I generally am terrible at Lent. But then I am pretty bad at Easter too. I just don’t seem to deal well with out of the ordinary things. They catch me off guard and shake me out of my comfortable pattern and then I don’t quite know how to cope any more. But I think that is the point. I could very easily slide through life on an easy path of normal days – everything all the same – and be half asleep all through it. Instead I have to be shaken awake by the screaming alarm clock of an imminent liturgical season.
It messes with my dinner plans.
And no matter how much I drill myself that it is coming up, I am always caught off guard that it is really here. Ugh! I’m supposed to be an example to my children about all of this too! The pressure!
As a church musician, my husband has a lot of extra events through Lent and Easter, and that complicates things. Bedtime these days is not simple task for our four youngest. I joke that I give up my husband for Lent, but it is kind of true.
I mean, I love that he can do these things. He has such an incredible gift in his voice. It is just hard, to be alone more than usual. Alone in a chaos-on-a-playground sort of way.
I didn’t start this post to complain about Lent. Well, maybe I did, but I’d rather not keep heading that direction. So.
Last year we did a new thing in Lent. We used this devotional by Ann Voskamp. (Scroll all the way to the bottom of her post for the download.) It worked very well for us. We made a little Lenten Tree for our table centerpiece (see photo above) and even lit candles – one for Ash Wednesday, and then one for each Sunday of Lent. We had to have candles… otherwise what would the kids fight over after dinner? There are only 14 entries in this devotional, which meant that we had some hope of finishing it, although I think we only got to 12. There is a small reproduction of a real art painting to go along with each Bible reading. I cut those out and laminated them and we hung them on our Lenten tree. The kids tolerated the readings well, but the real test was when they saw me assemble the centerpiece (ACK! I still have to go to Michaels one more time!) they remembered what we did and started talking about how they liked Lent.
Seriously! The kids with the mother who tries to find a way to NOT go to Ash Wednesday Mass (It’s not a Holy Day of Obligation!) are starting to like Lent. And that is something.
I do plan to go to Ash Wednesday Mass this year. My kids aren’t in a Catholic school anymore, so I figured it really is important for them to go. It will help them (and me) to really grasp the beginning of the season. My older ones seem to like to get to school and be one of the few who have the forehead smudge. Plus it gets them out of class for a bit. Win/win!
The bottom line is – Lent is here, whether I am ready or not. I guess that is how most things happen. So let’s do this!
My Lenten Goals/Sacrifices/Resolutions:
1. Lead a more hands free life. Friends, I have a problem and it’s my phone. When I am overwhelmed and stressed, I hide in it. There are lots of pretty colors and challenging games that trick me into thinking I have accomplished something, when in reality I have only sat and stared at a tiny box. I haven’t fully defined how I am going to live this one out. I know I need to start by deleting my games. (Which makes me think, “No, I’ll just hide them so I don’t lose all those points I have saved up!”) Delete. Delete. Delete. No more phone games for me.
2. Dinnertime Devotions – We’ll do the same one as last year that I described above. Maybe we’ll make it to 13 this year.
3. Focus on the Grocery Budget, which is a little excessive out of control. My ultimate goal here is to come in under budget and add that money to our giving. I cut my coupons this week.
4. Adoration at least 3 times during Lent. It’s just hard for me to get a babysitter during the day. And then it is hard for me to go and sit still.
For our family:
1. Get everyone to confession at the start and end of Lent. This just needs to happen!
2. Memorize Psalm 23. I had to memorize this for Sunday school when I was in second grade. I was recently reading it and realized that learning this Psalm helped to build my image of God in a very positive way. I hope that it does the same for our kids.
There is my Lent so far. I’m sure I’ll have more to whine about say later on in the season. (Like, for example, I have lost my go-to cheap penitential meal of fish sticks and mac and cheese due to a gluten intolerant child. Now what?)
What are you doing for Lent this year?