It is once again Lent. The season of sacrifice. I haven't always been consistent with observing Lent, but this year it coincides with a large number of my goals for my new life, so I decided to give it another shot. A quick rundown of the aforementioned goals follows.
1. Improve my relationship with Christ.
2. Lose all this excess weight that has gradually built up over the last couple of years.
3. Set goals that I actually keep.
Josh is a great influence on me spiritually. He makes me want to be a better Christian and he holds me to it. Even though we have differing opinions on many things (he was raised Baptist and I was raised as a strange amalgam of Methodist and Assembly of God) he understands how I feel and respects my ideas on faith and the Bible. I've decided that I'm going to start going to church with him every Sunday, even though it is a 45 minute drive. I want our relationship to be strong not only in love, but also in our love for God.
Back to Lent... I made a deal with Josh to give up all sodas and most fast food if he would definitely quit smoking this month. He usually doesn't smoke but he slips up now and then and I've been trying to get him to stop totally. (it's a pet peeve of mine.) I really don't consider my diet my contribution to Lent. It seems like an easy way out. I was already planning to give up Cokes and most fast food so it strikes me as being a cop out for me to pass that off as a Lenten Sacrifice. I just finished reading my friend Mandi's blog about her Lenten Promises and it made me think. She was raised Catholic and of course Lent is a Catholic tradition so I feel like maybe she has more insight into the practice than I do. (Protestant that I am...) Methodists also practice Lent, in case you're wondering. She was taught about Lenten promises versus Lenten sacrifices in grade school and that sounds like a much better idea to me. So...
My Promises for Lent
1. I will be more patient and compassionate, not only at work, but also with my family and loved ones.
2. I will stop worrying about everything and turn it over to God. (That one's gonna be hard...)
3. I will control my temper! (it's horrible. I mean really awful...)
So instead of this being a season of deprivation, it's going to be more of a season of growth and learning to be this new person that I'm trying so hard to become. I know I can do it though, because I have such amazing support from such awesome people.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Are We or Aren't We?
So Josh and I are engaged... I think. How do you not know if you're engaged, you ask? Well, it all started a month or so ago.
Josh and I decided early on it our relationship that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together and because of this decision I began to plan our wedding. I've been planning my wedding since I was six, so extending my myriad and ever changing fantasies to include Joshua didn't inconvenience me in the least. One of my best friends got married this past September and one of her lovely sorority sisters is getting married this fall. My cousin is having a destination wedding in Hawaii and another cousin of mine got married last summer in Florida. It seems for the last year all I've heard about is weddings, and contrary to popular belief, I'm not complaining. I once wanted to (and kinda still do...) open my own wedding planning business. But back to the topic at hand...
I rationalized planning our wedding before he actually proposed by telling myself that when we actually did become engaged it would save me a lot of headaches. Well it just snowballed from there. We went from discussing (hypothetically) who we would have in the wedding party to where we would hold the ceremony and reception (once again, hypothetically) to actually setting a wedding date. (not hypothetical) That's right, Joshua and I have a wedding date but we aren't engaged. At least not officially.
He asked one night, but I didn't think he was serious. Actually, I thought he asked because he was trying to make me feel better after we had one of our spats. He was serious. (Oops...) He says that proposal has expired and that I have to wait for the new one. Speaking of proposals, that brings me to our next stumbling block; engagement rings or to be more specific, the price tag attached to them. We've looked around a little bit but we haven't found a ring yet that meets my very specific requirements. (listed below)
1. It can't sit up off my finger too high. As I will eventually be a paramedic and have to wear gloves all the time I can't have a setting on my ring that will tear my gloves.
2. It can't cost an arm and two legs. We don't have those extra limbs just lying around that we can spare.
3. I have to like it and as of right now, I haven't found anything that I really like.
We've toyed around with the idea of using my Grandmother's engagement ring either until we find one we like and can afford or just use it in lieu of buying an engagement ring. My mom has already approved that idea.
Anyway, back to the "engagement"... The bottom line is we are getting married and we do have a definite date for the marriage, but due to some family issues and some financial issues and basically any other kind of issue you can think of, we aren't engaged yet. He hasn't proposed (again) and I haven't accepted. But he will eventually and so will I. That's all that matters... Right?
Josh and I decided early on it our relationship that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together and because of this decision I began to plan our wedding. I've been planning my wedding since I was six, so extending my myriad and ever changing fantasies to include Joshua didn't inconvenience me in the least. One of my best friends got married this past September and one of her lovely sorority sisters is getting married this fall. My cousin is having a destination wedding in Hawaii and another cousin of mine got married last summer in Florida. It seems for the last year all I've heard about is weddings, and contrary to popular belief, I'm not complaining. I once wanted to (and kinda still do...) open my own wedding planning business. But back to the topic at hand...
I rationalized planning our wedding before he actually proposed by telling myself that when we actually did become engaged it would save me a lot of headaches. Well it just snowballed from there. We went from discussing (hypothetically) who we would have in the wedding party to where we would hold the ceremony and reception (once again, hypothetically) to actually setting a wedding date. (not hypothetical) That's right, Joshua and I have a wedding date but we aren't engaged. At least not officially.
He asked one night, but I didn't think he was serious. Actually, I thought he asked because he was trying to make me feel better after we had one of our spats. He was serious. (Oops...) He says that proposal has expired and that I have to wait for the new one. Speaking of proposals, that brings me to our next stumbling block; engagement rings or to be more specific, the price tag attached to them. We've looked around a little bit but we haven't found a ring yet that meets my very specific requirements. (listed below)
1. It can't sit up off my finger too high. As I will eventually be a paramedic and have to wear gloves all the time I can't have a setting on my ring that will tear my gloves.
2. It can't cost an arm and two legs. We don't have those extra limbs just lying around that we can spare.
3. I have to like it and as of right now, I haven't found anything that I really like.
We've toyed around with the idea of using my Grandmother's engagement ring either until we find one we like and can afford or just use it in lieu of buying an engagement ring. My mom has already approved that idea.
Anyway, back to the "engagement"... The bottom line is we are getting married and we do have a definite date for the marriage, but due to some family issues and some financial issues and basically any other kind of issue you can think of, we aren't engaged yet. He hasn't proposed (again) and I haven't accepted. But he will eventually and so will I. That's all that matters... Right?
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