Lenten Plans

Happy Shrovetide, season of Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, etc. :) :)

As we recover from a nasty stomach bug, and our appetite and strength return, my family is really trying to think of fun things to eat and do before the 40 days of cutting back begin on Wednesday. I loved reading how Kate's family has an ice cream dinner on Tuesday. FUN!!!! Another family I know likes to leave a lot of sweet treats out all day - pancakes, donuts, chocolate croissants, snacks, etc before Lent begins and then future "fun snacking" is reserved for special days, Sundays, or Easter Sunday. I have small group tomorrow and our Familia group will probably have King Cake, etc. on hand. Hubby wants to go to a local pizza buffet tomorrow night, so we'll do that and then I'm attending a "Mother's Night In" at a friend's house with more Fat Tuesday snacking later tomorrow evening (hmm, maybe I should bring some ice cream....???? hehe). I'll probably be BEGGING for Wednesday's cut back from sweet foods LOL!!

On Wednesday, Hubby has to play at his other church, so we'll all go together for an evening Ash Wednesday service at the Cathedral. Lovely LOVES Ash Wednesday, so that will be fun to share with her and Valiant.

Then Lent begins. While I've always "done" Lent (Hubby only started in 1999 when he joined the Church) - I don't think I/we've experienced it as deeply as we started doing last year. Being parents, and parents of a older daughter who really loves to talk about faith and live it, can open doors to something so beautiful in our own faith life. As I grew up, I always gave up something (snacking, chocolate, etc) and in college and post college/early married life I was challenged to "add to" during Lent, not just give up - it just never had the spiritual impact it had last year as Hubby and I did things with Lovely. I simply never thought deeply about the effects of what I was doing for 40 days. This past year, we discovered wonderful traditions out there that enriched even the parents' prayer lives. Blogging my feelings was also wonderful for me (I started blogging last Lent, wow!! It's been almost a year). I learned about extending what I 'gave up' or 'added to' in my Lenten practice so I think deeper about my faith - not just giving something up and not evaluating the process or growing for it. I'm looking forward to Lent even more this year!

Blogging is so great because I can read other people's ideas and see if they can work for our family. Also, the internet has been great because Lovely loves the internet "Lenten Adventures" which gives us so many kid friendly ideas, challenges, and traditions she (and we) enjoyed last year. It helps me make a plan for what I will sacrifice for Lent, what Lovely can do, and what we do together as a family. So, thanks to so many different sites (I'll link below - some have been linked above) I'll list what goals our family has for the next 40 days.

Family/Lovely Goals:

~ One of the bedtime stories each night will be a New Testament children's story - starting from Jesus' birth to His Resurrection. We did this last year and it was great - we actually used Children's bible stories to cover the whole new testament!
~ Fridays we'll attend our church's Fish Dinner and Stations of the Cross. I'm hoping to host a meatless pot luck at some point with friends as well to share time together.
~ We'll attend the Lenten Penance Service at our church.
~ We'll be doing Lenten Adventure activities - e-mailed to us 3 times a week. We loved this last year.
~ I know thanks to Lenten Adventures, we'll have a sacrifice jar where Lovely can put beans in for each sacrifice she does ("Love is what you do, not what you feel" - meaning sometimes doing things for others out of love isn't what you feel like doing). On Easter Sunday those beans become jelly beans!!! Maybe this year we'll do this beyond Lent. We loved doing it last year. This link from Karen shows this jar along with some other things we may do. (Kate's cute mice are something I'm now thinking about too!!! So many ideas!!!)
~ Another wonderful Karen makes this great visual sacrifice measure here that I'd love to do. I need to get a flower punch though...or I'll NEVER do this! But it's a great family learning tool for giving! I LOVE the handprints for remembering personal sacrifices!
~ We also will make a crown of thorns from flour, water, and toothpicks, where Lovely can pull the toothpicks out when she does something for others or Jesus. Again, we learned this from Lenten Adventures.
~ We will cut down on "fun" snacks or treats, aside from Sundays or Feast Days. I'm not talking about cutting after school nutritious snacks to refuel - but cutting back on cookies, baking, etc that are more "fun" for Lent. We WILL, though, still do Lenten cooking/baking that ties into the lessons we learn together - so pretzels, etc will also not fall into this cut back.
~ We'll be making a Lenten Lamb Calendar like what Karen has listed on her post. It looks so cute and fun way to count the days!! It's like an Advent Calendar countdown.
~ I love Erin's idea about "hiding the Alleluia" (Lovely could write out the word and we can hide it till Easter Sunday since during Lent we don't say that word till the big happy Easter day).
~ We'll make Hot Cross Buns for Good Friday and Resurrection Rolls for Easter Sunday.
~ I'd like to make a children's Stations of the Cross box as a learning tool that both Kate and Erin (see her pics) mention.
~ Kate has a bunch of great links I want to check out this week at the end of her post.
~ Family Adoration

Daddy's Goals:

~ Giving up soda for Lent (this is huge for him).
~ He wants to do the 40 bags in 40 Days with me, but in his own areas of the house.
~ work more on some KofC duties both at home and church.

My Goals:

~ 40 Bags in 40 Days - though I'm not sure I can commit to a bag size, I CAN make a goal to a bag a day. I picked this because I always say I'm going to do this, and don't - because it is hard, and I hoard the little things in life, I need to push myself and let go of the worldly distractions that clutter my life. Anyone want to join me?? Hubby is - come join us?
~ Rumor has it that Faith and Family Live will post new Lenten Meditations like they did last year (I linked to some examples I reposted on my blog) that, now that I know they exist, I want to make part of my "giving up" and "adding to" for Lent. Every day is something different from an internet "fast" from e-mail/internet, to simply being more present to my kids or spouse, or no TV for a day, to not cutting corners with my daily work, or giving 5 minutes to God in the morning and evening. It gives 3 things a day to cover Fast, Praying, and Giving. They challenge me, which enriches me if I listen to the instructions. I love how varied it is and it makes me give up more than I would make myself do, or do MORE than I make myself do.
~ Another friend had a good one I should do - give up yelling for Lent. Wow...I need to do that too!!

*** Here is a GREAT one from Rachel - this would be huge for me.....wow, what a thought to ponder. How many of us would this help, especially as women??

So - These are our Lenten plans and goals. I can't wait to see what graces pour forth from the new focus the next 40 days. I love the traditions we discover, the growth, the journey, the prayers, and the challenge. We'll probably stumble, but the challenge is to try again. Pray for us....we'll be praying for you!!! Happy Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras!!!