Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
I didn't go to an Ash Wednesday service this year, but I did eat pancakes. Twice actually. I learned that Kiwis eat pancakes with sugar and syrup and lemon and bananas. It's delicious. I'm also told sometimes they put all that plus bacon - so I've got to try that before I leave.
My life group chose to have pancakes on our Wednesday gathering, so it wasn't a Shrove Tuesday thing, but I learned the reason pancakes were specifically chosen for that day was because they use all the ingredients that were going to go bad before the Lenten fast. Honestly, pancakes are delicious anytime, so I'd never looked into why my British friends all insisted we eat them for Shrove Tuesday. I mean, if you don't love pancakes, are you even alive?
Well, I'm dust, and to dust I will return.
Until then, I'm still going to the gym and learning to love people better.
I made it back to the gym four times this week, and I'm happy to report that my pace is steadily improving and my body is moving through the weight routine with increasing fluidity. Friday was particularly difficult to convince myself to go to the gym because it was drizzling, and I was super inclined to just go home after my Bible lesson in the morning. However, the forecast said it was supposed to stop raining a couple hours later, so I decided to do my workout and spend a bit of time at the cafe across the parking lot to wait out the weather before wheeling home. Unfortunately, the weather didn't improve much before I needed to wheel home and dry off in time to get back to church for youth group. I was arriving a bit early to help make batter for the girls' pancake night.
Have I mentioned how much I love pancakes? They make a nice distraction from the drama of life, and I enjoyed the two pancake opportunities I had this week. This morning's sermon was about dealing with grief in a healthy way, and one of the points was to continue to enjoy the little things in life. Like pancakes. My life certainly has had more than the average amount of grief, but I think I've also found more than the average amount of joy. On Tuesday, one of my former students messaged me to let me know she rehabilitated a tired bumblebee. That news brought me such delight. Have you done something thankless and kind this week?
Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Eat the pancakes. Add the bacon on top. Save the bumblebee.