Lent and signs of Spring

 

photo from Graphics Fairy

We are currently in the Lenten season and my fasting has not gone as I want. Though I hear that's good! Can you believe that?  It's good, because I am learning about myself in this. My will. God's will. My wants and my will are very hard for me to put aside. I often think I am good at this, but I'm going to share - it's not as easy when I say I'm going to give up things that I have used to distract me.

This year I'm trying to limit being online for just random whatever. What I am learning, 2 weeks into Lent, that those random whatever's are distractions from the overwhelm I feel on which project to start on, or just life and aging (you know, all those little things we have to tend to now that fill our time).

To accept the distractions BEFORE I get online is my goal. Then ask "ok, so I want to go look up xyz" Do I need xyz? Is this going to help me grow closer to God? If not, what's the first step in a task I want to get done today? Set the time and do that for 5 min. Go!!!

That's my goal. I'm not perfect, but I am trying to grow closer to the Lord and find the internet as a distraction. It can be a wonderful tool, when I keep it in its place. A tool. 

                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spring is here in southern Colorado. I saw Ms Robin show up yesterday. She and I have a tussle every year! She tells me she is nesting in my porch lights and I tell her no you are not!  

She even gets lippy with me with a mouth full of mud and sticks. It's very amusing.

Today I heard the Meadowlark out in the pasture. It was so beautiful. Definitely Spring when I hear that. 

We didn't get much snow this winter. Weekly water hauling to keep the trees watered will be a routine for the next several months. My husband gets the water, since the tank is too large for my car to haul, then he hooks up the hose and I move it tree to tree  for 30 min each. 

Seasonal chores here. Along with discussions with Ms Robin. We shall see who wins this battle this year.

Garden planning is under way too. Planting season is usually not until May, we ALWAYS have a hail storm in May. I learned my lesson once, 

Wishing you a blessed Lent. Are you learning anything about you during this time? So grateful for the Lord's patience and Love.

~Dee

Hello Ladies~ I wanted to share some pictures of San Cristo. A small town south of Fort Garland, Co that is home to a famous path of art work. These statues are all from the Stations of the Cross. From Scripture each stop is a stop Jesus had on His way to Calvary. 

The trail goes up a mountain side up to a small, beautiful church. 

Jesus carries His cross

Jesus meets His mother

Jesus is nailed to the cross

Rosaries and rocks with deceased family members names.

There is 14 stations in all, but I didn't get a picture of them all. I hope you enjoy the journey.

Peace be with you,

Mrs Peterson

When more is not enough

 

From The Graphics Fairy vintage pictures.

Hello Ladies~

These are some early morning thoughts from our pastor's homily last weekend. As we enter into Holy Week and Good Friday, I am thinking a lot about this subject.

Books, internet, YouTube, FB, Instagram, etc - more, keep it short to keep attention, fast.

We want more and more, easier and short because we don't have time. We don't want to take time. We have so much to do. We want more.

Adam and Eve had everything, and wanted more.  They were told just not this one tree. That's it. Just one, don't touch it! But they wanted that too, to gain more knowledge then what they had.

Jesus had everything too - and gave it all up for you and me. In the end, all He had was His life and He gave that up too.

Why? For what?

Because God loves you and me so much - He wanted to give us a place in heaven with Him.

He just asks we follow His commandments. To believe in Jesus. And to change from our "old life" to put on a new one. 

This is our journey, daily. To practice living as we are asked. Is it hard? Yes! But the reward is awesome!

The alternative is as Adam & Eve - they had everything and wanted more. They wanted for themselves. 

Jesus had all and gave it up out of love.

Can we do that too? 

This Easter let us contemplate God's love. And when we mess up - Thank Jesus and say sorry. Ask for the fits of the Holy Spirit to try again. 

Blessings and peace be with you,

Mrs Peterson

Ash Wednesday

Happy Lent!

This time of year I hear so many talk about giving up coffee, or giving up chocolate.

Well, I read an interesting article last weekend.  It was harsh.  "Will giving up ___  help you right now to grow closer to Jesus Christ? " "Will it help you hear God's voice amidst the noise we are flooded with (including cell phone's dinging for attention)?"

Um. No.

Not for me.

So this Lent I am trying a different approach. I have heard many ideas and here are a few:

For Fasting: fasting from the internet - minus emails, fasting from seasonings on your food, choose foods you can eat but just don't care for, fast from You Tube, fast from checking your email more than once a day,  when you notice you are craving your "fast"- pray for those that don't know God or have turned from Him.

Prayer: sitting with Jesus in prayer for 30 min a day, reading reflections on the gift God gave us and His Love for us, Meditating on the Joys of Lent - ie Mary's yes - her obedience to God's will & how can you be more obedient to His will. Also Jesus' love for you, or there are 7 Penitential Psalms - you can do one a day or one on each Friday.

Almsgiving: clean out your closet and donate the items each week, empty your change each day into a jar and bring that to church or your favorite charity on Good Friday, give of your time to a widow or someone in your church or community who would love a smiling face and cup of tea.

I typically can't fast due to the health condition I manage, but I CAN fast from other things: seasonings on my food, my favorite tea, the internet searches, buying, buying books etc. I have done all of these in the past. I will say not having the internet and not buying where the 2 years that was the most profound for me.

The article mentioned above, spoke of that which keeps us "sucked in" or draws us to the point that we don't even know how we got there...again. THAT is what we should fast for Lent.

Give that to Jesus as a Thank You for His overwhelming Love for you, and see how He Loves you back by the end of Lent.

Peace be with you,
Mrs. Peterson

**update: This past week I had a gentle reminder from Scripture that when you fast or pray, do so in the quiet of your room...not out for everyone to see. Well, I missed that one by posting all I intend to do this Lent. So I have deleted my intentions and listed options I've heard from others. :-) **

From Dust you came

* From Dust you came and Dust you shall return *

This is what the priest says as he made the sign of the cross, using the ashes from Palm Sunday, across my forehead. Today is the first day of Lent. The day that marks 40 days to the Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. While I'm excited, the end of the journey is the most Glorious day...Easter. But today, it is somber. Our home is filled with a spirit of sacrifice and will be daily until Easter morning. Chris and I have each made personal choices as to what we want to give up for Lent, or do for Lent. While I don't feel it necessary to share my personal sacrifices, I will share one.

I have been inspired the past couple of days to "get my home in order". The Holy Spirit is working through others and recently I found a past magazine I used to get called "Keepers at Home". The article is titled "To Guide the House". I had randomly picked this out of my bookshelf when I felt I needed some inspiration, for what I don't know, but felt I needed inspiration. I ran across this magazine and opened up to this article.

The first sentence was: "How do you keep your home orderly?" Um, well at the moment my home was chaotic with paper clutter, piled in several places in the house. My bathroom, small as it is, had so many things on the counter (including clean towels to be hung) that you had to pass by carefully. Ok, enough confession. Anyways, she goes on to say "This seems to be the struggle of every housewife." Whew! I'm off the hook. Oh wait, fiddle sticks, there's more. "Let all things be done decently and in order" from 1 Cor. 14:40. Ok, I'm listening Lord. This is where I started to get renewed in my desire to manage our home. I pondered it. I don't do things decently, I do them rushed. Oh, Lord. You have so much work to do in me. "In order". Hmm, my husband can't find what he needs and always asks me, sometimes I can't find it either. Hmm, I have some work to do. I sat thinking: "How can I sit around complaining there is nothing in this house to do! The house is tidy (on the first floor) and it is cleaned weekly, but it is not in order, nor do I do things decently. There is not a peace in our home, a rythym of which I thrive on. How can I consider taking that part time job offer to fill my time when my husband and I don't even know where things are? I have work to do right here!"

So the article goes on: 1 Tim 5:14 and breaks it down and goes through it. I'm good with it all until she hits "Guide the house..." She writes "Do I hear groans?Is keeping order not part of the comand to guide the house? It includes teaching and training our children the blessings of diligence and self discipline in this area." Um, diligence? self discipline? Ok, now I'm feeling sheepish and see I have no excuse to sit around and say there is nothing to do and there is too much snow to go outside!

Though she talks of the Proverbs 31 woman, she admits, along with many women I know, while this woman is a role model, it sets an almost impossible standard. But doesn't God call us to holiness? Doesn't God set the bar high for us to give us something to work towards, to humbly admit our weakness and our dependance on a Power greater than ourselves? While I could never do all the things the Proverbs 31 woman does (nor do I think anywoman in her right mind could do it ALL) I do believe the Proverbs 31 woman gives me something to work towards.

That is to do things,not rushed, but peaceful...creating order...and doing it decently. Do the things that are needed for our family, for me, and for our home. It is in this process, I believe God will mold me and change me into the woman He knows I can be.

So, I will use this next 40 days to clean out, par down, and create a peaceful environment. I have already taken care of both my desks, which was an all day task. Death by papers!! I have one desk upstairs (which I'm on now) that has the computer and all my files within arms reach. This is my Home Management desk of which I do most of our budget (we split this by the way!), our records upkeep etc. The desk downstairs was my great-grandparents and it is used as my everyday desk. It is very small and I keep my planner open on top all the time (unless it's with me :-) That desk is somewhere for me to do the day to day things...like dreaming of my garden and making plans for it.

We don't sing the Alleluia in mass during Lent and each Crucifix in our home is covered with a purple cloth. A visual reminder of the our Lord's suffering and where my heart should be during this season.

Wow!This is a long post. But there is much to say about Lent and my journey as I set out.

I wish you Christ's peace,

Dee

(Note: This is posted on Thursday but was written on Wednesday.)

Giving from your living

Good morning! My prayer time this morning was fruitful. A passage from Mark 12:44 caught my attention and the Spirit of God granted me some things to ponder about and I wanted to share them.

Mark 12:44

She not only gave of her want, she gave of her living.

I see the relation to this with the parable of the young man who cam to Jesus asking how he could have eternal life. Jesus told him to sell all he had and follow Him. Though in this parable - the young man was sad because he didn't know if he could do that.

The point of both is by giving from your living, you have faith and want not.

For others may not have anything, and giving of your living will help others while you have more then they probably do. Your faith in God providing will grow and you will walk in the way of Our Lord, never needing more than what God gives. If we share what He gives - we will be provided for and we are helping others be provided for.

Out of Love. It's a circle. We do this out of Love for our neighbor and ourself. One of the 2 greatest commandments. Ultimately doing this for our love and faith in God that He will take care of our needs (not our wants mind you).

So give of your living. Be inspired by a nameless woman in the Bible - that caught our Lord's attention - and be blessed by loving others as well as yourself. For God will be in your heart, mind and soul.

God's peace,

Dee

Tag..

I found this tag at http://dawnathome.typepad.com/by_sun_and_candlelight/. So if you read this consider yourself tagged as well.

What is your favorite Sorrowful Mystery? The 5th one, when Jesus is on the cross and He says "Forgive them Father for they know not what they do." Does that not fit perfectly even in today. It does in my life, I do things that later I just hang my head and beg for forgivenss because I didn't know or understand. Praise God for His Mercy and Love!

What is your favorite Station of the Cross? How do you have a favorite one of these? I suppose the most impressionable one is being nailed to the cross. Jesus could have done several things to get out of this, but He didn't. He knew what He had to do, not just for those who where there with Him in those moments. But for all time, before and after. He laid there and let them hammer those nails into His precious hands and feet, knowing He truly is innocent. But all for the greater glory of God and for the forgivness of our sins.

What is your Lenten Resolution(s)? To give up the one thing I enjoy, a good cup of tea, to help me in this journey towards Easter. To pray the 7 Penetential Psalms.

Do you use Holy Water during Lent? At church, yes.

How many times do you go to Mass during Lent? On Sundays and Holy Week.

Lenten Somber

As part of our Lenten "decorations" for lack of better words, I found a few ideas at
http://thetuckerbunch.typepad.com/just_another_day_in_parad/lent/index.html .


I decided to make the crown of thorns and cover each crucifix in our lovely home with a purple cloth. As I started inserting the toothpicks into this simple grapevine wreath, this somber stillness came over me as I could see the Crown of Thorns that was pressed into the precious head of our Lord. I sat there for the longest time just looking at this imagining what it must have been like to be there. Here I am, almost 40 making a lenten craft, if you will, and just awestruck and dumbfounded at what my soul was seeing.



What does your soul see?

The purple cloth on the crucifix in each room reminds us of this Lenten season, a time for prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

God's peace to you.