47

Today, as you may or may not know, is Ash Wednesday. The first Day of Lent.

Now, when I was growing up, my churches never really did much with Lent. I was never encouraged to give up anything. I think it was generally considered a Catholic practice. It wasn’t until College that I ever really even paid attention to this season on the Church calendar. My freshman year, three friends and I all decided to give up sweets. That’s a pretty popular choice these days. It was hard, and I remember we had trouble with grey areas like sugary cereal and pop-tarts. But we did it.

I had one professor at C of O who was particularly in tune with the practices of the church, whether ancient, modern, contemporary, or postmodern. My senior year I took his class on Christian Worship and the class was divided into groups (were we in the same group Brianne? I completely forget!) to prepare and provide a Lenten service, one group a week. Again, prior to that, I’d never really paid a whole lot of attention to Church seasons, least of all Lent.

At the beginning of this year, I was reading a book I got for Christmas. It was Lauren Winner’s Girl Meets God. (Yes, the same Lauren Winner I got to meet and hear at Jubilee as I discussed in my last post.) She writes from a background in the Jewish Orthodoxy and mentions how they use a calendar of seasons to guide their worship. Most churches don’t seem to do this as much anymore…but her current church, which is Episcopalian, does. It was one of the reasons she was drawn to it.

There is a chapter in GMG where Lauren relates a conversation with her pastor just before Lent. He asks her what she is giving up; she tells him she’s going to fast on Fridays. He then asks her to give up something in addition: books.

When I read that, two things happened to me.

One was, I think my heart stopped. I was dismayed beyond words at the thought of giving up something like that.

The second thing was, I felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit.

Now, if you’ve ever felt this kind of nudge, you know what I mean. It’s a kind of spiritual elbow to the ribs. I’ve felt it before; it usually accompanies something I really don’t want to do. Something I feel I shouldn’t have to do. Something I could probably justify not doing. But when you get that nudge, there’s really only a couple options: obey, or disobey.

I know from past experiences with the said nudges, that if I do the thing I don’t want to, if I obey, it is usually to my benefit. It might be hard, even painful, but good comes out of it.

So I began by telling my family I was giving up reading books for Lent. They responded with surprise, even a little skepticism (as I said, we never did much with Lent) but eventually encouragement. I told Brianne; she too was encouraging but also a little surprised. If you know me at all, you know I read. If you know me well, you know I devour books. I read all the freaking time. I always seem to have a book stashed somewhere—in the bathroom, in stacks by my bed, in my purse….

But I know that God is not just calling me to give up reading because it takes up so much of my time. I know it has to do with obedience, and keeping my love of books from becoming idolatry. So I will be obedient. It is nerve-wracking, quite frankly, to realize that I will not be picking up and reading any book at all (except the Bible) for the next 47 days. Especially after I bought all those books at Jubilee. I already have a considerable list accumulating of books to read when Lent is over.

It sounds crazy, even to me. But I don’t share this story to say “look how holy I am,” I share it so that you can participate by encouraging me. This will be a challenge, I know, and it’s only day one. You can pray for me, that in the absence of my reading God will show me what he wants me to learn, and that I won’t just fill it with something else. Like TV. Even though I did just get season 4 of MacGyver.

Books are a big, dare I even say HUGE, part of my life; but God must be bigger still. I look forward to this time of Lent with anticipation and trepidation both; who can say but God how I will emerge? What will God teach me in the next 47 days, about discipline, obedience, and grace? Well, when I find out, so will you! 

Jubilant...?

So this weekend I went to a conference here in Pittsburgh. It’s called Jubilee, and it’s sponsored by CCO (Coalition for Christian Outreach)—which my dad works for. It’s annual. It’s for college students, which I am not. But…Lauren Winner was a speaker, so I signed up.

That's right, Lauren Winner—as in Lauren F. Winner, author of Girl Meets God, Mudhouse Sabbath, and most recently Real Sex: the Naked Truth about Chastity. Brianne told me to read GMG for about year before I got around to it, but I did come across a couple of articles of hers that I really liked. Seeing her in person was…interesting. I got to meet her and had her sign a couple of books. I was completely uncool and babbled. Rule #1 when you meet a famous, brilliant author like Lauren Winner: Don’t talk about stupid stuff like football. But she was very nice. I have to say, though, that in her session, I didn’t really appreciate her remarks about President Bush. Why everyone got to be a hater?

Actually, that brings me to some of the things I didn’t like about Jubilee. I was a little annoyed with the way everyone was kind of bashing on America. Now, I’m first in line to admit that America has its share of problems. What country doesn’t? What culture, what society doesn’t? Do we create a lot of problems? Yes. But again, who doesn’t? Vilifying the U.S. is not going to make anything better. And pointing the finger isn’t exactly helpful, either.

I think if the speakers had even stepped back a minute and graciously added that they themselves were part of the problem (and not the solution, as at least one seemed to imply) it might have gone over better with me. But I don’t like being yelled at, and I don’t like being guilted. There were a lot of good points made at Jubilee, but I at least felt like some of the speakers poured it on too strong. Yes, I believe in social justice, I believe in helping the poor, I believe in living simply. But I think God calls people to all different walks of life. Okay. Off my soapbox now…

…And on to happier things. First, I’d like to say that one of my favorite things about Jubilee was the worship. Led by Steve Fee, it was excellent. They were an awesome band, just as good as you’d expect someone like David Crowder or Matt Redman to be. And he was very humble, never once used the stage to promote his CD’s, and didn’t even use any of his own songs until the very last (and even then he didn’t mention that it was his). Very nice guy, very talented band. Very worshipful times…it’s been a while since I was in the audience.

Also, another highlight of the weekend was that I got to see a screening of the new Steve Taylor movie, The Second Chance. If this is playing in a theater near you (click on the link to go to the site) go see it. It was an excellent movie, despite whatever misgivings you might have about Michael W. Smith being in a lead role. The whole crowd gave it a standing ovation afterward. That was really cool, because actually Steve Taylor and the other lead actor jeff obafemi carr were there for discussion afterward. They had some interesting stories to tell about how the story evolved a little. And btw, if you don’t know who Steve Taylor is, shame on you.

So, yeah…I had an interesting weekend. I roomed with some neat college girls, and hung out with my dad. I walked around the ’Burgh a bit, even took the “T” (the subway). And…I bought like ten books. Which is kind of sad, considering I have no time to read them before…well, actually, I will leave that for another post. Coming soon.

Weird

After writing my last post, in which I confessed that as much as I want to be married, it’s not at the top of my to-do list, I started think about just how weird I am. You’d really think that a hopeless romantic like me would rate marriage as her number one goal in life, but...no. Sadly, this is not the only bizarre thing about me, as you’d see if you really knew me. So, for the heck of it, I thought I’d come clean and post a list of the 27 weirdest things about me (27, btw, is my favorite number). [For future readers, I'm adding edits in this color, over 4 years later.]

1. I have never lived anywhere for more than about five years. Some places I lived less than a year. [Pittsburgh was seven years.]

2. I am a phone-a-phobe. I hate to call people on the telephone. I don’t even like ordering pizza. I don’t know why; but I would much rather write an email or a real letter than call someone that I don’t know very well. And I mean very well.

3. I don’t like the taste of alcohol. I barely tolerate the smell. [This has changed.  I have come to enjoy some types very much in moderation.]
4. I currently own over 500 books, crammed into my bedroom. And I fully intend to buy many more.  [I couldn't begin to guess. Probably twice that.]
5. I didn’t get my driver’s license until I was 24 years old.
6. I have only been on two real dates. With two different guys.
7. I went to four different high schools.
8. I don’t believe in evolution. [At least, not macro evolution.]
9. I haven’t celebrated Halloween since I was five.
10. When I was in high school, I refused to watch Friends.
11. I like to watch TV and movies with the closed captions on, even though I am not hearing impaired.
12. I work at a coffee shop, but I don’t drink coffee.  [Yep, drink that now, too, thanks to my stint at Starbucks.]
13. In my spare time, when I’m bored, I watch Disney Channel programs. And I enjoy them.
14. I believe with my whole heart that there is a God, and that He created me, died for me, and loves me.
15. I am both a cat and a dog person.
16. Some people hear things and burst into song (my parents); I hear things and it will remind me of a movie quote. And I have to say it. And it will sound totally random.
17. Whenever I watch something (TV, movie) I play the “Where have I seen him/her” game. If an actor or actress is familiar, I have to figure out where I’ve seen him or her before. Luckily, IMDB has made that a whole lot easier for me.
18. I laugh out loud when I’m reading or watching something, no matter where I am.
19. I write in my books; I underline and circle things and scribble in the margins even if it’s a work of fiction. I can’t not write (if it’s my copy).
20. I randomly use a British accent in conversation; but my whole family does this. [This has gotten worse since becoming obsessed with Doctor Who.]
21. I really don’t like going to the beach or camping. [Actually, it depends on the beach, the campsite, and who I'm with.  I quite liked Greystones beach in Ireland, for example.]
22. I watch the credits of movies.
23. I eat cake for the frosting. But only if it’s the “good” kind.
24. My legs do not tan. They stay super-white no matter how long I stay out. [Except in Texas, as I discovered during a long summer as a camp counselor in the scorching sun.]

25. I snort when I laugh if I think something is really funny.
26. I’m actually friends with my brother and parents.
27. I don’t care a whit which way the toilet paper goes.

There you have it! I’m a freak. Though you probably already suspected this was true, now you have proof. But you know, I wouldn’t trade all my quirks and idiosyncrasies even if I could. Maybe that’s the weirdest thing about me.

PS: I challenge you to come up with a weird thing about me and post it in a comment. Go on. I can take it.