Could a child be any closer to crawling than this?

The helping of others, the giving of alms, and all external goods don't calm the arrogance of the heart. Humility of the mind, the pain of repentence and the breaking of the will, however, humble the proud spirit.

- Elder Joseph the Hesychast

As long as I've known of it, Lent has always been a time of tension for me. My background and the church I grew up in doesn't practice it or even make reference to it. However, in the travels of my faith journey, I found myself drawn to the communities that not only recognize it, but practice it in earnestness.

So in my stronger years, I've had (by my own judgement of course) "successful" times of fasting during this season. However, in later years I've backed off of the intensity of the choice fast and often find loopholes to offer me an out should I grow tired or bored of the fast.

The current year properly illustrates the aforementioned friction caused by my own past experiences and shortcomings. Visiting two different churches on the spectrum certainly adds to the dilemma.

What does Lent mean to me? Why am I only concerned with the idea of fasting at this time of year? What more does Lent mean besides starving or depriving myself?

Perhaps the first step is to embrace the sprit of Elder Joseph above and admit the filth of my sin and the plague within me that is pride.

How that leads me to the spirit of the true fast that Isaiah writes about is beyond me.

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

- Isaiah 58:6-7

Oh God, I don’t love you,
I don’t even want to love you,
but I want to want to love you!


- Saint Teresa of Avila
Source: "The Interior Castle" by Teresa of Avila.

We have exciting news! The Dowdys have been cleared to move to Central Asia! Anticipating that we'll reach our budget within the next 3 weeks, our supervisors gave us the go-ahead to purchase our plane tickets.

We fly out of Roanoke on March 7.

We're still approximatly $250/month short regarding our budget. Oh so close! Contact me if you're interested in making a pledge.

Some immediate prayer requests include:

-That we reach our budget.

-The visa application process is a bit cumbersome. Pray that the logistics and formalities are met.

-Pray for our health. Faith and Si have had colds this past week...and logic would have it that I'm due.

-We're feeling a bit overwhelmed with our final preparations and with the big unknown that lies ahead.

We've been going to a couple different churches while in Virginia--one is the church I grew up in, and the other is a Lutheran church that gives us a nice reminder of the liturgical church we were a part of for so long and got married in while in Texas.

It's been nice to return to the liturgical church. The corporate prayer and calls to repentance each week are real blessings for us. Additionally, being able to take the Lord's Supper regularly calls and reminds us to actively be a part of the body of Christ. Not an avid drinker, I oddly enough crave the sip of wine each week. The bittersweet tang that the wine brings about is a fitting symbol to the bitterness of the sacrifice of Christ, overcome with the sweetness of His salvation. We all would fare well by taking part in the Lord's Supper often.

At the other church we attended, I was uncomfortably struck by the ending of the worship service as they sent us out with "...and may God keep you safe this week..." Keep us safe? Should that really be our prayer? Looking at Christ's life and example, are we shown a God who intends for us to live comfortablly and cautiously?

I can't help but recall one of my favorite exchanges from C.S. Lewis' characters--Lucy and the Beaver family in The Lion, the With, and the Wardrobe:

"Is Aslan quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."

"That you will dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver. "If there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or just plain silly."

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

A week of firsts. First turn-over. First soccer lesson. And now, his first snow.

As promised 2 days ago, Silas got to play in his first snow. Though the total snowfall was only 3 inches, it was more than enough to romp around in and make snow angels!

As discussed in my previous post, Silas is now sitting up. This is big news, as he now gets regular soccer lessons!

At a recent trip to the market, I discovered that when you can find a table,your infant son makes a great table-top!(Though I wouldn't recommend eating soup on top of his noggin.)

At 5 months and 1 week of life, Silas has reached some important milestones these past few days:

1. Yesterday, we discovered that he can now roll over from his back to his stomach...a HUGE accomplishment. (He started rolling over from his stomach to his back about 6 weeks ago.)

2. Tonight he is experiencing his first measurable snow--which will inevitably lead to his first sledding experience on Wednesday. Watch out southwestern Virginia.

3. Si can sit up on his own for long periods of time. Basically until he decides to reach to his left or right, which makes him tumble over.

4. He's also applying for his first visa tomorrow (no, not the credit card).