First Wednesday of Lent

Well, I think finally today we got some of the rest we were needing!

My Husband tried the new vegan yogurt that I got

(it has very little sugar, a huge win compared to most of them)... 

he found it had little taste so I am thinking it would be good for

smoothies with lots of other stuff added to it.... 

I fried up onion (added garlic at the end since it burns easily when minced) 

in coconut oil... 

and added clams (drained, from a can) 

then added all of that to just cooked pasta... it was pretty good over all!

And we went out and had mussels!

This is the Thai version... it's a Thai curry with coconut milk and I think

lots of the softened shreds of Kaffir lime leaves + green curry...

to some this would be a bit spicy but I find that coconut curry to be a 

warm comforting broth... the mussels were pretty good! 

It was a nice meal to share for Lent and not as pricey as some things 

which is nice too!

My Husband and I enjoy various ethic foods as well

as American fare! :)

I did not get a good picture of that fork in the picture above,

but it's a tiny fork, perfect for getting the mussels out of the shell that they 

are cooked in! It was really nice to have with the bread! 

Then we went to church for part 3 of the Canon of St Andrew of Crete... 

I love the prayers below...

I am not good at always paying full attention but even though I fail at that big time, 

though following along does help, in this case anyway,

I sensed something that made me look up...

the way our local priest was praying right to Jesus' Mother

(who we call the Theotokos which is Greek for God-bearer/birth-giver

Theo = God tokos = bearer/birth-giver ... which we find 

terribly important as if the the Mother of Jesus only gave 

birth to a son named Jesus who was only human and not divine, not 

the incarnate Son of God, then we are pretty much sunk)... 

anyway... I sensed our priest praying before I saw him

praying so simply right to her

(by praying my Husband said the other day to myself and others

that the English language is limited when it comes to trying to give

words for asking the Saints for their prayers to Christ 

and that praying in Greek has different words and in English only one)...

anyway, our priest was talking right to her, reading this prayer

that I posted below, it was so beautiful,

seeing him stand in front of her icon, 

him humbly below...

It really is a lovely prayer, 

and if one reads it one will see how clearly that the Mother of God

is praying to her Son, her and our Lord Jesus Christ, for us... 

Then was read a prayer to Christ and so our local priest

moved to the other side of the iconostasis (this is a Greek word for icon screen)

 to Christ...and prayed to Him... 

This is the prayer...

This prayer is part of the end of Compline, which is the before-bed prayers,

esp. the one above :) 

I had a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and honey after church

and found my copy of L'Engle's Troubling a Star 

and read the first pages... 

And that was today and I am so thankful.

I pray you had something to be thankful for today

and that God is carrying you through whatever it is that is difficult... 

***

P.S.: I liked this letter of Fr John K from God Give You Wisdom!

"We have only to sincerely desire to follow Christ"...

I pray that this is so for myself and for you, dear readers who God loves 

and cares for so much!