Out my Window: Intervals of snow and sun
Enjoying: Celebrating my husband’s birthday and having the time to do so. Having time to read. My Lent/Easter season centerpiece for table and counter, more candles and twinkle lights. I am leaving the white twinkle lights up for another month.
Listening to/Watching: I listened to the latest episode of Holy Post Podcast, a very interesting 2 part interview about immigration and refugees. I started listening to On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real-World Spirituality for Restless Hearts by James K.A. Smith on Audible. Not totally enthralled with the narrator, but the content has been very good. Watching baseball and working our way through the TV series Monk.
Reading: Finished reading the Book of Waking Up by Seth Gaines. It is very good. Very different in layout and format, I appreciated his connection between addiction and pain. At one point he shares a quote ‘the question is not why the addiction, but why the pain?’ Gaines talks about how we all have coping strategies that really fall under the definition of addiction. Sometimes we trade one affection for another when we are not totally in love with God. When we are not willing to let go of other loves they end up skewing our view of God and disordering our hearts. He challenges the reader to pay attention for when we reach for their fix, identify and deal with the pain associated with it.
Does the fix (traditional but also food, social media, buying books…) lead to a deeper communion with God, with your spouse, your children, your community? Does it add to it something more akin to life, or is it a fix that’s twisted to death?
I was impacted and moved by his memoir Coming Clean, but this one gets into the reader’s own heart and invites them to a wide awake life and love with God at the center.
I am now reading Leveling the Church: Multiplying Your Ministry by Giving It Away by Micah Fries and Jeremy Maxfield. I heard Micah Fries’ interview on the Holy Post Podcast https://www.holypost.com/post/copy-of-episode-389-leveling-the-church-with-micah-fries and was glad to see it on Moody Publishings options to review.
Carrying Around: Off the Clock by Laura Vanderkam. This is such a good read. So much to think about. Trying to figure out how to apply what I am learning. Looking forward to discussing with my friend who gave it to me. It is that message of perception, how do I see time, and how do I see my life. What do I really want? Definitely challenging me to steward my time better.
Pondering: I had downloaded a Lent Word Prompt that was supposed to be a photo of a day, or thought, or poem, I have appreciated the words. I spend the day meditating on the word given and what it means to me or what pops in my head visually, or thought wise. I have written posts on some https://inkblotlife.com/category/lent-2020/ and others I have shared on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/inkblotlife.com_peggy/ It has been an interesting exercise as I am trying to let it happen naturally and not force it.
Learning: This Lent is about prayer for me. I do feel like I need to add a “sacrifice” to my days. I feel like I miss having something triggering me to pray and long for more. The prayer part doesn’t feel like extra because it is something I should be doing because I can. I am trying to not get all legalistic in this and allow God to gently show me what this Lent is supposed to look like. It feels weird without specific readings that are focused and an activity or sacrifice. Maybe that is why I am connecting with the 30 day word prompt more than I normally would.
Home Life: So all that energy and focus came along with nice weather and not much work disappeared this week which was a full and dreary. Everything seemed to come to a halt. I ended up using Saturday to catch up and I am not as far behind as I felt like I was all week.
Fitness and Mental Health: Another area that lagged with dreary weather and working outside the home and commitments outside the home was exercise. I did a HIIT Pilates from Robin Long and tried to do some of the stretches and exercises here and there, nothing formal. Mentally, I had a few good visits with people, being back at School is good for my brain sometimes, and had schedules where I could read extra.
Giving Thanks: Connections with kids, extra reading and writing time, a flexible schedule, time to celebrate my husband’s birthday, weekend to catch up a bit, taxes almost done, opportunities to be challenged to grow and learn, communities to share life with, friends who pray, laughter, plans for the future
Inkblot Life 
I so want to have that conversation with you about time! I particularly liked the part about the expecting self and remembering self. When I indulge both, time really does seem to stretch and I enjoy the activity even more. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts about it. Also, one of the chapters, maybe 5, was not the most interesting to me.
I found this book to be helpful also when I applied it to homeschool.
Looking forward to seeing you next month!
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Did you get my email? Need numbers. 🙂 So excited! Also I keep checking your daybook.. The people want more. lol.
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