(hangs head)

Um, hi faith. It’s me, Rebecca. Yeah, I know, you haven’t seen or heard much from me lately, except at church.

Did you know I got engaged? Yeah, I did. I think I talked to God about it, but I don’t remember. I don’t do well with bringing the big things up or remembering them when I pray. Even when they’re good things. True story.

My dog died, too. That was sad. I cried and probably forgot to talk to God too much about that as well. I don’t do really well with bringing up the sad, either.

So I got this new puppy. He’s kind of crazy and he doesn’t do a good job of giving me space in the evenings to spend a lot of time before my icons and in prayer.(I think that’s what is commonly called an ‘excuse,’ right?)

Oh, by the way, did I mention today I failed miserably at my attempt to do Lent today, right out of the gate? I did. Failed. Miserably. I mean, I didn’t eat meat or anything, but boy, oh boy. I hated people about 45 seconds into my day at the courthouse. You know — people looking for their 15 minutes of fame, child killers (alleged), too much work, too little time and an itch of injustice in a place I can’t scratch.

I did make it my entire class at HU without swearing, so there’s that. I let them go early so they could watch the Bachelor and I could go home. Then I promptly swore in the parking lot when the puppy trotted off to explore somewhere he shouldn’t.

So, this Lent thing. I’m going to start over again tomorrow, well, right now, I guess. I’m going to finish up here, take my prayer book and go stand before the icons. If I have to put the puppy on a leash to do it, I will. But I’m not sure what he’ll do when I start praying the prayer of St. Ephraim.

That should be fun.

Lenten resolution

Been awhile, I know. Life in the new Helo era…we spend our evenings wrestling over knots and stuffies, chasing tennis balls and each other. It’s a good time, but I’m a bit old for it, I think.

Lent starts in about 36 hours, after a Liturgy and Forgiveness Vespers. I’m teaching again, working with a catechumen and trying to figure out what needs to get done before a wedding. It’s going to be a busy season, and I’m going to have be really intentional to give everything the attention it deserves.

So I’m giving up my politics for the next 40 days or so…shutting off the tv in the evening, reading fewer (or none) blogs and not waxing aggravated on the Facebook. This series of tubes known as the Internet is not good for me on occasion. The current war between our political parties is making me completely crazy. As Fr. Andrew said tonight, it has no actual effect on my salvation, but boy I sure can as I dwell on it, mull it over, get aggravated and worry.

Since I have to walk more now (we’re covering a couple of miles a day I think…a happy puppy is a tired puppy, and a happy Cattle Dog is a tired Cattle Dog), I’m going to spend more time with the Jesus Prayer, or listening to hymns or something. Fingers crossed I can bring more with me out of Lent than just an increase of fiber in my diet.