Mud, Lent Day 1

For quite a while I have working on some bible devotions with the intent to share them soon. I really love reading the bible and do consider myself a believer. I wont go on a rant on why I dont call myself a christian anymore, thats for a later date. I have never studied the bible at a college or anywhere other than church, with friends and at home on my own. So sometimes I feel like if I write something its not legit or someone will dispute my thoughts. Thats actually pretty funny since in most areas of my life I dont really care what others think. So anyway the next several posts will be how I am observing Lent. You dont have to be a follower of Christ to get something out of this. I love to share my thoughts with everyone and I enjoy hearing others thoughts even if they are nothing like mine. I just love people, well nice people. Mean people make me angry but thats for another post as well. I hope you enjoy.

As I was looking up bible verses this was the first one I came across that addressed why I dont post scriptural things. FEAR its the very reason why we dont do many things that we want.

Mark 6:50  Jesus was quick to comfort them: “Courage! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

I have talked about fear many times. I do find comfort in this verse because like the disciples when I am afraid I just have to call out and I know Hes there. I also have so many great family and friends who I can call on too. So if you are wanting to do something and are not sure just reach out to a few people that you trust. Ask their opinions and listen to their feedback, the positive and the negative.

For many years I gave up something for Lent. I have given up meat, chocolate, social media, tv, murdering people. You know the normal stuff. It seems a little odd to me that you give something up and then the day after Easter you like eat all the chocolate out of your kids Easter Baskets of something. So I decided to focus on decluttering for Lent. I have done this before with getting rid of things around the house but this time is different. The need to declutter comes from bringing in stuff you dont really need or keeping stuff longer than its use. This isnt just physical items. We have beliefs and ideas that that should not be there or that have had their day and we need to just move on. I think its so odd that we stay updated on gadgets, house decor, clothes but when it comes to new thoughts we are just not budging. Mr Ladybug and I dont always agree on music. He will not listen to anything new. He was listening to some of his favorite songs last night and I asked if he could please just listen to something made since 2000. Seriously he doesnt think that there has been a single good song produced in the last 19 years? We would not have had that conversation had he been listening to jazz. Jazz is always the exception. I think you get my point about decluttering not just physical items in our lives.

As I was looking up some info on Lent I was on Acts 40 website and they had this question and answer on their website

For quite a while I have working on some bible devotions with the intent to share them soon. I really love reading the bible and do consider myself a believer. I wont go on a rant on why I dont call myself a christian anymore, thats for a later date. I have never studied the bible at a college or anywhere other than church, with friends and at home on my own. So sometimes I feel like if I write something its not legit or someone will dispute my thoughts. Thats actually pretty funny since in most areas of my life I dont really care what others think. So anyway the next several posts will be how I am observing Lent. You dont have to be a follower of Christ to get something out of this. I love to share my thoughts with everyone and I enjoy hearing others thoughts even if they are nothing like mine. I just love people, well nice people. Mean people make me angry but thats for another post as well. I hope you enjoy.

As I was looking up bible verses this was the first one I came across that addressed why I dont post scriptural things. FEAR its the very reason why we dont do many things that we want.

Mark 6:50  Jesus was quick to comfort them: “Courage! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

I have talked about fear many times. I do find comfort in this verse because like the disciples when I am afraid I just have to call out and I know Hes there. I also have so many great family and friends who I can call on too. So if you are wanting to do something and are not sure just reach out to a few people that you trust. Ask their opinions and listen to their feedback, the positive and the negative.

For many years I gave up something for Lent. I have given up meat, chocolate, social media, tv, murdering people. You know the normal stuff. It seems a little odd to me that you give something up and then the day after Easter you like eat all the chocolate out of your kids Easter Baskets of something. So I decided to focus on decluttering for Lent. I have done this before with getting rid of things around the house but this time is different. The need to declutter comes from bringing in stuff you dont really need or keeping stuff longer than its use. This isnt just physical items. We have beliefs and ideas that that should not be there or that have had their day and we need to just move on. I think its so odd that we stay updated on gadgets, house decor, clothes but when it comes to new thoughts we are just not budging. Mr Ladybug and I dont always agree on music. He will not listen to anything new. He was listening to some of his favorite songs last night and I asked if he could please just listen to something made since 2000. Seriously he doesnt think that there has been a single good song produced in the last 19 years? We would not have had that conversation had he been listening to jazz. Jazz is always the exception. I think you get my point about decluttering not just physical items in our lives.

As I was looking up some info on Lent I was on Acts 40 website and they had this question and answer on their website


For quite a while I have working on some bible devotions with the intent to share them soon. I really love reading the bible and do consider myself a believer. I wont go on a rant on why I dont call myself a christian anymore, thats for a later date. I have never studied the bible at a college or anywhere other than church, with friends and at home on my own. So sometimes I feel like if I write something its not legit or someone will dispute my thoughts. Thats actually pretty funny since in most areas of my life I dont really care what others think. So anyway the next several posts will be how I am observing Lent. You dont have to be a follower of Christ to get something out of this. I love to share my thoughts with everyone and I enjoy hearing others thoughts even if they are nothing like mine. I just love people, well nice people. Mean people make me angry but thats for another post as well. I hope you enjoy.

As I was looking up bible verses this was the first one I came across that addressed why I dont post scriptural things. FEAR its the very reason why we dont do many things that we want.

Mark 6:50  Jesus was quick to comfort them: “Courage! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

I have talked about fear many times. I do find comfort in this verse because like the disciples when I am afraid I just have to call out and I know Hes there. I also have so many great family and friends who I can call on too. So if you are wanting to do something and are not sure just reach out to a few people that you trust. Ask their opinions and listen to their feedback, the positive and the negative.

For many years I gave up something for Lent. I have given up meat, chocolate, social media, tv, murdering people. You know the normal stuff. It seems a little odd to me that you give something up and then the day after Easter you like eat all the chocolate out of your kids Easter Baskets of something. So I decided to focus on decluttering for Lent. I have done this before with getting rid of things around the house but this time is different. The need to declutter comes from bringing in stuff you dont really need or keeping stuff longer than its use. This isnt just physical items. We have beliefs and ideas that that should not be there or that have had their day and we need to just move on. I think its so odd that we stay updated on gadgets, house decor, clothes but when it comes to new thoughts we are just not budging. Mr Ladybug and I dont always agree on music. He will not listen to anything new. He was listening to some of his favorite songs last night and I asked if he could please just listen to something made since 2000. Seriously he doesnt think that there has been a single good song produced in the last 19 years? We would not have had that conversation had he been listening to jazz. Jazz is always the exception. I think you get my point about decluttering not just physical items in our lives.

As I was looking up some info on Lent I was on Acts 40 website and they had this question and answer on their website....

Why is Ash Wednesday called Ash Wednesday?

Ash Wednesday begins Lent. The day gets its name from the traditional blessing of the ashes taken after the burning of Palm branches (or crosses made from Palm leaves) from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebrations. In some churches the ashes are used to draw a cross on the head of people to mark the beginning of their Lent fast. The drawing of a cross is often done while repeating the words “Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15) or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).

My first thought was that I really need to clean out my wood stoves ashes. I will probably do that later today but not for religious purposes. I was looking for the Genesis 3:19 verse and first found Psalm 103:14 which where this whole idea came from as I was pondering Lent.

He knows us inside and out,
    keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.

How special does that make you feel? I will post the whole Psalm at the end of this. Its really a good one. We are just little mud pies but He loves us anyway.

I am not sure how your brain works but this is how mine works. Mr Ladybug will say something like "buy ice cream at the grocery the next time you go". We will be watching tv or something and 10 minutes later I will say " I need to buy some lavender essential oil". He looks at me so weird and asks where did that come from since we had both been just sitting there. I roll my eyes and explain that ice cream reminded me of popsicles which reminds me of my favorite flavor, orange, which reminded me of lemon essential oil which is one of my favorite scents which reminded me I am out of lavender. How hard is it to understand the brain of the woman you have been married to for 29 years?



This little verse that mentioned us being mud made me think about our crazy Kentucky weather we have had this winter.  Mud is something we all know. I have a love for cute flat shoes and have not been able to wear the many colors that I have because of rain and mud. Snow I would be more understanding of but all this rain and mud have pushed me over the edge. Anyway to stop all that mud from getting in the house through our shoes and our pets we have to stop the mud at the door. This is where the decluttering begins as well. If you feel like you are like 10 items away from being on that tv show hoarders maybe you need to think before you bring something in.

At the beginning of the year when I decided to really tighten our grocery budget and was taking stock of what we had in the house already I had to toss several things that had expired. Things I bought on sale to save money on but that we didnt really need. I have really thought about this as I shop. I have a good friend who is a firm believer in not buying clothes without getting rid of something. Needless to say her closets are quite organized. Anyone else need to work on closet organization?

Several years ago I taught a girls Sunday School class and this verse was the focus of one of our lessons,

14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Matthew 10:14 NIV

We started a little traditon of shaking off before we came into our class room. We were shaking off things that were bothering us so we didnt track that dust into our class. We had some great conversations and some great laughs about how people in the hallway would look at us like we were crazy.

Sometimes I still shake off before walking into the house from having a rough day out and about. I even tease my husband sometimes when he is grumpy that he needs to go outside and shake off that negativity and come back in in a better mood.

Even if you dont observe Lent I think we all would agree there are things in our life that we need to work on. Some easy and some hard. The easiest way to address  those things are is to think about where they came from the begin with. Like my fear. I need to leave that outside when I get ready to blog about something that I think someone may not like. I even have said before I mostly blog for me. So why does it matter? 

On my to do list today is to find two really good door mats. Ones that are not cute but practical to catch the real mud that comes into our house. I may just make a cute little sign though to hang on each entrance to our home to remind us that the physical dirt isnt the only thing we have to worry about bringing in with us.


So here is that whole Psalm that I said I would post. Enjoy you little mudpies.

A David Psalm

103 1-2 O my soul, bless God.
    From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless God,
    don’t forget a single blessing!

3-5 He forgives your sins—every one.
    He heals your diseases—every one.
    He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
    He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
    He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
    He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence.

6-18 God makes everything come out right;
    he puts victims back on their feet.
He showed Moses how he went about his work,
    opened up his plans to all Israel.
God is sheer mercy and grace;
    not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,
    nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
    nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
    so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
    he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
    God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
    keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.
Men and women don’t live very long;
    like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
    leaving nothing to show they were here.
God’s love, though, is ever and always,
    eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
    as they follow his Covenant ways
    and remember to do whatever he said.

19-22 God has set his throne in heaven;
    he rules over us all. He’s the King!
So bless God, you angels,
    ready and able to fly at his bidding,
    quick to hear and do what he says.
Bless God, all you armies of angels,
    alert to respond to whatever he wills.
Bless God, all creatures, wherever you are—
    everything and everyone made by God.

And you, O my soul, bless God!