Denied

It seems like Easter will never get here! I don't know why, but it seems like Lent has lasted forever. I know it is partly because Easter is so late this year. Usually we are scrambling (this is a delayed pun) to recover from Christmas and Advent so we can jump right into Lent.

Each Lent I have tried to do something new (add) to grow spiritually during these 40 days of preparing for Easter, and I try to give up something (deny). This year I have fasted on Thursdays (anyone who knows me knows this is not easy). In years past, I've not made it. This year I believe I did (during the week when I had the Super Moon Flu I did not fast on Thursday)... one more to go. The denial of something I enjoy helps me to connect with the sacrifice that Jesus made for me during this Holy Week (though it doesn't even compare).

Denial has made it seem like a long Lent. I guess the opposite is true of "Time flys when you're having fun" ... Time drags on when you're in Denial (trying to restrain myself from telling the joke that da nile is not just a river in Egypt). Lent is a great time for me ... to reflect ... to learn ... to reconnect to my faith ... but thank God ... Holy Week is here!

BIT: The other "partly" for why my Lent may seem to be dragging also has to do with denial. It has to do with what I've been doing (or perhaps better stated, not been doing) for the last four months. Rather than for spiritual reasons, I have been denied for physical reasons. If you've been following the blog, you know that I have been trying to eat healthier and exercise in order to lose weight. I have lost 60 pounds so far. Since I am the primary food preparer for our family, my family has been (sometimes reluctantly) on the way with me.

One of the traditions in the Brewster house is to have a big breakfast on Saturday morning. Traditionally, this has included eggs, bacon and/or sausage, and biscuits and gravy. This was not going to work ... so, Saturday breakfast, since December, has been modified. Eggs (a good source of protein ... though I usually eat scrambled egg whites) and turkey sausage. Sometimes I fix the kids a biscuit (but if I'm feeling weak ... no, a biscuit for you ... I run a tight kitchen).

Saturday before last, my oldest ... looking at his modified Saturday breakfast of eggs, turkey sausage and biscuits (it was a strong day) ... asked me when we were going to have a "real" breakfast. I knew what he was asking, but told him that this was a "real" breakfast. He responded that he wanted breakfast "like we used to have with meat and biscuits with gravy." I explained that turkey was a meat ... even though I knew what he was talking about. I thought about it ...

GRAVY ... how many calories and fat grams could there be in flour browned in pig grease and doused with milk? I didn't check. This past Saturday ... the Brewster's were denied no longer (though we won't have this every Saturday)!

BITTER: Isn't biscuits and gravy with real sausage and whole eggs scrambled in butter a lot like Easter after a really long Lent? Have a Blessed Holy Week.