7 Lenten “Quick takes”……

 Well….this has officially been the longest I have ever gone between blogging so it seemed fitting that it be a fun “7 quick takes” blog. Life has been crazy here over at “Chasing time and drinking wine” as we have been really “digging deep” for this Lenten season. And on that note….a few insights from my Lent thus far.

Our Lenten mantle…..

1.  “Digging deep” was definitely a good motto for this Lent. I wanted to really “take it up a knotch” this Lent and see what areas the Lord felt needed to be “dusted off” and worked on. Let’s just say that he has found a few “old boxes in the back of the closet”…haha. I won’t humble myself and go into details but let’s just say…..my own words and actions have come back to haunt me. Every time I start to feel overwhelmed, I remind myself of this motto….if I wanted an easy lent, I should have selected something more like “walking happy” haha.

2. Real change is hard. Lent is not just about making some changes for the “now”. It’s about a deeper movement in our life. It’s about moving toward a deeper level in our spiritual life as we walk “Calvary” with Christ. It’s certainly hard to carry our cross like Christ did. One of my sisters-in-law suggested this book to me for Lent, and boy….has it been awesome. I went to Franciscan University of Steubenville with Fr. Mike Gaitley. He was a great friend and an amazing theologian. I was eager to order this book…and delve in. It didn’t disappoint.

You can purchase it here on Amazon.

3. I gave up yelling for Lent. Are you laughing? I would be too. However, its actually been working. =) I have had such amazing peace and a genuine sense of control that I usually don’t exhibit. My kids were very eager when I first stated that this was one of my Lenten challenges. I certainly think that they were under the impression that they could frustrate me and get away with it. This lent has shown me that to really instruct my kids on the proper behavior requires me to be in control and not “out of control”.

4. Trying to show the children other ways to help people. DDD and the fashionista signed up with me to help at Bingo at the local retirement community. It didn’t occur to me until five minutes before we arrived that my children had never played bingo before. oops…..haha. They picked it up pretty quickly and the other gentleman that was working with them found them delightful.

BINGO!!! He won the “full card” bingo round!

BINGO! She won the “X” round!

6. Learning from each other. It’s always great to see how other friends and family are “digging deep” into their Lenten journey. The children divide their Lenten journey into four 10 day sections, giving up something different every 10 days. This year, the fashionista, gave up peanut butter and jelly for her first 10 days.  If you know her, that is her “go to” sandwich. She eats it everyday. To sacrifice, and go 10 days without it…..was beautiful. DDD gave up his bed for 10 days. As he shares a room with Miss Missy, I was trying to explain to her why he was on the floor and not in his bed. “Well…DDD loves Jesus more than his bed! He said, ‘jesus…i love you sooo much that I am going to NOT sleep in my bed to show you how much you mean to me’.” Miss Missy seemed intrigued with this answer. The next evening, I was out with girlfriends, and my husband called to let me know that Miss Missy was sleeping on the floor. When he asked her why, she stated “I love Jesus too!!” It touched him so deeply that he waited for her to fall asleep before tucking her back in her bed.

7. Good deeds jar. This year we brought back our “good deeds” jar. This has been a great way to encourage the children to see the “good” that they can do for each other, and that their siblings do for them that may normally go unnoticed. The rules for the jar is that you can place a little bean/pebble/etc. in the jar for anyone ,but yourself, for a good deed. You may not tell anyone what you did for them to put a bean in for you. The goal is to do for others regardless of reward. The children are halfway toward their goal of a full jar- and closer to a family fun night out to celebrate!

As we enter into these remaining weeks of Lent, let us push through the difficulties and really climb that rocky road to Calvary. Praying for a fruitful Lent for you and your families.

Make sure you check out some of the other great bloggers in the 7 Quick Takes Friday held by Jenn over at Conversion Diary.

God Bless,

Tammi