Insert Busy Week Here!

This has been a crazy full week and my absence of posts is more proof of that!  I use this space to process a lot of my activities around the house, kitchen and yard.  Not much time to process this week.  I've been on autopilot making candles to replenish inventory after some great sales at my consignment locations.  I've been prep-cooking getting ready for a lunch meeting that Handy-Man and I are hosting this afternoon around days out of the house working at Made In Chenango - a co-op of crafters where I display my candles.  Yard work, laundry, mowing, meals and chasing around an active GBaby have filled every remaining minute.  By the end of the day when I would usually click on the computer and blog - I've just crashed!

How was your week?

My Season of Lent

Many Christian traditions celebrate the season of Lent, which is observed beginning on Ash Wednesday and spans 40 days until Easter.  While the Catholic Church is the most known for calling parishioners to sacrifice something during this time in order to deepen their focus on Christ, other denominations like Presbyterians and Lutherans also follow this tradition.

This is not a tradition that I grew up with and every year I find myself struggling to figure out what I’m going to “give up” because everyone else is talking about it.  This year our congregation was challenged to make a difference with your sacrifice.  If giving up chocolate, donate the money that you would have spent on chocolate to the soup kitchen.  If you sacrifice an activity, use the time to volunteer.

While discussing this year’s Lent season and batting around a few ideas, as a family we settled on minimizing our grocery budget as much as possible by eating meals that are stashed in the freezer and using the extra money (and time saved on cooking) to put together Hygiene Kits and Baby Kits for our denominational disaster assistance program.  I often feel convicted of how I spend my time, and was feeling this conviction when I came across Katie’s “What are you doing for Lent” post over at Kitchen Stewardship.  As I read the post my “what doing with your time” voice kept echoing in my head.  Then the first linked response on Forty Bags in Forty Days de-cluttering challenge caught my eye and was the catalyst that gelled in my heart what this year’s Lent season needs to be about for me: the spiritual disciplines of gratefulness and giving.

I strive to focus on being content and know that we have so much more than we need, but that does not turn into true gratefulness as often as it should. Rarely do I look around to see how much I really have and sometimes how little we actually use.  So over the course of the 40 days of Lent, 40 bags of various sizes (nothing smaller than a plastic shopping bag) will leave my house destined to be donated or recycled and I will daily strive to allow gratitude to fill my heart and life.

Would you like more ideas for observing the season of Lent in a unique way? Visit this Kitchen Stewardship post for ideas (scroll to the bottom of the post for link ups.)

Sunday Sunshine: Birthdays & Goals

This week our home has been graced by family and friends, many the same who gathered on these days a year ago following the birth of our daughter.  This week we celebrated her first birthday.  She is healthy, learning things a mile a minute and such a happy little girl.  I can not imagine my world without her!  I am blessed by those who have supported us through this first year and are an active part of her life.  I'm especially blessed by the love and support and good relationships with family.

This week also has brought more sunshine and budget goals that were met.  My front porch and sewing area are stacked with supplies for bean bag chairs and I'm happy to get some sewing time this afternoon to work on them.

Tomorrow is a new month, new goals, new challenges.  Today, I have all that I need.

Dare to Hope

On Saturday, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake shook the coast of Northern California resulting in approximately 30 injuries and $43 million in damage.  The Governor promises help, and since the power's back on, the public will hear that assurance and find hope to rebuild and move on with life. (news source)

On Tuesday, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit a small island nation with a magnitude of devastation that will not be fully tolled for weeks.  Politicians promise their assurances, but who are those assurances really for?  I really doubt the people of Haiti have access to CNN or FoxNews right now.  From reports on BBCNews.com, survival is of paramount concern.  Aid is flooding out of countries around the world, but only trickling into those who need it because runways and ports are so badly damaged.  Those in Haiti right now seem to be in a desperate situation and are surrounded by destruction and despair.

Today's media makes it possible for us to see images of that destruction and despair in real time.  It's easy to be caught in the drama of the newscasters and the quick messages floating around our online social networks.  When inundated with images and stories of catastrophe, it is hard to see hope. Tonight, I'm closing the internet news browsers and with the images of the devastation still fresh in my mind, I'm taking a moment to hope and pray for miracles - large and small -  for the people of Haiti, for the aid workers and for the days to come.  Will you join me in stepping out of the despair, and hoping?

Sunday's Sunshine

As a practice of contentment, I believe that it is important to stop and appreciate what we have been gifted with in this life.  The sun is always there, even when hidden by clouds. Sometimes we have to push away the clouds in our world to find the bright spots.  This week’s bright spots are bolded.

This week was particularly bright, not just with accomplishments and family time, but also with the weather.  We’ve had sunshine, light breezes and warm temperatures all week. I think this may be the first week this summer that’s been this nice.  To match the sunshine and beautiful weather I seemed to be full of energy and motivation which came down to lots of fresh produce finding its new home in the freezer.  I also spent lots of time outside hanging laundry to dry.

GBaby has been great this week with taking naps, but Friday morning was the best as she settled in for a lap nap since some installations at our home were a bit disruptive of the sanctuary of her crib.  We hadn’t really done this much in the last few months but the cuddly time was great!

As I sit on the back porch, I am filled with the joy of the fulleness of my life.  Join me in the practice of finding bright spots in your week and share them as a comment below.