Ash Wednesday

Hey everyone, our computer is down at home and I am at the library after my grueling aerobics session this morning, so this post will have to be quick. For all of you who are interested in other religions, today is Ash Wednesday for the Roman Catholic church. Ash Wednesday marks the first day of lent where faithful Catholics across the globe fast and pray for 40 days in anticipation for the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. I will keep you posted when we get down to Passion Week where the church remembers Jesus' Triumphal return into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday), the Last Supper (Holy Thursday), the Crucifixion (Good Friday), and of course Easter!

On Ash Wednesday Catholics receive ashes on their forward when the Father makes the mark of the cross on it (it mostly looks like a blob--but it is supposed to be a small cross). This is part helps Catholics to remember where we came from (Adam came from the dust of the ground) and where we will return (to dust we shall return).

I hope that we can remember what an important season this truly is!

God bless you guys!

Valentine's Day-- A Little History

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope that today has been filled with love, just like it has been for me. I got this email from a good friend of mine and I thought that I would share this with you on Valentine's. It is a history of Valentine's day and a little info on St. Valentine.
I also wanted to remind all of you of the One who has loved each and every one of us with a perfect love John 3:16. Let us remember God and Jesus Christ as we go to share our love with our family, friends, and other fellow human beings. For God has made all of this possible, to be able to love and cherish those around us! I love you guys and I always pray and hope that you will have the strength and insight you need to continue on the paths that all of you have chosen for yourselves! Share your love today!

The email:
http://www.intellmktg.com/im/inlove/val_hist.htm

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintv06.htm

Please check out the links they are interesting and the stories are good too!

Superstar, Free Pancakes, and a Tribute to Randomness

Thanks everyone for responding to the question about free-will and God's omniscience. It is a big question in the philosophy of religion and a question that many people struggle with. Just in short, I agree with you all. God knows everything, He knows all the possibilities and He knows us better than we know ourselves. Yet, miraculously, we have agency to help us learn and to grow and to come unto Him.

This past Saturday night, I got to go see the Broadway play Jesus Christ Superstar with my mom. We got tickets for the 8:00pm show up in Kingsbury Hall (Universtiy of Utah). Besides the show being great, I got to spend some real quality time with my mom. We just talked and talked and talked. I know some of you may cringe at the title of this show, but it is definitely worth seeing. It is a powerful rendition of the last days of Christ's life. The main characters are Jesus, and Judas. Interestingly, all of Christs teachings are seen through the eyes of Judas and the play displays implications for our lives today. I looked up the story online and I came across a portion of a term paper written for a course at the American Baptist Seminary. Hopefully, you will check out the link and read more about this play. Judas was the most intriguing character. He was so full of turmoil and truly represented each of us as we struggle to live and love Jesus Christ. The music was amazing. All of this is set to a rock music setting, which takes you off guard cause it seems so opposite to the story itself (the Passion of Christ), but the music was powerful.

After the play my mom and I decided we wanted to grab something to eat (almost 11:00pm!). We decided that pancakes and french toast sounded good and decided to head to IHOP. Our conscience got to us, so we decided to invite my dad to go with us (he absolutely loves breakfast--I got my affinity for breakfast fares from him). We would have called Daniel and told him to bring him and Maya also, but Maya was already asleep. It was like old time with my parents-- just me, a plate of french toast and eggs, and some good company! We got to talk about our (Daniel and I) future plans with school and other stuff. It was really nice.

For anyone of you who are just as crazy about breakfast as me, IHOP is serving free pancakes all day on February 20th! It is to celebrate National Pancake day. It goes from 7am to 10pm on Tuesday February 20th which happens to be the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and the start of the Lenten Season of fast and prayer in preparation for Easter and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.


I ended up getting home around 1am. I was so tired but it was so worth it!

Random pics of Maya



Maya is my little smarty pants!
Maya showing leg ....Maya with Grandpa Dowler