Clean Monday

I love this icon so much, 

with the Lord's face looking out so beautifully

and with so much love.

***

A lot of cleaning was done at home today,

I now have piles of clean laundry to fold.

***

Mr. Husband was at work today.

He has a lot of work stress, please pray for him.

***

I made a green smoothie.

***

We went to church and this is where I saw this 

beautiful icon...

I often feel that our priest here, locally, loves Lent over

any other time and it is wonderful, this first week of Lent,

and going to the Canon of St Andrew of Crete.

I am so grateful to be given another Lent.

***

This is my 5th Lent here already in New Jersey.

How fast time goes by.

I can see how much more settled I am now,

I am not a newly married woman now, just having left her

beloved Ottawa.... I still miss Ottawa of course, this is not 

questioned, but I have enough years here to have a

sense of rhythm of the church year here,

of going to the Canon here and knowing what to expect,

what the choir sounds like here (beautiful) and I feel more

settled, I no longer think with as much pain about how my life in Ottawa

was or what the church services there are like; 

now it is more that what my Husband's spiritual father said is true:

I was not leaving my church family in Ottawa,

I was merely expanding my church family... 

***

We are in the midst of the biggest challenges we have faced as a married 

couple, to this point anyway, and while it is hard at times,

I am also feeling a gladness in the midst of it,

and for this I am so grateful....

***

I have begun writing a longer essay about something I am 

pondering about how God is our security and comfort...

For now, I will just say that my heart is being

comforted as I mourn

and ponder so many things... 

***

Dear Patrick, your life held so much beauty and now

we have the opportunity to have new spiritual beauty in our lives

because of your passing, because of the grief, 

because of seeing your life on earth in a whole,

and remembering the many wonderful years you had,

and the vibrancy by which you lived...