Lent

First of all, I have never participated in Lent... EVER. In fact, I think I may have made fun of some of the people who got so 'into' it when I was younger. I remember that it became just the thing to do, without ever realizing why you were doing it. Even in high school people would ask what they gave up for Lent, and the typical answer was something they never really did in the first place...
"I'm giving up sodas!" (when they never really drank them anyway)
"I'm going to not cuss!" (...just give them 10 minutes)
"I'm not going to watch ANY tv!" (unless it's American Idol, or 24, or House, or CSI)

So I decided to read more into it... and here's what I've come to understand:
• Lent is not a Death March to Easter – The sacrifice of Jesus the Liberating King is so significant that we cannot even begin to express our gratitude by extreme fasts.
• Feasting is as important as Fasting – The historic practice of lent is a 40 day fast. Those 40 days do not include Sundays, which were intended as a break from fasting so that believers might feast together. So, plan to feast well during Lent and make that an essential part of your spiritual preparation for Easter.
• Why 40 days? Because, Jesus fasted and was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. Lent, then, is our time of fasting, prayer, temptation and repentance. Lent is not required anywhere in the Scriptures, but it has been a custom, which Christians have practiced for most of the last two thousand years.
• In many languages, the word "Lent" actually means "fast." This is where the custom of giving up something for Lent originated.

The focus of Lent was always threefold:
• It was a time to prepare new converts for baptism through intensive classes and instruction.
• It was a time for long-standing Christians to review their lives and renew their commitment to Jesus Christ.
• It was a time for backsliders to be restored to the faith.
• In every case, it is a time for serious, disciplined self-examination, a time spent in intensive prayer and repentance before the cross of Calvary.

Recently, a very simple realization broke my will, pride and I pray that during lent it will break my heart. Gratefulness is one of the clearest signs of a healthy spirituality. When one has been given what they do not deserve, their hearts should expand with hope and love. The opposite is also true – entitlement is a sure sign of an unhealthy spiritual life. I am praying that I will abandon my sense of entitlement and become a truly grateful woman.

So, in order to better identify with those that are truly hungry I will be limiting my diet during lent to chicken and salad.

I am not doing this to lose weight, nor do I think you should. Tomorrow I will begin a journey to rediscover what the Bible says and really enter fully into the story of Jesus, and to hopefully become a different woman – a grateful woman.