As Lent approaches I've been processing more and more the changes I would like to make this year. I told you about the
challenge issued by my sister...remember? No? Go catch up. We'll wait!
For those of you who don't know what Lent is, Wikipedia does a fabulous job of summing it up. I'd try, but most of you would be asleep by the time I got through rambling. If you already know what Lent is just skim over the next section for a quick reminder!
Lent in the Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year leading up to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Conventionally, it is described as being forty days long, though different denominations calculate the forty days differently. The forty days represent the time that, according to the Bible, Jesus spent in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan.
This practice was virtually universal in Christendom until the Protestant Reformation. Some Protestant churches do not observe Lent, but many, such as Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Anglicans, do.
Most followers of Western Christianity observe Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding on Holy Saturday
Back to the challenge...I believe I've thought and prayed long enough and the changes I will be making are far more sweeping than I first declared. In no particular order:
1. No reading, other than the Bible, Bible Study materials, and minimal computer usage. (Which goes to say that I WILL be reading my Bible a LOT more. I'm a reader, remember?)
2. No desserts.
3. No artificial sweeteners.
(This is sounding like a lot of No's...I guess I listed those first! Now for the yes's!)
4. One glass of wine per week...on the weekend. (I'm not a lush and I don't really need to limit this, but since wine is sweet...)
5. I will set the alarm for 7:30am every weekday (and get up then!).
6. I will find useful tasks I've been meaning to get done to fill my time...wasting time because I have more due to the lack of recreational reading would be counterproductive!
I am praying that my prayer life, my family life, and my body will be much healthier at the end of the 46 days.
I'm still waiting for y'all to share if you observe Lent and what changes you are planning to make!
