The Cross [Necklace] Chronicles, Part II

[Note: this post is a sequel to this one, from December 16, 2018.]

It's the 2nd week of Lent. Sitting in church on Ash Wednesday watching the people sitting behind me cycle through the line to get their ashes, I had the following thought:

Baptized believers always bear the cross of Christ; it's just made visible in this rite which the Church observes to mark the start of a new ecclesiastical season. 

 Ephesians 1:13-14 reads:

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

It's Baptism! When I was baptized on January 11, 1987, the pastor said these words: "Receive the sign of the cross both upon your forehead and upon your heart, to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the Crucified." Nothing outwardly changed, but from that day forward, I've had the name of Jesus tattooed in invisible ink to label me as one of His own.

I happen to like the practice of wearing a cross, though. I happen to like the practice of wearing this cross, a giveaway at the 2004 LCMS Youth Gathering in Orlando. But alas, it broke. Again. Evidently the life span of a piece of mass-produced costume jewelry is about 4.5 years. I "fixed" it once with pliers but knew it was a ticking time bomb. I put out a plea on Instagram already - which generated a couple of leads, so I'm optimistic - but I'll put out another here: if you attended "Beyond Imagination" and have one of these lying around that you never wear, comment below or email/text/Facebook message me. My last resort is ordering something similar from Amazon. I'm naked without it, so if an acceptable knock-off is the best I can do, so be it. 

Other Lenten happenings: 

1. My Bible study group is about to start reading The Screwtape Letters, accompanied by the guide pictured, and I'm so excited. The idea stems from attending one session of it with my best friend while on home service in October 2021. 

2. In addition to Wednesday services at each of the DR congregations, Rev. Dr. Jonathan Naumann, our regional chaplain, is leading English-language meditations on Tuesdays at 5 pm AST. YOU can tune in, too: they're livestreamed on the LAC Facebook page. The first one fell on Shrove Tuesday, hence...Tirzah, Jamielynn, and I planned a spontaneous pancake dinner afterwards. It's now a tradition - they have to start somwhere. 

3. I'm giving up peanut butter! Peanut butter is a food group in my world, so I wanted to stretch myself to think outside the jar when it comes to lunch and snacking especially. So far, it's going better than expected. True confessions: there were 2 T. in what I made for dinner one day last week, but I don't think that counts. I served it over white rice and had this for lunch a couple times with the leftovers, and my recent go-tos for when I get the munchies are the result of a sweet potato kick. This is good with crackers, carrots, and pita bread, and these are like tator tots. 

Until next time (I just had to make a sticky note on my desktop so I don't lose track of all the ideas in the hopper), blessings in Christ!