Thursday, March 13, 2008
lent and joy
this year, i sacrificed alcohol for lent. especially after the back to back bday celebrations of mina and jay, i just thought i needed to lay off the good stuff. i've been pretty good without it as there haven't been many friends' bdays these last couple of months, so i haven't been too easily tempted. but it's the family dinners that have made me crave a glass of wine here and there. and then last weekend, henry and i went to redondo beach and had such an awesome time eating crab and oysters and fresh uni (sea urchin). we were lucky enough to find a seat right in front of the beverage counter so we saw people order pitcher after pitcher of beer on that beautiful warm day. they had an awesome selection with even 3 types of kona beer, and each pitcher was only $6! it would've totally made the outdoor seafood meal sooo much better. but alas, i just stuck to my water and raspberry iced tea. i can't wait for easter!!!!! only 2 more weekends left!
oh, i did cheat once though. being the good catholic that i am, i know the ins and outs of the lenten traditions. so much so that i even know the loopholes. sundays don't count, so one sunday, i had a glass of wine at a family gathering. even my mom confirmed it. she said, yes, every sunday, we celebrate God's ressurection, so it's not part of lent. so there. :P but then, good ol' catholic guilt set in cuz in my heart of hearts, i knew that i had intended to sacrifice all the way until easter; i was just making excuses so i could partake in the wine. poo on me.
let's see, what else happened this lent... oh, i got my joy back. i had been feeling pretty empty and low and just down in the dumps. i knew it had something to do with me not volunteering at st. paul and just generally haven't been doing anything regarding my faith life since we came back from our honeymoon. i guess i had simply been feeling far away from God cuz i haven't worked on our relationship. i've just been really lazy to drive back to the church in la mirada, or even go hear mass during lunch. i was asked to chaperone a retreat up in big bear and i couldn't get a day off work so i'd have to drive myself. i also had a friend's baby shower that i'd miss and other things that i didn't really want to miss. but as much as i really didn't want to make the trek out to big bear to help out with the girls retreat for confirmation, i made myself go and i am so totally glad and grateful that i did. during adoration, i cried my heart out, told Him how much i missed him and just thanked and praised Him for bringing me exactly where i needed to be. as incredibly reluctant and lazy as i was being, it was exactly what my spirit needed to be jumpstarted again. i'll never forget how much the readings and the homily that weekend struck me. it was talking about the israelites grumbling and complaining to Moses when they were trekking out of egypt. apparently, although they were slaves or 2nd class citizens in egypt, the israelites were actually pretty comfortable there. some folks were even considered rich and had some power. so they actually didn't want to leave their comfy lifestyles. God (through Moses) took them out of their comfy surroundings to bring them closer to Him. and i totally saw the parallelism to what i was living. cuz heck, i definitely grumbled all the way up the mountain. i got completely lost, i even thought of just turning around and driving back home. and there was a bunch of traffic too. i was totally cranky when i arrived. but as soon as we went to mass and i heard that homily, i realized that God was bringing me out of my comfort zone in order to just focus on Him. as much as i was there to chaperone the girls, i knew He brought me up there truly to bring me closer to Him again. i was truly grateful and seriously, it was like a huge weight was lifted off my chest and i felt like myself again. :)
how's your lenten sacrifice and journey going?
oh, i did cheat once though. being the good catholic that i am, i know the ins and outs of the lenten traditions. so much so that i even know the loopholes. sundays don't count, so one sunday, i had a glass of wine at a family gathering. even my mom confirmed it. she said, yes, every sunday, we celebrate God's ressurection, so it's not part of lent. so there. :P but then, good ol' catholic guilt set in cuz in my heart of hearts, i knew that i had intended to sacrifice all the way until easter; i was just making excuses so i could partake in the wine. poo on me.
let's see, what else happened this lent... oh, i got my joy back. i had been feeling pretty empty and low and just down in the dumps. i knew it had something to do with me not volunteering at st. paul and just generally haven't been doing anything regarding my faith life since we came back from our honeymoon. i guess i had simply been feeling far away from God cuz i haven't worked on our relationship. i've just been really lazy to drive back to the church in la mirada, or even go hear mass during lunch. i was asked to chaperone a retreat up in big bear and i couldn't get a day off work so i'd have to drive myself. i also had a friend's baby shower that i'd miss and other things that i didn't really want to miss. but as much as i really didn't want to make the trek out to big bear to help out with the girls retreat for confirmation, i made myself go and i am so totally glad and grateful that i did. during adoration, i cried my heart out, told Him how much i missed him and just thanked and praised Him for bringing me exactly where i needed to be. as incredibly reluctant and lazy as i was being, it was exactly what my spirit needed to be jumpstarted again. i'll never forget how much the readings and the homily that weekend struck me. it was talking about the israelites grumbling and complaining to Moses when they were trekking out of egypt. apparently, although they were slaves or 2nd class citizens in egypt, the israelites were actually pretty comfortable there. some folks were even considered rich and had some power. so they actually didn't want to leave their comfy lifestyles. God (through Moses) took them out of their comfy surroundings to bring them closer to Him. and i totally saw the parallelism to what i was living. cuz heck, i definitely grumbled all the way up the mountain. i got completely lost, i even thought of just turning around and driving back home. and there was a bunch of traffic too. i was totally cranky when i arrived. but as soon as we went to mass and i heard that homily, i realized that God was bringing me out of my comfort zone in order to just focus on Him. as much as i was there to chaperone the girls, i knew He brought me up there truly to bring me closer to Him again. i was truly grateful and seriously, it was like a huge weight was lifted off my chest and i felt like myself again. :)
how's your lenten sacrifice and journey going?
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quotable quotes
-
"To try is to risk failure. But risk must be taken because the
greatest hazard of life is to risk nothing. The person who risks
nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. He may avoid
suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change,
grow, live, and love."
~unknown
"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues."
~ Abraham Lincoln
"live a life that others will remember years from now, NOT because it pointed to you but because of how it pointed to the One who made you."
~ Mark Hart, the Bible Geek
"we grow up learning to become self-reliant, but really we need to be God-reliant"
"we could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box"
"never wound hearts that love u, never give them the endless pain, because wounded hearts are like roses that never bloom"
"there comes a time when we have to stop loving someone not because that person has stopped loving us but because we have found out that they'd be happier if we'd let go"
