Lent, Redemption and Paul Williams.
February 13th, 2013 | 
Author: It’s that time of year when people give up Diet Coke for Jesus. Whatever floats your boat.
For me, Lent reminds me of giving unto others, the good that can come when you trust in the Lord and that everyone loves a good redemption story.
The other day me and B watched a documentary about the songwriter and actor Paul Williams. He was extremely famous and if you were a child of the 1970s (as B was) you knew exactly who Paul Williams was or is. Personally, I just like sappy songs from the back in the day. Give me a good B-side and some nostalgia and I’m good to go.
This is the trailer for the documentary.
Paul wrote all the songs. The famous ones that tug at your heart.
I cried when this song played. It reminded me of so many things that I don’t normally think about.
So, so famous. But I still don’t like Babs.
And then this one. Oh, Paul.
(Fun fact: this song was originally used in a bank commercial.)
The story of Paul is one you’ve heard before. He had everything. Money, fame, women and still wasn’t happy. Cocaine and booze didn’t work either. Paul has been sober for many years and is still out there entertaining fans.
The point of this post and tying it in to Lent is that I truly believe God forgives your sins. People ask me (because of my story) a lot about “when does it get better” and “when do you feel normal again.” It gets better when you forgive yourself. God is always on your side. God has already forgiven you. You have to let go and move on. You have to make the decision to take control of your life and move forward. You have to find the new path and the new life. You have to be okay with you.
Lent 2012 really brought this home to me. It really helped me move forward and be grateful for all the blessings that have been been given to me since I hit rock bottom on a Fat Tuesday night in 2009.
The last few scenes of the Paul Williams documentary make that point. Paul doesn’t look back. He keeps moving forward and is happier now than ever.
The documentary was very moving for me and B. It was so well made and really shows a profile of person you just don’t see every day.
Posted in personal, reality, taking out the negative | 
Tags: Barbara Streisand, Evergreen, Lent, Paul Williams, Rainbow Connection, Redemption, The Carpenters, We've Only Just Begun
So many people in Blog Land quote the Bible and loudly praise Jesus and God. I think, in your quiet, eloquent way, you’ve summed up what this is about. Not “I’m giving up Twitter”, but “I’m placing my love and faith in the Lord”. Having a different story than you, but a sad one nonetheless, so much of my healing has been letting God in and letting him take over and trusting that he gives me only what I can handle and what can make me better.
I just really love this post. Thanks, L. xxoo
This was such a great post… First, I spit tea all over my lap when I laughed reading about giving up diet coke for Jesus, and then you reminded me that it really is all about forgiving yourself and letting go of whatever isn’t serving you. Thanks for the reminder xo
I read this earlier today and wanted to comment, but for some reason, I couldn’t. I think I needed to process. This post hit me hard. I’ve been struggling lately about a lot of things. I’ve been trying to figure out how to leave it all behind and let myself find happiness. How to get that piece of what’s been missing (I know what it is, but struggle with the how, the feelings of not deserving it or being good enough for it). The more I see in Twitter / blog world, it seems like the worse I feel. It’s almost like I’m scared of…I don’t know what, really. I won’t leave a rambling novel on your comments, but thank you for this post. I love it and needed it more than you could possibly know. Thank you.