It takes more effort than normal for me to practice eucharisteo in March.  But if ever, there was a time for me to purposefully practice thanksgiving, it’s March – in Wisconsin.  It’s brown grass, gray skies and muddy, melting piles of snow.  Choosing gratitude, albeit begrudgingly is still the best way to draw the light in.

March always feels heavy to me, a struggle between the constant siege of melting snow and newly poured rain vs. the wet earth overflowing, just trying to dry out.  Enough the earth says.  I need sunlight.

I read an article yesterday in which the writer described our current culture in America as post-Christian.  While I don’t concur with this line of thinking, even the use of the term made me shudder.  Christians have no doubt taken a very harsh and public beating the last decade… but post-Christian?  post-God?  Backlash isn’t always bad, those hurting others in the name of any religion should get pushback and scrutiny.  But to add the prefix “post” to anything related to God is unthinkable.  Just imagine a world after God, subsequent to God, behind God.

Gallup pollster Frank Newport dismisses this view in a recent interview with CBN News, “We have well over 90 percent of Americans who in our survey questions say they believe in God.  So… at least in the minds of the majority of Americans, God is quite alive.”  Sunlight on the damp earth.  Quite literally, thank God.

I once wrote a status update wondering if we post more than we pray.  Yep, more crickets.  But it does seem like we’ve replaced one four letter word with another.  We live in a culture in which we are constantly saying and thinking in terms of “tweetable” thoughts.  What clever status update can I post?  We’ve become very good at condensing our lives into a carefully crafted collection of one-liners.  But, what if we posted less and prayed more?  What if we unplugged more?  Would we still be afraid to share?  I don’t want to be afraid to talk about God.  I definitely don’t want to offend anyone or keep them from honoring their own spiritual beliefs.  But, why can’t respecting adults do both?  I love lots of people I disagree with all the time.  I’m not offended when a friend or relative has a different set of beliefs than I do.  In fact, I’m always a little fascinated and appreciate learning about other people’s belief systems.  But the thought of all of us wandering around down here on earth with no higher power to guide our moral compasses, terrifies me.

The most influential Christians in my life have been the quiet, constant, showing up kind.  The doers, not the sayers.  The kind you seek out because they emanate love and radiate reverence for something bigger than themselves.  I wish these were the Christians who were making a name for Jesus.  Fox River Christian Church did a beautiful series recently about religion and rules vs. relationship with God and it hit on so many of these issues.  Here is the link if you’re interested.

I know, I know, too heavy, but it’s March and I just wanted to say love, kindness and tolerance matter.

And now… 2 things to hopefully make you smile.

1.)  Jamison’s look below – this one is reserved solely for daddy.

2.)  There’s a floral shop that opened recently by our old house and the owner posts daily about having bunches of tulips and daffodils for sale.  I’m so craving some bright yellow daffodils or dark ruby-red tulips (husband if you read this, feel free to take advantage of this information).  I am not one of those women who says buying flowers is a waste.  I love fresh flowers.  Quite less expensive than a therapist if you ask me.  If you live in Lyons, and have a moment, stop in and check it out.  I think she charges less than $10 per tulip bundle.  I haven’t visited the store yet, but I like to support those brave enough to give entrepreneurship a go.  The breakeven on flowers to cover rent is pretty high.  I hope she does well.

Even though daylight savings time has us all out of sorts, I am definitely appreciating longer days, but still dreaming of warmer weather.  And sometimes when it’s been a really long day, a guy passes out right where he is, with the floor as his bed.

Sweet dreams all, xoxo