Happy Holy Week

Oh, what a feeling today!

Such a far cry from where I was Monday morning.  Here are the things I am feeling so blessed by and happy about this morning:

--Receiving an email from my friend yesterday saying she had been out of town and had not received my email apology, but that I was forgiven and she was thankful for our friendship.  Ahh, so good to feel.

--Happy finding my missing earring pouch yesterday!  So, now I have the win-win situation of two new pairs of earrings to enjoy, but all of my old favorites too, and just in time for wanting to look nice at my in-laws over the Easter weekend.

--My children NOT waking up fighting with me for the first time all week!  I don't know why, but they have been SO crabby.  I think, honestly, it is the result of the "break" I gave them last week as their reward for such excellent schooling leading up to the STAR testing.  I think my kids thrive on routine, and even though they want to lay in bed and read all morning, and are entirely happy doing so, they are too young to recognize how doing so--and missing breakfast, and being inside during the best parts of the day because of their morning choices--affects them.  And then this week getting them back into the expectation of getting up and getting them going (at the hardly early hour of 9 a.m.) has been really unpleasant, with the two eldest starting out their days with scowls and grumbles, and then having small temper tantrums throughout the days!  What is up with that?! 

But TODAY--ahhhh, kids woke up peacefully, have been fairly good in attitude, and the whole house just feels a little more peaceful.  (I am sure this is not at all related to the fact that a certain eldest girl spent the night at her BF's house last night. ; )

--Realizing yesterday that this is Holy Week.  Now, you remember I don't come from a background that follows the formal church calendar, so I don't really know what Holy Week really means.  I just know that for anyone who has any kind of heart engagement with Lent and with the story of Jesus, this week is just about the most important of the whole year--between Palm Sunday (this past Sun.) and Easter Sunday, we re-live in our hearts and minds the whole tragic, awe-ful, glorious last week of Jesus, who was fully God and yet fully man, and who was condemned by mankind, who suffered more than we can imagine, and who died, willingly, to restore us in right relationship with God Almighty. 

It is so pathetic that I have been so "busy" and wrapped up in the minutia of daily life that I have not really thought about where I was in Lent, historically speaking.  I knew Easter is this next weekend, which has meant (in my mind this week) needing to make sure the girls all have sandals that fit for church on Sunday;  getting out the warmer-weather clothes and doing laundry so I can pack appropriately for us all spending the weekend at DH's parents' house; thinking about what sugary treat I'm going to have for my first Teatime with Jesus next week. ; ) 

I didn't hear mention last week at church about it being Palm Sunday (which could have been because I spent the service hanging out in the Abbey coffeelounge doing my Bible study homework ; ), which normally would clue me in.  So somehow yesterday it just sort of hit me, and I realized THIS is what I have been waiting for all Lent.  Not the chocolate, not the celebration of Easter--no, I have been yearning for and awaiting the annual re-connection with God through re-appreciation of who He is, what He did for me through His son Jesus on the cross, what He does for me every day through the power of his Holy Spirit.  That is what Lent is all about.

Thank you, Lord, for the re-awakening you have given me this morning! 

--The sun is STREAMING through the windows here in the living room. (In fact, I need to hurry this post up, since it will be hitting the computer screen in 20 minutes and I won't be able to see a thing for the glare--my natural morning blog timer. ; )  We have had overall nice weather this Spring, not too much rain, but overall much colder than usual, and with its fair share of gloom.  Oh, but this sun this morning--it is actually hot against my skin and I sit here and type, and is warming my spirit so much!

--Lastly, I am so happy with the state of my brain these days!  This is such a big deal to me.  I might try to write about that more later, but I have become aware in the past few months that my "baby brain" seems to have been completely restored!  And I have a suspicion that my low-carb, mostly sugar-free 40-ish days of Lent has played a positive role as well.  So I have seen drastic increases in my overall brain function, and in my overall mental clarity, which manifest in several ways.  The brain function that I have really been noticing, and which struck me in particular yesterday and today, is my vocabulary.  I have my words back!!!  This part of my brain is really affected by pregnancy and motherhood, for some reason, and I distinctly recall times when I would struggle to pull out the names for such simple things as "you know, that thing you drive--oh, right, CAR!" 

But when I finally yesterday finished the post about Conversations and Dishes--oh, what a sweet feeling, to actually be able to summon words, the words I wanted, the words I meant!  And in emails and in other interactions with people this week, I have been so happily surprised by the words that pop into my head while I write.  I always have to check the spelling of said words, and make sure they are words I mean, but they usually are!  I LOVE the feeling!     

Words like rectitude, lucidity, loquacious, garrulous, trepidation, Machiavellian, ineptitude, pluckless, and drudge!  Oh, I feel like I am coming back into my own!  Like I am reclaiming a part of me that I had forgotten about.

Another beautiful thing today to remind me of the joys of RENEWAL. 

I hope you are all having a blessed week!