Mamas Of Lent, Despair Not! (Because We Have A Lot To Offer)

...So what am I saying? Well first, I”ll clarify what I’m not saying: I’m not saying be complacent, lazy, ignorant of the season or disregard it or to give up on things you feel in your heart you should—do what God says for goodness’ sakes. I’m imploring you though, Mamas and Ladies Of The Land: expand your hearts, deepen your senses of hearing, seeing, and helping God in others and in all situations this Lent and it will carry into the rest of your life. We’ll slip and struggle but that’s another reminder of what we always are, not just during Lent: imperfect without Him, but working on getting there, and loved as all get-out. I’m going to challenge us, not because I have any more of a right than any other woman of God, but because if we want to grow, we often need each other to do so...

For Lent This Year, Build a Habit (and Why I Think “Motivation” is a 4-Letter Word)

...But isn’t that what we all do most lents? Actually, for me, I’ve often given up coffee, which turns out to be my wife’s sacrifice—putting up with me when I have not had caffeine—but I swear I’m not addicted! We give up something (usually food) that we do a bit too much of, and forty days later we usually go back to the same old habits we’ve always had. Fasting, of course, is an essential part of Lent; making a temporary sacrifice to put us in the mindset of Christ’s sacrifice is obviously a good thing. But what if it didn’t have to be the same pattern we repeat multiple times a year? (You know the usual cycle: we fail our New Year’s resolutions, and then pick them up with a new determination during Lent, only to forget about the whole thing by the time Summer hits). Wouldn’t it be better if you changed something about yourself—even something very small—for good?...