Will you say yes to let God's Spirit lead you into your inner wilderness where your hurts, stories, habits, motivations can be found and healed?

Sacred Dust
Today is the beginning of Lent. Ash Wednesday is a reminder that from dust we came and to dust we will return.

It is very helpful to start the season of Lent with an openness to God's love for you and presence in and around you. To know this dust is a Sacred Dust.

In the Bible, one significance of ashes represents humility (Genesis 18:27). Whether you observe this day by spreading ashes that shape a cross on your forehead or a personal tradition, the day serves as a powerful reminder to carry the message of the cross through the days preparing for Easter.

Let's fix our minds (meditate) today on our complete dependance on Jesus and how His suffering became our healing and wholeness. Jesus transforms the symbol of the cross from one of violent domination to the power of God's saving and redeeming love.

Humility
Humility is at the heart of Ash Wednesday. To recognize, I fall short. I miss the mark. I fail to let God be God in my life. It means entering into our own wilderness and finding the hard soil. Tilling the soil until it softens and our hearts are open to new learning and growth to spring up!

The hard places in our spirits can soften and God's Spirit can flow through our days with more ease and freedom. This is the beginning of a process to make changes and seek forgiveness in order to live more fully in the life God intends for us. God made you and God loves you.

Life has a way of humbling us at times. This first day of Lent is an invitation to embrace our vulnerability and absolute dependence on Jesus. Ash Wednesday reminds us to cultivate the soil that needs turned over and live our days to be the love and change we wish to see in the world.

My hope for you is as you fast from the thing you choose to remove from your life that you fill that space with truth, peace and purpose.

Considerations To Practice Humility
What are ways you can make Ash Wednesday personal by practicing humility?

What areas of your life could benefit from softening and opening to new growth?

What does it feel like to remember Jesus' willingness to suffer emotional, physical, and spiritual trauma for you?