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The idea of Lent is that you give up something so that you can grow closer to God. When you go without something, you come to appreciate it. If you are young in America today, Lent may be the only time of year when you are not spoiled. It’s more than being grateful and humble and more about knowing how much we need God.

This morning I had trouble sleeping because my foam pad is getting thin. It started out as thick as a fluffy pancake, and now it’s thin as a tortilla. I’ve had these pillows for four years, and they are almost as flat. It’s becoming easier to wake up because my sleep isn’t as deep.

I came inside at seven, then fell on my bed. Oh wow…this thing is soft! Loving your bed is nothing new. Most people have an emotional connection to their bed because it’s a happy place where the worries of your day disappear. Although I do enjoy sleeping outside, I do miss the comfort of my bedroom. But that’s what Lent is all about.

I’m not supposed to be writing this from Arizona because I was supposed to fly to Ohio yesterday. But the people who booked my travel purchased a ticket that flew me in too late, and I would’ve missed the event anyway. So I worked my booty off all day yesterday on my yard.

It’s a cool feeling going to bed in the middle of my yard, surrounded by the fruits of my labor. Normally you go to bed in you room. If you are doing in projects to make your room more livable, it’s usually about furniture, paint, and soft things like curtains and pillows. At best, you’ll have a couple of plants to make it feel more lively.

My bedroom is my backyard. It’s alive and thriving with beautiful flowers, trees, and singing birds. Since I started sleeping out here, I’ve been more concerned with keeping my plants tidy and healthy than keeping my house scrubbed clean. This is so weird for me to say, because I LOVE a tidy house.

I spent most of yesterday in prayer and reflection. I’ve learned that you can’t waste Holy Days–especially during Lent. I think we are going to do the Stations of the Cross at the Abbey, on a hillside next to the ocean. That’d be cool.

On a funny note, the sprinkler system violated my tent last night. In all my years of camping on the east coast, I’ve only been concerned with water that fell from the sky. Now that I live in the dry Southwest, water only springs out of the ground. My yard in Arizona is green only because the faithful network of sprinklers. They flip on in the early morning and usually wake me up. Last night was no different.

The sprinkler heads popped out of the ground in darkness of night. Two of them erupted with water, but they had nowhere to go because they were trapped between my tent wall and the rainfly. It’s like having someone squirt a water hose up your pant leg. There’s not much you can do. Luckily, the yard was small and only needed sprinklers for a few minutes. I woke up this morning, and the tent was thoroughly wet. The only dry spot was me, sandwiched between thick layers of a sleeping bag.

I crawled out of the tent and noticed butterflies bouncing around in the sky. They were everywhere! They filled the sky like leaves falling in autumn. My girlfriend’s mom told me that the butterflies migrate north this time every year. It was so beautiful. There were thousands of them.

The birds start chirping every morning at about three. Most people don’t hear this because they are locked behind their thick walls. But it’s such a beautiful way to wake up in the morning. It’s like God’s alarm clock. But instead, we use the shrill and annoying man-made machines.

This is the last day of February. It’s been a mild month, even for Arizona. It’s been in the 50’s almost every night. It’s not too bad unless it is wet. Then the chill seeps to the bone. I moved my tent over the weekend because I am changing my landscaping. I don’t know when I’ll get the work done, but it’s rewarding to wake up each morning, and the first thing I see is my handiwork.