Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent.

I will be honest. Before I was actively in the Word or around anyone who was a frequent church goer, I had NO CLUE what Lent was...or (if I'm going to be really honest) what Easter was all about. Embarrassing, I know. At least I'm honest with you all.

And really since I have accepted Christ into my life, I didn't really get Lent either...

This year I decided to do my research, read, pray, and decide what Lent was all about. I did. And I decided to actively participate this year.



Lent is a time when Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ - his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection.


For the next 40 days, until Easter (Sundays don't count) I will be fasting from 2 things. 
  • Sweets. This means cookies, candy, cake, pie, ice cream....you get the point. 
  • Negative words. I will speak blessings upon my life and those of others. 
These are 2 things I struggle with (sweets since I was pregnant) and through much prayer and discipline I hope to overcome them! 

It probably goes without saying, you will find much of my Lent experience here at Feeding My Temple.

Some dates to take note of: 

  • February 22 - Ash Wednesday
  • April 1 - Palm Sunday
  • April 5 - Maundy (Holy) Thursday
  • April 6 - Good Friday
  • April 8 - Easter Sunday

Will you be participating in Lent this year? What will you be fasting from? Many of you shared via Facebook and Twitter some interesting choices! 

Fear
Chocolate
My Sweets (favorite)
Television
Soda

OH! In case you were wondering, I'm not Catholic. :)






Psalm 51

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgement. 5 Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.
6 You desire truth in the inward being;* therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right* spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing* spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.
15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt-offering, you would not be pleased. 17 The sacrifice acceptable to God* is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

9 comments:

Stephanie Bice said...

Loved reading your sacrifices. (And I am Catholic)

I decided to give up chocolate, which is a tough one for me (self-proclaimed chocoholic). But I really loved your second sacrifice above "Negative Words" - and I think I'll adopt that too. I've been having a challenging time at work (employee that is challenging to work with), but I think working on only saying positive things will improve my outlook.

Thanks for sharing :)

A Brew of Blessings said...

I'm not Catholic either & I'm giving up my beloved, coffee. That is the one thing that I feel like I can't live without sometimes so it was the obvious choice. I'm writing a post as we speak :)

Praying for you strength through this time!
Tara xo

Allison said...

Thanks, Stephanie! I love that you will be adopting no negative words. Thank you for reading!

Allison said...

Go you! I'm looking forward to reading your post! We can do this! Sending prayers your way!

Ruthie Hart said...

Thank you for posting this Allison! I think we all need a reminder of why we are giving up things for lent and the true meaning of the season. I have been in such a sanctification process with the Lord this year and have been praying about my attitude towards others and often times judgement so I will be working on that over lent. I don't use curse words TONS but I definitely use them more than I want to and my husband and I are fasting from using those words.

HayleyGrace said...

Allison, I am a Catholic but I love to hear about non-Catholics participating and really getting in the Lenten spirit. I did my post today over what Lent is REALLY about to. So glad that you took the time to research it and share.

Love, Hayley @ classyinkc.blogspot.com

PS. I'm giving up candy and gossip/negativity too

Allyson McGuire said...

I'm Southern Baptist, and (I guess because I was never taught a lot about Lent) I have never really felt called to give anything up. It's kind of been on my heart this year though, so I'm thinking I may do it. Thank you so much for this sweet post and your encouraging words!

Allyson
http://cupcakescandycanes.blogspot.com/

Lauren said...

I've never given up anything in the past, but this year I decided to give up candy. For whatever reason, while pregnant, I just want candy all the time... I don't over-indulge in the other sweets, but candy is just TOO easy. So, for my sake, and the sake of this growing baby, I'm cutting out candy to make way for healthier snacks.

Jane Wetzel said...

Loved reading your post and I AM Catholic...glad to hear you are studying and reading about Lent...Lent doesnt always mean giving something up but we can focus on praying more and doing more for others. :)

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