days of going to the gym every day or exercising in some way every day, 21 days to meditation, 21 days to eat healthily, 21 days doing, 21 days of anything. When you want to start a habit, don’t tell yourself you are doing it for life, tell yourself (your conscious brain) that you are going to try it for 21 days.  Maybe it is just a coincidence but today is the 21.  Maybe that's a good sign that you ( and me) should start today.

Say to yourself that from now to Easter you are going to say grace before your meals and see if  by Easter it becomes a permanent habit.  A good habit.  And remember God doesn't need it real fancy with all the thou's and art's,  He will be happy with a simple "thank you for the food we eat".

40 days of Lent - Repentance

Today's Lenten message from the UCC calendar is little more difficult than some of the previous messages.

February 18 - Lent is a season of repentance.  Look at your life.  Is there something you are sorry for?  Ask God for forgiveness, and after that, move on to human reconciliation.

According to Wikipedia - Repentance is the activity of reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs. It generally involves a commitment to personal change and resolving to live a more responsible and humane life.

Lent is perfect time to look inward and see what changes need to be made.  The first half of the message is reflective - look at your life, is there something you are sorry for.  I know I am sorry about a few things, some of which I have apologized for along the way.  The easy part  is to ask God for forgiveness.  That is because we have a great God who is loving, kind and forgives us when we ask.  Human reconciliation on the other hand, is a lot more difficult.  You have to face the person and not know if you will receive forgiveness, you have no idea what reaction will come out of it.  Makes you appreciate God a little more.

My Lenten Devotional for today offers a wonderful prayer for this situation.  If you find yourself in need of it today or in the future, use it.  Sometimes becoming a better person takes little steps at a time.  One deed at a time, one act of repentance at a time.

Lord, if I have been the cause of anyone's suffering, show it to me. And make me strong enough to apologize, then set it right. Amen

Day 10 - Difficulties

Isaiah 40: 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

Isaiah is speaking here about the coming of the Messiah - verse 3  is  "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."   But if I just look at verse 4 I am seeing hope  - the valley shall be raised up.  Sometimes when I am blue I sing in the car, a hymn that goes - Lord lead me to the mountain because I've been in the valley far to long.  The valleys are the low spots in our life and they shall be raised up.  The mountain,  which could represent those mountain of problems you got going, will be made low and yes, the rough patch that you are experiencing; well,  it will even out.

How you might ask?  I think the answer is prayer.  I have been listening to a Joyce Meyer tape on worry and there is just something so common sense about it.  She said if you are worried don't be, worry doesn't solve the problem, pray on it.  If there is something good praise God for it. 

We forget sometimes to thank God for the little things in life, like a perfect peach, or a sunny day.  Recently we were called back to work full time.  Not being a fan of getting up 6:30 am morning I still praised God  for being able to work 8 to 5.  If I was first I came in singing Good Morning office, thank you Lord for  another week of work.  But then on Thursday we got told we were going back to part time.  I think Barb at the office said it best, it was like all the air got sucked out of the office.  After a year and 4 months on part time, we already know how low the valleys will be, how high the mountain of problems will be and how rough the road will be next week.  So on Friday, on the way to work I praise God for the last three weeks of full time work and just prayed for help for the next.  It's all we can do really, to think positively.  Handle the problems one by one-- there's a promise somewhere at the end of all this. 

So, even if you are having a bad day, try to be grateful for at least one thing and thank God for it.  Life is full of  adventures, some better than others.  

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.  Let us move forward with strong and active faith"  - F.D.R.