Refreshment & Curiosity for March 2024

March 15, 2024

Hello Friends,

Lent

We are in the season of Lent on the Christian liturgical calendar. It marks the 40 days (minus Sundays) between Ash Wednesday and Easter. This is a time of reflection and repentance, commemorating the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness experiencing temptations. Isn’t it ironic that this long, difficult time happened directly after his baptism, after he had just heard God declare he is his son and he is pleased with him?

Many people “give up” something during Lent, like chocolate or caffeine. The past few years, Gregg has given up his Saturday mornings and “taken on” working in the yard, something he really does not enjoy doing. Tonight we’ll head out to buy bags of soil and, hopefully, LOTS of our new favorite plant, Blue Daze. It looks beautiful alongside yellow lantana.

If you’d like to learn more about Lent, here is a “Lent: A Rookie Anglican Guide.”

Holy Week

We look forward to Holy Week at our local Episcopal Church. They will have a number of services leading up to Easter.

• Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, begins Holy Week. At our church, we will be given small palm crosses to wear (pictured to the left) which the women make the Friday before. We gather outside and sing as we join the processional behind the choir and priests into the church building for the service.
• Maundy Thursday commemorates Jesus sharing The Last Supper with his disciples. This service includes eucharist (aka communion), foot washing, and then a sobering “stripping of the altar” in silence and darkness before we silently leave.
  • Stripping the Altar – On Maundy Thursday, as each candle, table covering, eucharist serving pieces, the New Testament, and other altar items leave the darkened room, one by one, and the altar is slowly cleaned, I can’t help but grieve. If King Jesus did not die and then prove he conquered death by coming back to life, we wouldn’t have a church, the people or the building, with which to worship him. The thought makes me feel empty and hopeless.
• Good Friday, we have the opportunity to walk through the Stations of the Cross outside in the yard. At your own pace from noon to evening service, you can go from station to station, reading and remembering the events leading up to the crucifixion.
  • The Good Friday evening service is also sobering. It feels strange to be in the bare sanctuary. If I remember correctly, the service doesn’t include music. At one point in the service, our priest slowly luggs in a huge cross to the front. The hushed atmosphere lends itself to deep contemplation.
• Easter Sunday, Gregg and I LOVE to attend Easter Sunrise services! For years, we’ve gone to a beach servide. Now we stay close to home. Since our church is located on the banks of the St. John’s River, it is a lovely location for a sunrise service, celebrating King Jesus being alive!
  • Eucharist Celebration. This year, Gregg and I will both be chalice bearers at the 6:15 a.m. sunrise service. Weather permitting, chairs and an altar are set up outdoors, facing the river. During the celbration portion of the service, the attendees go to the altar where a priest will give them the eucharistic bread.” A chalice bearer then serves them the eucharist wine. It is an honor to serve Jesus in this way.

One of my favorite parts of the eucharistic service is when the priest holds up the plate of bread and the chalice of wine, then says, “The gifts of God for the people of God. Take in remembrance that Christ died for you, and feed on him in your hearts by faith, with thanksgiving.” I tear up almost.every.time. 💗

I hope that you will find one or more Holy Week services to attend and are blessed. If you are in Jacksonville and would like to join us, please let me know.

You can find more information on Holy Week: A Rookie Anglican Guide

Aunt Kitten Book Update

The next Aunt Kitten book has a working title! Keep Going, Don’t Stop, continues to be refined, thanks to the amazing feedback I have been receiving from authors and friends. Their honest observations have helped me hone both the story and my poetry skills. (Who knew that poetry, aka rhyming children’s books, would be SO HARD?!)

Sneek peek #2:

(Mama:)

Time for bug breakfast so leap out of bed. 

(TreeFrog:)

Can’t I stay home? Let me help you instead.

Thinking of camp makes my tummy flip flop,

Then my heart pounds and my legs lose their hop.

(Mama:)

I know it’s scary and hard to begin. But I

think you will like it once you make a friend.

Camp is a place to explore different skills.

You might find something that brings your heart thrills.

Some things will fizzle or drizzle or flop.

That is OK! Keep on going, don’t stop.

Illustrations

I’m now at the beginning of the illustration process, pondering whether to change the look of the characters from the first book. The past few days, I’ve been playing with some ideas. Can you guess my potential “theme?”

This is a first prototype. These characters will change, yet I hope you enjoy seeing a bit of the process.

Check out the bottom of this email for a fast-speed video of me “playing” with a new painting technique. The paper wasn’t good for watercolor, so I’ll be trying it again. 🤷🏼

Thank you for joining me in this conversation, on our walk through life, on our learning and grow journey, and for your encouragement as I share my writing process.

You are a gift from God to me!

-Kristin Emily Friend 🐾

PS – as always, I’d LOVE to hear from you. Feel free to hit reply to this email to land a message in my inbox. If you are reading this online, feel free to leave a comment below and/or send a message to me via the “contact” page.

Here is the 13 second video of me speed-painting bird blobs. 😁 I followed this YouTube turorial if you want to try it, too.