Day 30: I love March

March is just about my favoritest month.

(And, yeah, I know that ‘favoritest’ isn’t really a word. But it’s totally appropriate in this situation.)

A lot of my favoritest people have birthdays in March.

Like…

my late Grandma Sloan

my late Mamaw Stuart

my best friend

McKenna

Sydney

the new granddaughter

Texas

and a whole lot of other people that my mother always reminds me of, but that I soon forget.

And, in addition to birthdays, there’s awesome stuff like…

the beginning of softball season

lots and lots of basketball (it’s madness, baby!)

St. Patrick’s Day

Easter

warmer weather

longer days.

It’s just a really beautiful, wonderful, life-affirming, special month.

And I’m so glad it’s here.

Day 29: A part of the answer

Last night at church, one of our pastors gave a prayer and eventually turned to people who were sick or hurting in some way.

He said something to the effect of how they needed answers to their struggles.

And then he said something that so struck me:

“Help me be a part of their answer,” he prayed.

Praying is awesome, of course.

But praying, hand in hand with DOING SOMETHING, is super awesome.

When we pray for healing and wholeness for a situation…whether it’s for a physical sickness, or an emotional struggle, or even for the hungry people we see on the other side of the world…we can make those prayers so much stronger if we put feet to our praying hands.

So, I’m asking myself:

How can I help be a part of someone’s answer today, and this week, and this month,

and really for the rest of my life?

I don’t want to practice my piety for piety’s sake.

I want to be part of the help that a real Christian should be striving for and actively seeking after.

Help me, Lord, be a part of

her

his

their

answer.

 

Day 28: I thank you, Cadbury

Easter celebrates the resurrection of our Savior.

But it’s also…just a little bit…about all things Cadbury.

This season provides us with the very best that candy has to offer.

The candy we get is better than at Christmastime, better than Halloween, better than Valentine’s Day.

The season gives us Reese’s eggs, and those lovely luscious Peeps, and all  manner of Herseys-turned-Easter-shaped-goodness.

But, more than anything, it gives us the Cadbury creme egg.

And the Cadbury mini egg.

I don’t know who you are, Cadbury.

I don’t know where you came from, Cadbury.

(I could do some quick Googling and discover the Cadbury story, I’m sure.)

But I thank you.

I thank you for that creamy filling  inside your chocolate egg. I bite into the thick outside chocolate layer only to find another, better interior layer of–get this!–fake, creamy, decadent, pretend “yolk.”

It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing.

And then.

Then…

I thank you for those perfect little mini eggs that first capture me with a crunchy outer shell only to discover that the chocolate on the inside is the perfect flavor and consistency to make me forget what I just ate.

It’s like an M&M. But way, way, way, way better.

I would challenge you, Cadbury, to take all of this to another level. To add more to your egg repertoire.

But I don’t really think I could handle it.

 

Day 27: It’s All About the C

For today’s writing exercise, I decided to once again go to an online source for creative writing prompts.

This is what I found (in an entry on the awesome Writer’s Digest website).

“Write a 10-line poem where every line begins with the first letter of your first name.”

I have a feeling this will be quite difficult, but I shall give it a try.

—————————————————–

Captured by thoughts that won’t let go

cloying, clawing

craving my attention.

Cacophonies of sound that won’t ease up

crashing, clanging

commanding my mind.

Certainty turns to worry.

Confidence turns to fear.

Can I do this?

Can I break free?

 

———————————————-

(I wrote that quickly and with quite a bit of ease, actually. It’s not really that good. And yet it really sums up a struggle I’ve had a lot in the last year or so; I’m trying to remain confident in myself and to be hopeful. I don’t want to lose my sense of optimism. I want to capture worry and fear, and kick them out of my heart. This poem says something about that. It’s messy and the words aren’t all right, but it still rings true for me. And each of the lines start with C. That’s something.)

 

 

Day 26: A day off

Growing up Southern Baptist, I never celebrated Lent.

I loved Easter, but I never appreciated the full pageantry of the Easter season…of Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Holy Friday, Easter Sunday.

When I became Methodist, I jumped head-long into the ways of Lent.

I fasted and gave up stuff and did things like this Lenten writing journey (although, actually, this is the first year I’ve done anything this extensive).

It was a good ten years into the Lenten experience, though, when I discovered that Sunday was a “day off” from the fasting you were doing for the season.

So, if I was giving up sweets, I could “cheat” on Sunday and eat a candy bar; if I wasn’t drinking alcohol, I could have a glass of wine on Sunday.

I remember feeling a little cheated myself when I learned this after a number of years dutifully keeping true to my Lenten promises.

All this is to say that today is Sunday…so I’m taking a day off from writing.

And yet, lo and behold, I’ve sat here and written a nice little entry.

Sorta like all those years that I kept on, because I didn’t know any better.

Day 25: The (angry, ugly) elephant in the room

Well, he’s not really an elephant.

Because everyone is talking about him.

But, still the elephant imagery works.

He’s big and fascinating, and he represents the Republican party right now.

But, he’s also extremely polarizing and (in my opinion) extremely dangerous.

(I like elephants a whole lot better, in fact.)

Donald Trump is everywhere these days in the news. You just can’t get away from him, try as you might.

He’s argued about on social media; he’s parodied on ‘Saturday Night Live’; he’s analyzed on newscasts; he’s lampooned and vilified.

And, then, for some still unimaginable reason he continues to be lauded and voted for.

How did this happen?

How did we get to a point where a misogynist, racist egotist is hailed by so many people as the savior of a new, ‘great again’ America?

I get the idea that people are frustrated with the way politics have gone for decades; they don’t like the people in power.

I also understand somewhat the fascination with someone who ‘tells it like it is’ or ‘isn’t afraid to speak his mind.’

My problem comes with an individual who is so different that he won’t be able to behave in a presidential manner.

My problem comes with an individual who speaks his mind in hateful ways.

Have we really gotten to the point where we are voting for a man who makes fun of disabled people and blames a woman’s menstrual cycle for her strong personality? who curses and calls people names? who threatens to sue journalists for printing things about himself that he doesn’t like? who wants to support the killing of terrorists’ family members (a war crime, the last time I checked)?

Really, America?

Is this the best we can do?

If you are a Republican fed up with your leader for the last eight years, you have plenty of other other choices among your candidates.

You have other choices who appear to be able to carry themselves in a reasonably mature manner. Other men who don’t support hate and bigotry and violence.

Select a party nominee who will fill the office of president with dignity and decorum and maturity.

If you are a Democratic voter, do the same thing.

Take this job seriously.

You may think that your election check mark is a way to snub your nose at what you see wrong with America.

But, really, it’s a chance to use wisdom and discernment to make a choice that will move us forward, not backward.

Donald Trump, I wholeheartedly believe, will set us backward. And we’ll all be embarrassed by the choice we made.

 

 

 

 

Day 24: A Haiku about March

A haiku about March:

 

March is ever green.

Flowers, warm winds, budding life.

Thank God for new starts.

 

Another haiku about March:

 

March welcomes new life

Daughter one, daughter three, and

One new baby girl.