Day 3: Lenten Reflections

So far so good. 3 days of success! And tomorrow is Sunday so I get a day to snooze (alarm) - hooray!

As I was on my walk this morning, I was praising God for the beauty of the area I live in. Seriously, where I walked today was just lush and green with bushes in bloom and succulents (like cactii) so green and proud. There was new growth everywhere and it smelled so fresh and wonderful. I was reminded of Psalm 8 where it says:
"When I consider your heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have set into place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?"
(OK, i know that passage is talking about the sky/stars, but its still God's creation and it was the verse that welled up in my heart in praise this morning)

Further along, I was thinking about new growth on plants. And then I was thinking about pruning. I remember when I used to have houseplants. (I just don't have anywhere to put them right now...) There are two types of houseplants: those that are untended and grow up tall and skinny, kind of scraggily and those that are tended, pruned and grow up robust and fat and tall. I had this great plant (no idea what it was called) and it started to grow too tall and skinny, so I started pruning the new growth at the top and it started sprouting buds at the bottom. Pretty soon it was much stronger, healthier and more robust all around.

Well, as I was thinking about this, I was thinking about our lives and how the Lord tends and prunes us like plants. That sometimes a closed door is like being pruned - we are forced to look for another option and in doing so, we become stronger, more robust, hardier. And that sometimes this happens over and over (like me clipping the top of my plant) but ultimately it serves to make me stronger, to force my roots deeper.
That at other times we are allowed to bloom in season, but that at the end of that season, we are pruned - the blooms are cut off and we are trimmed back (dead-heading) - and it hurts. It feels like we are being constrained and limited and that there is not future ahead. But when the spring comes, we can stretch our arms and we are fresh and new.

Even though I chafe under the pruning and in the constraining; even though I hate when I am walking a path and the door is shut, or when I just feel like I am coming into my own (blooming) and then get cut off..... When I remember the lesson of my plants, I am grateful for the masterful, careful, thoughtful attention of the Gardener. The One who does not prune just to use the clippers, who does not "deadhead" just because we are wilty - but who does all these things because He has a plan for the landscape (me and those around me) and his plan is purposeful, not haphazard.

Sometimes its good to remember that.

Enjoy your weekend. I hope that as you see Spring beginning all around you, it will remind you that God is in every season of our lives.

Friday Fun (III)

Saw this video posted on a friend's website and thought it was a good candidate for this week's Friday Fun! Its the comedian "Louis CK" on how different the world is today... and how impatient we are because of it.

If you have time, also check out this (very brief) report from the chronicle of higher education that makes Louis' point for him. Its a brief article that describes the reaction recently at Southern Methodist University (TX) when the campus' computer systems went down for a day. (if you can't see the link above, click HERE)

Enjoy.

Day 1: Lenten Reflections

Day 1 of my Lenten resolutions

Today I woke up before my alarm went off. So it was kind of nice, because it was like the Lord gave me a natural snooze alarm! I was able to doze until the alarm went off which was really nice - and most importantly, I was able to switch on the coffee, so when I did get up at the alarm, the coffee smell was delightful.

This morning I read Acts 10. This is the chapter that tells the story of the gospel being taken to the Gentiles. (Read it here if you are interested: Acts 10) It was a neat reading for today, since the discipline that I have added during Lent is prayer walking - and mostly, I am planning on praying for those men and women who live in the community around me. As I was walking, after having read that passage, it gave me renewed confidence in the Lord's power to call those who he is planning to call. When the Lord calls your name, you cannot resist.

I don't know that I'll post about each of the 39 days I am participating in Lent. But I wanted to post today and let you know that I did survive day #1, and am actually looking forward to day #2.

Be blessed. And keep your eyes ready for tomorrow's "Friday Fun" video!