![\"7](\"http:\/\/grace-filled.net\/7qt.jpg\")
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Wow! My first couple days of Lent have been sooooo amazing! I’m just gaining so many insights into my faith and… yeah, I’ll just shut up now and move on to my Quick Takes.<\/p>\n
<\/a>— 1 —<\/strong><\/p>\n Please help my friend Paula win an award from Circle of Moms.<\/strong> Her daughter Anna has Maple Syrup Urine Disease<\/a> (MSUD) and has been waiting two years for a liver transplant. Their transplant blog<\/a> was nominated to be in the Top 25 Moms with Inspiring Families<\/a>. If you’re a mom, please go vote. At last glance, she was #26 or #27.<\/p>\n <\/a>— 2 —<\/strong><\/p>\n I have a mirror site for my Lenten writings<\/a> on WordPress.Com<\/a>.<\/strong> Want to read my Lenten writings (which are crappy thus far) but do not want to have to look at my eeevvvvvvvvviiiiiilllllll Obama button? Go here<\/a>. You’re welcome.<\/p>\n <\/a>— 3 —<\/strong><\/p>\n Need some ideas for food on meat-free days?<\/strong> Priest’s Wife<\/a> has a great entry on meatless means for manly men<\/a>. My recommendations are Gardenburgers<\/a> and various Morningstar Farms<\/a> products (both in your freezer section). I can personally vouch for both brands’ iterations of Portabella\/Mushroom Lovers burgers and spicy black bean burgers. I’m also a fan of Morningstar Farms<\/a> Tomato & Basil Pizza Burgers and their veggie corn dogs. (Truthfully, I prefer them to regular corn dogs.) I can’t speak highly of Morningstar Farms<\/a> breakfast products because the texture is just wrong to me and I’m also mildly allergic to eggs (i.e. no breakfast sandwiches) for me. My vegetarian husband, however, loves their veggie bacon and veggie sausage patties and links.<\/p>\n <\/a>— 4 —<\/strong><\/p>\n I know that the vast majority of you are Catholic but I have a source for interesting and worshipful music.<\/strong> Ron Pogue at Unapologetically Episcopalian<\/a> posts Morning and Evening Prayer every day and includes a Youtube video of sacred music each time. Some of it is Anglican chant (which is incredibly beautiful) and some of it is classical music. He’s also on Facebook<\/a> which means that you can get it in your news feed… if you haven’t given up Facebook<\/a> for Lent. \ud83d\ude09 If I didn’t already have a devotional<\/a> that I use, I’d totally do Morning Prayer using his site and my Book of Common Prayer.<\/p>\n <\/a>— 5 —<\/strong><\/p>\n Along the lines of interesting and worshipful music for prayer, I can’t recommend Pray As You Go<\/a> enough.<\/strong> I used to use this (in addition to Our Daily Bread<\/a>) during my hour-long commute to work in Montana. It was mostly silent prayer but there was always some kind of music at the beginning and it spanned the spectrum from Taiz\u00e9 to chant to Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I also used the silent time after I hit mile marker 379 on I-15 to pray for people.<\/p>\n <\/a>— 6 —<\/strong><\/p>\n My thanks to Kate for coming up with the idea of posting pics of our #ashtag loveliness<\/a> on Twitter<\/a>.<\/strong> (Thanks to Beth Anne<\/a> for compiling them.) My tweets are protected so here are my pics of me rocking my #ashtag.<\/p>\n <\/a>— 7 —<\/strong><\/p>\n For want of a simple salt, a woman and her baby died today.<\/strong> What? You didn’t hear about that on the evening news? Oh wait… that’s because it happened in the Third World! Quoting the Preeclampsia Foundation website<\/a>: <\/p>\n Globally, preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are a leading cause of maternal and infant illness and death. By conservative estimates, these disorders are responsible for 76,000 maternal and 500,000 infant deaths each year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n One of the treatments for preeclampsia (to keep it from jumping to full-on eclampsia) is magnesium sulfate (MgSO4), a simple salt that we refer to in the USA as “Epsom salt”. The shortage of a solution of that salt (the concentration needs to be specific) and the lack of a medical professional trained in its usage means the mother and baby die. Want to help combat that problem? Sponsor me<\/a> in the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wow! My first couple days of Lent have been sooooo amazing! I’m just gaining so many insights into my faith and… yeah, I’ll just shut up now and move on to my Quick Takes. — 1 — Please help my … Continue reading ![\"Me](\"http:\/\/grace-filled.net\/jenash.jpg\")
\nWhat I normally look like (with ashes)<\/p>\n![\"Me](\"http:\/\/grace-filled.net\/jenash2.jpg\")
\nMe attempting to look happy and not like I’m fasting.<\/p>\n![\"Me](\"http:\/\/grace-filled.net\/jendanash.jpg\")
\nMe with Mr. Uncooperative.<\/p>\n