A Word on Lent

I confess, I really don't mind Lent. I prefer it more than Advent...cue the gasps of horror. Don't get me wrong, I like both, but I just find Advent to be a rush, with too much to do...too much baking, too much running around with the kids, too much prepping...just too much. And on top of that, somewhere you need to find the time to relish in the quietness of Christmas...uhmmm yeah.

Lent is quieter...not easier...just quieter. The busy-ness of life and school, believe it or not, seems to slow down around here. Its almost like its a time of year meant to be...just for me. I have more pockets of time to relish in the quiet, more time for reflection.  I have more time to strip away all the ugliness and remind myself that perfection is not part of the game. Its a time to remind myself of all my fault and inadequacies. It's hard...very hard. In fact, yesterday I had an emotional melt down, and I was ready to throw in the towel with Lent ...I just couldn't do it and it was only Day 2!  So many faults, so many demons. I'm quite a bit better today...thank you for asking. Don't ask me what happened, but someone up there must've put in a good word for me...not that the rest of Lent will be easy ...C'mon I home school remember?

Now that I've left myself vulnerable and open for everyone, lets shift the topic of me, to what we are doing as a family this year for Lent.
I scoured the Internet, and blogs I follow, and pulled a little from here and there. I just want to thank Lena at Joy Filled Family , Jessica at Shower of Roses and Jen at Enter Under My Roof  for all their wonderful resources. Loyola Press is another wonderful site to find ideas and reflections about Lent.

The kids have their list of things the will do for Fast, Pray and Give (Alms). As a huge reminder to what this season is all about, I decorated our board in our school room. Not only did I make my version of Jessica's calendar, I've also put up a list under each "category" as a reminder for what we should all do and work on during this season. It's no too elaborate, but I think it'll get the point across to all of us.

I'm definitely keeping  the KISS ( keep it simple) principal in mind this year. I find as my crew gets older, there are certain activities they just don't enjoy any more, and that's OK because we all grow, we all change, and we all need something else to remind us of what Lent is truly about.