I’m probably doing this wrong.  I wasn’t raised in a tradition that observed Lent.  I had never even really heard much about it until a friend I’d met at a summer job in college asked what I was giving up for Lent.

“I’m giving up coffee,” she said.

“So it’s like a fast?” I asked.

“Sort of.”

She talked a bit more about it and then listed some things people usually give up.

“Um, ok, I’ll give up sweets,” I decided.

The other day, I sent a meme to a friend (meme-sending is my love language), and after sending back a laughing emoji, he asked, “How are you doing?”

In slower seasons of life, when I’m in a time of transition or waiting on God to open a door, I hate answering this question because I always want to share something new or exciting that’s happening.  So to avoid answering with what I feel, (“My life is going nowhere!”) I usually respond with something like, “Oh, you know, same as always.”  After I’d said that I asked him, “How have you been?” and his response caught me off guard. 

Are the leaves changing or are they being changed? Or both?

That’s how this season has been for me: I’m changing while being changed.