No Meat Fridays Never Felt So Good.

Lent is my favorite time of the liturgical year.  There is so much renewal and hope that takes place during this season--so many prayers of thanksgiving, repentance, and petition are recited during this time, or at least I'm more mindful of them.  

As the years have gone by, I continue to learn and see more meaningful ways in how Lent is a season of sacrifice.  Not only is it about about giving this and that up or doing more of this and less of that--that's just the tip of the iceberg.   It's about how these acts of sacrifice push us to make the changes in our lives that are our obstacles to becoming closer to God and deepening our relationship with him.

So this is what Lent means to me and my almost 40-year old self--a season of sacrifice where I surrender myself and my needs to God through meaningful, fervent, and daily prayer.  It is through this sacrifice of surrender (i.e., releasing what I think I know, want, or need) where faithful change occurs and I begin to see and experience what true courage in Him means.  

No meat Fridays never felt so good. ;)

Everything is Grace.

God's timing is perfect...perfect in every way.  It's the Holy Spirit whispering on our hearts,

 "Hey. Listen. This is for you."

It comes when you're not expecting it, but it's not a surprise when it does because we know that God has got this. (Matthew 6:31-34)

Life is always filled with unexpected situations (good and bad), issues, and occasions...enough to throw us off from our own day to day goings on.  

But as God is Good, His mercies are new everyday.  There are mercies in everything and everything is grace.

It's the opening of our hearts and minds to be attuned to those nudges when the Holy Spirit  whispers, "Hey. Listen. This is for you." 

(Jeremiah 29:13)