Child: "Mom, what's butt dust?"
We didn't use this line today for Ash Wednesday services...but this joke 
always makes me laugh. I laughed at it until I was face to face with numerous children tonight and had to put ashes on their forehead. There's something so fragile and precious about the face of a child, that to mark it with black ashes seems wrong. Some children watched me intently as I came at them with a thumb full of black dust. Some closed their eyes and somberly felt the particles fall onto their cheeks and nose. Either way, it was a hard thing to do.
always makes me laugh. I laughed at it until I was face to face with numerous children tonight and had to put ashes on their forehead. There's something so fragile and precious about the face of a child, that to mark it with black ashes seems wrong. Some children watched me intently as I came at them with a thumb full of black dust. Some closed their eyes and somberly felt the particles fall onto their cheeks and nose. Either way, it was a hard thing to do.And not just for the fact that it's a realistic reminder of our mortality, but also because we don't put any oil in the ashes, so they fall everywhere! I was putting ashes on foreheads and felt so bad for getting ashes on them that I ended up brushing the crap off their noses too. It sort of takes people out of the moment when I said, "Sorry...be careful when you go to take your glasses off, there's a pile of ashes on the top of them!" Oh well, at least it made it memorable for me. The one other time I got to help place ashes on foreheads was when Pastor Bob Schulze asked me to at St. Matthews. This was a big deal for an LCMS congregation (no ordination of women), and it was such an honor to get to stand alongside him and do one half of the congregation. His unspoken faith in me on that night was one of the earliest indications of my call to ministry. So, really, today is an anniversary that should be celebrated. Ice cream anyone? Sorry...it's been 24 hours now, and I've already got the shakes...39 days to go.
My best cross of the night was appropriately placed on Pastor Greg's forehead. The biggest most 
consistent of them all (cross, not forehead), so we took a picture to commemorate my success! :) Plus, this is one of the few times when I'll see both Bob and Greg in clerical collars, so yet another reason for a photo! Bob did my cross this morning at the 10:00 service and certainly gets the award for coolest looking. You never know what you're gonna get with a thumb full of flaky ashes. I guess it makes it more fun to try and guess after church!
consistent of them all (cross, not forehead), so we took a picture to commemorate my success! :) Plus, this is one of the few times when I'll see both Bob and Greg in clerical collars, so yet another reason for a photo! Bob did my cross this morning at the 10:00 service and certainly gets the award for coolest looking. You never know what you're gonna get with a thumb full of flaky ashes. I guess it makes it more fun to try and guess after church! During lunch, I ran to the grocery store to drop off my recycling. $14.80. Over two months of 
recycling for under fifteen bucks. That's about 6 gallons of milk, so I'll take it. There was a huge line of people waiting to fill their buckets and weigh in. All of them looked at me and then smiled kindly. MY CROSS! People were being nicer to me because of it. This was a nice change. If I wasn't so concerned about my pores, I'd draw one on everyday. Next year, I guess.
recycling for under fifteen bucks. That's about 6 gallons of milk, so I'll take it. There was a huge line of people waiting to fill their buckets and weigh in. All of them looked at me and then smiled kindly. MY CROSS! People were being nicer to me because of it. This was a nice change. If I wasn't so concerned about my pores, I'd draw one on everyday. Next year, I guess. 
1 comment:
Very nice looking cross. On a very pretty girl!!!
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