Lent Madness

Second-year Celebrity Blogger Anna Fitch Courie is on tap as Celebrity Blogger Week continues (we will not quit until we highlight every single one of these dedicated scribes!). As a fitness guru, among other things, it’s not surprising to see Anna doing pushups in…her home gym? We’re not sure exactly where this picture was taken but we’re sure impressed by Anna’s use of an invisible selfie stick.

Anna Fitch Courie

Anna Fitch Courie is an army wife, nurse, layperson, and the author of “Christ Walk: A 40 Day Spiritual Fitness Program” (Church Publishing, Inc., 2015); “Christ Walk Kids” (Church Publishing, 2016); “Sally the Comet (CreateSpace, 2015); and “Sally and the Constellations (CreateSpace, pending). Anna finds her calling where health and spirituality intersect. Anna is a registered nurse by training and has been working in the health care field for the past eighteen years. More recently, she has been a consultant on building community coalitions on health. Anna is a graduate of Clemson University, the University of Wyoming, and Education for Ministry at Sewanee: the University of the South. In her spare time, she fights cancer, consults in public health, and runs Christ Walk, retreats, writes books, and blogs for “50 Days of Fabulous” and “Lent Madness.” In her dream world, she hikes the El Camino and Mount Rainier, sails, travels, cooks, reads, and attends every Clemson football game each season. Home is currently in Virginia, but really, home is wherever the Army (and God) sends her. You can find her on her blog at Christ Walk; on Facebook; on Twitter @christwalk1; and on Instagram @christwalk1.

1. What is the single most inspirational place you have ever visited (besides your own church).
Why do we have to pick just one? Gracious. Mount Rainier, The plains of Wyoming; The Pieta in Rome; Patmos, Greece; The Grand Canyon; The Haggia Sophia. Clemson beating Alabama in the National Championship this year. So may places, so little time. The world inspires me. But as I look at my list, I keep coming back to the Pieta. It’s the first time a piece of art made me cry.

2. Share one unusual fact about yourself with the Lent Madness public.
I like fried mozzarella with cocktail sauce.

3. Of the saints you’ve written about for Lent Madness 2017, what most inspires you? What most disturbs you?
I am a nurse. I feel honored to get to write for Florence Nightingale this season. I find it fascinating that although she was raised Anglican, her theological bent was really Unitarian. It is also very interesting to read theologically about a woman who had such a huge impact on my profession from a religious stand point. I don’t think any of my nursing text books ever referred to her as a Saint….at least not in the canonized sense.

4. If you could get just one tattoo this Lent, what would it be? (besides the Lent Madness logo and “none” is not an option).
I’m not really a fan of pain. I have no desire to get stuck with needles voluntarily (I get stuck with enough of them involuntarily), so I guess I would probably pick a temporary tattoo. Yes, I’m a wimp. And I’d choose a butterfly because it reminds me of attending Happening with the church when I was in high school. Or maybe I would get a stethoscope shaped into a heart. Or maybe a foot print with a cross for Christ Walk…..or maybe a tiny death star…..Nah, I’m not really a tattoo kind of girl.