Week 5 Lenten materials now posted!

Where were you, mentally and emotionally, last year on St. Patrick's Day? I remember how this one stanza of the St Patrick's Breastplate prayer was like a little ray of light for me that day because I was in a period of seesawing between "I'm finding joy in the little things, one day at a time" and "if one more person tells me this virus thing is going to go on for months I'm going to scream and throw things at them."

Thinking about how long we were going to be stuck at home and on pause made me feel really really crazy and upset, so if I wanted to be able to function and have anything positive to offer my children, I had to stay away from looking ahead and focus my gaze just Right Here.

St. Patrick told me what to do: Don't stay down. Arise each day through the strength of God, regardless of how not-strong I feel. Go for a walk, look out the window and let nature fortify and energize me with its beauty. And then tomorrow arise again.

This week's Lent video picks up that same theme of relying on God's strength, based on Psalm 84:5. I share a story about a time when God kept me strong during a hard time even though I didn't yet realize He was there.

Check it out on the Lent page of the Rooted website. There are also a couple of Bible passages I recommend if this idea of God being our strength clicks with you. If you're thinking, "I don't know how to study the Bible," it's simpler than you might think--just look one up, read it and sit quietly for a while with God thinking about what it means for YOU personally. That's all! You can do it!