Putting it all in perspective...

I received word on Monday that my request for a Declaration of Nullity was with a judge. This is a big deal. I started the process in October of 2007, completed my paperwork in May of 2008, and I'm anxiously awaiting a decision -- mostly because I want to be able to close that chapter of my life, so I can move into the next fully and without hinderance. Overall, the process has been rough, with unnecessary delays that have thrown me into all out rage. Hearing that the case was finally in the hands of a judge sent simultaneous tremors of joy and pangs of anxiety straight through me. I reviewed in my head the things I remembered writing; I tried to imagine the words of my witnesses. Most of all, I prayed the judge was a speedy reader.

And then God put things back in perspective.

I was reminded that yesterday was the two year anniversary of the Bluffton baseball team's bus crash in Atlanta. I graduated from high school with the older brother of one of the players who was killed. His dad works at the school where I did my student teaching, and where I taught summer school. I'm pretty sure I never actually met the kid, but I knew who he was. He was filled with passion and a love of life.

Today is the five year anniversary of the death of the mother of someone I went to high school with. We went to the same church, too. His mother was murdered by a co-worker. I didn't know her well, but she was amazingly joy-filled and enthusiastic.

Juxtaposed with these tragic anniversaries are the exhausted tales of one friend, rediscovering the world through the life of her newborn son. Another is anxiously awaiting the debut of her little "chili pepper", and yet another is excited to learn the gender of her baby, due in September.

God puts it all in perspective.

I got an e-mail today that included the following message: I marvel at the people that God puts in our lives, some for five minutes, some for five years, some for life; regardless, I marvel at how many wonderful people are out there and how many of them I have been fortunate enough to have impact my life.

Indeed.

"Life is lumpy. But a lump in the oatmeal -- a lump in the throat -- and a lump in the breast -- are not the same lump. We should learn to know the difference." (from All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum)

Ashes, Hell, Ask, Seek, Knock, Clean out, Election...

Sometimes, everything comes together in ways that only God can make happen, and it seems I'm headed down the path to one of those spiritual revelations.

On Ash Wednesday, Fr. Gene's homily was simple. The point was this: Give up whatever you want. Or don't. Lent is about figuring out how to get out of your personal hell.

Really, the way to get out of personal hell (or literal hell) is to turn to God. My favorite Lenten hymn says, "Come back to me with all your heart. Don't let fear keep us apart." In "giving up" something for Lent, we're really being called to surrender it all to God.

At the prayer service for the HCHS retreat on Saturday, Mama T talked about Ask, Seek & Knock. Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened. All we have to do is ask. God will give it to us.

Tonight, at Youth Ministry, we talked about Lent. Specifically, we talked about fasting -- giving up something for Lent, or taking on something, and the real purpose. The real purpose is to empty all the junk out of the God-shaped spaces, holes, crevices, cracks in our lives, and to take on those things that will help us draw near to God, so God can fill those spaces.

Tonight is also the Rite of Election. And it is in the Rite of Election that we celebrate that God has chosen us. Long before we chose God.

Figure out what is holding you in your personal hell.
Surrender it to God. Give it up. Clear out the junk.
Ask God to fill the spaces in your life.
Seek ways to draw closer to God.
Knock, and the door will open. Because God has already chosen you.
It's going to be a good Lent...

So here we are...

I've been meaning to set up a blog for some time now. I don't know why; I've just wanted to have one. And so here it is...

Why Three Weeks from Thursday is Today? Because it seems that's the story of my life. Time ist just moving by more and more quickly (perhaps why I want a blog...), and, before I know it, things that seem far off in the distance are upon me.

So welcome to Three Weeks! I need to play with the settings a little more, and then I'll post again.