Ash Wednesday was last week and marks the first day of Lent, which is a 40-day period of prayer and fasting leading up to Easter. When you go to this service you get ashes on your forehead which represent the dust from which we were created and to which we will return. Basically, it is a call for repentance.
I have watched one of my best friends, who is in the Catholic faith, give up something for Lent every year. So, I have to be honest with ya. When she would tell me what she was giving up, I secretly was stoked that I was not in the Catholic faith. 😊
At the church that my husband and I go to they announced that there would be an Ash Wednesday service coming up. Let’s be real, I was only showing up because I knew Bryan wanted to go and my daughter and her husband, Marcus, said that they were going.
We all drove together to the church and I started having a conversation about how we weren’t just learning about Lent but that we were going to have to give up something by the end of the night. No one seemed too surprised by this.
I am pretty sure that we are supposed to give up something that hurts, like watching tv or playing on your phone, or fasting from food in general. The point is for our focus to be on God, when we would be watching tv, playing on our phones, or praying if we are feeling hungry while abstaining from food.
I started asking people what they were giving up, which is so Jr. High of me, don’t you think? An example of my Jr. High mentality:
Friend: “Hey Lisa, want to come to my 13th birthday party?”
Me: “Umm, I don’t know, whose going to be there?”
That’s the kind of buy-in I was giving for Ash Wednesday. So, I started asking everyone in the car what they were giving up. Their answers: Sugar, praying while walking, and reading the Bible more. Hmm…what would I choose? 😊There are a lot of things I could give up: Complaining, sweets, social media, speeding. But I landed on writing in a Gratefulness Journal since my focus lately has been more on my problems than on my blessings.
So, for the next 40 days I will be reading more of the Bible and focusing on being more grateful. I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Max Lucado, “The grateful heart is like a magnet sweeping over the day, collecting reasons for gratitude.” Hopefully, God will work on my heart during this time, reminding me, of all the things in my life that I should be grateful for. Happy Lent!