Soul Sister Time

            Spring brings with it accumulating light.   The light reaches its maximum stay by midsummer.   After a long dark winter, light is a welcome friend.   It changes moods and brings on anticipation for something better.   Have you experienced more contentment as the light has lingered during the day?             Light and confessing sin don’t seem to mix.   Yet, they definitely go hand in hand.   Without the cleansing from confession, the light would be shaded.   Confession of our sin is what brings us into the light of Christ.   His light shines brightest through us when we are most aware of His presence.   Confession increases the light that is visible to the people who live in our world.   The less of our sins and the more of God they see in us sheds light on God and gives Him more glory.             God’s first word of creation was to bring light to the darkness (Genesis 1:1).   In the New creation there will not be need for a sun, moon or lamps because God Himself will be

            It’s a good thing that I have 46 days to get into the rhythm of confession of my sins.   This spiritual discipline is one of the most difficult for me.   I rarely focus on confession.   It’s not that I don’t have a lot of sin to confess.   It is that I would rather not focus on my sins.             The Lenten Season is a gift to me.   I have been reading several Lenten devotional books and they each have different Scriptures and written prayers to guide me to true confession.   I need a tutor like that.   One of the best I have found is the Puritan Prayer Book— The Valley of Vision .   Now those people know what confession is all about!   I’ve got a lot to learn.             One of the best invitations to the purpose and meaning of confession was taught to me by walking a path during a recent Lenten Silent Retreat.   I went down to the creek, and I saw a broken beer bottle lying there.   I instantly picked up the pieces I found because I wanted to encourage the other women

I took a weekend Silent Lenten Retreat and learned how special the season of Lent (which means Spring) really is.   Being in the lovely setting where winter-spring becomes its own season, I discovered that the transformation from winter to spring reveals the transformation of our souls in Lent.   We had an absolutely gorgeous weekend to enjoy solitude with God.   Lent is a perfect season to see in nature what God is drawing out of us through the spiritual disciplines we focus on through penitence and preparation for Easter. It is the in-between season that shows us a lot about what we are doing spiritually through our focus on confession.    From a distance winter can seem stark and ugly.   I feel the same way about confession.   But if you take the time to see the winter (previous devotional) you can see that the winter season reveals realities that get masked over by the growth of summer.   In winter you become aware of what needs to be cleared away.   In the same way the confessio

            The Lenten Season invites believers to take part in a corporate fast.   The purpose of a fast is to become more aware of your powerlessness and to help you focus on God.   I think of my fasts from food as a way I show myself and God that I am really serious about the focus of prayer.   Of course as soon as the church gave a spiritual focus for fasting during Lent, we fallen humans found a way to focus on the food rather than the spiritual purpose.   Thus most people know more about Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras that focus on anything but spiritual intimacy.               I first practiced fasting as a teenager with my youth group.   I didn’t realize what a gift this was to learn to fast for a day or two combined with prayer.   I connected this discipline with major decisions, and I often fasted before making major decisions for my life.   It has always a spiritual victory in my life.   I have participated in corporate fasts during election seasons on Tuesdays when invited by a