The season of Lent is the 40-day period (excluding Sundays) preceding Easter. Traditionally in the church it was a time when new converts practiced spiritual disciplines in preparation for baptism on Easter. A focus during this season is repentance – turning away from sin and those things that have power over us or stand in the way of our relationship with God. During Lent this year I am doing a sermon series titled “Journey of Stones” and each week members of my congregation are encouraged to place a stone at the foot of the cross. The stones represent our sins and failures and their placement symbolizes a “letting go” of those things. Last week, while I was preparing for the Ash Wednesday service at Oak Chapel (Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent), God and I had a long and serious conversation about many things, but particularly about my weight and my need to let go of my failures and my criticism of myself. I have had additional encounters with the Holy since then, including a very powerful dream (yeah, I know that sounds weird) that I am still processing. God is definitely working on me to let go of the past and move forward.

Over the last few weeks as I have been trying to climb back on the wagon of my weight loss journey, I’ve gotten discouraged when I logged onto the Weight Watcher site to track my weight. Just looking at the charts and visuals was depressing. My mind would race comparing the number of pounds I lost and gained since starting Weight Watchers in June 2012 with the number of pounds I lost and gained since attempting to get back on the wagon. I was spinning my wheels, digging further into a hole and not moving forward.

At the conclusion of my sermon yesterday when I placed my stone at the foot of the cross, I was nearly overcome with emotion at the idea of “letting go” and getting a fresh start. I realized I needed to completely start over with this weight loss journey. So today I logged onto the Weight Watcher site and reset everything. The records of my previous losses and gains are gone. We’re starting with zero and my “favorite number” this Friday will presumably be a low, single-digit number.

In anticipation of today’s actions, I woke up singing this morning. (Yes, once again, I know that sounds weird). I sang “This is a day of new beginnings, time to remember and move on, time to believe what love is bringing, laying to rest the pain that’s gone.”

Until next time, peace …