And we're off

Tonight we went to church for the Ash Wednesday service. It was short, purposed, and good. We enter into the season of Lent today and for the next seven weeks go through necessary house cleaning in the soul. I have always enjoyed writing and journaling, but have fallen off from doing it since college. I am going to write each night (except Sundays) during Lent to engage my evaluation of the day and also to decrease the amount of time spent watching TV or wasted on Facebook. Last year I gave up FB and thought it was good to get away from it for a while. Not that I was on it very much, but it was nice to take a break. One thing I plan on doing for each entry is thinking about the highs and lows of my day. Today's highs and lows are a bit lame and they are really the first things that popped into my head. My low today was throwing up this morning....I've been feeling really nauseous lately, have also been congested, and have an especially sensitive gag reflex in the morning...which translates to me dry heaving after my first good cough after I wake up. Nice, I know. So that was my low. My high was getting to take a nap this afternoon :) I love taking naps any chance I can and have also been very tired lately, so taking one this afternoon was sweet. It was also nice that Anna and Henry, my best friend's son that comes over on Wednesdays, took naps as well. This afternoon we had a napping house and it was lovely. I appreciate being able to rest and wish it was more acceptable in our culture to take it easy and not be so go-go all the time. I'm going to get ready for bed and then read "Half the Sky" which focuses on "turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide". In the few pages I've read I am blown away at the abuse, neglect, and intentional violence that happens to women and girls every second around the world. I said to Mike last night that I feel so blessed to live where I do. In America we, as women, think we have it so hard for certain things. Women don't earn as much as men in the same job. We haven't had a woman as president yet. There is sexual discrimination and harassment. There is the glass ceiling and some feel we are still trying to break through. However, we don't get acid thrown on our faces if we make our husbands mad. We don't get set on fire for being too opinionated. We don't neglect infant girls so severely that they die just because boys are so much more valued. Having a daughter and wanting so much for her life it makes my heart ache knowing that other girls Anna's age in many countries may never have so much as unconditional love and support from her family. They may very well end up in a brothel, be sold into marriage in adolescence, or die just because they are female. There is too much to take in and too much to write about right now. More on this tomorrow....