Tommy and I grew up in a denomination that really did not observe or acknowledge Lent. We have only just begun to pay attention and discover Lent over the last few years as our minds have been opened to the difference between ritual and righteousness. I’m not saying that our upbringing was wrong. We have a rich background in our church upbringing that we are both very grateful for but we did learn our fair share of rituals. Ironically, there are a lot of rituals observed in Lent as well that are, like those we grew up with, not biblical. I am the type of personality who loves rules (rules that make sense anyway) and fall very easily into the trap of legalism. So focusing on relationship and what God wants from me is not always easy. I would have made, do make, a terrific Pharisee. I have to think, be willing to think, through which rituals and rules are biblical and which ones are made by man that do not line up with scripture.

We’ve been increasingly intrigued by Advent over the last several years and have incorporated that into our family’s traditions over the Christmas season. And this year, we will take some baby steps and see what all this Lent business is about. We like what we see so far. Ok, so not all of it but the good parts.

Just like Christmas and Advent have traditions and rituals that are not biblical, so do Easter and Lent. We’re diving into the good parts. Trying to weed out the rituals and focus on the relationship.

I’m not fasting but will still be focusing. I’ll put my toe in the water first rather than my whole foot. Baby steps…

Today, Tommy and I began reading this book:

We agreed to read it separately and then discussing together at some point during the day of the readings. I got a notebook and will journal the journey. We got the Kindle version of the book so with our iphone kindle apps, we can share it and easily have it with us wherever we are. We’ll go through the exercises and allow it to carry us into Easter. It does not appear that it will be easy although we feel it will be worthwhile. We’ve got some reflecting to do and that is usually accompanied by some issues we’ve not had the courage or made the time to deal with. Here is an excerpt from the book that describes what Lent is:

‎“Lent serves as our annual invitation to come closer to God. It provides a time to look at our lives and ourselves, not so we may criticize ourselves more harshly but so we can identify the obstructions that keep us from God. …and to move them gently away so that we can come closer to the Love that gives us life, the Love whose triumph we will celebrate on Easter morning.”

But in everything there can be balance, right? We love the fun parts of traditions too. We feel God allows us some freedom to enjoy Santa Claus, elves and yes, even King Cake. We are SO thrilled we have freedom to enjoy Fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday as my UK/Ozzie/NZ friends call it, and King Cake!! Our friends, David and Julianne, brought us a King Cake that she made and OH MY, how delicious! Our Tuesday was definitely fat. :)

So here goes…  Hopefully our discoveries will be as good or better than the King Cake. But we’d never reject any King Cakes that might come our way. :)