By Alli Bauck
If anyone is keeping track, we are over halfway through the Lenten season. (Resurrection Sunday is getting closer!!!)
For me, personally, the last eleven days have been a grayish haze of health struggles and extra snuggles. After the 24-hour bug was through with our kiddos, my husband and I both segued into snot, sneezes, and coughing.
Which made me realize something: Pre-ashes Alli was excited to walk OUTSIDE while listening to podcast episodes for her Lenten practice…
Almost-April Alli, however, is tired of blowing her nose and popping pills every day (it feels like). As much as I welcome the freshness of spring and sunshine, I would rather be able to breathe well and smell than get my daily dose of air and exercise. (Yay, seasonal allergies.)
So.
So I need to tweak my original plan. My theme for this Lenten practice remains unchanged; I’m still on the trajectory of “a closer walk with Jesus through podcasts.” But I’m not feeling penitential enough to put myself at the mercy of tree pollen in order to get that aforementioned fresh air.
Actually, I have noticed that if I hear/read a passage from the Gospels that has already been covered in one of the podcast episodes I’ve been following, I can recall where I was (walking) when I heard it—which again drives home the fact that I am a very visual learner!
Indoor walking is not feasible for me right now (no treadmill or track), but I don’t feel like giving up completely would accomplish anything…
When I expressed the continuity conundrum of my #Lentenwalk, a mentor offered some encouragement for trying a new path:
These first few weeks, you have been running an experiment based on your best guess of what would be helpful, informed by your interaction with other people and what you saw the Spirit shaping in you.
Now you have learned some things you didn’t know or hadn’t imagined when you started (like the struggle of seasonal allergies) and so you are modifying the experiment to try and stay consistent with what you thought was important to begin with. Keep experimenting!
I still want to listen to the podcasts. I have enjoyed walking with Jesus through this unexplored medium (or media?) but I’ll be doing less physical walking going forward… so I guess I will run a modified experiment with Jesus and podcasts, and see what happens.
What will the next step in my #Lentenwalk bring? Stay tuned!
And don’t forget to cover all the experiments with grace, right? Thank you for being genuine as you strive to be faithful to your spiritual disciplines!