lent and peace

These are the gluten-free pancakes we had for dessert on Shrove Tuesday. As you can see, we are pretty happy about the pancakes. Actually, I'm pretty happy that it's Lent, although happy is not quite the right word for it. After all the sadness I've felt for Christchurch, when I realised that Lent was approaching I felt my heart lift. It seemed entirely appropriate and almost a relief to be entering a season of soberness and contrition, given the awful event two weeks ago. A little bit of sacrificial suffering on behalf of Christchurch would be the least I could do.

Lent is the season in the church calendar that leads up to Easter. It lasts forty days, mirroring Jesus' forty days in the wilderness. This is a time of sacrificial fasting and of acts of penance. Historically Christians would fast all rich foods, such as meat, eggs, sugar and dairy products. (Remember the movie chocolat?) Many Christians nowdays choose to fast by "giving up" something for lent, such as sweets, alcohol, or television.

We've got some big news. The week that the earthquake struck we had a conditional offer accepted on a property that we will be buying jointly with Mum and my sister and brother-in-law. It happened so quickly it's crazy, but it feels very good. It's a huge house with two self-contained flats. It's on five acres, mostly bush, and it's about 100 metres from the water! Last year we dreamed of owning a house in the bush in a different part of town. It didn't happen but it made us realise how much we'd love a bit of land and bush of our own. We never imagined that dream could be realised this quickly.

So we are putting our house on the market! The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of painting, cleaning, weeding, tidying, sorting, and shifting stuff out to the storage unit we are renting. Thankfully last year we got the floors polished and finished most of the painting, but even without those big jobs I never could have imagined how much work there was to do. It got to the point on Sunday where I was so tired I couldn't stop crying. So I've decided to go to bed early for Lent, among other things.  I often keep going when I'm tired because I think that I'm the only person to do things right, or because I simply think I'm the only person to do things at all. Well neither of those statements are true, and I've realised I need to let go of some self-sufficiency and pride. Going to bed early will be one small way I can do this.

The girls and I are about to leave to go to our family bach with Mum for the weekend while Paddy finishes a bit of painting round the house in time for our first open home next weekend. I am practising some letting go. (You have to believe me that I'd almost rather be here doing it myself!) I'm also going to get some precious peace and rest. Just what we need.