Lent 2012

Lent is off to a good start.  I barely miss my morning cup of coffee or my glass of wine (hee hee).  Mimi, my 8 year old daughter is resisting Lent.  I think she just doesn't grasp the big picture and what this time really means.  Mimi's idea of giving something up for Lent is "I won't ride my bike", her arm is broken and she can't ride her bike anyway!  Last year she told me she was giving up vegetables.  I am not going to make an issue out of it, instead I am going to focus on spirituality.  I am going to gather symbols of the season like I do at Advent and make them visible in our home. 

Sand:   God led his people on a  journey into the desert.  Jesus himself reenacted that journey to face his own temptations.  The desert can be a place of retreat, where there is a freedom from distractions. 

Almsgiving:  We will have a place to put change that we would spend on things like coffee and wine (that I barely miss) and maybe the kids will decide to offer their ice cream money and then we can decide to whom we would like to donate our collection.

Bible:  The Word is so important for us during Lent.  Perhaps the prominent presence of a Bible in our home can represent for us our desire for God’s Word in our lives.  Imagine the experience that could be ours if - when we feel a new inspiration or a softening of our heart, or just a sense of God’s love – we pick up that Bible and simply, reverently kiss it.

I am going to show my children that the most important part of Lent is how we should all  practice being more loving and through that loving Jesus more deeply. My girls are Sweet and very loving, but they have some really bad habits like fighting with one another and being disobedient. I want my children to notice, that part of our  Lenten journey is to choose to fast from our crabby-ness (lack of my coffee) or busy-ness and to spend more time as a family. I hope I can set the example of choosing to compliment others in the family more, highlighting the good things I notice in them. If our family Lenten practice is to focus on being nicer, kinder and more generous in helping each other, the children will take part in it. And, if we fail on a given day, we can quickly apologize and ask forgiveness and model penitential and reconciling behavior that is central to Lent.

I hope these things will bring my family on board with my idea of  "embracing" Lent without pressuring them too much.