In a way this Lent is lived wildly differently than recent Lents. The giving up is physical, emotional, and spiritual, freeing, and very Easter like. The physical/emotional giving up has to do with the purge of moving. I can assure you that this purge isn’t easy as it is big one examination of conscience, a distilling of memories and of the importance of things, it is walked alone, and walked together.
“Moving ?” you ask, why yes, My Sweetie and I are moving to Texas. He is working with the Dominican Sisters Mary Mother of the Eucharist at their Priory near Georgetown, TX as the Facilities and Custodial Manager. When he casually mentioned this position to me I said go ahead and apply.
“It would mean a move,” he said.
“I’m game. I’ve been thinking that it’s time to leave New York for two years.”
And so here we are. Our house is under contract and we’ll close sometime in the next few weeks. I’m finished with my work as the NY/NJ sales rep and am home packing up. In one way it’s kind of fun taking a few moments here and there to remember, to see in my mind and heart these moments we captured in actual pictures. I labeled that box “photographic evidence that we had a life.” Some of this though is really difficult as it belonged to my Mother-in-Love. I have to distill this to what’s important to us, to me. I will share with you that dusting is important. I am not allergic to dust but had to leave a room yesterday because of the dust. Next visit in there I’ll open the window, and get out the vacuum.
While the dual job of purging and packing is a lot of difficult dusty work, at the end there is my Sweetie. It also means I’m not quilting right now, half my sewing room has been packed. The other half will happen soon. The ideas though, having paper and pen handy is a good thing. Going through things, examining, paying attention, letting go, hoping, praying is such a good thing to do. There is also the, “why didn’t I do this sooner?” thought bubbling up to the surface. In one way I get the “why” however it doesn’t make doing this now any easier, particularly with a move right on the heels of this. The bonus is not having to find places for things now it can wait for the unpacking and making a home where we’re going.
Speaking of making a home where we’re going, getting the stuff and dust out here is a good thing rather than waiting until I’m face to face with God. This is part of Lent, a bit of sacrifice here and now. A lot of letting go of both the physical, and the spiritual things that prevent me from growing closer to God, that prevent me from becoming a Saint. Letting go is good, what do I replace it with. The letting go of stuff offers me space to think, create, and live well. The letting go of the Spiritual stuff offers me the space to pray, to think, to simply be with the One who loves and knows me best, to see Him clearly, to enjoy being in His Presence without all the personal “I’m not good enough because of pride, selfcenteredness, gossip, uncharitable words and actions.”
May this Lent bring you closer to Jesus,
Teri
A Quilter's Heart 