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- [00:00]
A
Foreign. Hey, we want to welcome you to another edition of the Collage Podcast here with Nancy again today. Good to have you all out there. We're going to shift gears slightly today. We're going to talk about. I'm going to use a crazy word right off the bat that Nancy's going to help explain to us, but we're getting to an area in the church calendar, the liturgical calendar of what's coming up in a season here that is called Lent. Okay, so Nancy and I are going to talk about. Nancy's going to give us historical on how Lent came about, when it was started, who it was started by and such like that. And then we're going to look at how does that even affect the world that we're in now, what it's about, because this is a crazy deal. So a lot of people out there in church don't really know Lent because some of the Christian faith denominations, some don't really do a whole lot in Lent. Some do. Okay, so we're going to kind of look at that. Doesn't matter. Well, I guess this one would matter a little bit of when you're listening to it, because it does have a date that this does involved. So kind of gives us an outline of where we're going to kind of talk about and then what we're going to talk about as it pertains to Lent and then activity that we're going to try to do in this community. And then even more important, not more importantly, equally as important, is it something that can occur. It'd be really kind of cool to see outside of this community in other areas. Like people that are listening to this all over the place can be part of this exercise. We're going to try. Okay, so, Nancy, do you have anything to say to start this off?
- [02:23]
B
Well, I'm definitely not a subject matter expert on the history of Lent and who started it and how it began and all that, but I do think it's important to just kind of start the conversation with, this is not a specific denominational practice. Like, this isn't. This shouldn't be looked at as specifically Catholic or specifically Protestant or. Or anything like that. It's really more of just an opportunity for us to really reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus and everything that he did for our salvation.
- [03:01]
A
Okay, how about we rewind even further?
- [03:04]
B
Okay.
- [03:05]
A
Because we're throwing this word out there, Lent. And so are we celebrating the stuff that you find in your dryer?
- [03:13]
B
No.
- [03:14]
A
No. Okay, so tell me, so Lent, like, so this in the church Words we can kind of get that assume that everybody knows what in the world we're even talking about, tell us we're fixing to start Lent. What is Lent?
- [03:29]
B
Lent is a season within this, the liturgical calendar.
- [03:33]
A
What is liturgical calendar?
- [03:35]
B
It's the calendar that the church sort of sets for the year. So we've got different seasons throughout the year. Advent would be one that's a liturgical season around Christmas, preparing us for the birth of Christ. Lent is a season beginning with Ash Wednesday, which is next Wednesday, that provides us an opportunity to reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus at. On a Good Friday through Resurrection Sunday. And then there are other, like, ordinary time seasons as well in the liturgical calendar. But it's. It's just a. It's a different period of time for us to reflect on. On different things.
- [04:17]
A
Okay, good. So we'll kind of get here's baseline. We're starting. And so then if you're a believer of the Christian faith or not, the activity we're going to do. Okay, that. That's neither here nor there, so you don't have to turn this thing off yet. But just to give you an idea, so Lent is. Don't quote me on the exact days, but it is pretty much, I think, 46 days prior to Easter. Okay, so then don't even ask how they set Easter. Easter is set on the calendar based on a certain full moon. And then it's X number of days after this full moon that coincides with this. They said Easter, then they come out of there, and then here. Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is the start of the Lent season. Okay, we won't. This isn't going to be too much of a history lesson, but Ash Wednesday is a reminder, basically. Okay. If your church does an Ash Wednesday service, the premise of Ash Wednesday is the start of the season. That is a reminder that from dust you were made and from dust you shall return. Okay. That's how the service goes. A lot of times people put ashes on your head. Thus the Ash Wednesday service in the form of a cross. And it's just to reminder or remind us of our own mortality.
- [05:42]
B
Yes.
- [05:42]
A
Okay. That. Here it is. If you are listening to this, I'm going to give you a really big surprise right here. You will die. Not at this moment, maybe. Hopefully. Okay, whatever. But we all share this commonality. Every human being that has ever walked the earth other than Christ himself, they will die. Their life will come to an end as we know it here on Earth. That's what Ash Wednesday is. You were created from dirt from this Formation. That's how man was put together. And you're going to return back to that. So that's Ash Wednesday. Okay. That's the start of this deal. It is a finite deal. Okay. It's whatever, 46 days, and then it leads up to Easter. Easter is the resurrection that we would celebrate. The fact that Jesus came and he overcame death, that Easter in our faith is that they came to go look at the tomb that Jesus was in after being crucified, and it is empty. Death is no longer the final barrier to people. That's what we will celebrate. So to get there, you have to embrace the fact that you do understand your own mortality. Ash Wednesday, to give you a little precursor. So you may not know this or whatever you do. It's not a church event per se, but the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday is Shrove Tuesday. Okay. So Shrove Tuesday, you go, what in the world is that? Well, that is in Louisiana culture, that is Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday is the slang term that it is referred to, Fat Tuesday in Louisiana. You see Mardi Gras. So you go, how do they do? Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday. And it is. And maybe lost, whatever. But it is a day of decadence.
- [07:39]
B
Yeah. Typically, people will choose something that they're going to give up for Lent.
- [07:43]
A
That's right.
- [07:44]
B
And the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday is the day that they consume that in excess because they know the next 40 days, they will not be able to have any of it.
- [07:56]
A
Good. So then we're caught up a little bit on. So Shrove Tuesday. That's what you all Mardi Gras. And they're doing all this crazy stuff and everybody's acting a fool and they're doing this. Okay, it is this. I'm going to go do all this stuff. Because during Lent, historically, and what it is kind of about is different faith communities would either you give something up for the season of Lent, so you sacrifice that. You can feel this sacrifice that Christ does, and it kind of. Whatever, Cheesy. Oh, maybe you like to eat chocolate. I'm not going to eat chocolate during Lent. Or alcohol. I'm not going to drink alcohol during Lent or whatever. Caffeine, there's variances of it. So either in faith communities, you would give something up so you feel the sacrifice that you would do, or you add something to your calendar. I don't normally wake up and do devotions every morning. So during Lent or whatever, I'm gonna wake up 20 minutes early. It ain't gonna work. But I'm just saying. But people would add something to it. I'm gonna read the Bible, I'm gonna read a book. I'm gonna do something in addition to what I normally do. Okay. During this time frame to try to make myself better. Okay. So you either sacrifice something that you want to give up, sort of like a New Year's resolution, but then you have this time. Okay. And depending on where you're at, some faith communities that you get to have many celebrations on Sundays and it doesn't count. And like if you gave up chocolate, you can have a piece of chocolate on Sunday. We don't really follow that one. Just it gets confusing on that. So if you give something up. Okay. All of that, that kind of. So when we're using the word Lent, this is what we are referring to is this season, basically 46 days that lead from Ash Wednesday to Easter. Okay. That's the season coming up. Now the reason we're bringing it up here is we're not trying to get you to come to a church service that we're doing or anything like that. We're bringing it up here to kind of explain why we are going to try this Lent activity in a joint fashion. Okay. So that we would all join in. So then. And we'll kind of expect. Well, what in the world are you talking about? We are explain because I like the concept of what we could do and as a community that's listening to this. Okay. Of what we could do and how we could do it together. So ready, Nancy Glover, Tell us what we are thinking about this community wide Lent activity that we're looking to do through Feed My Sheep, but just anywhere. So what do we kind of look in the concept?
- [10:54]
B
So historically Lent has been about three different things you, you would do during that 46 day period. Prayer, fasting. Like we've already talked about giving something up. Not necessarily fasting completely from food, but fasting from something. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the three things that we, we try to, to do specifically during Lent. So the, the challenge would be each day we would post something for folks to participate in as a, as a community that relate to one of those three activities. So for prayer we might be asking for specific. To pray for a specific thing. Like it might be, we need prayer for our Sunrise center programs where we're doing these specific things and we really want them to be fruitful. And so we're asking for prayer for that specific intention. It might be a prayer intention for a specific person. Maybe one of our Clients that might be struggling in a. In a specific way. We might ask for prayer for that. Um, it could be for an initiative of feed my sheep, maybe, you know, the farm or. Or something along those lines. Um, so a challenge relating to prayer, a challenge relating to fasting. We might ask that individuals would give up a meal and instead give it to somebody else in need. You know, maybe instead of buying that coffee at Starbucks, we would, you know, purchase a meal for someone that might not have food that's. That's maybe isolated within our community or, or maybe even coming down here to feed my sheep and volunteering during the lunch hour instead of eating, maybe they could skip their lunch and serve others. That would be a beautiful way of fasting. And then I've also always loved it when I'm in line at Starbucks and somebody in front of me pays for my meal or pays for my coffee. And, you know, it's just a motivator to want to pay for the next person in line. You know, doing something like that would be beautiful too. But there would be a challenge posted in the morning related to fasting. And then almsgiving also would be another challenge as well. And we would have, you know, some suggestions along those lines. Everything would be built around community participation, and everyone would know that the things that they're doing, they're not doing alone, but they're doing with the rest of the community. And always just being mindful of the sacrifice of Jesus in the process.
- [13:47]
A
Okay, so everybody out there listening to this, here's the concept which intrigues me to no end. We've done it to a small scale. Like, I've had small groups that have tried this and done this. The premise is we have. We have a set time. It's, you know, you'd like to believe these things would carry on into infinity, but we as humans have kind of shown that doesn't always work that way. But we have a set time. We got 46 days. So in this span of 46 days, we've got a group of people that are looking at the community and looking at faith and looking at life abundantly and looking at all these different things. And they have been tasked to present something to the community as a whole for them to do, for others to do, for themselves, to find different stuff. And then it is put out there in the morning at the start of every day. So everybody who, on our Facebook page or this and that, they would all see at the start of the day what the activity that the community is going to be doing today. Okay. And it's really kind of cool. So then what I enjoy is because we've done this in years past and we'll kind of share some different stories, but you would have this possibility. Okay, so it's like pay it forward 101.
- [15:22]
B
Yeah.
- [15:23]
A
Okay. So you would start your day and let's pretend that make it really simple. Okay. So like, you could see this visually. Like, I'm not saying, you being Nancy, that you can't see things easily, but you can see this very easily. Is let's say you look at your deal and the task for the day for everybody's reading this, and there would be a reason why you would do this. Hey. And so the task is whatever you go, like Nancy mentioned, you go to Starbucks and you go through the drive through. And because in the drive through, I would say that nobody can see who does what, and you go to the person and you say, I want to pay for the people's order in the car behind me. And you pay for it and you get on your way and they don't even know. And then historically, you would pass a message on because you don't want to insult somebody necessarily. And it's not like a bait and switch deal, but you would let them know that they are cared about and they are known.
- [16:31]
B
Yeah.
- [16:32]
A
So maybe you paid for the person behind you, their order. Okay. They don't know it's you. Okay. You're already gone. Okay. So by the time they realize what in the world's happened, you're already gone. So it wasn't about you. The activity is not. Look at the. Put the spotlight on me and you have left. And we would. At each task, there's going to be a thing at the end, how you would denote it. So let's say you purchase the food or the. Whatever the order is, person behind you, you pay for it and you just simply leave a message and you just tell them that they are cared about, they are seen, and they are truly loved.
- [17:08]
B
Yeah.
- [17:09]
A
And you drive off and that's the message the person got. Okay. Can you imagine if that just happened to you? How do you feel, Nancy Glover?
- [17:20]
B
I feel great. And then I'd want to pass on the love to the next person behind me.
- [17:25]
A
That's right. So then you're going, possibly that's not the task at hand, but possibly. So then first the response is on that specific task, you'd be like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's. I'm gonna pay for my order. But it's Already paid for. Your debt has already been paid. You don't owe anything.
- [17:44]
B
Yeah.
- [17:44]
A
So then you'd go, well, crud, I got to do something. I'll pay. How much is the order for the person behind me? I'll pay for theirs. And in theory that's not necessary. And then you would cross your mind, why in the world I must know that person. I didn't recognize that car. Why would they pay for my food? And do you think, would that make your day worse or possibly slightly better?
- [18:09]
B
Definitely better.
- [18:10]
A
Definitely, possibly better.
- [18:12]
B
Yeah.
- [18:13]
A
Just to know somebody did something for you that you didn't deserve. Okay, so then that, that's just a particular item. So then imagine what I find intriguing. Okay? And I'm not advertising for Starbucks, but we. It may be any drive through. Okay, so it may be any drive through. Okay, go to a drive through and pay for the person's order behind. Whatever. Dutch brothers, I love you too. Starbucks. Love you too. You know, black rifle, whatever. Burger King. What? Whatever. Pay for the person's order behind you. Say that thing. Can you imagine? So then this is what intrigues me. Temples, whatever. We are a hundred thousand people. Whatever. A hundred thousand people, okay? We got 12,000 people that follow our Facebook page. Okay? So let's just pretend that I know all 12,000 aren't going to get involved. I don't understand why, but they could. But let's just think, you start the day and you're involved in this and you go, oh my gosh, this is really kind of cool to think about. A thousand other people are going to go out in Temple Texas and do this to show kindness to other people. Okay? So we do that on the course of a day. And maybe it's not even a ousand, maybe it's 500, maybe it's not even 500, maybe it's 50, maybe it's 5, whatever the number, because that's not the task at hand. Okay? But imagine, just think of how quickly you could positively impact a community doing acts of kindness like this. Not buying to go food doesn't change the community, but you got 46 days of these activities and then at the end of the day or after it is done, we ask for people to possibly. So it's not self serving. You're not, hey, look at how great I am. Okay? It is. We would look back and share experiences that you could look at and go, oh my gosh, Nancy would put, oh man, I purchased food for somebody right here and I got to watch. And then they purchased for somebody else. And then they purchased for somebody else. It was so neat to watch this chain reaction that I had helped cause and nobody even knew I was part of it. We share these things. So then you get to look at the end of the day back on Facebook to go look out. This was awesome. To see the smile on that person's face. That's a proactive approach to help people. Because sometimes you go, I don't know what I should do today. And to not cheapen this deal, because giving up chocolate or whatever, this vice that you have that helps you, which then could. But that's singular in focus. I kind of like the idea of these things. But of golly, what could a community do? And they start the day together. And look at this. So that's one example of an activity. Another one could be, we've done this is, you know, in this world that we're at Nancy's multitasking right now.
- [21:20]
B
I'm not multitasking.
- [21:22]
A
Okay. But so in the. It may be simply this because the world is so busy and so crazy. Okay. That we oftentimes don't take the moments to embrace the beauty that's all around us. So one of the tasks may be. And it will be. Okay, Find a spot and watch the sunset today. And do nothing but watch the sunset for the five minutes that it takes for it to go down. And truly just be in quiet and watch the sunset and listen for the quiet. Proactively search out beauty. That may be one.
- [22:02]
B
Yeah.
- [22:02]
A
Okay. One may be. Read this thing right here and reflect upon what it says to you.
- [22:12]
B
Yeah.
- [22:14]
A
One may be. If you are of prayer, proactively, pray for all the people. Whatever. This is just an example. All the people that were without houses last night in temple, we all pray together and we pray that they would find that you got all these thousands of people praying. This united prayer changes things.
- [22:40]
B
It does.
- [22:41]
A
Okay, so that is what we're talking about, this Lent experience. So this not dryer doesn't have to be churchy. There's not going to be a bait and switch. At some point that's going to go. And since you did all this now you're part of this cult. Whatever. No, it is simply guided activities to help a whole community. And then obviously the end result, where you would hope is a groundswell of benevolence and good that are outward facing rather than inward facing.
- [23:15]
B
Yes.
- [23:16]
A
All the activities to a degree. Go sit and watch the sunset and just reflect with you. That is inward facing. So not all. Or go do something. But that is find the Peace and the quiet that comes with that. We don't do that. That is healthy. Go get somebody food. We don't do that. Read this. We don't do that. Find time to do this. Find time to do that. Okay. One of them. We will do a relationship that is difficult for you that needs to be reconciled. Write an email or a letter to that person or call them if you're in that place in the relationship and let them know that you desire to no longer harbor ill feelings towards them and you want restoration in that.
- [24:07]
B
Yeah.
- [24:08]
A
Call a loved one that you haven't talked to that would love to hear your voice and talk to your grandmother in a whole long time. She knows. She would love to hear you call her today. That may be a task or a loved one or an aunt or somebody or a friend that you haven't spoken to in a long time. Proactively reach out, rekindle that relationship and just let them know nothing more than, hey, I was thinking about you today. Hope you're having a great day. Great.
- [24:37]
B
Yeah.
- [24:38]
A
Okay. So. And then all of these things are not activities to point towards you. It's not like you call somebody and say, hey, just want to call you, because I'm so much better than you and I want to let. No, it is proactively just letting things be and let the. What we would know the sacrifices. Do you want to call somebody that you have ill feelings towards? No, but you do it because this. Oh, man. Yeah, I better do. Okay, so we do this thing. Okay. So that's the task at hand. And I can tell you I've done it on a small scale, like just me, small group. Okay. Nancy and I, we did it last year. Okay. So we're trying it a little bit bigger to get more people involved. I've seen long term, some of the beautiful moments that can come out of these deals. Okay. Not to get off on out in the weeds, but this is probably. This is 12 years ago. I can still remember it today. Lent experience like this. Okay. So every day be something different. And then we'd have different people picking the activity for the day because everybody has a different personality, everybody has a different feel, because if I do all of them, they're all going to kind of feel the same, you know, and so. But Nancy will have some, Jeff will have some, Casey will have some. All kind of different people. Here's the activity for the day, and here's what you can do. Case on this one particular one, the activity was to go purchase some flowers. Okay. So you Went purchase some flowers and go to a nursing home and give them to a person who you. You don't even know anybody at this, that you feel that. You just walk in the door and you'd see somebody and you go, I think they need flowers. And you go, give them flowers. Okay. It happened to be right at this time of year. It was Valentine's was coming up. I say that word wrong. I know that. So if you heard it out there, I said it wrong. I can't get it through my head. But. So the task was today, go purchase somebody flowers and leave them a note that says this. And the note said, I truly love you and I think about you all the time. I hope you enjoy these flowers. That was it.
- [27:12]
B
Nice.
- [27:12]
A
Okay. That was. It didn't say Jeff. Okay. So I went to this nursing home on 31st Street. That's a street here in Temple. I went to this nursing home. Again, it's not about me. I'm just telling you this, okay? I walked in the door, and it was immediately cleared. I saw the lady who needed to get the flowers, and she was sitting at a table with three other ladies. It was about lunchtime, I guess. Okay. So she's sitting there. I can still remember. She's wearing a green blouse. Okay. And she was sitting there, and I see her, and I walk up to her and I said, ma', am, I've got some flowers I'm supposed to deliver to you. So I sort of posed myself as a delivery person, because I was. Yeah, okay, so. And I said, hey, I got these flowers I was supposed to deliver to you. And she's like, you got me flowers? I said, no, ma'. Am. I'm just delivering these flowers. These are for you. Here's a card that goes with them. Hope you have a great Valentine. And that was it. Okay. I take a step away. I'm not even in the picture anymore. She doesn't even. I'm not even anywhere in this. And the lady opens the card. Okay. Mind you, the card said, basically, know you are loved. I think about you often. Okay. That was. Didn't have any name associated with it. It was a reference to that. God loved her. Obviously, we would hear that, but didn't say that opens card. Okay. Golly, it makes me sad to think about. But she opened the card, and she was smiling ear to ear. Ear to ear. I mean, like, she couldn't have been happier. And she looked to the other ladies at the table, and she said this. I'll remember this. She said, see, I told you My daughter wouldn't forget about me this year. She got me flowers. Look at these flowers she got me. They're beautiful. I knew she wouldn't forget me this year. She had been getting flowers. I know that because the lady at the front desk, she's crying and she said, are you her family? I said, no, ma', am, not in that way. Why'd you bring her flowers? I don't know. I just did. And she's crying and she says nobody ever comes to see her. That is such a kind thing you just did. I said, I didn't do nothing. And I left. So it's that.
- [29:53]
B
Yeah.
- [29:53]
A
Can you imagine if we have 11,000, 10,000, 12,000, 110 of those moments in a day? What have you done to the world? Yeah, you've done great. I'll tell you another one. Okay. Along the same lines, similar activity, but different. I still see this person is this long time ago, too. I don't even know why it was. You're supposed to write a letter of affirmation to somebody you really didn't know that you saw that was like, that worked at 7 11, worked at a restaurant that you sort of ran into. Yeah. But you didn't really know them. And it was an anonymous letter. And you would write and. To outline some of the characteristics that you had noticed in them and why they were so good. And again, you didn't sign it. So I wrote one. And this person's name was Sunday. As a matter of fact, I'll say it. And she worked at 711 on Avenue H here in Temple. Okay. And so again, I don't know why. I couldn't tell you why or what, but I got that one. And I knew I was supposed to take her letter. And I wrote this letter and basically it just. I typed it because my hand writes there, but basically it just said, you know, it said, I mean, like, you could look and see that she maybe had not had the easiest life, you know? And so I wrote, I don't know her, but I wrote, I know your life has been difficult at times, and I'm so proud of how you've made it through the dark spots and where you are today. I love how you always smile that every customer that comes in and you always bring such joy to everybody you come in contact with. I know you want to give up, but you don't. I know you don't want to fight, but you still do. I'm so proud of you, and I'm so happy with what you are doing. And you Are. Are a joy to watch.
- [32:17]
B
It's beautiful.
- [32:18]
A
I just signed that, you know, put it. Love you. And I made sure I gave it nobody. I gave it to somebody when she was working, but not to her to give to her. Okay. And I watched. She got it. Okay. But all of that to say. I saw her. Golly, it was probably six years after that. I hadn't seen her in forever. And she was working at a place she was bringing her son to, want to get him into after school care for the summer so she could work. And long and short of it, she had remembered the letter. Still had the letter.
- [33:11]
B
Wow.
- [33:12]
A
And she somehow had gotten wind that I had dropped it off. And long and short of it, you know, we had a discussion, and she wanted to know who had written the letter. I said, I ain't sure, you know, I was just told to give it to you, you know, And I said, I just dropped it off. I was the delivery person. And she was just so happy to have heard that because she was disappointed in herself and she didn't think she was being a good mom and this and that. And then so she brought the young boy to come be part of the summer program. She didn't have the money to do it. It was expensive. So how it even carried further is like, hey, great news, man. You were just at the right time. Because I happened to be sort of was dumb and sort of an executive running the place. I said, man, you're in luck. We got a scholarship for Thomas. He gets to come for the summer. And I've been waiting for the right person to come. And I know Thomas is the one paid for childcare for the summer out of that letter. So it's that to think of a community that's proactively looking how to possibly bring joy to others, how to possibly bring peace to yourself and to be a part of it, but not the center of the focus.
- [34:56]
B
Yeah. As you're talking about these beautiful stories, kind of meditating on the scriptures, the scripture reading from this morning, from the gospel, it was about Jesus healing the man who was deaf and had this speech impediment. And if we look at all of these different opportunities for being able to hear better, being able to see more clearly, being able to forgive and to bring healing to others, really thinking about all of these things through the lens of Jesus and what he brought into this world and all of the gifts that he's. That he gave and that he still gives and how we can emulate that and really focus in on where those gifts come from and how we can slow down and really focus on taking advantage of those opportunities that he provides to us to see. To see those people that we might overlook otherwise. So for him to improve our vision, for us to truly hear, and not just hear, but to try to understand what other people are saying, to really listen. So really cherishing the gift of hearing that he gives to us. And then that forgiveness, like you mentioned, that's healing. And sometimes the one person that we need to forgive the most is ourselves.
- [36:41]
A
And the one that's a whole other podcast.
- [36:46]
B
So taking that opportunity to really, to give yourself that, that grace and what a beautiful thing. So if, as you said, over 46 days, we're really just opening ourselves up to all of the gifts that Jesus has to give us through. Through sight and hearing and healing, I definitely think our little community of temple would be a much, much better place at the end.
- [37:18]
A
Oh, it's a beautiful thing to think of. Like, it intrigues me to no end to see. Start a movement of good.
- [37:31]
B
Yeah.
- [37:33]
A
You know, start a movement of healing, restoration in a community. Be part of that by doing nothing other than like you say, be present and aware of what's going on and see, see those around you. Like, think of these. Like, these things. And these are not complicated stuff to do. Nothing is going to be out of the box that you're going to be like, I can't do that.
- [38:00]
B
This.
- [38:01]
A
This is stuff that's not focusing a light on you. Okay. At all.
- [38:07]
B
Right.
- [38:09]
A
It's nothing. It's not financial. You're not going to go broke if you miss a day during it. Oh, well, if there's one of them you don't want to do. Oh, well, I would encourage you. The ones that you are the most uncomfortable doing might be the ones that are the most beneficial and bring the most to you.
- [38:27]
B
Right.
- [38:27]
A
Okay. So won't even go down that path. But it is just this thought. Okay. Because I believe, why wouldn't. Why in the world we even do this? Am I trying to get everybody in temple to go to a certain church? Absolutely not. Am I trying to get you to understand what Lent is? Maybe we need to understand sacrifice and we need to understand doing for others. That is Lent. At the end of the day, that is what it comes down to. For those that can't do for themselves, you do for them and they ain't even going to know you did it. Last time I checked, that's Lent. So. Yeah. Am I trying to get you to understand a little bit about Lent? Absolutely. Because you know, in it, while we were yet sinners, that Christ died for us so that we should have life. So do I understand the importance of it? Yes, but not. That's not the gist. Mine is. I believe community is the key to everything. And the key to a good community is sacrificing for others and caring for others and caring for ourselves. It's that simple. So then this is an opportunity to come together and we are doing things in a focused manner. And just to have this concept of going, man, that was really cool. After week one, we got even more people that are looking and wanting to do it and even more that are part of it and more that are part of it and more amazing stories of joy.
- [40:05]
B
Yeah.
- [40:05]
A
That are being brought around a community. So that is what you're going to hear about. That's what we're going to do. Each day will be a different thing. Each day will be. And it will be tied in. It will have worth, it will have merit. You're not going to go broke doing it. You're not going to. We understand people are busy. It's not going to take a huge amount of time out of your schedule that you don't have. You know, it's not going to try to bring you to a place that you don't want to go. It's just a way to unite around and to start being part of something that's bigger than ourselves. I go do it. Just my. Which is plenty good. I've done that. That's plenty good. Okay. That's a whole other activity. The doing it singularly on your own. But then part of a collective whole is even more intriguing to be part of something that's bigger than just you.
- [41:03]
B
Yeah.
- [41:04]
A
That's community. That's community. Okay. So that's what you're going to hear about. So then nuts and bolts of it. If somebody's still hanging around on this, you're going to see this because we're going to put this up on Facebook. Okay. So somebody wanted to be part of this Nancy Glover. What would they need to do?
- [41:22]
B
All they need to do is follow our Facebook page, which is at Feed My Sheep Temple.
- [41:29]
A
I think so. Yeah. So we're. Feed My Sheep Temple is where all our social media such goes to. So it's going to be there. I think we're going to have it on Instagram. We're going to put it on our website. We're going to like the activities for the day. We'll put them out there.
- [41:46]
B
Yep. By 6:00 clock in the morning, 6:00am
- [41:49]
A
we'll put them out there. You don't have to read them at 6am but some people's day starts. Some people's day starts even earlier than that, which is dumb. That's a whole other deal. But their day would start, but your day would start. And you know, here's what I need to do today.
- [42:04]
B
Yeah.
- [42:05]
A
Prioritize. Okay. I gotta remember to stop by such and such, go by the grocery store and do this, do this, do this, or oh man, I gotta go find a place to go watch the sunset today.
- [42:21]
B
And it would be great. Not required, but it would be great if folks could share their experiences and in the comments of each post. And if you do see an amazing sunset, we would love it if you would snap a picture and share it with others so we can all be sort of experiencing the same things together. Definitely not required. But it would be. Be great to hear the stories. And then of course, any. Anything like what Jeff had said earlier with the nursing home and the flowers, we would love to hear those types of stories as well.
- [43:01]
A
Yeah. So each day at the end of the day, at your own terms or when you've done it, put a report out like, hey, this happened and it was so stinking cool.
- [43:09]
B
Yeah.
- [43:10]
A
Let other people share in the smile that you're having. Yeah, that's it. Whether you feel comfortable doing that or not, whether you don't, because some people like it, because your name's associated with what you put out there and then it looks like you're focusing on you. Whatever, that's your call. But let other people know.
- [43:27]
B
Yeah.
- [43:28]
A
You know, so go to the Facebook page and this starts. The first activity would be on Wednesday,
- [43:36]
B
February 18th, which is Ash Wednesday.
- [43:38]
A
Yep. So February 18th, day one, Ash Wednesday, day one. Okay. We're gonna start pushing that stuff out there. We're gonna start nice and easy and we'll move on. Every day the task will be slightly different. Okay. And I will go ahead and tell you I'm going to cheat. Is going to be right at the end. One of the tasks here in Temple Texas, you can already start right now. You'd be ill advised to. Because there's none out there. There is a place here in Temple Texas because blue bonnet is our state flower. Okay. And they are blue. Correct. Because thus the name Blue Bonnet.
- [44:19]
B
Yes.
- [44:19]
A
Okay. There is a place here in Temple. I know. I have been watching this spot for 30 years, believe it or not. That's stupid. Okay. I know that. But there's pink. Blue bonnets.
- [44:35]
B
Really?
- [44:35]
A
Here In Temple. Huh? There is pink blue bonnets. There will be pink blue bonnets. There will be numerous pink blue bonnets.
- [44:43]
B
Oh, not currently blooming.
- [44:45]
A
No, they're not blooming right now.
- [44:46]
B
Okay.
- [44:46]
A
No, no, no. The blue bonnets are not of bloom. But that will happen during this lent experience towards the end. Okay. One of the ones will be. Take a picture of the pink blue bonnet. They're only in one spot. Yeah. Okay. 80% of temple will drive by them every day and never see them. Absolute rarity of nature. They would say 1 in 10 billion. 1 in 10 billion bluebonnets are pink. It's a genetic mutation. We got one spot. There's probably going to be. Last year, there was probably 150. Wow. Pink blue bonnets. 125. A bunch of them. It started with one I was driving by years and years and years ago. I don't even look at flowers. I'm not even into flowers. Okay. And I just happened to be gazing off into this big old patch of blue bonnet and something struck my eye and I turned around. I'm like, what in the world? And right in the middle of this big, giant patch of blue ones was one pink one. And I almost picked it, but that's against the law. I didn't do it. Okay. So I almost picked it because I thought that was the stinking coolest thing I'd ever seen. I didn't know they could be pink. And I watched it. Next year, there was three. Same spot. It reproduced.
- [46:09]
B
Yeah.
- [46:10]
A
And then next year, there was more and more and more. And now they'll be there all over the place. In this one section. All over the place. We'll even do a bonus because now I kind of got intrigued by that. So now I watched them all over the place. And just to see if I can see one other places, the other challenge is going to be, there's also white blue bonnets in Temple. There's one section that they're only white.
- [46:36]
B
Wow.
- [46:37]
A
And same deal. Not as rare. That's one in three million. Okay. But still rare. But there's a place that there's white ones. And we miss this beauty because we don't take the time to look for. People are going to see these things that are part of this because they're looking for them.
- [46:56]
B
Yep.
- [46:58]
A
There's the point of the whole activity. You will see what you are looking for, and you will not see what you do not look for or do not want to see.
- [47:09]
B
Mm.
- [47:10]
A
It's as simple as that. This activity is that you want to see somebody hurting who could use love, look for them.
- [47:19]
B
Yeah.
- [47:21]
A
You don't. Don't you want to see kindness? Be kindness?
- [47:30]
B
Yeah.
- [47:33]
A
You want to help others heal and find wholeness? Start with you. So that's this. It's this belief that we really could change the mindset of a community not through this, but this mentality.
- [47:56]
B
Yeah.
- [47:59]
A
So we're going to use the Lent time to do that. I hope everybody you made it to this far so that I promise you the Lent would be far easier than this. Okay. More enjoyable than making it through this. But I hope you would at least try and to go, man. Whether you want to call it Lent activities or not, I don't care. But we're going to try to proactively do things to make the people in the community of temple better. 46 days. Be interesting to see what all we could do in that. And the lives that get touched, just do the math. It's stupid, crazy, stupid crazy how many lives can get touched and impacted. So that is that. And we are going to get on with this. Nancy's got a meeting she's got to go walk down to right now. I'm getting texts for her. She's multitasking through me, evidently. So. Wow. That's a new skill set she has gotten. So hope everybody has a great day. I hope you go tune in to begin the Lent activities. And then I hope here that we get this thing dialed in and get it out there for the World Wide Web asap.
- [49:23]
B
And I would just ask if, if there are people out there that pray. And I hope that there are lots of people out there that pray, please pray for our Lenten challenge time. Agreed that it be fruitful and impactful for a lot of people.
- [49:39]
A
Okay. For sure. Well, we will go. And remember, like in this Lent deal, what we say every time, if you're hearing this, if you're a part of this, whatever this Lent activity, if you're part of that, okay, you are a person. And we would say simply this. The reason we even do this, lengthy reason we do this is just to let everybody know and to acknowledge the simple truth. Everything we are about is we say that people matter. You matter. This Lent experience is another way to show people they matter and also to show you you matter and being part of the community and being part of the change. It's that simple. This stuff drives me crazy. I'll be in a bad mood now for the next two days because it's so, so, so, so simple. How we could truly profoundly change a community. It's mathematically possible. It is philosophically possible. It's so easy to look at the pay it forward math and multiplicate multiplication and duplication and all of this process. 3 becomes 6. 6 becomes 12. 12 becomes 24. 24 becomes 48. 48 becomes 96. 96 becomes 122, or whatever it is. 180, that's 192. Okay? And you start looking at this. And it began with one.
- [51:12]
B
Yeah.
- [51:13]
A
You go look at why these things matter. You go look at that single blue bonnet. That's now going to be 150 at least. Multiplication, duplication. Okay, so enough of that. We won't go on a tirade. It's just so easy. So easy. So Nancy's got to go to a meeting in the resource office. Everybody have a great day. Thank you very much. Sa.