Mardi Gras

Today is Mardi Gras. It is making me think of Pastor Bat. I really miss him. His funeral was a week or two ago. Before the Super Bowl. He was from New Orleans and it was so neat to see all the photos from when he was growing up. I had a feeling that the Saints might win the Super Bowl and that would've just delighted him (if he even cared about football).

I also think of him because I'd never heard of a "King's Cake" until I'd met him and Christa. What a neat tradition. If I'd been thinking about it earlier, I would've baked one and brought it to school. I'm always disappointed when I miss those types of opportunities. Then again, I have to remember that God could be giving me another chance in the future.

Tomorrow starts Lent. This year, especially, it feels like Christmas just barely ended. I want to sit here and ponder the baby Jesus. To smell the hay (and other odors) of the stable. To think of Mary holding her tiny baby and treasuring up all these things in her heart. To think of Simeon and of Anna, waiting their whole lives to see the promise of a savior fulfilled. To think of hope, courage, love. To ponder how much God loved the world to enter flesh and walk, talk, sleep, eat.

I'm not ready to journey to the cross. Ironically, during Christmas vacation, I read Paul Maier's book Pontius Pilate and fell in love with it. The amazing historical and cultural insights I gained. It was as if I was looking upon God's plan and timeline with fresh eyes. Now that the time to teach this has come (at least for my 8th graders), I want to sit and rock a baby. Then again, when I started to teach about Pontius Pilate and the Passion of Jesus, I felt joy I'd never known before in teaching. I felt so filled with enthusiasm and life.

Ash Wednesday starts my own journey as well. I have set a goal of doing the T-Tapp workout during Lent. I'm so bad about being faithful to that workout, even though I know it works. I did so well with Wii Fit and then once I unlocked Advanced or Expert on the majority of the games, the interest leveled off. Sad, I know, but true. So I need to get some sleep so I have energy to do the T-Tapp workout. And then to really focus on the sacrifices that Jesus made for all of us. Sometimes it's overwhelming. Sometimes it's thrilling. Sometimes it just is.