remember that you are dust...

...and to dust you shall return.

The bible has several examples of ashes being used as an outward sign of repentance, so the tradition of Ash Wednesday is an appropriate beginning to the Lenten season.

I was humbled walking around all day with this stark smudge centered on my forehead. As people stared at my forehead, almost unable to make eye contact, I was reminded of my many sins.

I also thought of the stuff...the things in and of this world that will eventually be nothing more than ash themselves; the time and energy we expend to obtain these things; our homes so filled with these things that the business of storage units is on the rise; and how as a society, we cherish our stuff and we abandon that which is eternally lasting.

I pray that we will abandon the stuff and return to Jesus. I pray that we will abandon the stuff and use those resources to help meet the needs of our fellow man.

I pray that I will abandon the stuff and become the child of God, the wife, and the mother that He wills.