What I Wore Sunday: Volume 18

It’s the first Sunday of Lent! And we are very lucky to have some guest Lenten reflections! This week we have a beautiful reflection from Cynthia at Finding Great Joy! And perhaps you could pray for her as she is going to have her baby any day now! If you are interested in writing a Lenten reflection that will be featured here on a Sunday, please contact us!

Thank you to those who entered our giveaway! The winner was notified so check your e-mail! Thanks again to Designer Jules for hosting it! We also had an awesome guest post from Kate with some winter staples. Stay tuned for some upcoming guest posts from awesome people!

~~~
I have always loved the idea of having a relationship with God that was something I could reach for; something I could touch. As Catholics, I know we’ve gotten a bad rap for this…and to this day, I’m still not 100% sure why. As a little girl I would always speak to God. I called Him, “Papa” and would sit diligently at my bedroom window telling Him about my day; telling Him about my dreams; asking Him millions of random questions.

He was my Father. I loved Him.

Throughout my life though, I’ve come to realize that maintaining that kind of relationship doesn’t really last unless you actively put in the work to have it. I found this out right away as I saw myself leave my childlike desire for His conversations when I got to college. Instead, I chose other pathways. Other bright and shiny objects that beckoned far better than quiet rooms with big windows. I started to doubt. I started to feel cold and indifferent. I started to see Him as someone that was merely in prayers and books, but not in my heart.

I did try to see differently, but the surrounding noise got in the way. You know the kind. Real noise – from people, from media, from opinions, from damaging self-talk, etc. It was a loud world to live in when I was in my early twenties…

Then, one Lent, I remember listening to a reading that stopped me in my tracks. It was heard during a time that I was truly suffering (from what, I don’t remember now). I was lonely and seeking…and needed help. Then I found this:

“I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the Lord.”

~ Hosea 2:21-22

I grasped these sentences like they were written for me and me alone (which they were…in a way). I wasn’t dealing with a God that was cold and indifferent. He wasn’t far away or watching me with disgust at every move I made. He loved me. He wanted to comfort me.

He wanted a relationship with me.

In the full reading (from above) the Lord talks about going into the desert and “speaking to my heart.” In my own personal ‘desert’ that day, I realized I needed Him more than ever.

Isn’t that what Lent is all about? For these forty days, we are allowed to enter into a desert of some sorts (just like Jesus did in today’s reading) and abandon the things of this world. Perhaps it’s a sin we’ve been hanging on to, perhaps it’s a stubborn habit…or perhaps it’s just surrendering to the fact that we might need help or healing and must take the time to seek it out.

Sometimes (just sometimes) we need the quiet rooms, the calls for help and the total abandonment to bring us closer to any kind of real relationship. That is the beauty of this time of year. We just can’t be afraid to put in the work. Knowing all along that He seeks us just as much as we seek Him; desiring to meet us in our desert…and bring us out of it.

That’s the kind of relationship I’ve always wanted and needed.
Thank goodness for Lent.

~~~

My fiance and I just got our house yesterday (and I’ve been helping him move!) so I will be posting my outfit probably later in the day.  It’s only a few days into Lent and I’m seriously missing some sweets. I’m glad this year I really chose something that is a true sacrifice for me and when I crave a sweet or something I gave up, I pray instead! It’s definitely a way I can improve my relationship with God. Have a great Sunday!