Music and Ashes.

Last night we attended our first district music festival for orchestra. It included all of the orchestra students from all schools in town, 5th through 12th grade. I loved it. It really hit me that Emily is getting older when I saw her among all the different grade levels. The high school kids played so well and they looked so elegant, the boys were wearing black suits and the girls in long black dresses. Before the finale, they gave out awards for the high school seniors that had been in the music program consecutively from 5th to 12th grade.

Emily wears her hair pulled back in a low pony tail every single day of the week, so when she told me she wanted to wear it down, I was pleasantly surprised. She looked so pretty. Before it began, Eva was watching Emily with her friends and several times she yelled from the bleachers, "Emily, take it easy!" It was hilarious, I am thankful she did it before and not during! It was hard to get a good photo while she was playing, this is the best I could do, and it only shows about 20% of the kids who were performing.

After the concert, we rushed over to attend the Ash Wednesday service at our church. It's funny to watch the kids get excited about having a cross traced into their foreheads with ashes. When Wyatt realized that this was that day, he said, "oh good I really like this part." It's a novel idea for the kids, we encourage them to get dirt on their heads and we are all happy about it. I just have to remember to also remind them why we do it. I'm not so good at putting these things into my own words so I looked this up:

Our foreheads are marked with ashes to humble our hearts and reminds us that life passes away on Earth. We remember this when we are told "man is dust, and unto dust you shall return."

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.

Ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice.

Well, all I can say is Ash Wednesday totally works. It really does nudge me to heartily consider my mortality, my weaknesses and my ultimate purpose and I think it's a really good time to rouse those reflections. The first time I ever recall noticing someone who received the ashes was in 1987 when I worked at Farmers Insurance, it was an older woman named Shirley, I was ignorant about these things and I thought she was eccentric! It would be ten more years before I understood what that was all about and experienced Ash Wednesday for myself.

Love it. It's a fine time of year in another awesome way as well, the blossoms that appeared this week on the trees are telling me that the seasons are a changin' and all I can say to that is hey Mother Nature, bring it girlfriend!