I think that I need Lent again! Or rather, I think that I need Lent to begin with!! As I mentioned back in March, Lent wasn’t an overly successful time for us this past year. Between the move and our trip, we found ourselves being less than disciplined and “reflection” was one of the last things that we ended up having time for. Though the summer months are usually fairly hectic for us, all things considering…so far, it’s actually proving to be a time of a bit more consistency than the past six months. So, I figure that perhaps God wouldn’t mind if I jumped on the Lenten band wagon a bit late this year. Better late than never, right?!?!
My beautiful cousin, Dawn, is getting married this coming fall and for the past few months, we’ve been passing emails back and forth about the time leading up to her wedding. Having been there myself three years ago, it’s still rather fresh in my memory what the summer was like filled with anticipation. A good friend of mine had mentioned to me to try and use that time to reflect a bit as I entered this new and very exciting phase of my life. It was great advice and I really made a conscious effort to soak up everything I could before the big day. I took the liberty of passing on the same advice to Dawn because before she knows it, the wedding will be here and life will never be the same!
That being said though, I don’t think that weddings are necessary in order to “allot” time for reflection. The season of Lent is all about re-evaluating our life and our commitments…counting our blessings and filling ourselves with gratitude. It’s about trying to observe the bigger picture and realizing that, as children of God, we are expected to hold ourselves (and our lives) to a higher standard. This too, doesn’t need to happen only at Easter.
A lot of amazing changes have happened to us this year and I think that this summer, I would like some solitary time to push the pause button! Things are quieting down at work for the first time in nine months and now that life is settling a bit, I feel it’s time to take a little breather from it all. I would like to recommit myself to a couple of things and spend some time being a bit more disciplined than I have been as of late. At the very least, in order to purge myself of all the decadent food I’ve been eating!
So, from now until the weekend of Dawn’s wedding (I can’t wait!), I am going to set aside two lunch hours a week to spend on my own however I please. This is just one of many goals to follow this summer that will help to re-establish my sense of balance and continue to anchor me as I move ahead with the rest of the year. Once I’ve figured out the rest of my goals, I’ll let you know. I have a tendency to be a bit ambitious with my motivation…so I need to think this through properly so that I don’t fall flat on my face before I’ve even crossed the start line!!!! I do know though that one of them will be to cut back on my Starbucks consumption (sad but true…it’s necessary to test our limits sometimes!)…I’m anticipating that their shares will plummet significantly as a result!!
In the meantime though, wish me luck! I’ll likely need your encouraging words when I find myself, peppermint mocha in hand, slowly moving against the grain of righteousness!!! Father Joe would be so proud!
My beautiful cousin, Dawn, is getting married this coming fall and for the past few months, we’ve been passing emails back and forth about the time leading up to her wedding. Having been there myself three years ago, it’s still rather fresh in my memory what the summer was like filled with anticipation. A good friend of mine had mentioned to me to try and use that time to reflect a bit as I entered this new and very exciting phase of my life. It was great advice and I really made a conscious effort to soak up everything I could before the big day. I took the liberty of passing on the same advice to Dawn because before she knows it, the wedding will be here and life will never be the same!
That being said though, I don’t think that weddings are necessary in order to “allot” time for reflection. The season of Lent is all about re-evaluating our life and our commitments…counting our blessings and filling ourselves with gratitude. It’s about trying to observe the bigger picture and realizing that, as children of God, we are expected to hold ourselves (and our lives) to a higher standard. This too, doesn’t need to happen only at Easter.
A lot of amazing changes have happened to us this year and I think that this summer, I would like some solitary time to push the pause button! Things are quieting down at work for the first time in nine months and now that life is settling a bit, I feel it’s time to take a little breather from it all. I would like to recommit myself to a couple of things and spend some time being a bit more disciplined than I have been as of late. At the very least, in order to purge myself of all the decadent food I’ve been eating!
So, from now until the weekend of Dawn’s wedding (I can’t wait!), I am going to set aside two lunch hours a week to spend on my own however I please. This is just one of many goals to follow this summer that will help to re-establish my sense of balance and continue to anchor me as I move ahead with the rest of the year. Once I’ve figured out the rest of my goals, I’ll let you know. I have a tendency to be a bit ambitious with my motivation…so I need to think this through properly so that I don’t fall flat on my face before I’ve even crossed the start line!!!! I do know though that one of them will be to cut back on my Starbucks consumption (sad but true…it’s necessary to test our limits sometimes!)…I’m anticipating that their shares will plummet significantly as a result!!
In the meantime though, wish me luck! I’ll likely need your encouraging words when I find myself, peppermint mocha in hand, slowly moving against the grain of righteousness!!! Father Joe would be so proud!
1 comment:
Has it been that long since you were a new bride? Wow, time passes. But with passing of all time, we are all, individually and collectively are hopefully older and wiser. Fine thoughts Gen! UN
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