We are always tested

Christ is Risen!

It's been a month since I last posted on here. I've been staring at the little bookmark I have entitled "my blog" for some time now, wondering what to write. Sometimes I even clicked on it, but never succeeded in writing anything. But last night a dear friend reminded me of something very important and very true. Paraphrased, she said I guess God never stops testing you. So even though it's Bright week, our struggles don't just go away. And although my joy for the resurrection seems infinite right now, I still struggle (and fail) everyday with sin and with being a better Christian.

Now all that is not to say that Bright Week isn't special. It most certainly is, and it's one of my favorite times of the year. There is nothing more beautiful to me than the Paschal Liturgy. I love everything about it, especially singing Christ is Risen as loud as possible, and hearing everyone around me singing as loudly as they can. It makes my heart swell with joy. And for forty days we sing Christ is Risen and celebrate the Resurrection. Forty days! It must be pretty special to warrant 40 days of preparation (Lent) and 40 days of celebration! And it is. It's the most wonderful thing to ever happen. The best day of the year, every year.

Yet, we have to accept it in our hearts and love God for His infinite mercy and love. We have to keep ourselves from slipping away from Him. We desperately need the Resurrection. We cannot survive without it. And while Bright Week is meant to be a time of happiness and celebration (who doesn't love an entire week dedicated to not fasting?!) it is also a reminder that we need God. Our troubles still come back to us, our struggles are still ongoing during this happy time because we are fallen, but they are erased through God's everlasting love.

So, I'm encouraging you to remember that you will always struggle here in this world, but that through the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we are with Him. We can always be with Him. So celebrate this wonderful news, but don't forget it's not over. We are always tested, each and every day.

God bless,

Bella

Put God First in Your Life, Everything Else Will Fall Into Place

AHH!!! Lent officially begins next week, but the fasting began today. No meat until Pascha. I have to admit I'm feeling unprepared. Even though I made sure to eat meat over the weekend to get my meat cravings out of the way, there's always that desire to eat meat because it feels forbidden. Luckily not eating meat is easier for me than cutting out dairy. I've never actually tried to not have dairy. I've had every intention of doing it before, even recently for Advent I was going to do my best to not eat dairy, but I gave up on that pretty quickly. This time I'm going to try again. One thing that might help is getting one new vegetable every time I go to the store. Something new to try so that I'm not bored with pasta and salad or soup all the time.

Something else I'm going to do that is new for me is concentrating on becoming a better, kinder person. In my Sunday school class yesterday I gave my kids a sort of assignment to do during Lent. I told them to keep a running total in their head every day of how many times they were mean to someone or did something that was not good. Then at night when they say their prayers at bedtime they could think about how many times they sinned that day and pray about it, and use it to make the next day better. It's a method a friend once suggested for me to use when I wanted to stop cursing. Making note of it would be motivation to do it less and less. I told the kids they didn't have to talk about what they did with anyone, but thinking about it makes it less justifiable or forgettable. I hope it helps them, even if they don't do it everyday. I certainly don't expect that they will do it every day. They probably don't even need to do it everyday, they're such good kids.

I pray that this Lent I can do more to better myself and firmly plant my faith and the Church as my first priority. Everything else fall into place once I really do that. An analogy that I remember from my Christian Ed class at Antiochian Village (my favorite one because it was taught by Sarah Finley, who is a wonderful teacher) goes like this. Life is like a jar that you place everything in. You must put the big things in first, meaning God, then your family, etc. because all the little things will fall into place and everything will fit in your jar. But if you put the small things in first, you won't have room for everything else. I do think I need to take time this Lent and reorganize my "jar".

God Bless,

Bella