#LentMadness Blogger Panel Released!

ChristWalkers! 

I'll be hawking #LentMadness as well as my usual blogs on holistic health this Lent as I have been selected to blog with the #Lent Madness crew.  You can hear Fr. Tim Schenk and Fr. Scott Gunn talk all about it in the following YouTube video:

You can also read up on my lovely bio and the bios of my fellow bloggers on the LentMadenss website.

In other awesome news this week, keep your ears open for news about "Christ Walk Kids."  It's real, it's coming.  I am going to take your kids on a journey of a lifetime!

~~Anna

Lent is NOT Christmas

Lent is not like Christmas. People drag their feet towards lent rather than the eager countdown to Christ's birth.  The Easter bunny does not hold a candle to Santa Claus.  I think deep down we know that we may have focused a little too much on the secular side of the holiday, focusing on gifts and parties and indulgences rather than the coming of Christ. 

During Lent, we cannot do this.  Lent is a period of preparation for the greatest gift of them all:  Christ's death and resurrection.  Lent is a time where we need to prepare ourselves to be worthy of the gift of Christ's sacrifice. Lent reminds people that they need to change. While the gift of Christ is freely given, it comes at a cost. The cost of Jesus' crucifixion. The crucifixion is also freely given, yet it reminds us that we need to be better people to honor the gift of death in order that we might have life everlasting.  The gift of the resurrection reminds us all that God has the power to transform. 

God has transformed me.  When I was 12, I lost my hearing to an auto-immune disease.  At the time, the doctors did not know what was going on with me.  My blood work was very abnormal and I was put on many experimental therapies to try and stop my hearing loss.  Three years later, many drug therapies later, I still lost all my hearing.  I stand before you today, legally deaf.  I wear cochlear implants that allow me to hear, but for a period of time, I did not hear at all. 

During this time, I have a very vivid memory of being at church.  We had all stood to say the Nicene Creed.  I could not hear at all.  At this point, I was deaf and without any hearing aids.  I became very, very angry.  I felt abandoned by God, and I thought it was very pointless to be at church when I felt that I could not participate in the liturgy.  I remember to this day, the furious tears, and the hot feeling under my skin as I sat down and refused to participate in the rest of the service.  My mind was screaming, "How can I do this and not hear?" 

And then the Eucharist began. I felt a sudden peace come over me.  My tears stopped.  My heart rate slowed.  I felt like I was being hugged.  I distinctly remember the presence of the Holy Spirit.  And it spoke to me.  And I heard God tell me that I did not have to HEAR to participate.  My Christ Walk had little to do with what I was HEARING and everything to do with what I was doing in my life. 

Throughout the years, I have come to realize that God gave me other gifts besides my hearing (and now my cancer).  And I have learned that I can manage my disease through exercise, good nutrition and managing my mind, body, and spiritual health.  I invite you to join me in the Christ Walk program to see how the Holy Spirit can transform your life, mind, body and spirit.

Christ Walk is a 40 day program designed to prepare yourself mind, body and spirit to lead a Christ-filled life that is also healthy.  In 1 Corinthians, 6:19, Paul states: "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you?" 

Our bodies house the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Very few of us treat our bodies like temples.  Rather, we make choices that treat our bodies in a careless fashion.  We eat too much, drink too much, fail to exercise, misuse medications, stress too much and make choices that do not care for this body that has the Holy Spirit within us.  We do not treat ourselves like temples. 

Lent is an opportunity for us to relook at our everyday habits, not only spiritually, but also physically and mentally so that we can turn to Christ in all of our choices, not just in our prayer life.  A Christ-like life, is something that we should chose to try and live each day.  Not just on church holidays. 

This Lent, you have chosen to do the Christ Walk program.  What does this mean? Instead of giving up chocolate, or sweets or other temptation, I ask you to take a walk with me.  Christ Walk is a Lenten devotional that uses walking different biblical routes to symbolize the journey we take with Christ in our everyday life.  You will choose a biblical route to walk this Lent.  They are listed in the appendix of the Christ Walk book.  You will choose one of the routes that appeals to you.   There are many different routes you can symbolically walk during the next 40 days.  You will collect miles towards your route in different ways.  You can walk, bike, swim, volunteer or pray in order to earn miles towards your route.  By the end of Lent, you will have collected enough miles towards your chosen route and completed your journey. 

Some examples of the different routes you can walk include the following:  One route is the distance between Bethlehem and Jerusalem; signifying the journey between Christ's beginning and his end.  Another route is the "Via Delarosa, or the Way of Sorrows.  This route is the journey Jesus made as he walked through Jerusalem towards the cross.  There are several routes from Paul's missionary journeys.  There are many different routes to choose from.  You will  choose a route that calls to you. 

If you are unable to exercise, each 15 minute block of prayer, volunteerism, or outreach opportunity you take on will count as a "mile" towards your goal.   Christ Walk is designed for anyone at any level of fitness to participate.  In fact, I have had Christ Walk participants in wheelchairs and walkers that have found ways to earn miles during their Christ Walk journey.  Your miles, however you walk, run, bike, swim or pray through are steps you can use on your walk with Christ. 

The goal of Christ Walk is to build a strong temple so that we all can continue to do the work that Christ calls us to do in the world.   

God does call us to change.  We are called in our baptismal covenant.  We are called when we confirm that we are members of the body of Christ during confirmation.  We are called daily to represent God's love here on earth.  This is not just a call of prayer, but also a call of action.  Being a Christian is all about everything we DO and every way we ACT and the CHOICES we make not only with one another, but also with ourselves.

When I was growing up, I used to say Christmas was my favorite holiday. My father, a priest, would always say that Good Friday and Easter were his. This always made me scratch my head as a child

As I have grown older, the gift of Easter grows each year and I have come to think of it as my favorite holiday. I use the Lenten period to prepare myself mind, body and spirit to receive the gift of God and strengthen my skills to use myself in God's calling in my life. Lent is a time that we can spring clean our lives mind, body and spirit so we are prepared for the springing of Easter. Lent is my time to rededicate myself to God's calling in my life.

Lent is not something to drag one's heels. Rather, look with anticipation the coming journey and the change God can make within you. At the end of this forty days, You WILL be a changed person.  

In closing, I would like to share with you the Christ Walk prayer: 

The Lord be with you: 

I will try this day to walk the path set before me

I will try to walk a little longer, a little stronger
I will walk with my mind, body and spirit
I will walk with others, I will walk for others
I will walk when others cannot
I will be still and know that you are God on the days I cannot walk
I will walk with you Lord, on the path you set before me

When my own feet fail, I know you will help me get up and walk again
I will imagine what it would be like to walk in Christ's shoes
And try to live my life as though I was on Christ's path
I will pray that I walk the path I am called to and not turn down paths I am not
Today, Lord, on my journey I will Christ Walk
And I am thankful that you Christ Walk with me too.
Amen (Used with Permission, Christ Walk: A 40-Day Spirtual Fitness Program, 2015, Church Publishing Incorporated)

Come, Christ Walk with me.

Top TEN Things You can Do for Lent This Year

It's that time of the year!  Lent is fast approaching.  Some of us are excited about this time that forces us to reflect on spiritual disciplines that make us stronger and some of us dread the thought of giving up our comfy lives and the status quo.  I would ask you to rethink this.  When Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, he gave up both physically and spiritually in order to prepare himself for Easter and the resurrection.

When I was growing up, we used to give up chocolate or sweets or candy for Lent as a sign of our spiritual discipline as children.  In recent years, the acts of "giving up" have been poo-pooed as not truly building spiritual discipline.  Rather, there has been a fad of "taking up" and "doing acts of goodness" during the Lenten season.

Not that there is anything wrong (indeed, doing good acts, is always a good thing) with the "taking up" movement, but we do a disservice to the purpose of "giving up" when we put it aside as a potential discipline to take on.  You see, discipline of the body is one of the hardest habits to establish.  In fact, I will be bold enough to throw out there, that it is through physical discipline that we also learn to establish habits of spiritual discipline.  It takes repeating a behavior over and over to make it apart of who we are as individuals.

You see, it's HARD to stick with physical disciplines. Your body talks to you in ways that are difficult to ignore when we take on physical disciplines or when we give up things that are bad for the body.  We feel pain, hunger, moods, cravings, soreness, wants, and needs.  When we take on physical discipline, we become very aware of the SELF.  This forces us to forget the self and focus on the spiritual aspect of WHY we are choosing to give something up.  Are we giving up things for Lent for ourselves or for God?  What is the purpose of the discpline that we have chosen?  When you give up bad habits, you must learn to identify whether your body really needs something or if you are feeding the physical form, when you should be feeding the spiritual needs of the body first.

From my perspective, everything we do to create discipline in our bodies can translate to discipline in our spirit because it forces us to think about how we want to live our lives and the choices we want to make.

If you are struggling with what to do this Lent, I'm going to provide you with some of the top habits you can practice that will lead you to a healthier mind, body, and spirit:

1.  Do CHRIST WALK THIS LENT!!!! :)  Sorry, I had to plug my book--it's a day by day companion towards a healthier life mind, body and spirit.  I'll be with you every step of the way! Read it and join me on a journey to a healthier YOU!

2. Quit Smoking:  You want to get healthy?  If you smoke, stop.  It's bad for your body, your family and your spirit.  You are using a drug to fill an empty void in your spirit.  If you want to do one thing for the body that will make it healthier--give up that tobacco this Lent.  You.  Can.  Do.  It.

3.  Give up Your Soda Habit: Not a smoker?  AWESOME.  Soda drinker?  Just as bad.  Sugar is just as bad a drug as tobacco and it's going to kill you.  If you aren't ready to go full on granola and cut all sugar from your diet, the first step is to kick the soda habit.  And I'm talking ANY soda.  No diet, no real, no fake drinks!  Switch to water, seltzer water, seltzer and 100% fruit juice, tea, coffee, water, water, water!  Soda is a terrible habit. Soda is poison.  You'll never hear me say otherwise.  It's a great goal to aim for during Lent.

4. Eat a serving of Fruits or Vegetables with Every Meal or Snack: We all need more fruits and vegetables in our diet.  If we consciously choose to add a serving to every meal or snack, then we will build our palates into eating the right number of servings without having to think about it.  Add fruit to cereal, yogurt, smoothies.  Add greens to smoothies, eggs, hashes or soups.  Have some sort of salad with every dinner or lunch.  Snack on raw veggies and fruit with hummus or cheese or nut butters.  When we try to add more of the good stuff into our diets, what slowly occurs is that there is less room for the bad stuff.

5.  Quit Drinking: Let me be frank--I don't think that having alcohol on a moderate basis is a bad or sinful thing.  I think drinking turns into a sin when it controls our life.  When alcohol controls you, we've got a problem Houston.  Much like any other drug, food, substance, etc., if you abuse it, you shouldn't use it.  And it doesn't hurt any adult to loose the booze for any period of time.  Again, it's all about discipline.  And face it, alcohol, while enjoyable, is an unnecessary caloric source to fuel the body.  Give you body a break from it and see how you feel at the end of 40 days.  If nothing else, you'll have helped to reset your body and give it a rest.

6. Add more Steps to Your Day: I would be remiss if I didn't suggest that we walk more, run more, swim more, exercise more.  After-all, that's what Christ Walk is all about.  Commit to finding out how much you walk and go a little further (I suggest using a pedometer or fitness counter.  Read all about it in Chapter 2 of Christ Walk).  BONUS TIME:  Pray with every step you take.  God can be with you (and is with you) even during exercise if you allow yourself to have a conversation with God while you move.  It's just about how you frame that exercise.

7.  Meditate/Pray for 20 minutes every day WITHOUT DISTRACTIONS! Meditation and Prayer is awesome.  Seriously, the impact on your blood pressure, resting heart rate and overall well being is well documented.  But man, it's hard.  20 minutes without distraction?  WHERE exactly are you supposed to find that in your chaos that is life?  Well, that's discipline.  Finding the time for what you think is important and then doing it--that's discpline.  It's one thing to say "I will do x, y, and z."  It's quite another thing to go out and do it and commit to it for 40 days.  I double, dog dare you to try. :)

8. Take a break from Eating Out.  If you cannot commit to not eating out for 40 days, perhaps commit to NO FAST FOOD during Lent.  We eat out too much as Americans.  We cannot control what goes into our bodies and how many calories we eat when we eat out all the time.  Reducing the amount of time we eat out or even just cutting the fast food, establishes a discipline for eating real food, food with our families, and food that we know we are putting into our bodies.  BONUS CHALLENGE:  Put the money you would have spent eating out in a jar.  At the end of the 40 days, see how much you saved.  THEN, give that money to a local food bank or community meal.  There are a lot of people out there that need that food money more than you.

9. Commit to Eating Food from God's Good Earth.  That's right.  Eat God's food.  Not engineered food, not meal replacement bars, not frozen meals.  Real food.  If that includes a slice of cake with real butter, real sugar, real eggs and real flour, then do it.  At least it's a real cake, not a high-fructose corn syrup, modified wheat, preservative filled piece of something that leaves you unsatisfied.  By Gosh, if you are going to eat cake, eat the real thing and savor it.  Cut the boxed foods from your shelves and focus on eating whole foods made with your own hands.  If you want a truly EXCELLENT resource for eating the real food way, I HIGHLY recommend the 100 Days of Real Food Blog.  She has a step by step process for making REAL FOOD a part of your every day life.

10.  Be Happy:  You Exercise, you eat right, you pray, you make time for your family and/or you have a good family/work/life balance.  Ergo, You've got it together.  Good for you.  AWESOMENESS ABOUNDS.  Commit to being happy with who you are for 40 days.  Each day give a prayer of thanks to God that you've GOT IT TOGETHER.  There are a lot of people out there who are struggling to be right where you are.  Be happy.  You are precious as you are.  This pretty much goes for everyone.  Even if you have things you need to change in your life, commit to being happy.  When we let God's love flourish in our hearts and in our disciplines, we share that with the world around us.

Will you slip up?  Probably.  Discipline in any format whether physical, nutritional, spiritual or mental is difficult.  It takes commitment. The Lenten season is about commitment.  You are committing your practice and your discipline to God to be a healthier temple for God's work in the world.  There isn't anything bad about that as a "giving on, or taking up" approach to the next 40 days.  Even if you screw up, the good thing is that God is forgiving.  Get up and commit each day to the discipline you chose. Discipline is good for us.  It helps us define who we are and what we are committed to doing for the world around us.  When we strive to be healthy and do things for God the next 40 days, we are building habits that form ourselves into better Christians for a lifetime.

Happy ChristWalking!
~Anna