A Lenten Offering

January was hard. My work schedule was busy, my intentional living community was in transition, and I had to face what sometimes feels like a looming future. Added to that was, of course, the very natural grief and joy of every day living at Joseph's House. There were many, many feelings that pulled and stretched my spirit. I felt vulnerable and ridiculously young. Homesick and yet realizing that this may be my true home. So I did what my inner shy child likes to do when I am unsure: I withdrew. I did not share my life on this blog. 

Though a blog is a really cool, hip form of expression, it can and has been for me a way of sharing intimacy with people I normally do not allow into my sacred space. Writing in such a public forum is scary. This year is vastly different from any other time in my life, though, and I wanted to grow in every aspect of my life. I know and understand why I did not write in January (either blogging, journaling, etc.), but I also know that it kept my spirit from deepening. By not allowing you into my experience, I crippled myself.

So in honor of Lent, as Christians around the world walk in somber humility alongside a Messiah who sacrificed everything for us, I have decided to do a vulnerability fast if you will. This is partially because I love food and would really prefer not to have to give it up, but also because blogging every day is going to be a sacrifice of time, honesty, and privacy that will be much more challenging and meaningful for me than giving up chocolate. You may get sick of it in a few days, but I ask for your grace in this. I am trying to live out a faith that does justice and I am young and growing. Maybe, though, this will bless the both of us. That would be great.