Last Day Of Kindergarten

This morning has been kind of emotional for me already.
Today is my youngest child's LAST day of Kindergarten.
Today was the last time ever that all of my 4 children will walk to school together as my oldest is off to Junior High in the fall.

I didn't think that I would be emotional about it, but I really am. :(
Last time that I'll ever do Kindergarten vicariously through one of my kids. In the fall, he's off to Grade 1. *sniff, sniff*

I must say - I'll really miss our Kindergarten teacher and especially our Educational Assistant, Kelly. They've been awesome.

School Assignments

I handed in two school assignments last week (on May 3rd) and I got the marks back last night.

100% on BOTH!!!!
This is the feedback from my prof for the first assignment:

Well done Cindy. You have captured MasterFile Premier well - it is indeed aimed at public libraries. The match of the biographies with book clubs was good - I had not thought of that use for it but will try it next Book Club meeting I go to.

This is a tool that anyone working reference in a public library will become very familiar with it - I think there will be more links to more full text (electronic) in the future.

Feedback from my second assignment:

Good assessment on each of these

Glad you liked the poetry index - it is a little known tool but is great for looking for any poetry imaginable. And I agree with you on the National Geographic site - I found it cluttered and disorganized - which was a disappointment given the NG's reputation and excellent magazine. I think they had so much they wanted to share they lost the focus of organization

Good work Cindy"

YAY!!!! I am so proud of myself!! So, with these marks I have

Assignment #1: 100%

Assignment #2: 86% (I know... I was cheesed off too, but hey. I passed.)

Assignment #3: 100%

Assignment #4: 100%

Overall average: 96.5%

YIPPEE!!!

"Love Wins"

I have had Rob Bell's book "Love Wins" in my "To Be Read" pile for some time... And to be completely honest, I was very intimidated in even starting to read it.

Don't get me wrong.
I love Rob's point of view on Christianity and our journey of faith.

I didn't want to start it because I didn't want to have to finish it. (Weird, I know, but true.)

But there's so much in this book that is stupendously amazing. Here's a few passages that thwonked me on the soul...

"Central to their trust (meaning church fathers like Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Gregory Of Nyssa, Eusebius, Jerome, Basil and Augustine) that all would be reconciled was the belief that untold masses of people suffering forever doesn't bring God glory. Restoration brings God glory; eternal torment doesn't. Reconciliation brings God glory; endless anguish doesn't.Renewal and return cause God's greatness to shine through the universe; never-ending punishment doesn't." (emphasis my own) - page 108.

"What happened on the cross is like...
a defendant going free,
a relationship being reconciled,
something lost being redeemed,
a battle being won,
a final sacrifice being offered,
so that no one ever has to offer another one again,
an enemy being loved."
-page 128.

(In talking about the 8th miracle that Jesus performed in the book of John's Gospel - how Jesus rose from the dead)
"The tomb is empty,
a new day is here,
a new creation is here,
everything has changed,
death has been conquered,
the old has gone,
the new has come.

John is telling a huge story,
one about God rescuing all of creation."
-pages 133-134.


Honestly, I found this book to be completely compelling and thought provoking. In reading the chapter about trusting God, I was challenged to the core like I have not been in quite some time. (Rob used the parable of the Prodigal Son to make a point of how we need to trust God's perception of us more than our own perception of us) How Rob used the parable was effective and a big "ah-ha" moment for me. We can choose to believe that we are like the prodigal son - that we are worthless and that we always make bad decisions, or we can believe God's version - that we are worthy to be sons and heirs in Christ Jesus - not anything based on what we can do, but all based on the love that God has for us.
We could also side with the son who stayed behind with the father - the one who did the right things (stayed home with dad) - who ended up feeling angry and cheated because HE had never had a party thrown for him. What really jumped out for me was there were two sides of that story that I had never seen before.
It's not as simple as "Son Who Is A Screw Up vs The Good Son" or even "Son Who Throws Himself On His Father's Mercy vs The Son Who Didn't Need His Father's Mercy" - it's that one son believed his father's perception of him (the prodigal), and the other did not, and the second son was believing that HIS works would earn him favor with his father (which we all know is self-righteousness).

As I said - AHHHHMAZING.
Baked my noodle for suresies!

I think I'm going to have to buy my own copy of this book. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to others.
Beware those that have small views of God and of His Kingdom - you will not like this book. (As per usual with Rob's stuff)

Genius. Pure, utter genius....

Mother's Day

So. I'm laying in bed (fully clothed) with my laptop. Hubby gets out of the shower, dries off and comes over to get dressed. He gets half dressed, then lays down beside me. He ogles my cleavage (which I'm very proud of as my boobs are pretty small and with small boobs you don't have much cleavage), and waggles his eyebrows and says, "When do I get to give you your OTHER Mother's Day gifts?"

I looked up at him and said, "Because every Mother's Day needs a Mother's Night?"

He burst out laughing and said, "Exactly!! Perfectly worded!"

I gotta admit - I stole it from this video....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0DeIqJm4vM&feature=feedu

Weird.

So I finished up and submitted two assignments for school the other day (yay!) and starting printing out the next module.
Like normal, I have my reading material out of my textbooks to do, and I have reading material that I needed to print off (like normal). Then I see another assignment and a self-test. Again - totally normal.
Then I read that I have a Midterm Exam.

And then I read a note attached to the Midterm Exam that I have to write the exam on campus and that I have to give my prof minimum 1 week notice as to when I'm going to write the exam.

All of a sudden, I was having a hard time breathing.
And I thought I was going to throw up.
And my hands and feet went numb.
I couldn't shake the dread and anxiety that had suddenly engulfed me.

Take the test on campus???? What were they... nuts? Or were they just trying to kill me with stress??

And then it wasn't playing around anymore.... I REALLY couldn't breathe.
Like. Really. Could Not. Catch. My. Breath.

So what do I do?
Of course I Google "panic attack".

"Symptoms of a panic attack can include the following:

• Palpitations, or accelerated heart rate - Check.
  
• Sweating - Check.
  
• Trembling or shaking
• Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering - Check.
  
• Feeling of choking - Check.
  
• Palpitations, or accelerated heart rate - Didn't notice, but it wouldn't surprise me.
  
• Chest pain or discomfort - Check.
  
• Nausea or abdominal distress -Check.
  
• Feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint -I def. felt unsteady.
  
• De-realization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself)
• Fear of losing control or going insane
• Sense of impending death
• Paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensations) -Check.
  
• Chills or hot flashes -Annnnnnd, check.

So out of 14 physical manifestations of a panic attack, I had 9. NINE.
All over having to write a midterm on CAMPUS!!!

Fortunately, I was able to get a hold of one of my most favorite people on the whole entire planet, and she was able to chat me through it via Skype while she was working.

I ended up having the panic attack at 1:25 pm and I had to be at my daughter's classroom at 2 pm, AND I still had to eat something for my lunch.
Talk about stressful.

So, in hindsight, I had a panic attack in November when I was touring the Library on campus for my final assignment for my previous class (although I thought I was just hypernervous about the whole process at the time...). These are the first panic attacks I've had in over 11 years. I wonder why I've just started getting them back now, of all times.

Weird.

Hubby was very thoughtful and understanding about it, and he was extra kind to me that night. (And yes, I was STILL shaky from the adrenaline dump from earlier in the day)
It's times like this that I wish a teensy bit that I wasn't so phobic about seeing a psychologist, just so I could talk about it and get more ideas about the triggers and how to handle it better.

He Is RIsen!

Luke 24

Jesus Has Risen

¹ On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” ⁸ Then they remembered his words.

⁹ When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹ But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. ¹² Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

On the Road to Emmaus

¹³ Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles^[a] from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶ but they were kept from recognizing him.

¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

¹⁹ “What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²² In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

³⁶ While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

³⁷ They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. ³⁸ He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

⁴⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹ And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³ and he took it and ate it in their presence.

⁴⁴ He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

The Ascension of Jesus

⁵⁰ When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. ⁵¹ While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. ⁵² Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. ⁵³ And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

Trying Not To Stress Out

So there's a remote chance that Hubby will be transferred for work. Very remote. Like 5% chance. (As far as I know) He told me that he would update me when it got to 25%.

I'm not one who embraces change. (Shocking, I know.) It takes me a good 3 years to settle in. Perfect example? We moved from Calgary to Okotoks (which is 11 minutes SOUTH of our old house in Calgary) 3 1/2 years ago. I am JUST feeling like I'm settling in. No word of a lie.

The funny thing is - the place where Hubby would be transferred to is in England. Right around London, to be precise.
Now, we have lived in the UK before, and I'm pretty confident that I can say that it was a sheer, unmitigated FAIL. I ended up with depression and suicidal thoughts, and Hubby ended up with walking pneumonia.
What a great souvenir.
"I lived in England and all I got was walking pneumonia."
Put THAT on a tee shirt, Snorg Tees! I dare you!

Anyways, I digress...
So part of me is excited. I have missed England. I miss waking up to the rain, and I miss the tea (because NOBODY makes tea quite like the Brits). I miss the chocolate. I miss the feeling that everywhere you go is steeped in history. Canada does NOT have history until you get closer to Ontario and Quebec and the Maritime provinces. Alberta. We have buffalo, wealthy native tribes and lots and lots of rocks. Big ones. Shaped like mountains.
I do not miss other things about England. Like the fact that they get zero sunlight. Ever. I swear. They're a nation of vampires or zombies or something. It's indicative that they have to include things like, "There will be a chance of sunny spells later on today in the forecast...". Where we live right now, sun is assumed. Or snow. But you get my point.
I also don't miss the tv programs in England for the most part. There were some stellar ones like, "Rex The Runt" and "Goodness Gracious Me!", and even Coronation Street and EastEnders to a certain degree. I've gotten very ... particular/choosy in what I watch on telly these days, and to be honest, I'm not watching a whole lot. I did watch 2 episodes of "America's Next Top Model" yesterday, and I did watch some "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson" on YouTube today.

But then that gets me to thinking... Do you really watch tv when you can just stream it over the internet? Are you really THAT far away that you cannot access it via the Intertubes?

The only other thing I would miss is all of our friends that we have here in Okotoks. You know that feeling of running into people you know at the grocery store? I would miss that.

I think our one consolation would be the fact that we wouldn't be transferred alone. Hubby's boss would go as well, and we are quite close with Hubby's boss, his girlfriend and his kids. Like, we would probably purposely move close to them just for a support system. The girlfriend and I get along famously well, which is wonderful. I think she's delightful.

And then I have a girlfriend in England who I went to school with in Toronto who I haven't seen in a good 8 years.
So we wouldn't be ALL alone, but we would need to kind of jump in with both feet to make it our home. (I'd have to join something just to make friends)

So yeah. Just trying not to stress out over the POSSIBILITY of something happening. Maybe is God trying to shake me out of the trap of being hostile to change? I don't know.

And I am missing Facebook more than I thought I would. It seems to come and go.... I won't miss it for ages, and then (like today) I will miss it like mad. :( Oh well... Nine more days and it's alllllll over.

Is Lent Over Yet?

15 days to go before Lent is over.
What a weird time this has been... One of feeling very 'removed' and 'out of touch' with some people.
I must admit, I don't miss some people's Facebook statuses at all.
But other people - like my good friend Alysa and her sister Joy - I miss talking with them.
I was actually texting with Alysa a week or so ago, just telling her about how I think I'm really gonna get a tatt now, and she said something profoundly wise.

"So, it's an outward manifestation of an inner change. Cool. That's deep."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Maybe this Lenten season was one not unlike when a farmer sows seed in a field - the farmer plants the seeds, and then has to wait for them to germinate and grow.
Maybe this Lenten season has been one of germination in my life. Where God plants new seed in my life/heart/soul, and I get to see it germinate over the next bit of time.
Self acceptance and setting of boundaries is always a good thing. :)

Lent Day #31

I am trying to fight off a major case of the grumps (rather unsuccessfully too, I might add). I don't know WHY I'm as grumpy as I am - I just am.
:(

So I thought I'd self-medicate with an extra large decaf 3 cream 2 sugar coffee from Timmy's. Which means I get to ingest a whopping 12 mg of caffeine. Go me!!!

Let's hope it helps....

Gems That Kids Say...

So my 5 year old and I are driving in my minivan when he asks me a question.
"Mum, am I going to live with you when I am 30 years old?"

I answer him, "Probably not. You'll probably have your own house and your own rules. You'll be a man."

He thinks on that, and then says, "Good. Because I don't want to kiss on the lips. That's gross. Maybe I'll live by myself."

I ask him, "But won't you be lonely?"

He thinks about it, shrugs his shoulders and says, "Yeah, maybe. But that's okay."

Kids. If I ever figure out what makes their brains tick I'll be a genius!

Almost At The Halfway Point

Wow. What a wild ride it's been this last week or so.

Hubby's been on an IV antibiotic since Thursday morning, and has been at a hospital 4 times since Friday. I'm so ready for him to get better.

It seems that our oldest son has been having some issues and it's all come to a head at the same time. Talk about stress.

I drove my girls to Pioneer Girls tonight, and I literally had to force myself to drive home. I feel so stressed out that I was starting to cry in the car. I'd love to just drive, drive, drive and get away from all the stress. Chase the sun... Escape to somewhere where the sun shines all day and it's warm and there's green things rather than snow and dead brown-ness.

This Lenten season has NOT been shaping up to be what I thought it would be. I thought it would be a season of renewal, change, growth. Instead so far, it's been a season of breaking and complete paradigm shifts in my thinking and belief systems. (Hello.... Me. Trying to track down a tattoo artist so I can get a tatt. Talk about weird.)

Well, 21 days of Lent down. 25 to go.

Lent Day #12

Ran into a friend at Wal-Mart yesterday, and I gotta say... I miss being on Facebook! I miss the interaction with people, and the jokes, and the comments. I miss it all.

That being said - I was sort of shocked to realize that I am 2 days away from it being 2 weeks since Ash Wednesday! Wow. Where has the time gone??

Delicious Irony....

So. Remember me telling you about going to Pioneer Girls and that sleepover? Remember me telling you about the "inner beauty" speech and the thought of "hmmmm. I should go get that tattoo I've been thinking about for 18 months"?
Well. I was in the shower thinking and bam.

I had made up my mind.

If a person doesn't agree with my choices now, there's no way in hell that getting a tattoo is going to change that for the better.

Like, my mother is ALWAYS going to have that little disapproving tone in her voice no matter what I do.

So, I might as well stop being so bloody afraid of other people and be true to myself.

I emailed my tatt artist, asking for a specific day. (Which is a good 2 months in the future, so hopefully *fingers crossed* she's not too booked up yet. )
I asked Hubby to take the day off work so he can come with me.

Eeeee! I can't believe this is getting into motion!

Lent Day #9

Yes. I admit it. I had to count out how many days we are into Lent on my fingers using iCal.
Shut up. ;)

Well, I gotta say, I'm starting to feel very cut off from society... Very out of the loop. I mentioned this to Hubby and he grinned at me and said, "Isn't it a great feeling?". Granted, he also DEACTIVATED his Facebook account a couple of months ago out of choice, he wasn't convicted to give it up for Lent. I had to disagree with him - I don't like this feeling. I feel like I'm missing out on something, which is funny, because most of the stuff on Facebook is other people's drama. (And I just end up hiding the drama creators anyways.)

Other than that, I have noticed a sense of calmness and peace that I haven't experienced in quite some time. Which is nice.

Well, only 31 more days, right? *groan*

Lent Day #3

Lent Day #3.
I did something today that was pretty far out of my comfort zone. My daughters are in Pioneer Girls and they were having a Mom/Daughter Sleepover & Spa Night. I didn't want to go. Oh, how I didn't want to go. But, because my daughters looked up at me with their happy, shining faces while they drawled out, "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease Mum, will you goooooooo?????", I relented and went.
I participated in the disgusting making of the skin masques that they get to take home (ewww. Oatmeal, brown sugar, honey, olive oil and vanilla? Uck.), I painted their nails, and I sat through the Spa Treatment of "let's all lay back, put cucumbers and a cool cloth on our foreheads and listen to ladies talk about inner beauty". (Except I sat. I was afraid that if I laid down, I'd cry because of falling on the ice the other day. I STILL hurt from that!)

As I sat and listened I realized that Lent was doing it's job in my heart.
I feel like I don't fit in anywhere.
I don't fit in at church as I'm too much of an Open Theist and not enough of a Calvinist/Armenist, and because I'm too loud, I'm too opinionated, I'm too outspoken.
I don't fit in with other Christian women as I see the majority of them to be boring and repressed women. (At least a lot of the Christian women that are around me are like that!) Let me put it this way - if the Christian women around me were flavours, they'd be a very bland vanilla. Not a French Vanilla with flecks of vanilla bean to jazz them up, they'd be a No Name boring vanilla.

I am not a boring Vanilla kind of girl. Never have been, and never will be.
I like action, I like challenges, and I love thinking and coloring outside of the lines.

So if God is trying to get me to have a period of reflection and to take stock, then I'd say that He was succeeding magnificently. I am. And I don't like what I'm coming up with.

I feel like I am so far removed from the ladies at the one church I used to do a Bible Study at... Like we are kinda on different planets.
I sat there during the Inner Beauty talk, and all I could think was, "I think I should get my tattoo done." Not as a rebellious sort of thing, but more like a "this is who I am, and where I've come from" thing.

I can't see any of those ladies getting a tatt. Heck, the most "daring" lady there was wearing a week little silver toe ring.

So I think Lent is doing it's job. I'm taking stock, I'm reflecting. And I don't necessarily like what I see.

Lent Day #2

I messed up and looked at Facebook today. :(

IN MY DEFENSE... There was a Twitter link to something and I clicked on it and ta-dah! I was on Facebook unintentionally.
And then I compounded it by clicking on my "Pending Friend Requests" and I saw that an old friend of mine who had sworn UP DOWN & SIDEWAYS that she would never join the plebian ranks of those on Facebook had finally joined Facebook. :)
Just in time for me to take a break for Lent. How deliciously ironic.

But, I am getting school work done. My house is marginally better than it was, although I fear that all day tomorrow I'll be cleaning. Without children as they are all at school for Fantastic Friday. (I think they call it that because all the moms are walking away from Kindergarten going, "Fantastic!!! A WHOLE day to myself!")

Thought I'd document the slip up.
It's been harder than I thought it would be to cut out Facebook. I was/am so dependent on it for socialization. Makes me feel all lonely and alone not being on there.

:(

Funny bit out of my textbook...

Yes, this is HONESTLY in my textbook. It's in the chapter of "The Electronic Library" discussing the Net and how it has no classification standards whatsoever. There is a quote, "On the Internet, truth needn't take precedence over humor" and this is the story that they use to make that point:

This is from Ton Kuntz from the article, "The Information Age is Here. Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" from The New York Times from July 3, 1998. This is the story of an "actual radio conversation between a U.S. naval ship and Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland.

Canadians: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.

Americans: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a collision.

Canadians: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.

Americans: This is the Captain of a U.S. Navy Ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.

Americans: This is the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Lincoln, the second-largest ship in the United States' Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers and numerous support vessels. I demand that you change your course 15 degrees north. I say again that's one five degrees north, or counter-measure will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship.

Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.



Now, it's stuff like THAT that make me chuckle, and you KNOW I'll remember it for a long time. But do you think I can learn all these different givens and wanted descriptors and the different categories of tools to search for reference interviews? Dear Lord, help me!!

The Lenten Season

Sometimes it truly sucks to be able to discern the voice of the Lord.
Like, it totally sucks.

I have had it on my heart since about January to observe the Lenten season this year. And Lord knows I've tried to shake it off... But it keeps getting impressed upon my heart to observe it.

And no. I am not Catholic in any way, shape or form.

I'm what you would call a Christian. I am not too weird (at least to my brain I'm not weird), and I know some hymns. Don't remember the last time I sang hymns at church, but I know some at least.

So. Yes. Lent.

A period of reflection where you purposely die to self in order that you may gain spiritual riches.
A period of time where we give up trifling things in remembrance of the not-so-trifling things that Jesus gave up for us.
A period of 40 days where we spiritually echo Jesus' 40 days in the desert after being tempted by Satan.

And guess what God wants me to give up this year.

Facebook.

When I told my darling hubby what I was feeling the Lord tell me, he just laughed and laughed. Then he said, "Usually, if giving up one particular thing is what you're least wanting to do, then that's exactly what you should be doing. (but you knew that =P)"

Darn. Why is he SO right all the time ?????

So this is my journey of self-denial. I don't really have any high hopes for what God's going to say to me during this time. I'm not going to be all mystic-y or anything... I'm hoping that I can burn through my school course in the next 40 days and get that bad boy accomplished and DONE. It feels so good to put a little check mark next to a course....

Lent.

Sometimes to get a greater appreciation for a thing, it is good to take a break from it so that you rediscover it's beauty, magnificence and the value that it adds to your life.