Daily 5 - Day 178

Today's Daily 5:

1. There is a certain sense of accomplishment in the fact that I got behind the wheel of a car on my own again today.  It was hard, and will probably be hard for a while, but I made it.
2. Thankful for my mom, who drove and/or let me use the car for a bit, so that I could get some errands done.
3. Went for lunch with a good friend at "The Lazy Loaf and Kettle" - I haven't been there in years, but the sandwich I had was GREAT!  I don't know what it was that made it so fabulous, maybe just that I got to choose what went on it, so that it wasn't like a typical restaurant or store sandwich with stuff you don't like, but it was a really good sandwich.
4. Got the new Sara Miles book "Jesus Freak" in the mail today.  Can't wait to read it!  Funny timing actually, given the anniversaries of this week.  Her first book was very life-shaping, and I actually finished reading it for the first time about two years ago to the week, on the plane back to Canada from England.
5. A package came from my friend LP/CA today, filled with goodies that made me smile.  It came with my mom this morning, when we were headed out, and I waited all day (I've actually been waiting for several days, since it arrived at my parents' house a few days ago) until I was done all the necessary tasks and could really enjoy sitting and opening it, to crack it open and discover what she'd sent.  (Actually, there are unconfirmed reports that I may have giggled and squealed a little on discovering various things in the package, but they're going to remain unconfirmed, since I was home alone at the time!)
6. Watching Banning Liebscher preach at the Jesus Culture Encounter conference tonight via live stream... loving that I can be part of this conference from a distance.
7. Baked chocolate chip cookies today
8. Got a bunch of errands done.  That feels like a big accomplishment these days, given my current lack of a vehicle.
9. Did a bit of reading of the first book I'm reviewing for booksneeze.com
10. T & L have a wedding date.  On May 16, I officially get a sister!

Simple Things

Hope pointed me to Chris at Enchanted Oak.  Chris and her family are very generously donating $2 to Heartline Ministries in Haiti for each blog post linked to hers, about the joy of simple things, written today and tomorrow.  I've been following Heartline on facebook for the last several weeks as a friend of mine here in Calgary knows some people who work with them.  Since Haiti has been so heavily on my heart, it's not hard for me to take a few minutes to think about the simple things today that I've appreciated.

These are a few of the simple things I've appreciated today:

• Mom giving me some time to move a load of stuff to Grandma's house.
• The taste of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie, still warm from the oven
• Opening mail - I love getting mail, and there was some particularly fun stuff (a package from a friend, and a book I'd ordered) in the mail when Mom delivered it to me today
• A few minutes, sitting quietly and reading
• A really good sandwich while out for lunch with a friend
• The crazy technology that is letting me watch a conference in California, live.  (Okay, so that's maybe less simple, but it's something I really do appreciate today.)
• Email from a dear friend
• Weather that, for February in Western Canada, is actually fairly temperate
• My hair being curly today.
• Lighting a candle in my bedroom

Busy Saturday

It's a busy day.

By the time this post goes live, I'll have moved the first load of my belongings to my grandma's house, had a natural health treatment, (hopefully) gone grocery shopping, (hopefully) managed to get back behind the wheel of a car, and I'll be out for lunch with a long time friend.  Oh, and I'm hoping to squeeze a quick trip to the bank in there somewhere too.

After all of that is done, I'll be home.  I'm looking forward to catching another night of the Jesus Culture conference, and resting.  The plan is to do some reading, maybe a little baking, enjoy opening a few packages that came in the mail this week, and that my mom is delivering this morning when she comes to pick me up, and just generally be quiet.  I'm looking forward to quiet.

Remembering Ashes

Two years ago today, it was Ash Wednesday, and I was in Rome with dear friends.

It was the moment of a lifetime for me - to finally see some of the things I'd studied for all of those years in high school classes, and on through a university degree in European church history. 

But it came on the tail end of 4 very challenging weeks, and I was a bit discombobulated.

It was a day that I won't ever forget, though, for all the deep memories it holds, and for where it came in a sequence of four or five very challenging days.

It ended with the final Ash Wednesday mass for the year, with two dear friends, in St. Peter's Basillica, in the Vatican.

That mass is full of moments that like others from this series of anniversaries are both hopelessly blurred and incredibly clear.

I was wearing my hair in French braids, and the feeling of the ashes in the part of the braids is one I still recall.  The cross marked on my head.  That moment standing before the priest as he spoke (in Italian, or maybe Latin).  That day that reminds us of our fallibility - from dust we came, and to dust we will return.

It ushered in one of the most intense Lenten seasons of my life.  A season of fasting and praying and waiting and longing.

Today I'm remembering the ashes.  And the blessings spoken.  And praying for those who were with me in those moments.