ashes to ashes

... all come from dust, and to dust all return. Ecc. 3:20b

Happy Ash Wednesday!

I guess, depending on what you have/haven't decided to do for Lent, this may not be such a happy day for you. For me, I have decided to give up pop and to try to wake up at 7:00 every day to pray. I haven't had pop today BUT I forgot that I had turned my alarm clock off yesterday morning because C was sleeping in our bed, sooo ... I did not wake up at 7. More like 8:20! Yikes. It was a mad rush to get M ready for school and everyone out the door. Fortunately, Andrew didn't have to be at work til 9 so he was home to help.

Anyway, I don't always give something up for Lent. In fact, usually I don't. Last year, I read He Chose the Nails by Max Lucado, which is sort of more typical for me. (If you're looking for something to read right now, I definitely recommend it!) I tend to try to DO something more or add to my life during Lent rather than take away. I'm not against giving things up, I just don't usually feel led to do it. This year, though, was different. Ever since watching random episodes of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, I started to wonder if I had similar addictions in my life - things I turn to when I'm sad/depressed/upset other than God. And somewhat recently, He's shown me one thing ... $1 Cokes at McDonald's. I've put off the thought of giving them up for at least a month now, thinking I could just ignore this prompting I felt ... not wanting to quit, but knowing it would be best ... simultaneously realizing that my strong aversion to giving Coke up was probably MORE of a sign that I should ... and then our pastor talked about how he gave up all pop one year for Lent and has been able to stay away from it since, for the past 2 years - exactly what I had been hoping my Lenten commitment (if I made it) would lead to.

So, with that, I resigned myself to the reality that this needs to be done. For my health, teeth, and obviously spiritual walk as well. I'm trying to think of a concrete way to replace my turning to Coke, with turning to God so if any of you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear!