what would jesus buy?

yesterday i was at barnes and noble and there was a display of children's easter books. i would guess that out of the 15 books on the table (granted i was amazed that there were so many easter kid's books) only one had a reference to jesus...all others were eggs and bunnies. mind you, i'm not the most religious girl these days...i never go to church, i do try to pray and remain somewhat reverent to the big guy but often fail miserably but i must say this easter stuff is out of control.

i just read this...
Last year, the National Retail Association estimated Americans would spend $135.07 on Easter, 11 percent more than in 2006, for total holiday spending of $14.37 billion. And 1.9 mil on candy alone.

holy smackers...that's a lot of cadbury eggs. it's like the easter bunny is the new, spring santa. i wonder who will become the summer santa? uncle sam?

happy easter. jesus loves you. 

lent...

this week i've have had multiple conversations with friends that are "participating" in lent (i'm not sure what the proper term is) mostly because they are struggling with their certain "sacrifice. one friend mentioned to me that she knew of someone that was giving up reading for lent because reading was very important to her and this struck me as pretty odd because i could use a little more reading in my life.  and then i got to thinking about why is it that it always seems that lent involves bad things.  almost like it's a way to try and get rid of a vice.  break a habit if you will. 

and i'm just wondering...are we short changing the experience.  granted i've not participated in lent for a few years and have no real knowledge of how it "should" be done...so take it for what it's worth. 

i have a blog that i read every so often by a nun and i thought it might be a good source of info on lent...this was her post from last year.  here's a snippet.

It (Ash Wednesday and Lent) is a time of preparation, a time of freeing ourselves from the things that bind us and moving into a deeper relationship with God, our family and friends, and the Church community.

i think i have decided to avoid the giving up of things this year...or at least not beat myself up for not doing it...but i am going to make an effort to free myself from some things that bind me and keep me from looking for god.   i'm going to spend more time developing and deepening relationships with those around me.  i think i'm just going to try a little harder to be a christian. 

i found another statement on the said blog that made me stop and think.

Surrender is allowing God to embrace us fully.

maybe it doesn't have as much to do with my actions as much as it does with accepting the actions of others. 

welcome back weekend.

it has been a long week. and it seems to be that way for everyone. and why is that. is there a common element that makes the week seem long for everyone. daylight savings, the weather, how far away pay day is, what's on tv...just wondering.

no big plans for the weekend. e is leaving on monday so i'm sure we will be wrapping up some last minute business and trying to have some relaxing downtime. i'm guessing there will be no green beer.

we had a food day at work today. i made some vegan chocolate cupcakes last night - i'm not a vegan but for some reason am very intrigued by baking vegan. yes, i realize i am a dork. but they were some seriously tasty cupcakes. it's funny because i think i've convinced everyone (mostly my mother) that i can't cook, which works well for me on holidays. when honestly, i enjoy cooking (when i have ample time) and do it fairly well. i'm finding myself more and more annoyed by packaged food and really the only way to avoid them is making things myself the old-fashioned way.

this weekend the dosters are also heading back east - it will be so nice to have them in town again. pray for safe travels.

speaking of praying, yesterday i attempted to give blood. attempted being the operative word - the sticker couldn't hit either of my veins. and it sucked but as i was sitting there with the second needle in my arm - one of the phlebotomist said maybe we should pray, it helps sometimes. and it shocked me that she said it. and then it shocked me that it shocked me. mostly because the thought of praying anymore is just so foreign - it's not my first response to pain, or joy, or worry. and i wonder - how did this happen?

am i a christian? do i believe in god? do i have the ability to be a spritutal person?

i think i need to force myself to be a praying person. don't worry how awkward and weird it feels - try to reprogram myself to rely on god - to believe that there is someone or something that has more insight into my life than i do.

wow. that turned heavy fast.

happy weekending.