Cross+Training Day 23 & 24... How's your discipline holding up...

Cross+Training Day 23 & 24 (Thursday and Friday)
Well... This is about the time a discipline gets hard, right? So here I am. Busy. Of course life has picked up all around me. Has it done so for you too? Did you notice the spring creeping into your Lenten discipline. Perhaps it was a fun creep, exploring something new, looking for a new home, stressing about looking for a new home, packing for a move, meeting up with friends, watching some NCAA Tourney action or perhaps the final episodes of one of my favorite sitcoms of all time, How I Met Your Mother....

Regardless if your list matches mine or is completely different, it's time to get back on track. Time to remember why Lenten disciplines matter...

Is it about giving something yup? Sacrificing like Christ? For me, it isn't. Because Christ's sacrifice is so mind blowing, so HUGE, so impossible, I can't get there.

Is it about personal discipline, being a better person? Sometimes I think this is very much what it's about - maybe evening renewing a New Year's Resolution if you subscribe to that train of thought. However, it's only personal in a small sense.

I think it's the coupling of feeling closer to God, remembering the things and actions and patterns that help you see the amazing mystery of God in our lives. Christ present here. I think it's also about seeing wider humanity's relationship with God. We are ALL God's children and that is a great thing to remember.

So, I think the Cross+Training 5 has been connecting me closer to God by forcing me to look again. See something new. Keep myself healthy and active to be a worker in the kingdom in whatever form I can do that.

With that said, some gratitudes from Thursday and Friday...
So amazingly grateful for a conversation with my friend about fundraising and development work. I really want to continue to explore this direction of supporting and increasing awareness of non-profits. Perhaps a few classes are in my future regarding this subject! Grateful for a break. We've started practicing a "kid's schedule" which has given me time to do this...

And so, I'm grateful for art and the fun of painting. It gives me such an outlet and it such a joyful thing. I created this at Arte Wine and Painting in Tosa. A glass of wine, a friend and you walk away with something new to share with the world. 

I'm grateful for amazing people who serve especially Debbie, my hair stylist and neighbor - she's accepting new clients people - Studio 890 in Elm Grove, ask for Debbie. She's experienced, so not inexpensive, but such a wonderful person and she does a great job! 

I'm grateful for the weather forecast. I know that might be a repeat of grateful for spring, but Monday, my last day off before the new job starts.... 61 degrees! Sophie and I are going to get out and have a GREAT time. 

Finally this morning, I'm grateful for my kid's dad. We're making this work. We are cooperating, co-parenting and compromising to give each other space and keeping the kids in mind too. It makes the sadness of things ending between us, less. 

I saw God in my new "supervisor" and other staff at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at UWM. Upon telling them of my need to be away a bit, right as I start my job, for our family medical situation, their response... "We'll make it work" Sigh. Thank you. For meaningful work, being understanding and helping me remember what is most important!