Grateful

I can't explain why, but today I am bursting with gratitude for the people around me. Today is going to be a good day.

40 days

Last Wednesday, Adrian, Gabriel and I dragged our bottoms down to church to receive ashes and a blessing to welcome the wonderful season of Lent. For many of us Catholics, it is one of the two or three holidays where our Catholic guilt really kicks in and forces us to attend because not only is it a day of holy obligation, but also it's the first of the forty days we take to prepare ourselves with prayer, repentance and self-denial for the celebration of Jesus' resurrection. Woohoo! Sounds like a party! Or...not. Every Catholic from ages 14-65 chooses something to either give up or add to their normal life in order to become closer to God. Many use it as a good time to kick a habit, though I would wager that probably wasn't the original intention...

 Giving up something for Lent fosters self-discipline and tempers our desires. It is a form of fasting. It is a form of penance. It promotes spiritual growth.

Adrian and I have decided  he's going along with it without a choice that instead of giving up something, we would choose to attend church every Sunday during Lent. Really, we should already be doing it and not acting like it's a chore, but let's be honest, we're lazy. We really enjoy lounging around, making a large breakfast, napping and doing a whole lot of nothing on Sundays. And Saturdays. Basically all weekend long.

I personally have given up the same things over and over since I was young - soda, chocolate, meat, swearing - so I  really wanted to pick something that would be meaningful and hopefully develop into a good habit. The thing is, we have a really nice church here in Santee! Everyone is so friendly and nice (at least, the handful of times we've gone they were) and I really feel like we could make some nice church friends. Hopefully making this commitment will help us to get there more often because I definitely think it is something we are missing out on.

I truly hope - maybe for the first time in an extremely long time - that this Lenten season does encourage my own spiritual growth. I have been so stagnant and unmoved in my spiritual life and feel like it would be so enriching to feel and live in God's love again. Maybe it's time to start cracking open the Good Book again...