Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Lent & the things I love

So my mother sends out a weekly note and this week's was about Lent. Here's her message:
this week starts Lent; traditionally folks get to 'pig out' today, followed by the Ash Wednesday service tomorrow and the beginning for most of giving up something for 40 days. While giving up something is still a good way to be reminded of the sacrifices Jesus faced, another way to look at Lent and the next 40 plus days (Sundays are usually excluded from the count) is to do something that you normally wouldn't do - instead of giving something up. And of course, God wants us to do these things by not boasting and saying 'look at me; at what I'm doing or giving up' but by doing it without all the noise. A few ideas to consider - reading a bible passage every day or a Lenten devotion, doing at least one thing for someone else each day, volunteering, saying kind words and maybe even putting money in a jar every time we say something negative... There are a number of things we can do - even making note each day of the blessings we all have in our lives - to each of us, it's personal what we decide. But as we move into Lent and the death of Jesus, we are reminded of how much God loves us; I hope you all feel that too.
So, thanks to the fact that I finally sat down and caught up on some friends' blogs, I came up with the idea to write about something every day that I love (thanks Mary!). That shouldn't be too hard. Coming up with a list was pretty easy. And I'm totally going to copy something else from Mary!
I love my daughter's name! Rebecca Dawn Cottle came to us very easily as a name for a daughter. Steve's mother is Mary Rebecca and goes by Becky. My mother is Dawn Christine and my middle name is Dawn. Rebecca Dawn was too easy and so easy to love. I tend to interchange Rebecca and Beca a lot. I know it drives people crazy that I shortened her name to Beca with one "c" and not two. Well, that's for something else I loved. I had a sister in college who I adored and she was (and still is) fabulous. I loved how bright and vivacious she always was and strong and smart. And her nickname was Beca with one "c". I've always loved how it looks and how easy it is to write or type in. And it is just a little different. Plus, 4 letters costs less than 5 when you have to pay by the letter so this appealed to my demented practical side. But it really was easy for Beca to learn how to spell the shortened version of her name. We started spelling out "B-E-C-A" before she was 2 and she mostly got the hang of it. She can't write it yet but she now knows that B and R both can start her name. And any letter in her name that she spots she will say "My name starts with that". But letters aren't her strong suit. Regardless, I love her name and I love to hear her say "I'm Rebecca Dawn Cottle".

No comments: