Lent 40: Sacrifice of Praise

Well, I made it. I managed to post for forty consecutive days as a sacrifice of praise over the course of Lent. And I must say it has been an enlightening and empowering journey.

I've been blessed with several gifts during this season of preparation. I was once again reminded that there is always something to be thankful for, no matter how good or bad my day is unravelling.

I had a few rough moments over the course of the forty days. Some days, I felt quite misunderstood. Other days, I felt awful gut-wise. At other moments, I felt the lost of dreams and aspirations and goals.

Yet, there were many, many moments in which I smiled at the beauty of the everyday. A preschooler's giggle. A school girl's observations on life. A husband's comical teaching anecdote. The sunshine. Red grape tomatoes.

Now we are entering "Passion Week" or "Holy Week" in the Christian faith, a time in history that was incredibly dark and hopeless. This morning during our Sunday Worship Service at our church, we are encouraged to meditate on the pain and suffering of Christ, so we can truly rejoice in the joy of Easter Sunday (a sermon which, by the way, had your Daddy and I riveted). So, now I will shift towards thanking God for His moments of suffering, as His suffering produced our redemption.

While I will now refrain from posting everyday, and revert back to my random schedule of adding thoughts and reflections to this space whenever I feel so lead, I take this virtual moment to thank my readers. Thank you to all who visited this site during the season of Lent. I pray that you were encouraged. I also pray that you were drawn closer to the God who is the source of my joy, hope and peace. Happy Easter.

Popular posts from this blog

Is God Good?

During "at home learning", I helped my daughter design an experiment on plants. She set up four identical pots with the same amount of soil in the same location on our deck (controlling her variables, right?). She planted two bean seeds in each pot. She watered three out of the four plants with various amounts of water (1/4 cup, 1/2 cup and 1 cup). The fourth plant only received whatever water naturally fell from the sky. At the end of one month, her hypothesis was partially verified. She thought the 1/4 cup water plant and 1/2 cup water plant would grow the best, which was true in the end. On the other hand, she guessed the others would not germinate at all. Interestingly enough, while the one that was drench in water (1 cup) did not germinate, the one she did not water at all actually grew! It germinated late but had the most steady growth. Is God good? I have been thinking about this question a lot these days. A global pandemic is still raging over our planet decimat...
Read more

Daunting {But Not Impossible}

I rarely watch the news. I catch up on the world's happenings -- where often the horror is reported -- via Google News. Or the brief blurb before classic rock on our favourite radio station. But very occasionally, at the end of the day, I take in the images of national and global headlines. Yesterday I watched the masses trek across Europe, searching for a safe haven away from war-torn Syria. I witnessed little kids crying as they tried to rub away tear gas sprayed by unrelenting border police. The message? You are not welcome in this country. I choked up as a father and his son fell to the ground after being tripped up by guards. The look of desperation on people's faces was heart breaking. Our country is nearing a Federal Election in October. Many voters are curious how the next Prime Minister will address the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Here is an excerpt from The Globe and Mail : Mr. Mulcair [NDP] and Mr. Trudeau [Liberal] condemn Mr. Harper [Conservative] for lacking...
Read more

Banking in the Now

This month we are trying something different: banking in the now instead of the tomorrow. Oh, it is nothing new, really. I used to operate like this in my single days. But then the lure of credit cards with reward programs persuaded me otherwise. While I never gave Visa the joy in collecting any interest payments from our bank accounts and I always payed our credit card bill before the 21 days of grace were up, I probably spent more than I should have some months. Why? Because I didn't have to pay for it immediately . It was not until last year that my credit card habits started to bother my conscience. Up to that point, I felt proud of the fact that the credit card company was paying me to use their plastic. I received stuff for free, even after paying my annual fee. Free fuel. Free flights. Free hotels. Free is good, right? My perspective started to change after I read a blog post penned by my sister. Her and her husband cut up their credit cards after a series of events, o...
Read more