A different kind of Lent (probably Part 1)

It's been a full month since I've posted anything on this blog, and that has frustrated me greatly as I missed each self-imposed, weekly deadline. So many things were on my mind, but posting on the blog was not a high priority among them.

Until this weekend.

And now some of the things on my mind are starting to shape into written words that I feel certain God will use to teach me.

For starters, it's Holy Week. I'm aware it's been a different kind of Lent for me.

It started on Ash Wednesday, which was also Valentine's Day, when I realized I probably had the flu. I had agreed on Monday to help with the Ash Wednesday service at church, but I had to call back and cancel when the flu symptoms took hold.

My focus that week and the rest of the month became getting well, not spreading sickness, regaining my strength and then trying to catch up. I felt grateful every day for my husband's gracious caretaking and also for the circumstances that free me from feeling guilty about staying home from work when I'm sick. (Translation: I no longer have a job.)

Most years, I try to take on a special daily reading, discipline or act of devotion during Lent. I usually try to do some intentional soul-searching in preparation for the Easter celebration of Christ's resurrection. I often embrace some program offered by my church or another religious organization.

Not this year.

And it wasn't just because of the flu. Even as I was regaining health and strength, I was trying to plan and pack for a two-week span starting in early March including separate trips to Puerto Rico and South Carolina, with only about 15 hours at home in between!!

I did manage to pack and make the trips, and both had many enjoyable moments. They also had some challenges that may have been directly related to the lack of the kind of discipline the Lenten season usually brings about for me.

Looking back, I see I also did the heavy lifting of a major housecleaning project during that pre-travel time of Lent. It didn't involve sorting through the clutter of my front room or other places my stacks of newspapers, clothes, keepsakes and other "stuff" have migrated. It did involve a "searching and fearless moral inventory," to clear out the clutter of my mind, soul and spirit.

While the pre-travel jostling of my mind, soul and spirit likely contributed to some of the challenges along the road, I'm also certain it created the environment for me to learn and grow from the challenges as well as a number of opportunities.

And now, as Holy Week brings the Lenten season to a close, I see God showing me I didn't waste this time, but there remains much to learn and discern. It's time to be still, to truly focus on God and His gift of love through the sacrifice of His Son, to overcome my sins and the sins of the world, and then to rise above them. I'm grateful and ready.