Ash Wednesday

Today was a busy first day back at work after my second little break this month. I set up our school Mass in the morning and was called on to serve as a Eucharistic minister and also a distributor of ashes. After "ashing" about 150 little faces, I went to visit the JKs and SKs and did the same at the school for our youngest community members. When I first walked in, they all wanted to know my name, and I told them what it was and asked their names. One little girl said, "Ivy, like poison ivy," before she reassured me, "but I'm not poison." Another said her name was Madison, and added, "My mother gave me a most beautiful name."

During the visit, I explained what Ash Wednesday is, I talked about Lent and Easter and offered to answer questions. One child asked if it would hurt their heads, and another asked what the ashes were made of; I was impressed by their questions. Finally, one little girl put up her hand when I asked if there were any more questions and she said, "You're so beautiful." I laughed and another girl put up her hand and added, "I love your necklace!" Seeing question period was over, I got to ashing their foreheads and their teacher stood by with a mirror so they could see the results. They were so amazed; seeing their little faces was so much fun.

Coming back after my mini-vacation, I had a steady stream of phone messages to answer, emails to tackle, and things to organize for youth group, baptism and marriage prep, and a variety of other little jobs to take care of. Despite working 9 hours straight, the day flew by and now I'm home to recuperate and to try to get the ash stains off my thumb...