Accomplishments

"`Then,'' observed Elizabeth, ``you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished woman.''
 ``Yes; I do comprehend a great deal in it.''
  ``Oh! certainly,'' cried his faithful assistant , ``no one can be really esteemed accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.'' 
 ``All this she must possess,'' added Darcy, ``and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.'' 
 ``I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any.'' " -Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

 I was recently an observer in a conversation in which a gentleman shared how he and his wife had been criticized about something when they were raising their children. I don't recall the specifics, but it was something trivial which is probably now discussed in 30-40 different parenting books (all of which will likely draw completely different conclusions on the topic). He concluded that he was very proud of how his children had turned out (all adults now), "My sons have wonderful wives and my daughter has blah blah blah degrees" I was struck that his daughter (single) got credit for education, while his married sons got credits for starting families. This led me to consider my own family. My brother has both a wife AND is a semester away from finishing his Master's...My parents are proud of both of us. Though, I am oh-so-hopeful that my relationship status doesn't give or take away from that because then I might just have to cry, and cry, and cry. 

 I have been asked "What do you do with all your free time?" My answer is always the same and always pretty lame. I hang out with friends, I read, I cook, I walk the dog, in the winter I shovel snow, in the summer I mow the lawn and garden, I recover from the day/last week/last 2 weeks of work by surrounding myself with people and make-work-errands and random acts of kindness or isolating myself and temporarily cutting all but a select few out.  

On Ash Wednesday I decided to kibosh the "sleep button". I have been using this sleepyti.me app online. I click "I am going to bed now" and it gets me the best times to wake up, I choose the best one for what I have to do that day and I set my alarm and I get up. It's been giving my day more purpose/awareness. If I am reading a book, I am intentionally reading that book. If I am not washing the dishes, I am intentionally NOT washing the dishes. Etc. Etc. Etc. All this from waking up intentionally! (granted, I have only been doing this since Wednesday and Daylight Savings just came and messed everything up!).

 Since reflecting on the conversation, I would like to be intentional in acknowledging my accomplishments. Even though they do not include "having a good husband" (or dancing or singing or modern languages) I am hopeful to somehow honour God through them. 

Though, right this second, I am setting my alarm for 8:10 and calling it a night! Goodnight Right this second, though,

Instead of Ashes I See Snow

On this snowy Ash Wednesday I am drinking a glass of wine, baking chocolate cupcakes (the plan of topping them with peanut butter icing is being entertained), and listening to Avici. Sounds like a little too much luxury and indulgence for the start of Lent, doesn't it? It would be considered an epic Lent related fail if I had given up chocolate, sweets, music or wine; but that's not the plan. My normal morning routine involves an alarm going off (ok, actually 3 alarms going off)and me hitting the snooze button around 11 times. Usually when I went to bed the night before I would have planned for me to shower and/or make breakfast and/or make my lunch and/or read my Bible and/or walk the dog, and/or do some yoga. Of course, after that 11th 5 minute nap it's actually time for me to do the bare minimum in time to dash off to work a solid 5 minutes late (which I tell myself is because of traffic, obviously). This is why I am giving up the snooze button for Lent. It's going to be a difficult habit to break, but I am hoping to inject some intentional living into my morning routine. Stop my time wasting, and embrace the day God is blessing me with. Since I am anticipating all this free time in the morning, I am also adding in the Lenten Reader that the Evangelical Covenant Church of Canada (ECCC) compiled. I am looking forward to the addition of scripture and reading/responding to the reflections of my across-the-country-church-family. I'd like to use this time wisely, and listen and trust and practice my gifts. I'd love to write. I'd love to bake gifts for friends and neighbours. I'd love to sing, dance, play piano, and embrace joy. Making my intentions public is the first step. Next, I am going to lick the beaters from the peanut butter icing. Goodnight!