Ash Wednesday

Miles today: 3.0

Miles this week: 7.3

Miles in 2010: 177.1

I'm going to say that I had two firsts happen today and then I'm not going to really talk about much else.

My first first is that I went to my first Ash Wednesday service at Holy Cross today. I didn't grow up Catholic, so back home in my church we didn't get ashes on our forehead in honor of Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs 46 days before Easter. Usually, people who celebrate Lent give up something during the 40 day "fast" between Ash Wednesday and Easter. I haven't always done this, but I think it's a good time to commit to something as a spiritual and personal sacrifice. So, with that, I'm giving up sweets for Lent. (yes, that includes cupcakes from Magnolia) 

I think it's a really cool tradition, reminder, and symbol. The ashes are from the burnt palms from last year's Palm Sunday. Church members are encouraged to bring in their palms (which they save for a year!) and then they burn the palms and use the ashes for the service.

The symbol of the ash is partly to remind us that we came from dust and we will return to dust (Genesis 3:19)...that our bodies are not what connect us to God, but rather our spirits. The ashes also serve as a sign of repentance by that who recieves them. I like that symbol and reminder.

Gregg and I sat next to my friend, Sarah, during the service. I LOVE Sarah so much and used to teach with her...but don't hardly get to see her anymore. She's expecting a little girl on March 30th! We sang Servant Song, one of Sarah's favorite hymns, which always makes me happy to hear. I think we may use that hymn in our wedding like she and Ryan did.

I used to wonder why people had a dirty mark on their foreheads on this day, but now I have a dirty mark and I've learned this tradition.

My second first is that tonight when I ran after church, I did the Boxwood loop, and I ran it under 28 minutes for the first time...which means I bested my pace by 30 seconds per mile since I ran the loop last (which was last Tuesday, February 9th). I think that's a pretty good improvement in a week and it was windy and cold out tonight. I ran 3 miles and felt great.