What My Lenten Sacrifice is Teaching Me - Part 1

Lent. Let's start with a little history, shall we?

Lent is a Spiritual Discipline that is often viewed as an empty religious practice- even by Christians. The roots of Lent go faaaar back. It is believed it started somewhere around A.D. 203.  There is some evidence that the 40 day period was a bit of a mistake - that the writings were translated improperly from Greek into Latin, and it was first written that followers of Christ should observe a 40 hour fast leading up to the anniversary of the Resurrection, and it was a misinterpretation of a punctuation mark that caused 40 hours to look like 40- 24 hour days.

Oops.

When Exactly Did I Become "That Girl"?

I'm planning my High School reunion. Ten years. Oh Boy. I could say a slough of cliche things about how I can't believe this much time has passed and all that, but that's not why we're here today.

We're here to try to pinpoint the moment in time that I became the girl that plans her 10 Year Reunion. See, I mentioned to a co-worker and friend of mine that I was planning it, and his response was "Ya, I guess that makes sense. You're totally THAT girl. THAT girl planned my reunion too"

Here's the thing. In high school I definitely was not that girl. I wasn't on school council, or in Leadership (I think it was a class...? Or an extra curricular..?) I didn't help organize any pep rallies, or dances. Heck, I didn't even attend pep rallies or dances (Truth - I didn't go to ONE high school dance) Even when there were things going on during lunch hour in the cafeteria, I was usually found upstairs not watching, or not even in the school.

Before I Knew Jesus, I Used To Be Judgemental.

I am not who I used to be. Yet, I am haunted by my past.

I think we all are to some extent though, don't you?

Someone very close to me is going through something very hard right now. When I asked why they hadn't wanted to talk about it they said that they feared being judged by me. That they always feared being judged by me. My first reaction was that I felt frustrated because it is something I have run into a few times since being saved - family and friends assuming that since I make different choices than I used to, I must be judging them for doing the things I no longer do. First of all, this is not truth, and couldn't be farther from it. Second of all, this was actually not the problem at hand. The problem was that this person has always felt judged by me.

Can I tell you a secret? I used to be a bit of a jerk sometimes.

Single Me Was Cleaner Than Married Me (Bonus: My Brand New Cleaning List!)

When I was single, I had all the time in the world to clean. This also happened to be a time in my life where my social life only happened on the weekends, and Sunday through Thursday evenings were spent at home, mainly in front of the television. I wrote more about that here.

The thing about watching that much television is that there isn't always something good on. Actually, it happens pretty often. I would watch the shows I really enjoyed... and then some shows I sort of enjoyed... and then a few mindless cooking shows... and then finally after reaching an uncomfortable point of boredom I would launch into cleaning mode. Sometimes that meant taking out the junk drawer and organizing it. Sometimes I was on my hands and knees scrubbing baseboards. Or sitting on the kitchen counter sorting out the spices cupboard. All of these activities involved very loud music, and I have to admit I enjoyed these times - I love the satisfaction of seeing something very dirty or unorganized becoming clean. I know. I'm a bit of a nut.

Valentine's Day Fail: Let's Talk About Sex. For Reals.

Can I just start out by saying that just writing this makes me feel awfully nervous? I've let ya'll in on some pretty intimate parts of my heart, but this is one corner of my life that I wasn't really sure would ever make it up on this blog. Not because I am uncomfortable with the topic - just the opposite actually. I could talk about the importance of a healthy sex life in marriage all day long. My concern has quite simply been the audience of whom reads this blog. I have struggled with the appropriateness of it - I am less worried about my Mom or Auntie reading it than I am the kids in my youth group. However, after a chat or two with my husband, and a lot of prayer I think this is what I have settled on:

God has given me a passion to see marriages be exceptional. He has also given me a gift for writing. Sex is a hugely important part of marriage, and so therefore I can't leave it out of the conversation forever.

That being said, a story:

Valentine's Day is like Easter Sunday

Huh?

I love a good analogy. I think it's just the way my brain works - I can always understand something better if it is compared to something I already understand.

I also love Valentine's Day. I know I'm not the only one, but I also know a lot of people that don't like it. I get it- it's overly commercialized and can end up being very expensive. Roses might cost you twice what they would have the week before. And yes, I agree that you don't need a heart shaped box of chocolates to express your affections. There are tons of reasons to hate on V-Day. One of the biggest arguments I've heard is that it's silly to celebrate your love for each other on one day - you should do that everyday.

I completely agree.

We should also celebrate Jesus' Resurrection every single day.

The Highlight Reel... Trying to Learn Gratefulness.

Have you ever looked through someone's profile picture album on Facebook? We all put our best pictures there, don't you think? You'll see picture after picture of smiling, laughing happy people. Sometimes they'll be in exotic locations, or they'll be at fun parties with friends- maybe they're doing a handstand, or they're wearing a Triathalon participants shirt. If they're married it's almost guaranteed that there will be a number of wedding photos, and if they have kids there are probably a couple pictures of them pregnant, as well as with their sweet little children.

Now. Have you ever seen a romantic comedy? There's almost always that part of the movie when Joe and Sally have gotten together and they are obviously quite happy. To show us how happy they are we see a montage of happy scenes - them walking in the park hand in hand, Sally stuffing an ice cream cone in Joe's face which makes them both laugh. A shot of them making dinner together- Joe feeds Sally a taste of marinara sauce from the spoon, which of course starts a steamy make out scene.