Lent

Now that Valentine's Day is over, this week begins Lent!

I've never really gotten into Lent in the past, but this year I thought it'd be neat to do a family devotion that helps prepare our hearts for Easter. I searched the internet long and hard to find a (free) devotion that is Biblical and straight-forward.

And I think I found one that is just right for our family. The devotions are pretty basic, but also make you think. They include Scripture and prayers. Tips for partial fasting are provided, so we can work up to a true fast (or whatever we feel convicted to do). We are also going to sing one or two hymns (When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Nothing But the Blood, or Jesus Paid it All) each time we do a devotion.

There are 11 devotions in all, leading up to Easter (which allows us to continue doing our regular Bible readings on all the other days). To make the devotions a little more fun, I printed each of them out on Easter-themed paper, rolled them into a scroll, and put them in an Easter basket, which will be our table's centerpiece throughout the Lent season. Then I marked on my calendar each day that we have a Lent devotion and I labeled the scrolls so that we will be able to find the one for that particular day. Then when we've completed all the devotions, the basket will be empty and ready to surprise Riley with some Easter goodies on Easter morning.



We also plan to follow some of the suggestions for putting the devotions into practice. For example, we will wash each other's feet on Maundy Thursday (which has special meaning for us b/c that is what Josh did when he proposed to me) and possibly find a day to imitate Jesus by leaving all distractions behind and going hiking in the "wilderness" (which also happens to be one of our favorite things to do).

Like I said, the devotion seems to fit our family really well. But we'll see how it goes. Either way, I'm looking forward to it and I hope it blesses our family and brings glory to God. If you're interested in it, here's the link.