The Same Just Different

Day 1 Doxology:  I must say I have been anticipating this day for a while, it appears you have as well.  I have received text and calls asking if I would continue my blog-writing tradition for my Lenten doxology discipline.  Well, be careful what you ask for, here it is.

I usually start off slow, then I have sprouts of brilliance or cleverness (or I get lucky),  then they'll be a dry spell when the writing gets harder, and thankfully as Easter approaches the vigor returns.  So, for the next 40 days (not counting Sunday) we will go through our day and look for God together. Then we will share our praise God moment with the world (Yes, the world!).  Apparently, there are some in Russia that really enjoy when my day and God collide.

 Have you ever noticed that for something worth while to begin often something else must die; for growth to take place the struggle of the old ways must be corrected.  Today's image was taken when last year's Palm branches were being turned to ashes for tonight's Ash Wednesday Service.  Last year a week before Easter the children in our church were waving them and singing "Hosanna" and tonight mixed with oil the ashes of those year-old Palm branches were used to draw a cross on the foreheads of believers.  Still functioning but in different ways.

In my own life, I am just a shell of the person I once was.  I am still functioning, just differently.  Lately, I am in awe of a God that flung the stars in the heavens but cared enough to number the hairs on my head.  I am in awe of the complexity of the human body; the life of a Palm branch, and the regeneration of cells.  I guess at the height of my awe-struck wonder is why God took the time to put that much hair on my back with all he has going on in the world.  The older I get the more I understand some things can be the same just different!

Welcome to Lent!