Do you scramble every morning to get out the door? Do you feel like you start each day 10 steps behind? There’s just not enough time in the morning to get every last thing done. The key to smooth and easy days, is starting the night before. Here are 17 simple ways to make life easier for tomorrow.
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In addition to the established days of fasting and abstaining from meat, lots of Christians also choose to make a personal sacrifice during Lent. As a personal devotion, there aren’t really “rules” about it. God welcomes our little attempts at redemptive suffering. But what do you do if you fall short of your set standards? Can you fail Lent?
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There are 9 days left until Easter. That’s time enough for a recommittal. Write down your sacrifice. Tell your spouse your intentions. Pray about it. Just do it.
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Maybe take a break on Sundays. Each and every Sunday is a mini-Easter. A celebration of the Resurrection. Our weak little bodies have an easier time keeping the days of fasting, if we also make full use of the days of feasting.
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St. Francis and his friars faced a similar calendar dilemma when Christmas (feast day) fell on a Friday (fast day). When his brothers asked if they should celebrate the feast day with meat, St. Francis responded: “It is my wish that even the walls should eat meat on such a day”. Then he smeared meat on the wall. That’s legit, check my source. The Saints know how to fast, and they also know your fast needs an occasional feast.
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Remember why we have this penitential season.
Such believers know and hope that almsgiving will challenge and correct the greed in their hearts, that fasting will temper and balance the vanity in their souls, and that prayer will humble and mature the pride within their spirits. {Source}
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Failures are actually great for you! They remind us that we can do nothing on our own. We are incapable of success apart from God’s undeserved gift of grace. Embrace this “failure” as a gift of humility, and you will have profited immensely from this Lenten season.
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This has been another Seven Quick Takes. For more information, and to read more entries, check out all of this week’s SQTs at This Ain’t The Lyceum.
I am an unabashed, unreserved, obsessive reader. From the moment I saw those two pink lines, I dreamed of sharing my love of reading with my son. I even threw him a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed first birthday party. So it was a huge surprise to me when my son proved utterly intolerant of being read to!
Cindy Rollins is a homeschooling mother of nine, including 8 boys. She homeschooled using the Charlotte Mason for thirty consecutive years.
Now that her youngest is in a public high school, she enjoys a “quiet” retirement. She tutors homeschoolers, speaks at conferences, co-hosts a Circe Institute podcast, and writes (amazing) books.
Welcome to Quick Lit! Here are short reviews of eight of the books I read in February.
I’m learning to trust, but neglected reading time. January was off-balance, but a little focus (and a lot of Jesus) can bring everything back together.
We finally started ABA, and it has been wonderful! My dear almost-3-year-old man separates easily, engages with his super-fun therapist, and has learned so much already. His goals are mostly language, attentiveness, and self-regulation. Yesterday we did a whole puzzle together, and then he helped me clean up his room (without being asked!) That never happened before!
Epiphany, from the Koine Greek ἐπιφάνεια, means appearance or manifestation.
I may never see God face-to-face in this life, but I catch glimpses of His grace and His glory every day.
My defining word for 2017 is trust. Trusting in the Lord, and not my own abilities, failures, and fears. Here’s one from the archives. One of my lifetime lightbulb moments in trust. #WorthRevisit
After receiving the Eucharist, I knelt and prayed a while. Some infraction of the Mass rubrics was ticking me off. I was salty and seethed a bit internally. I prayed “Oh God, I’m so sorry that people ignore your Church’s instruction, and disrespect your authority. They have so many false ideas, which lead them down the path towards grave error even. What can I do to correct them?”
My reading goals in 2017 focus on spiritual formation. Some for my child, some for me. You’ll notice there is a considerable overlap. Chiefly because motherhood, my vocation, is itself a spiritual formation. Let’s get started!