A Forty Day Journey

I have never taken note of or even recognized Ash Wednesday until I moved to New York City. I think there is a real boiling down here of what matters, what doesn't, what you believe, and that even though we may be Baptist or Lutheran or come from a Catholic background- we are all the same.

After discussions and sharing and open conversation I realize the thoughts and stereotypes and misconceptions I've often believed simply are just wrong. I've assumed things without truly delving into the topic, amongst those who claim to be Methodist, Protestant, Church of God. It's mainly the Protestant faiths that are high church that intimidate me. The church I grew up in was also used as a gymnasium. On most Sundays reverence, tradition and practices from the past were not mentioned. Liturgy? What's that?

In the coming weeks the book 7 is going to make radical changes in my world. Also in the next forty days I'll be moving from New York City to a small farming community in Easton New York. Within the next month my life is going to be turned upside down. I'm in the process of packing up boxes and labeling them Farm, Texas, or Give. Pretty much everything I've worn in the past 30 days I will not need at the farm. I will not need my jewelry trunk or toolbox full of makeup. And I have lots of this stuff. It makes me feel very ungrateful and wasteful as I'm faced with the reality of how much I have now and how much of it I will NOT be needing for the next nine months.

I think it's because our apartment is so small, but I'm constantly reminded of the amount of stuff we have (and when I compare myself to everyone else, I fell like I have very little!....Yikes). It's not like most people who have closets they don't use in bedrooms they don't use and they can pile stuff in there never to be seen again. Clothes that are too small or too big. Things bought on sale and never hung or displayed. Christmas decorations. Easter decorations. Valentine and Fall decorations. This morning as I pushed aside my black coat and my shorter black coat and my puffy black coat and my khaki coat to get to my white coat I was again reminded of my abundance.

This is what I'm hoping to give up for Lent:

Abundance. Excess. Indulgence. And I'm asking the Holy Spirit to just nudge me away or toward or in the direction I should go. There are no hard rules, "No Sugar" "No pedicures" "No buying things on Amazon" just an acute awareness that I need to take better care. And sacrifice.

So, no eyebrow threading, which means, no eyebrow threading before I leave NYC. And I canceled my 60 minute personal training appointment that was only going to cost me $60. (Hey, that's half price!)

......

On my Yogi teabag this afternoon "True wealth is in the ability to let go of your possessions."

God's going to get his point across one way or another.