Gesimatide - Preparing Our Hearts and Homes For Lent

Today marks the beginning of the transitionary period of Christmas and Lent known as Gesimatide or Shrovetide. We begin with Septuagesima (Sola Gratia), the ninth Sunday before Easter and the third before the beginning of the season of Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday, February 18. Following Septuagesima, meaning seventieth, are two other Sundays, Sexagesima (Sola Verbo) , meaning sixtieth and Quinquagesima (Sola Fide), meaning fiftieth. As the Lenten season numbers 40 days imitating Jesus’ forty days of fasting and prayer in the desert, the tree Sundays prior were thus counted as the 50th, 60th and 70th. The first Sunday of Lent is known as Quadragesima, or 40th.  All in all the it is a season intended for feasting and fasting, a period of time that prompts us to enjoy the delights of life before our days of fasting start and also signals us to ready our hearts and minds as we begin to enter into Lent. The three Sundays prior to Lent are like stairs that gradually bring you closer to fully living in the Lenten season. 

Septuagesima - Sunday, February 1, 2026

Matthew 20:1-16 The gospel lesson is the parable of the workers in the vineyard, a lesson that shows that we are saved by God's grace alone.

Sexagesima - Sunday, February 8, 2026

Luke 8: 4-15 The gospel lesson is the parable of the sower, where we here that our salvation is through God's word alone.

Quinquagesima - Sunday, February 15, 2026

Luke 18:31-43 The gospel lesson is the healing of the blind man where our Lord's own words show us that salvation is by faith alone.

The seventeen day period of Gesimatide also comprises the Carnival Season in many cultures and countries around the world. The word carnival comes from the Latin carnelevarium meaning, "the removal of meat." Historically, during these weeks of celebration, one would need to consume all remaining meat and animal products such as eggs, cream and butter, before the six-week Lenten fast. The reason for this was first, the laws regarding fasting and abstinence were quite different and far more strict from what is practiced today. You were expected to abstain from every thing on the list, and then some. Second, before home refrigeration these perishable items would not have lasted through the Lenten season when they were not being eaten and therefore would have spoiled. The best thing to do was to use them to make delicious food.

Carnival celebrations such as bells, masquerades, parades and parties happened throughout Pre-Lent in the spirit of feasting. But many of the leaders in the church did not approve of what the carnival season became, and saw it as an excuse to over indulge beyond any sense of virtue. It is important to realize that while these weeks are meant for feasting, they are also an intentional time of preparation for fasting and prayer. 

While our family has observed Lent for many years now, I find that this year I am looking forward to this season like never before. We've had several rounds of snow, sleet and freezing rain, and the flu and had made its round. In some ways I feel like I've done little more than read and cross stitch for six weeks now, not that I'm necessarily complaining, but with temperatures forecasted to finally making it above freezing this coming week, I'm looking forward to being able to get out and back to church.  I find that I am beginning to long for warmer days and returning to routine. And so in spite of the fact that we are currently looking at the potential for another round of snow on Wednesday, I spent some time yesterday thinking through the upcoming season and made a list of things I want to do and what I need to prepare for Lent and Easter and I thought I would share it here with you. If you observe this holy season perhaps you'll find some inspiration, and if this is new to you, I'll be sharing more in upcoming posts, so be sure to visit!  And with that, here's what I have so far.

- First and foremost is to arrive what I will be giving up this year. In years past I've given up spending, soda, sugar, and the like but this year I'm not sure. With that, I'm going to make this a more focused matter of prayer in the coming week.

- Put together our Crown of Thorns Wreath

This is something we've done for several years now. I have all of the supplies, I just need to bring down the Lent / Easter decorations and get it ready to set up. 

- Make our soil and ashes bowl

This is just a small bowl filled with a bit of potting soil mixed with the ashes from some leftover Christmas greenery. I think palms from Palm Sunday are what are traditionally used for the ashes in lenten services, but since I never have palms, I find the symbolism of greenery leftover from the season  in which we celebrate Christ's birth appropriate. During Lent, Christians "remember we are dust" because on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, we receive ashes on our foreheads while hearing the phrase "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19), serving as a reminder of our mortality, human weakness, and the need for repentance before God, signifying that we are created from the earth and will eventually return to it; essentially marking a time for reflection on our sinfulness and the promise of redemption through Christ's sacrifice. 

- Set up our Journey With Christ Through the Desert

This is a tabletop display I put together using 40 small stones. I simply lay them out to resemble a winding, wondering path to mark the 40 days of Lent (I also mark the Sundays with a larger rock). Each day we take up the rock that represents that day and place it into a small bowl that is kept nearby. This year I'm considering using four small votive candles to represent each Sunday, to light the way.

- Make a Tomb and Three Cross Display

In years past, I've made up displays similar to the ones you'll find at the link above, and I'd like to do it again this year.  One of the challenges we have in our home is a lack of open surfaces. I usually have to rethink my decorating in almost every season to make accomodations. I was considering saving this display for Holy Week, but another tradition we observe is burying the Alleluia, and in years past we've placed it in the tomb, which I find meaningful. This year I'm **hoping** to cross stitch an Alleluia banner, and what I have in mind would be too big to bury in the tomb, so I'll have to think on that. Maybe a smaller one for the tomb and a larger one for Easter Sunday? So much to consider.

- Set up the candles and cards for the Stations of the Cross 

The Stations of the Cross is another display we've set up during Lent, although it's been a number of years now since we've done it. In years past I set it up and we observed it every Friday, but I'm thinking this year I'd like to save it for Good Friday.

- Make a He Is Risen Cross for Easter Sunday

I saw this on Pinterest and really liked it, although you could do the same thing with the tomb and cross display, with the stone rolled away on Easter morning, which I think would be lovely. 

- The Road To Easter Countdown for Holy Week

I really like this idea, as well, but as I said, surface space can be challening and adding another countdown might prove difficult. However, I suppose if the pieces were small enough I could use them on the days of holy week in place of the stones in our Journey Through the Desert display. I'll have to think on that.

- Build a Cross to display outside.

I've wanted a cross on our property for years now, and not just for Easter. I'm sure we have the lumber, I'll just have to see if my husband has the time to build it.

While this sounds like a LOT, and perhaps it is, for the most part once everything is prepared and set up it's done. There are actually other traditions and things we observe in this season that I haven't even mentioned, and while there hasn't been a year when we've done it ALL, making a plan and holding it loosely at least ensures that SOME of it happens.

Do you observe Lent, and if so, what are some of your traditions, I'd love to hear!

Until then . . .

❊

Word Of The Year

"A new year is a gift. A small piece of infinity, to do with as we will. Things happen.  We grow (we hope) and we learn willy nilly.  Live moves around us, life moves through us to others, and the year gradually accepts its pattern.  We give, we take, we resist, we flow.  Our reachings, acceptances, rejections, our hesitancies, courage, fears and our loves all of these form the shape of the year for each of us as individuals, as part of a family, as part of a community."

~ JEAN HERSHEY

The Shape of a Year

Good Monday to you, my friends, and a rather belated Happy New Year!

We’re only 12 days in, and I would have to say that 2026 is already shaping uo to be an interesting year, perhaps a year in which I need to keep my expectations low and hold my time loosely because so far nothing has gone according to plan. 

My word for 2026 is STEWARD which I’m discovering early on includes stewarding my time. The Lord has graciously shown me already, that while I am over here making my plans and desperately trying to hold on to some symblance of tradition, He is doing a new thing, “can you not perceive it?”, and the truth is, I’ve been trying to ignore it because well, I liked my life just as it was, thank you, but before I dive too heavily into uthat, I want to take a few minutes to look back on 2025, as it holds much encouragement for the coming year, and I am already feeling the need for that!

For over a decade now, usually around mid-autumn, I have prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to speak a word over my life for the coming year, and in 2025 that word was QUIET.

It’s never what I expect it to be. I commonly have other words in mind, but He is always faithful to confirm, and this year, as with every other, when I reflect back on the passing year it is obvious and evident.

This year it started off rather tangibly. In January when many in our area got just a dusting to an inch of snow, we got about 5-6 inches. Not much by some standards, but on top of that was a thick layer of ice, and because our property is so heavily wooded, we were stranded for several days. A week later we got another round which added about another 3 inches, and extended our adventure….the world literally, grew very quiet. Though we never lost power, being physically cut off from society and unable to leave home strengthened our dependance on Him and each other, which unbeknownst to us at the time, we would desperately need just a few months later.

By now most of you know that in April of this past year our daughter, Katelin Sayles and her now husband, Cooper Sayles were involved in a near fatal car accident. Cooper sustained some physical injuries, though thankfully they were not life threatening, but Katelin’s injuries were significant.

Nothing prepares you for a moment like that. Prior to that day as similar stories would often cross my social media feed, I often thought that if that ever happened to someone I loved, I might die on the spot. I remember standing on the side of that rural country road. The sheriff wouldn’t let us come any closer, but I could see enough to know what the outcomes typically were. In that moment, I cried out, in a voice I didn’t recognize, originating from a place so deep within me I didn’t know it existed. I bonded with the Father heart of God in a way I had never experienced and heaven answered with . . . quiet. 

- A quiet peace that suddenly filled me, not even with the assurance that Kate would live, but knowing that regardless of the outcome, He was a good God and He was and would continue to watch over us.

- A quiet confidence, that He had forseen this moment since the foundations of the earth. I fully related to my Lord as my shepherd, as He faithfully lead us “through the valley of the shadow of death”. I instinctively knew to follow close and keep my eyes on Him, as He led the way. Even when I initially questioned her being taken to Roanoke instead of Charlottesville, it quickly became evident this was the perfect path.

- A quiet strength. Words cannot convey how greatful we were and still are for our community and for the million tangible ways they held us up in that season. Where to sleep, what to eat, how to take care of Kate’s beloved dog, Bandit. If we entertained a question for a second, someone was already there with the answer. Even the simplest thing like when my phone wouldn’t quit going off as we were sitting in the ER, and my beloved Juanita Cook took it and managed, somehow, talking to people she didn’t even know, discerning the sudden uptick in friends requests on FB, to quiet the noise. I will NEVER be able to repay any of them for the ways they ministered to us in that season and continue to do so to this day.

- A quiet season. And this, even now I find it hard to express. I had read in the word about the Holy Spirit interceding for us, but in those days I lived it. From the moment God reached down from heaven and tucked me beneath the shadow of His wing, my soul grew quiet. You don’t know what to think in moments like that, how to pray. You know the outcome you desire, but do you dare to hope? What if that is not God’s plan, what then? My heart and my mind were so jumbled with racing thoughts, I was initially filled with so much fear. . .I couldn’t form the words. And then I felt it, and the only way I can describe it is that it felt like, and I suppose was, a transfer of energy. I couldn’t make sense of anything, all I knew was what was right in front of me, all I heard was whatever the next doctor or nurse was telling me, and if not for the power of the Holy Spirit it would have overwhelmed me. But He took it, all that tangled mess, and He made it make sense, He interceded for me. When I couldn’t pray….He did. What was happening in the spiritual, physically manifested in my body but even now I cannot find the words to convey. All I know is that in those days and weeks and months, and at times, even now. . .in the midst of all that noise, my heart was . . . quiet. You can’t think? You don’t know how to pray? You can’t read? You don’t understand what you are being told? It’s ok, He whispered, I can, and He did.

I was often reminded in that time of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. Our world was shaken, but God was not in the earthquake. The fierce winds of fear and doubt were blowing, but God was not in the wind. We were being tested by a fiery trial, but God was not in the fire. 

And then….a still small voice.

But to hear His voice, when your foundations are rumbling, the roar of the wind is on every side, and life threatens to consume you like fire…..you must find that place, there in the center…..is the quiet, that is where He is waiting.

He always knows my need, long before I do. Before I even know the question, He provides the answer, and this year that answer was….quiet.

As I mentioned earlier, fir 2026 my word is . . .

STEWARD

and I am curious and expectant! 

All praise to Him, and glory, forever!

2015 - Goodness

2016 - Trust

2017 - Joy

2018 - Rest

2019 - Glory

2020- Dwell

2021 - Seek

2022 - Yearn

2023 - Restore

2024 - Trust (Again!)

2025 - Quiet

2026 - Steward

❈

Wishing You A Very Merry Christmas!

 I wanted to pop in here for just a few minutes this morning to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! I've been dealing with another round of sciatic nerve pain this past week which has really put me behind. I'm still in a little pain, and it is definitely slowing me down, but I was able to get a few things done yesterday, so that was a relief! We have company coming Christmas day and the kids are coming home this coming weekend and will be here through New Years day, which we are really looking forward to! I pray you all will have a blessed holiday season! I'll be back soon, and can't wait to visit with you again!

A Little House Christmas

 If you grew up in the 70's, like me, then most likely you grew up watching Little House on the Prairie. It was a staple in our home, and still a favorite that I enjoy rewatching to this day.

Recently I came across some **free** books and other resources that I wanted to share with you here today. I realize Christmas is just a week away, but even if you don't use these this Christmas, you could bookmark them for next season.

❉ A Little House Christmas
In her beloved Little House books, Laura Ingalls Wilder describes some of the Christmases she and her family celebrate on the frontier. Even if they don't have much money for presents, they always have one another, and that's enough to make any Christmas merry. This lavish gift book gathers together five of Laura's classic Christmas stories from Little House in the Big Woods, Little Houes on the Prairie, and On the Banks of Plum Creek, and is illustrated with gently colorized versions of Garth Williams' original art. 

Available for **FREE** from the Internet Archives, just click the link below.

A Little House Christmas

❉ A Little House Christmas - Volume II

The follow-up to the best-selling A Little House Christmas, here’s another chance to celebrate the special magic of the merry Christmases Laura and her family shared by the shores of Silver Lake, and during the happy golden years in De Smet, as well as Almanzo’s special Christmas days spent in upstate New York. With foil-stamped and embossed title type, a Christmasy green background and holly border, lavish cream-colored paper, and full-color Garth Williams cover and interior artwork, here’s a classic Christmas story collection that will be treasured year after year.

Available for **FREE** from the Internet Archives, just click the link below.

A Little House Christmas - Volume II

If you have younger children or grandchildren you might enjoy some of the My First Little House Book Series, including Christmas in the Big Woods, Winter Days In The Big Woods, and Sugar Snow.

IMBD TV is a free streaming channel available with Amazon Prime. All of the seasons of Little House are included and I'm linking below to three of the Christmas episodes.

- Christmas At Plum Creek (Season 1)

- Blizzard (Season 3)

- A Christmas They Never Forgot (Season 8)

~ Enjoy!