For the first time in a really long time I find myself excited about what this season of Lent could be. I’m excited to continue the process I’m on to slow down and simplify. May this be a time where the Lord and I create an intentional and intimate relationship. Do you want to join me?
I’ve always wanted to be more consistent with my prayer life, and I don’t know about you, but for me that is hard. My life is often chaotic and going 90 miles an hour or more. It seems like it isn’t just my thoughts and to do list filling my head, but it everybody else’s needs crammed in there as well.
As a mom, I’m sure you can relate. As a busy career woman, I’m sure you can relate. In fact, student, grandma, single…It doesn’t seem to matter what state in life were in, this just rings true.
So, in simplifying our life, in growing closer to our Lord, in desiring MORE from a place deep within our heart, maybe we can finally hear his voice, since our God loves to speak in the silence. Sounds great, but, we all know that we can’t seem make this happen on our own. We need help.
In the wisdom of the Church, she gives us a season that comes around each year at just the right time. LENT: A period of waiting, of penance, of drawing closer to the Lord, and of becoming more like Him through self-denial.
For some of us, this is a common practice. A season that rolls around predictably, just like winter or spring. In fact, it starts in winter, which seems fitting since we are called to sacrifice and die to ourselves, just as the weather outside seems harsh and dead. But, it leads us through with a hope of what is to come. Those small stirrings that grow within our heart offer us a glimpse of the new life that wants to break forth when we celebrate Easter. We even see around us that the earth is breaking out of it’s cocoon with bright color and renewal. Walking through the winter is necessary to get to spring. And there is no Easter without Lent. There is no Resurrection without the Passion. So, we must enter this time and pick up our cross.
But, I know that not everyone who reads this blog will find it familiar, even if it does tickle your mind with some recollection from the past. Maybe it was a friend, when you were young, who couldn’t eat meat on Fridays or that co-worker that couldn’t join everyone in donuts in the break room because they gave up sugar for Lent. Maybe you just see those people with each year on a Wednesday that look like they haven’t cleaned their forehead. I hope you won’t let that stop you from exploring this with me. It’s value stretches beyond denomination and anyway, Christ prays for us to be one. Let’s make it a reality.
For the next few weeks, will you join me on a journey through the scriptures and see what the Lord is saying to us. I hope you will also comment so that we can walk together. Each day we’ll have a small reflection and a question to ponder and discuss.
Some things I want to explore:
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What does it mean to repent? What does that look like, practically? Am we brave enough to look at those parts of ourselves that, honestly, we don’t usually want to see. Why does He call us to this?
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What about self denial and sacrifice? Abstaining and Fasting? What does this mean and why does it have any value?
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Suffering? Offering it up and giving value to that which I just want to escape?
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Mercy. Oh my goodness, his Mercy. And forgiveness. His for me and mine for others.
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Humility. Yes, that’s something that we should dwell on for a bit too.
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Relationship. I want to explore what it looks like to have an intimate and intentional relationship with Christ.
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And one more: I want to really focus on the idea of supplication or prayer on the part of others. Can we use this time to change our nation, environments, and families for Christ? It’s biblical and historical. Let’s embrace that too.
I want to dive into all of this over the next these few weeks.
I want to be changed on the other side of these 40 days.
I want to be in love with Jesus even more.
I don’t want to take Easter for granted. I don’t want to have that day suddenly appear and disappear and all I have to show for it are candy wrappers and plastic eggs.
Basically, I want to live differently and I want to be one of those Easter people who lives in the light of the mercy of my Lord and what he has done for me.
I want to be changed.
Whether this is a new thing or an old tradition that you want to make more effective,if any of this rings true for you, let’s do it together. Let’s explore the richness of this age old practice and go into the desert with Christ.
Let’s make #Lent2019 a pivot point in our life.
XOXO,
Barb
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