SPOILER ALERT!

Here’s the good news…we know how the story ends. And it ends well. WHEW! We could all use a happy ending, right?!?!

That would be the story of Easter, my friends. Today is the first day of the Season of Lent in the Christian church, when many follow a practice of “fasting” or sacrifice, to prepare our hearts for the celebration of the sacrificial GIFT that Jesus gave us when He overcame death on the cross.

I’m not Catholic, nor would I consider myself tied to a specific denomination at this point in my life…I guess I’m sort of a “mutt” Christian. In full transparency, I haven’t been inside a church building for over a year, which for many of us is primarily because of the Covid pandemic of course. It would also be true that I’m not that interested in hanging out in “the Church” in this season, and that is primarily because of the current divide over politics and social issues that have strained many relationships in, and outside “the Church”. I’m learning, growing, and seeking, exploring truths outside the church walls. So I’ve come here, to fellowship with you, my friends. To stand firmly on the truth that Jesus is who I cling to, not a building full of people, and therefore, there are many TRUTHS still to be told about His story, and how it has intersected with mine. I’m on a journey as a TRUTH SEEKER.

So I continue to seek truth that God is FOR me, and FOR His people. In case you aren’t familiar with His story, and in case you aren’t sure you believe in what the Bible says, you are welcome here to explore what you believe. Stay tuned as I help us navigate this season, and share this story with fresh eyes, and a tender heart. Yes, I know. This story is the cornerstone of the Christian faith and has been expounded upon numerous times by world scholars for almost 2000 years, so what makes me think I could actually shed new light on it without any “expert” credentials? I mean, I’m just a music teacher. I don’t even have a seminary degree or pulpit experience. (well, does VBS and worship leader count?) I don’t know how to decipher the ancient Greek or have all the books of the Bible memorized. Who am I to say anything that should be considered TRUTH?

My TRUTH is that I am “just” a Jesus follower and a truth seeker. I’m on a journey to know the ONE true God, more personally, more deeply, and more intimately, and nothing in the Bible says that I have to be an “expert” to do that. And EVERYTHING I’ve read and heard in my prayer time points to the truth that if I seek, I will find. Jesus has made it ABUNDANTLY clear that He wants to be my friend, and He has made it ABUNDANTLY clear to ME that my calling is to “GO AND TELL” and share about this friendship by the Spirit with others.

So HERE I AM! The “hot mess”, fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants version of this age old story of RESCUE. Jesus fully and completely has rescued me. It’s MY story, so it’s TRUE from a fresh set of eyes, and from my heart. It’s the story of how I came seeking Jesus at the tomb and He is NOT THERE so I had to figure out what I believe. I don’t want to give away the ending without first telling you the story, so you’ll just have to stay tuned and see for yourself. Belief is always fully in the hands of the Believer. It is not mine to dictate or demand or coerce. So it is YOURS for the asking, and seeking, and the looking, and believing.

“Belief is always fully in the hands of the Believer.”

The Season of Lent is 40 days, starting today, Ash Wednesday. We’ll talk more about it in the days ahead. As I launch my new website and blog today, we are in the middle of a historic freeze down here in Houston, Texas, where I call home. I don’t know what the coming days ahead hold for me, or you, (it would be so cool to know the future!) but my plan as of today is to share a little of the journey I’ve already begun, and my “fasting” journey over these next 6 weeks or so. And beyond that, we’ll see where the journey of truth seeking takes us.

This fasting thing isn’t going to be a traditional type of fasting like giving up meat, or sugar, or alcohol, or anything like that. Are you kidding? We’re in a pandemic and I’m a teacher in the real world. There will be no giving up alcohol or sugar. Children might actually “suffer” and no one wants that. (Ha, ha – in all seriousness, I take my job of teaching very seriously and no child would ever be harmed on my watch).

Instead, I’m going to fast in ways that focus on self care, and take you along my journey as I learn to grow “new roots” in place of the ones that have been damaged and taken over by “sickness” and “disease” of false beliefs. God is showing me how to slowly dig up the ones that served me in ways that I thought were perhaps necessary as I navigated hard waters in the past, but in order to stay firmly planted in HIM, I must grow new ones. And we can’t just cut out the old ones either, or the tree is likely to fall over, so this process takes time, and relearning, and unlearning.

So, in this Season of Lent what will I be fasting?

• Unrealistic pressures and expectations
• Worry, doubt and fear about things out of my control
• Making decisions solely on making others “happy” and self denial at the expense of being “needed”

I’m going to spend 2 weeks more intentionally focused on each and write about it. Will you join me in this “fast” and perhaps by Easter we’ll learn more together about

• How our value and worth is not tied to what we “produce”. And maybe we’ll learn to release others from this burden as well to truly show more unconditional love to our family and neighbors.
• How to trust God…really TRUST Him. Is full and complete trust even possible???
• Having the wisdom to know what we can and can not control, and accept our opportunity to release unnecessary burdens that are not ours to hold onto

Perhaps we will also learn the most important message of all: that we are fully and completely LOVED by the Creator of the Universe (Spoiler Alert…it’s God, by the way) with tremendous devotion JUST AS WE ARE, and we were Created ON purpose FOR a purpose to do GOOD works. To do what we are uniquely being called to do, we must seek to KNOW Him and be equipped fully in Mind, Body, and Spirit. This is a spiritual truth and TOTAL WELLNESS that takes time, but God is patient and knows that you will seek Him and find Him when you seek with your whole heart, and you are READY to open your hands to receive the GIFTS He has for you.