Lent 2016 Begins

Hello friends
Today we begin a Lenten journey. I am starting in my pajamas on a day off.  My husband is off to work and i have had the morning to relax. For me this is a treat. I have spent time reading and listening to podcasts. It really has been nice. Rest is something I hope to have in this journey. It is something that does not come easy to me but something I need.  I have my sweet dog curled up at my feet. She enjoys a nice day off as well.

So how am I going to grow closer to God this season ?

First I will not be scrolling facebook. Facebook is not evil or sinful I just want to free my mind and my hand. I want to not fill every moment with some thought but let my mind rest. I hope when I want to share or type I will blog. I will be posting Lenten thoughts on facebook but thats it. So notifications you will have to wait. Facebook app on my phone: goodbye.  I think it will be good for me.

I am going on a journey to help some of my health issues. As you all may have read I did Paleo over advent and saw a great improvement in how I felt. However when that was over I jumped back in to food, and while I choose much better choices than I did and have really limited myself in so many ways, I have also cheated. When I do it makes me feel physically horrible. Muscle ache, joint pain, fatigue, irritability, rash...something is bothering me and I do not know what. Then at work one day I was being compliant and having a salad when my mouth started to swell and I had to take Benadryl to stop it. Cue extreme drowsiness. It might have been a contamination on the gloves of the preparer of the salad because I have ordered this salad many times at work since it is the only Paleo compliant meal I can get on a busy day if I forget my lunch. Needless to say I was afraid to eat many things for a few days and it put on my heart the need to figure out what is truly irritating me.  I know what your thinking: go get an allergy test. I would but statistically they can miss sensitivies and allergies. I do not want to miss things. I want to be sure. When I am finished I will go through a specific reintroduction phase. I am ready to give up whatever it is.  This will not be easy but I know it can work. I know I can deny myself and fast from all these things that may hurt me to move toward heatlh.  Coupling fasting with prayer is powerful and so my hope is to spend my time off facebook growing in prayer. Learning about it and comitting to it. My husband  is in on this as well.

It begins today: Ash Wednesday.

What are you committing to for Lent? How are you letting God work His story in your life. I keep reflecting on my Savior: The Mighty One who has done great things for me. His journey to the cross set me free. I hope as I pick up my cross each day of Lent that I will continue to grow in freedom. Fasting has always yeilded growth in my life and taught me so much. I am excited to see what God accomplishes in this season.

Friends what are your plans for Lent? How can I be praying for you this season? I encourage you to embrace this season. Deny yourself to grow in virtue. Ask for strength if it seems hard.

God bless you friends
Anita

Persistent in Prayer

Ever wonder if you can bother God by asking Him the same thing over and over? I have wondered. You see I know He is all knowing and I know He hears me and so I ask in prayer for things of my hearts desire praying only if Gods will. I find my heart asking and than believing the lies that the enemy feeds me : Don't ask again He's busy.

As if the God of the universe who knit me together in my mothers womb could be too busy. As if He could care less about me than I do myself. Its a lie in an effort to shut down prayer because friends we know there is power in prayer. It's a lie that makes us feel as if we can't approach Our Lord with our needs when He tells us to ask, seek and knock. He wants us to bang down the door in prayer. He wants us to push and persist.

He listens better than the best friend you have ever had, and meets you exactly where you are. He loves you no matter what you've done or haven't done and invites you into a personal relationship with him. You see God knows my deepest needs and cares and yet He patiently listens to me in all I have to say whether in vocal or contemplative prayer. He does this not only for me but every single person on the planet. How grand His love is for us.

Scripture reminds us to persist in prayer.


Luke 11:5-8
And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,6 for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’7and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’8I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.


Luke 18:1-8
Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said,2“There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being.3And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’4For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,5 because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’”6The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.7 Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them?8I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

The saints remind us

" Through communion with Him, the Holy Spirit makes us spiritual, he returns us to Paradise, brings us to the Kingdom of heaven and into adoption as sons, he gives us the confidence to call God Father and to participate in the grace of Christ to be called a child of light and to partake in eternal glory" - St. Basil 

I am his daughter and He loves me patiently. He has adopted me and I can imagine him saying "My beloved I am with you always" when the lies of his absence creep into my mind. You see no matter how alone I may feel at times I never am. He never leaves me side. Yours either friend. He's right there next to you.

Friends we weren't commanded to pray sometimes, occasionally, once in a while. We were told pray without ceasing. He wants to be asked. He wants to be sought. He wants to be pursued.  He wants our lives to be prayerful acts for Him and His glory.

So friends what have you asked Him for? Have you been persistent in prayer? Have you sought the Lord and fasted? Have you prayed without ceasing? Have you approached the throne of grace with your petitions? Finally friends.. Will you love Him even if He says No? Will you trust Him and His timing? When we seek Him and pray He doesn't always do exactly what we want, how we want and when we want but He does always listen, always answer and always has perfect timing. 

Friends you are beautiful and loved. 

Persevere in your requests to the Lord. Pray without Ceasing and Trust that He is with you.  He isn't too busy, He hasn't forgotten, He is listening, and waiting.

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Therefore we must watch and pray lest time pass idly.

This post is a few hours late... 9 hours 37 minutes if we were actually to say it's advent day 6. I apologize.

Yesterday was a busy day of work. After work I rushed home to meet my husband, change and go to our church's annual christmas party. As we just started attending this church it was our first party with them but friends it was such a blessing.

The people were immensely kind. We sat with a couple we met the other night at a bible study, and another couple who we had not yet met. We were welcomed by everyone, dinner was great, and each table was to bring an appetizer. I brought a stuffed baguette I'll share the recipe at the bottom and give credit where credit is due. It's always nice when everyone likes what you bring. The conversation never dulled. They asked about my work and what I find most challenging. They met me where I was and offered to keep me in their prayers.  Both couples were immensely friendly and kept using phrases like "oh you should definitely meet so and so you were definitely get along." The music director and operations manager of the church spent a good deal of time talk to us and if you know us you know we were talking about theology and doctrine. It's nice to have people who thats what they want to talk about. I'm still reading Imitation of Christ but friends he makes a great point about talking.

Imitation of Christ: The Tenth Chapter

Avoiding Idle Talk

SHUN the gossip of men as much as possible, for discussion of worldly affairs, even though sincere, is a great distraction inasmuch as we are quickly ensnared and captivated by vanity.

"Many a time I wish that I had held my peace and had not associated with men. Why, indeed, do we converse and gossip among ourselves when we so seldom part without a troubled conscience? We do so because we seek comfort from one another’s conversation and wish to ease the mind wearied by diverse thoughts. Hence, we talk and think quite fondly of things we like very much or of things we dislike intensely. But, sad to say, we often talk vainly and to no purpose; for this external pleasure effectively bars inward and divine consolation.

Therefore we must watch and pray lest time pass idly.

When the right and opportune moment comes for speaking, say something that will edify.

Bad habits and indifference to spiritual progress do much to remove the guard from the tongue. Devout conversation on spiritual matters, on the contrary, is a great aid to spiritual progress, especially when persons of the same mind and spirit associate together in God."

Thomas Akempis reminds us that our words have an affect and that our conversation matters. He reminds us to edify one another and that talk of spiritual matters helps us to grow. Last night our conversations definitely helped me grow. 

We stayed late talking with a couple about medicine and politics and it was great to hear people concerned about the direction of our country, the poor, the homeless, the uneducated. It was great to hear people who wanted to live out their own walk with God as dramatically as they could. What an example friends you can be in how you live your life. Even in a short meeting or conversation you can shine the light of Christ without evening realizing it. That light comes from the devout personal commitment to a pursuit of a relationship with God. Friends - Seize the Day. Don't put off the time with God because you are "busy" when God never intends for you to be too busy for Him. 

During this advent season friends make the time to spend time with the Lord. However that looks for you spend the time. When we commune with our God it changes our hearts and that can change the world.  In this (well it was this) 6th day advent remember the God who loves you so much more than anyone else you know. Heed the words of Akempis : Therefore we must watch and pray lest time pass idly.

<3