On my desk is my planner.
There's such a hooha (not a real word) about planners these days.
I see it on Instagram and Facebook and realize that a lot of
people (more women than men, a LOT more women than men)
spend so much on their planners!
And buy expensive planners (sometimes more than one!!!)
I don't want to do that, so I mostly just cut up stuff from magazines.
But I do have some washi tapes and stamps that I use as well.
"Create in me a clean heart, O God." Psalm 51:10
Today is Ash Wednesday. For years my goal was to get through Lent,
to endure it, to just bear it.
I did not see Lent for what it was. A gift.
The word Lent is from the old English word "lencten" which meant spring.
The ancient Jews used to thoroughly clean their homes in anticipation
of the spring-time memorial Feast of Passover.
There was an instruction in Exodus 12:15 that the Jews were to look for
and remove every trace of yeast from their homes during
this Feast and the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
Even the New Testament Christians observed this Feast.
As Saint Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:8, "Let us celebrate the Festival,
not by eating the old bread of wickedness and evil,
but by eating the new bread of purity and truth."
Whenever yeast was mentioned in the Bible, it almost always represented sin.
So during this festival of remembrance of when the Jews fled Egypt following their slavery, they were supposed to only eat unleavened bread.
The unleavened bread of the Old Testament pointed to Jesus,
the "Bread of Life" in the New Testament.
To receive Jesus into our hearts, into our homes, into our lives,
we have to do our own spring-cleaning.
Just like the Jews had to search for every bit of leaven hidden in their home,
we too have to hunt for whatever sin is lurking in our hearts.
God knows how freeing it is to find sin, and to remove it from our midst.
But it is not easy. And so we pray to Him for help and grace and mercy.
We have to go into our own "war room" and pray, and fast, and give alms.
We have to go into our own "desert" just as Jesus did when he was here on the earth.
That is how we shall "spring-clean" our heart this Lent.
But what a great blessing of freedom it will be to welcome with all the faithful
the celebration of Easter, and our own rising from the ashes of sin.
Lord, what will I work on this Lent?
What will be the focus of my own "spring-cleaning'?
"Can it indeed be that God dwells among men on earth?" 1 Kings 8:27
This was King Solomon's question.
"If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you,
how much less this temple which I have built!" he continued in awe.
Are we in awe when we pray to God?
Are we amazed that God came down to our level to be with us, the Emmanuel?
Do we marvel that the creator of Super novas, the majestic mountains,
mighty dinosaurs, allows us to visit Him in churches built by man?
And not only that, He wants, desires, longs, that we invite Him into
the temple of our own feeble hearts.
He actually prefers to dwell in our hearts rather than the grand Cologne Cathedral,
the historic Notre Dame in Paris, the awesome Sagrada Familia,
no matter how beautiful they are.
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday,
and we can moan and groan about this
Lenten journey of fasting and abstinence.
Or we can welcome it as a pilgrimage to walk more closely with
the God who loves us so inconceivably.
One of my favorite songs is "More than Wonderful",
best sang by Sandi Patty and Larnelle Harris.
It goes, "I stand amazed when I think the King of Glory would come to live within me;
I marvel just to know He really loves me, when I think of who He is and who I am.
For He's more wonderful than my mind can conceive,
He's more wonderful than my heart can believe;
He goes beyond my highest hopes and fondest dreams;
He's everything that my soul ever longed for,
Everything He promised and so much more;
More than amazing, More than marvelous,
More than miraculous could ever be;
He's more than wonderful; That's what Jesus is to me!"
Joining the lovely Julia Dunnit for a
peek at desks and projects!
I find a lot of inspiration
visiting my friends here:
Mondays @ Soul Survival
Small Wonders, Testimony Tuesday, Titus 2 Tuesdays,
Share the Joy,
Count Your Blessings, Word Art Wednesday, Wildly Original
Small Wonders, Testimony Tuesday, Titus 2 Tuesdays,
Share the Joy,
Count Your Blessings, Word Art Wednesday, Wildly Original
Blessings!
Patsy
Hi Patsy! I'm your neighbor at #SmallWonder! I love the way you choose to look at Lent as "we can welcome it as a pilgrimage to walk more closely with the God who loves us so inconceivably." Oh, and I remember that song by Sandi Patti and Larnelle Harris - Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post! I always love to visit your blog, Patty. I just wish you had some social share buttons so I could tweet your posts!
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to lent this year. I have felt God calling me to fast, both spiritually and also with my food and time and every other aspect of life. I know He will have so much to teach to me and to reveal to me.
Your Artworks are always so lovely.
ReplyDeleteAnd your texts beautiful and inspiring.
Happy creative week to you!
Susan , nr 8 on woyww list.
Always inspirational and always enjoy seeing your planner
ReplyDeleteHave a good week Patsy
Lynn 12 x
Oh wow, Patsy, what a beautiful planner. I don't use one myself, but truly admire those that others make and utilize! Those paintings are simply stunning. xo Crystal #43
ReplyDeleteI love how you use your planner. I'm not sure that running more than one at a time isn't counter productive..would certainly put me in a spin! I did not know that about the yeast....love learning from you.
ReplyDeleteWonderful paintings!
ReplyDeletehugs,
Teresa
Lovely work as usual Patsy and the readings were interesting and thought provoking. x Jo
ReplyDelete