Last night marked my very first Ash Wednesday service--I've never gone to a church that observed it, but now I do, so we went.
My freshman year of college I remember for the LIFE of me I could NOT figure out why everyone was walking around one day with dirt on their faces...duh...it was Ash Wednesday and apparently you attend church and have ash put on your face. I'd had no idea! (I was and remain really uninformed on the historicity of the Christian faith. Which is a shame, considering I've been a Christian my whole life.)
Anyway I LOVED going last night--the music and scripture and message were so great and really set the tone for some good contemplation and reflection.
Thus begins the season of Lent and I still am undecided on what to give up. I'd like to do something, but not sure what. What are you doing???
On a side-note, did you know that Fat Tuesday is also National Pancake Day? Because apparently back in the day people were wanting to use up all their dairy products etc. before the start of Lent, so they'd make pancakes. We hit up IHOP Tuesday night because they were giving out FREE pancakes with the opportunity to donate to the Shriners for children's surgery. Not a bad deal! The kids had a blast, and I didn't have to prepare dinner. :)
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I'm a Catholic mama to eight kids ages 9 and under, and wife to one great guy. I'm a lover of Jesus, great books, ethnic food, and thrifting. I am pro-life and pro-adoption. Loving Denver. Missing California. Most days are a whirlwind of babies and sweeping and joy in the little things. In spite of good intentions, I am rarely anywhere on time. Here you can follow my journey to just show up and be present in each and every crumb-filled moment.
Brianna Heldt
I'm a Catholic mama to eight kids ages 9 and under, and wife to one great guy. I'm a lover of Jesus, great books, ethnic food, and thrifting. I am pro-life and pro-adoption. Loving Denver. Missing California. Most days are a whirlwind of babies and sweeping and joy in the little things. In spite of good intentions, I am rarely anywhere on time. Here you can follow my journey to just show up and be present in each and every crumb-filled moment.
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10 comments:
I loved the lenten services each week while I was in college. I am not giving up anything this year, I feel with weight watchers I am in a constant state of deprivation, and I cannot imagine losing one more thing. In the past I have given up fast food, soda, time (to be in the word) and cutting split ends (which was the hardest of them all). One of the main reasons for me to keep my hair short since it was such an obsession for me.
Good luck and enjoy the season.
It's only been one day and I miss coffee! But, that's the point, I think. It's just funny to purposely do without something--something I definitely am not used to. Anyway, your service sounds like it was great and the whole ash on the forehead thing confused me, too! I do know that the ashes they put on the foreheads are last year's Palm Sunday branches that were burned. You learn things when you are friends with a Catholic :)
Does already giving up caffeine, coffee, and most sweets since I'm pregnant count? No, probably not. I thought about giving something up, but to be honest, I would need some time for reflection and really understanding what I was doing than blindly depriving myself of something...and right now my brain isn't in the right place for that. So, I opted to skip it this year. Maybe next year? Hmmm...
yeah joy we did the ash on the forehead thing last night too, it was neat. i think lent is a good thing in our society especially b/c when do we truly ever HAVE to go without?! i'll keep you posted on what i decide to give up.
Not deep enough today to comment on Ash Wednesday. :) But Shriner's is awesome! My nephew is partially paralyzed (from a vaccine reaction) and he receives all of his medical care free through Shriner's in Minneapolis - his family couldn't do it without them!
Going chocolate-free for Lent this year. A toughie for me!
Hi. I found your blog through other AP's who have adopted from ET. Anyway, I wrote a post about lent on my blog but basically this year I'm not "giving up" anything. Instead I'm giving things away - my time, my talents, etc - to help others. Trying to make a committed effort to help make things in this world better - no matter how small.
this is my first year to observe lent. i was impressed to do so because of what a few other friends had to say about their experiences. i wanted to give up something that i know i love to show christ (and myself for that matter) that i love HIM more. so i'm giving up refined sugar. no cookies, candy, soda, etc. but i am allowing myself to have fruit, jamba juice, juice, and dried fruit. honey is acceptable too in tea. but oh, my goodness! this has been so so hard for me and today is only day 2. it will only be by god's grace if i get through the whole forty days without messing up.
oh, yea. and i thought it would be nice to add something to my daily life instead of just taking something away so i've decided to add prayer to my everyday. real, solid, heartfelt, focused, adoring, comfessing, thankful, supplicating, worshipping prayer. i hope that this will continue past the forty days!!
If you read Joy's blog you will know about Lifewater's Significant Sacrifice and what Peter and I are doing. After 2 days, I am feeling very introspective and quiet--I have experienced many emotions the other 2 years we have done this.
I'm giving up desserts this year. No more nightly cookies or ice cream with my tea. I tend to obsess over my sugar (I look forward to it all day) so that was an obvious one for me. I'm kind of scared I won't make it.
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