{"id":3425,"date":"2013-02-19T16:11:09","date_gmt":"2013-02-19T22:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=3425"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:51:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:51:42","slug":"refresh-and-restart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2013\/02\/19\/refresh-and-restart\/","title":{"rendered":"Refresh and restart"},"content":{"rendered":"

[youtube=http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=m3L3c23MfC0]<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s been nearly a week since we started all this.<\/p>\n

With ashes smeared upon our foreheads, we committed ourselves to new disciplines.\u00a0Our motives are good: we have dreams and desires to refresh our relationship with Jesus.\u00a0We’re in the desert to detoxify and prepare for the joy of that great Sunday, the\u00a0holy day of\u00a0Easter.<\/p>\n

We’re trying to let God have with us what God will.\u00a0We have a long way to go to really be ready.\u00a0Our trying turns into trials.\u00a0Over and over we keep encountering an important Lenten truth: we’re really not that great.<\/p>\n

That lack of greatness is an uncomfortable consciousness.\u00a0For some of us, it’s much easier than others.\u00a0Some people are incredibly disciplined and are used to working on getting better.\u00a0Their life is structured around the flow of “yes to this,” and “no to that.” It amazes me.<\/p>\n

For others like me, the attempts of taking on Lenten disciplines\u00a0are simply an experience of knowing again and again how undisciplined I really am.\u00a0I keep messing up and forgetting. I keep wondering if I need to pick a new focus–all my attempts are\u00a0just\u00a0making me\u00a0feel awful about how terrible I am at being disciplined.<\/p>\n

You see, one of my intentions is to simply take a 10-minute afternoon walk and focus only on the beauty of creation during that time.\u00a0How’s this been going? Well, it hasn’t. It’s awful.\u00a0I pile on excuses about why I can’t make that\u00a0pause or just completely forget about it. Overall, I keep realizing how much I need Jesus; how much I am clueless and lost and nothing without him.<\/p>\n

The thing about Lent is that it is indeed a time when we must pray, fast and give alms so we can be more open to hearing Jesus’ messages.\u00a0To start, it’s much easier to listen to Jesus if we are aware of how much we need to listen.\u00a0Maybe that’s the whole point.\u00a0I need to be humble, weak and feel sort of pathetic.\u00a0I have to let go of my pride to really be dependent on God.\u00a0Then, maybe I’ll be much better\u00a0at letting Jesus satisfy my thirst.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, I am so thankful that in my trials of renewing my relationship with Jesus I have this time to refresh and this space to restart.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The view is pretty good with Jesus. Photo by Julia Walsh FSPA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[youtube=http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=m3L3c23MfC0] It’s been nearly a week since we started all this. With ashes smeared upon our foreheads, we committed ourselves to new disciplines.\u00a0Our motives are good: we have dreams and desires to refresh our relationship with Jesus.\u00a0We’re in the desert to detoxify and prepare for the joy of that great Sunday, the\u00a0holy day of\u00a0Easter. We’re...","protected":false},"author":4071079,"featured_media":3427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2178641],"tags":[1100082,1105181,401,43523,7816,20100,8329,698755380,7543887,853,34941365,151502,1494],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-3425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prayer-and-spirituality","tag-almsgiving","tag-committments","tag-faith","tag-fasting","tag-god","tag-growth","tag-jesus","tag-lent","tag-lenten-practices","tag-prayer","tag-relationship-2","tag-spiritual-discipline","tag-spirituality","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/100_2769-scaled.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"
Refresh and restart<\/a><\/blockquote>