Lent 2009

This is our twist on Lent this year. In the past we have given up a food item to represent Jesus' fast. However, since we have already given up a lot of food for our special diet, we are going to stress the purification aspect of Lent. One area that needs to be purified in our family is the clutter in our home. We are going to give up at least six items (because we have six family members) from our home each day of Lent. I find that our belongings are often a vice to our family. (They are a vice because there are arguments over who owns what, taunting with items, and the fussing that occurs with having to maintain/clean up our belongings.) Even I am guilty of fussing about how much there is to maintain. Everything being messy is the number one reason I freak out. We will move from one area to another and sort through our things in an attempt to get down to the truly meaningful belongings. Once each belonging is placed in the give-away hamper, we will say what is important to each of us that is not a material item. We will then write these messages down and put them in our Lent Jar. The writing of the messages will be the little ones' copy work for this period of time. Lastly, we made a list of 40 people in our lives, and we will be praying for one of these people each day.

Today the kids and I sorted a rarely used drawer and found 16 things we did not need. Hurray!  We then prayed for Grandpa Phil and wrote what we enjoyed that was not material objects. For day one, everyone seemed to record that pets were what they enjoyed.

Blessings, Dawn