At this time of Lent there is a call for prayer fasting and almsgiving
however this could possibly lead us to turn inward pull away from our families or neglect them in order to help those in need We must stay focused on our families first... they are our first priorities and even if you aren't a believer in Christ, or a certain denomination... fasting and almsgiving is still beneficial to the world
~ let us care not to care, for those things of this world ~ let us sit still ~may we ever be comforting those around us ~ even upon the rock, our peace can be found ~ Spirit within the river, the prairie, the seas... let us suffer no more apart from Thee ~ Our cries come out to Thee (by me)
When I was proposed to by Jason (that's a whole other story) and we went looking for rings, I didn't want any diamond... I just wanted that union... that bond... and a simple turquoise vintage ring was what I thought I would get
His mother owns an antiques store in Geneva, IL (it is rated the #1 antiques store in the Fox Valley area) — it really is quite a nice store! (I even do the window displays) — and Karen — Jason's mom — has a beautiful selection of turquoise... nothing was quite what I was thinking... and while shopping with her and Jason, she said "Oh Anne Marie... just look at a diamond... just for fun... "
so I did
through a special eyeglass (forgot the name)...
I was blown away at this rock... so amazingly beautiful... from the 1920's and in perfect condition... set in white gold — almost like silver...
She went on to explain to me how diamonds of this beauty are so rare and... well... she said a lot and I'm sorry to say that I don't remember everything she said... my heart was swelling inside thinking of why this ring was in the store... why someone brought it in and sold it... or was it found... was it someones grandmother's and they needed the money... a family heirloom... was it a ring that was given back to a man who loved that woman and was rejected by her love and she thrust the ring back at him never to speak to him again... the inscription says 1920 and has the couple's initials...
of course, I envisioned her with her cloche hate and smart skirt suit on and him dapper with a fedora and trench coat and pinstripe suit... they were out to dinner and he proposed — she threw her arms around him and... well, you get the idea... this ring was more to me than a diamond — it is like making a new life to this rock... giving it that sparkle that was lost sitting there in the store...
we are so much like a diamond... we start out in life so raw and rugged... and with the constant pressures to do good to ourselves and others we are crushed on all sides... sometimes so stressed we just want to hide away with a lemon meringue pie and a pot of coffee (hypothetically speaking of course;)
let those pressures crush us — it will make us spectacular in the eyes of others and God...
to me, there is nothing in this life more important than being beautiful in the eyes of God
but immediately, we show our beauty to others by our acts towards them...
when things don't go smoothly, on whatever project you are working on, know that is just part of this life process of crushing you further and further until that pressure makes you beautiful in the eyes of God, to others, and yourself...
it's all part of this process... just have patience... we all go through pressure...
many of you have emailed me about diamonds since I posted this... and I wanted to share with you more on how a diamond is made... you can go here.
peaceful Lenten blessings,
btw: you can find an amazingly clear diamond for a fraction of the cost in antique stores!!
some are sweet and some are savory when we meet other people for the first time, and there is that "connection" you pretty much know you are going to be friends soon along this new friendship, there comes a choice: to talk of frivolity or discuss the deep If you have been reading my journal here for any length of time, you might have noticed I am not one to talk much on "the fluffy outside"
any way you look at it, life is so full of flavor... texture... variety... sweetness... goodness... even evil
instead of me complaining of all the evil... all the hardships... all that goes on in life, I choose to look at it with both a little fluff and a little sweet — but always from scratch with things thrown together and presented to you in the way I see it
during Lent (starts today) I am not giving up pie or chocolate, but instead giving more more to you like a taste of my life... though virtual... it is real on my end and though I cannot satisfy everyone, I do hope these 40 days to be full of deeper thinking with the occasional taste of "fluff" peaceful lenten blessings,
wherever you are on this journey of life, whether a believer in Christ or not, taking time to better oneself is always necessary...
walking through these next forty days (more on that in a minute) as being a caretaker of the earth, the land beneath us, we will be able to rest within and let the power of God work within us
There is no more time to decide on what to give up, now is the time... (back to the walking...)
our human nature always let's us know there is more time, but when you have to plant a garden, you have to do it at just the right time, just after the frost or a bit before, depending on what you are growing, but you certainly can't plant pepper seeds in the cold hard ground in zone 4 in April, the ground is too cold and they will not even germinate. If you have forgotten to plant that pepper plant by seed, at the right time, then there is always the local nursery, where you can pick up usually a plant with a pepper already growing on it. There are plenty of times where this has happened to me, for whatever reason, but I ran instead of walked in the garden. To run into lent is like picking up that pepper plant in the store with it's fruit ready to pick. It is a lazy way to garden (unless physical ailments prevent you from starting it from seed). The cost if more, the work was not done by you, but here you are enjoying the fruit. Quite frankly, it is cheating your way through gardening. At the end of the forty days, each and every one of us, should arrive with a stronger sense of our weaknesses and strengths because we spent so much time in prayer and fasting.
That ground we are planting in, if all we plant are peppers in there, year after year, will become unsuitable for planting. It needs crop rotation. It might even need time to lie fallow (left alone).
Rotating crops helps not only prevent insect infestations, but also enriches the soil. So one year we'll plant peppers, the other year maybe some carrots or potatoes (something growing deep within the ground). Just as we are as humans. Sometimes we are left barren and it needs to be that way. Other time though, we need to remove what is there for a time to focus on introducing a new virtue or habit within us. Fasting helps us with this.
We are such pleasure seeking people with our comfort of food and drink (myself included). After all, we need food and drink to sustain us, but why not live without that comfort.
That seed we put into the ground is restraining the life within it. It is dry and brittle, and so small. When that outer skin on the seed falls off and dies within the ground, then life pushes forth.
After this time of soil preparation, and barren land, let us all let life push us forth.
