Lenten Reflection: March 6

Genesis 8:21-22

King James Version (KJV)

²¹ And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
²² While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

My reflection: Umm....well... duh...
As long as the earth is here, there shall be day and night, hot and cold, and seed time, and harvest time. But after the earth is hit by a big A asteroid, or is blown to bits by the North Korean's nuclear warhead, and all the little rock bits are just floating in the vastness of interstellar space, THEN there will be no harvest anywhere upon the earth.

Lenten Reflection: March 5

Matthew 14:16-17

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁶ But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

¹⁷ And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.

My reflection: It is a tradition at the Episcopal church to have an Easter egg hunt for the children on Easter Sunday. One year, JB was having none of it. It was the first year after the building remodel, so I am guessing 2005 or maybe 2006...anyway she was in a full on temper and flat out REFUSED to hunt the eggs with the other kids. If any of you know me well, you know how I feel about Easter Egg hunts. They are one of my most favorite things on this earth! It made my heart so sad to watch her. MY KID, MY kid was missing out on the joy of an Easter Egg hunt. But sure enough, there she sat, crying miserably on the stairs of the church house's back porch, just watching the other kids having a good time hunting Easter Eggs. But then, what I did see, touched my life forever. After all the eggs were gathered up, the children began to come up the stairs, one at a time, right past JB. A few children walked right past her, but then one, who I will call "Q" reached into his basket and pulled out a single plastic egg and dropped it into JB's empty bucket. That started a chain reaction, and EVERY CHILD after "Q" dropped one egg into JB's bucket.  Soon, she had a full bucket, and a giant grin on her face. I had tears in my eyes and a very grateful heart. This scripture passage reminds me of this event, because it is the ultimate story of sharing with others. While I know that Jesus did not bless the Easter eggs to create more, I do believe there was a divine intervention that inspired "Q" and the rest of the children to share with JB. She was throwing a tantrum, and certainly did not "DESERVE"  to be rewarded with an egg, but through them giving just a little, she was able to receive the happiness that I had hoped she would receive, which honestly is quite a lot. 

Lenten Reflection: March 4

Matthew 5:6

King James Version (KJV)

⁶ Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

My Reflection:

When I read this passage, I think of goal setting, because if we are truly hungering after something, we are willing to work hard to get it. It is like setting a goal and working to achieve it. When I think of goal setting and working to achieve things, I think of girl scouting, and when I think of girl scouting, I think of JB. True, I was in Girl scouting as a child, and LOVED it, but did not get back into it as an adult until JB requested it when she was in 5th grade. She has been in scouting for 4 years now, and though she liked it at first, right now, she HATES it, and delights in telling everyone how I force her to attend against her will.  This morning, in an attempt to avoid cleaning the dishes, I sewed a few recently earned patches onto JB's girl scout vest.  According to JB, the girl scout program "Doesn't offer me anything." But when I look at her patch vest from the last three years, I am amazed at the opportunities girl scouting has granted her.

She has been to scout camp, and to a rally at the capitol. To Savannah Georgia to see the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, and to camporee. She has learned to teach children, how to rock climb, how to sell cookies, how to count money, and how to present herself to a large group of people. She has taken on ever increasing leadership roles, from leading a troop meeting to  most recently being the MC for our Leader Recognition event. She has been hiking, and swimming, and has learned many new skills from Architecture to Zoo-keeping. I think she has done fairly well participating in a program that doesn't offer her anything... I wonder what she could learn if she did WANT to participate, and used this opportunity to it's fullest? Girl scouting is a girl led program, that really lends itself to doing WHATEVER the girls want to do. If she wants to do it, girl scouting can make it happen. I think I will never know, because she is adamant about not wanting me to sign her up for next year. Maybe I will just FORCE her. I mean, in her mind I'm doing that now anyway, I can't see any reason to stop... (shrug).

Lenten Reflection: March 3

Ezekiel 47:12

King James Version (KJV)

¹² And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.

My Reflection:

OK. I know this is probably inappropriate ...but I promised myself I would blog about the first thing that came into my head after reading the passage, no matter how painful or difficult to write about. So here it is. Sorry.

Lenten Reflection: March 2

Luke 10:27

King James Version (KJV)

²⁷ And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.

My Reflection: I consider myself somewhat "bi-lingual" when it comes to religions. Being raised in the LDS Church has given me a good understanding of the LDS faith, and my attendance in the Episcopal Church as an adult has given me some insight into the Catholic world. I find it interesting that to my eyes both sides basically believe the same thing, yet if asked, they would both tell you they are vastly different from each other.  Both religions are based on belief in God, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. Both believe in the Holy Sacrament of Baptism. Both believe in helping out your neighbor through the LDS Relief Society/Episcopal Church Women and the LDS Humanitarian Services /Episcopal Relief and Development, yet seldom do the two churches work together. I find that interesting... But one thing I do know, for sure is that JB and I have both commented on how living in Utah is a wonderful thing. I don't know what it is like in other states, because I've never lived out of state, but here, people really do look out for each other. In Logan alone, in the last 2 years we have seen bystanders pull a burning car off of the victim of a motorcycle crash, and others jump into a frozen river to rescue three children submerged in the back seat. Just last Wednesday night, it was snowing quite heavily as we came home from girl scouts. We saw a mini van pulled off on a side road with it's flasher lights going. We passed it, but JB felt like we really should turn around and go back to see if they needed any help. So we did. By the time I turned around, 3 other cars had already stopped. It turns out the road they needed to get up was too slippery, so they were trying to get turned around to head back the other way. But, the point is, four cars (including mine) had stopped to make sure everything was OK  within a 5 minute period. Nobody asked what religion everyone was, because it didn't matter. I know without a doubt that if there was a major disaster here in my town, and I needed to go to an LDS stake center for support, I would not be turned away because I am Episcopalian. Like wise, if an LDS person (or any one else) needed support from the Episcopal Church, they would be accepted with open arms. The older I get, the more I realize, for me, it's less about the religion, and more about the LOVE. Love, is truly "All I need."

Lenten Reflection: March 1

Proverbs 12:11

King James Version (KJV)

¹¹ He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.

My Reflection:

Lenten Reflection: Feb 28.

1 Peter 4:10

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁰ As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

My reflection: I think this passage is basically telling us to serve each other with the gifts of God that we have received. Sometimes it is hard not to look at other people and wish we were like them. I for one am envious of all those families who have more than one kid. I so wanted to give JB a sibling, but it was physically impossible. I am envious of those people who can stand up in a great big room and captivate the audience through story telling without going all clammy and having heart palpitations. I am envious of those people who have beautiful singing voices and can belt out hymns in church, while I quietly whisper the words to myself, in hopes that I don't scare anyone. But then, I realize, I have been given gifts that others haven't. If we all had the same gifts it would be a very boring world. So, I will knit for those who cannot knit, and I will listen to those who need to be heard, and I will take pictures of babies being baptized, and I will sing crazy obnoxious songs as loud as I can with 25 squirrely Girl Scouts, and I will share what I can with whomever I can, and remember, I too, am blessed.