1) Journal/share 3 things for which we are grateful that day
2) Journal/share a place you saw evidence of God's activity in the world
3) Do a random act of kindness
4) Pray for 5 minutes
5) Exercise/physical activity for 30 minutes
So, here I am at day one and I'm going to give it a shot...
1. I think it's important to be specific here because after all there are 40 days (plus Sundays) to fill, so I was out on my exercise walk today and thought about how great it is that we have salt to help make winter more bearable. It's been a long one, but the days are getting longer and it can't last forever, right? I am also grateful for the time I've had this week to be part of D's classroom. Yesterday we went to a play and today I read them Green Eggs and Ham as part of Dr. Seuss week. The third thing I'm grateful for is the ability to read upside down! I can read and write upside down fairly well and reading stories to children with pictures is always better if they can see the picture the whole time. So today. "I do not like green eggs and ham" was must more visual ;)
2. Yesterday, I found out that a dear woman from my old church died suddenly and unexpectedly. She and I had spoken on Monday and were planning a lunch date to catch up after she took a trip with a friend to Mexico. She sounded happy and full of life as usual. Then, yesterday afternoon I'd heard that she died overnight. Natural causes, sudden... gone. She lost her husband about a year and a half ago and I sat with them as he lay in bed dying. I gave him communion for one of the last times, I listened to her tell stories of their worldly travels. I watched her bend down each time she was near him and kiss him and tell him she loved him. Their apartment was full of photos and items from all over the world. Reminders that each of those stories was real.
Today, I was out for my walk (see #5) and came across a dog (see #3). It was the oddest thing to look up as I was carefully walking and see her. Looking cold. Looking at me. Some how wanting me to stop and pause. As I helped the dog get back home, I was invited into Miss Christie's house. Miss Christie and I had met before back when I had Georgia my sweet labradoodle. Miss Christie was so grateful that her dog was back and so loving. I stepped into her home and it was amazing. The same look. All these photos and tchotchkes filled every inch. Miss Christie has her animals, but is also alone. She smiled at me, thanked me so warmly, and was all made-up like Betty often was ready for anything and anyone to stop by. In my grief and sadness about losing Betty, here was this reminder that the memories are not gone, the stories are still present and God's love is in so many places and people that need our care and love now. So, I can be sad about Betty being gone, but perhaps it would serve me well to pay Miss Christie a visit again.
3. Normally I feel like a random act of kindness is something you don't make a fuss over. But today, finding Miss Christie's dog had to be part of the story.
4. Again, not something I'm going to necessarily write about each day...
5. Two walks. The first was interrupted by the dog return, so I snuck in another 15 minutes before I met a friend for lunch.
Sometimes I wonder if this feels a bit check-listy - yup totally made up that word - but I know that getting into a habit requires consistency and being reminded to pray each day, and seek God out, is something I hope will stick with me past this Lent.
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