Finding Her Religion

About a month ago Marissa asked if I could start taking her to church.

Those of you who know me know I am not a church-goer. Explaining why is a long, winding road with many philosophical points, none of which I will bore you with because this isn't about me, it's about Marissa.

We have never been a church-going family with the exception of Christmas Eve service. When the girls were younger we had beginner Bibles for them and told them Bible stories, and they got great enjoyment from watching Veggie Tales. (Marissa only recently made the connection that Veggie Tales tells Bible stories using animation and silly songs.)

This summer Marissa asked me to take her to church, but on Sunday mornings she always said, "Nah, I'd rather sleep in." Now that school has started, sleeping in until 8 to be ready for church at 9 is sleeping in, and she asked if we could start attending St. Stephen's, an episcopal church in our neighborhood.

I think part of what's encouraging this is that she realizes she is not educated about religion. Many of her classmates at Eagle Ridge are coming to the high school from Catholic or Lutheran schools. In her humanities class, they relate many of the classical works they are reading to Bible stories...which Marissa is not familiar with. She's curious, and I'm happy to encourage this curiosity.

And so we go to church. This past week we bought her a Bible so she could begin reading the stories herself. After reading much of Genesis she talked to me about the creation of the world, how God decided he had made a mistake in creating humans and sent a flood to destroy all but Noah's family.

After the first time we went to church I overheard her telling her dad all about it. "We get on our knees on these little things with cushions on them that you pull out, and we confess our sins. I don't know what sins are, but it's really cool." The last couple of weeks Wayne's come with us as well, and has seemed to enjoy the service also.

I go because Marissa wants me to. The church is stunningly beautiful and the people kind and welcoming. I'm really proud of my kid who is inquisitive and open to new experiences.

A Challenge of a Different Kind

Many of you know I've been working hard on improving my physical being. I'm now consistently working out 5 days a week and have been watching the number on the scale drop and -- more importantly -- watching the size of my clothes get smaller and smaller.

So far I've lost 3 inches around my waist and two inches in my hips, along with changes in muscle tone that just make for a leaner, meaner me.

I have done the 60-day Insanity: Asylum challenge, followed by the 90-day Chalean Extreme challenge. I am now in "maintenance mode" on my Chalean program, combining strength-training circuits with cardio workouts.

But now it's time for a challenge of a different kind.

If you've been reading along, you'll know that I tried meditation for the first time while vacation in Florida with my sister-in-law. She incorporates daily meditations into every aspect of her life, and has a new-found peace about her. I found the experience...unsettling. Stillness and I do not get along.

We are about to become acquainted.

At my sister-in-law's urging, I have taken on a 21-day meditation challenge being promoted by Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey. I signed up online for the free 21-day trial. I'll be getting daily emails from them with links to recordings of a 15-minute guided meditation. That's definitely what I need; guidance.

Now the question is whether or not I can carve 15 minutes out of my day for this meditation practice. I already set my alarm a whole lot earlier than I used to for my physical work outs; how will I fit in my spiritual practice?

I haven't found the answer to that yet, but am working on finding a spot in my life. I basically gave up watching TV to fit my fitness in -- I think I can give up 15 minutes of sleep before going to bed at night.

The meditation challenge begins March 11 -- are you interested in joining me? Go to the Chopra Center's website to learn about this challenge and sign yourself up. And if you aren't up for it yourself, then look for updates from me on my 21-day challenge. I'll let you know how it goes.