- Ash Wednesday, and all that entails.
- listened to some great new music
- the snow falling was beautiful (even if walking in it wasn't quite so lovely)
- laughing and chatting with my hairdresser
- love having my hair cut and styled again - I haven't been able to lift my arm/shoulder long enough to style it myself since the accident, so it's great to have it done again.
- Bourbon Street Grill for supper
- Bought a top, a scarf, two pairs of earrings, and a necklace at my favorite shop on clearance for a grand total of $23.
- Got a couple of chapters read in the book I'm working on currently
- Found new mittens for $2, also on clearance
- already booked my next hair appointment. love that I don't have to remember late next month to call, and then just hope to get in. It's booked, and next time we're going to do a bunch of highlights again too - just in time for the wedding!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Daily 5 - Day 189
Today's Daily 5:
Henri on Ash Wednesday
A thought from Henri Nouwen on Ash Wednesday, excerpted from "The Road to Daybreak."
A Lenten Prayer
The Lenten season begins. It is a time to be with you, Lord, in a special way, a time to pray, to fast, and thus to follow you on your way to Jerusalem, to Golgotha, and to the final victory over death.
I am still so divided. I truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, pleasure, power, and influence. Help me to become deaf to these voices and more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life.
I know that Lent is going to be a very hard time for me. The choice for your way has to be made every moment of my life. I have to choose thoughts that are your thoughts, words that are your words, and actions that are your actions. There are not times or places without choices. And I know how deeply I resist choosing you.
Please, Lord, be with me at every moment and in every place. Give me the strength and the courage to live this season faithfully, so that, when Easter comes, I will be able to taste with joy the new life that you have prepared for me.
Amen.
A Lenten Prayer
The Lenten season begins. It is a time to be with you, Lord, in a special way, a time to pray, to fast, and thus to follow you on your way to Jerusalem, to Golgotha, and to the final victory over death.
I am still so divided. I truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, pleasure, power, and influence. Help me to become deaf to these voices and more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life.
I know that Lent is going to be a very hard time for me. The choice for your way has to be made every moment of my life. I have to choose thoughts that are your thoughts, words that are your words, and actions that are your actions. There are not times or places without choices. And I know how deeply I resist choosing you.
Please, Lord, be with me at every moment and in every place. Give me the strength and the courage to live this season faithfully, so that, when Easter comes, I will be able to taste with joy the new life that you have prepared for me.
Amen.
Other's Thoughts on Lent
Ash Wednesday
And so Lent begins again.
It's a season I love and hate sort of equally.
For me it tends to be one of the deepest seasons of the liturgical year. The most significant.
It also tends to be one of the most painful.
It feels odd to wake this morning and not be fasting.
I've always fasted from something during Lent.
This year is different, though.
303 days ago I rather forcefully came face to face with the fact that the immense stresses and challenges of my life had essentially led to the development of an eating disorder. I'd lost around 25 pounds, rarely ate more than one meal and a few snacks a day, and it wasn't unusual for the nausea I was experiencing to get out of control, and for me to go several days without eating at all.
So, I started counting, and tracking. For 303 days I've been faithful in taking a large number of supplements to restore the things I'd depleted in my body. And for 303 days, I've eaten three consistent meals a day.
I would normally do a juice fast at least once a week during Lent.
That's not an option this year.
I need to eat three times a day to make it possible to take the supplements that manage my energy levels and anxiety issues.
I thought about giving up chocolate, and I may yet do something along those lines. But this year as I prayed through that thought, the feeling that came was that I would be "fasting" simply for the sake of doing something, rather than because I'd been led to it.
I talked earlier this week about the in-between. I'm trying conciously not to rush that process. Not to jump to the next thing, even when it is clearly in sight, but to be patient in the waiting.
It's not easy.
And so Lent begins, and I am waiting, listening, praying.
It's a season I love and hate sort of equally.
For me it tends to be one of the deepest seasons of the liturgical year. The most significant.
It also tends to be one of the most painful.
It feels odd to wake this morning and not be fasting.
I've always fasted from something during Lent.
This year is different, though.
303 days ago I rather forcefully came face to face with the fact that the immense stresses and challenges of my life had essentially led to the development of an eating disorder. I'd lost around 25 pounds, rarely ate more than one meal and a few snacks a day, and it wasn't unusual for the nausea I was experiencing to get out of control, and for me to go several days without eating at all.
So, I started counting, and tracking. For 303 days I've been faithful in taking a large number of supplements to restore the things I'd depleted in my body. And for 303 days, I've eaten three consistent meals a day.
I would normally do a juice fast at least once a week during Lent.
That's not an option this year.
I need to eat three times a day to make it possible to take the supplements that manage my energy levels and anxiety issues.
I thought about giving up chocolate, and I may yet do something along those lines. But this year as I prayed through that thought, the feeling that came was that I would be "fasting" simply for the sake of doing something, rather than because I'd been led to it.
I talked earlier this week about the in-between. I'm trying conciously not to rush that process. Not to jump to the next thing, even when it is clearly in sight, but to be patient in the waiting.
It's not easy.
And so Lent begins, and I am waiting, listening, praying.
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