Join me for Lent

Throughout my life, Lent has never been a part of my spiritual life. I grew up in a very Catholic town, so I was very aware of Lent, and went to the St. Mary's fish fry dinners on Friday nights almost every week as a kid with my parents and grandparents. That still does not constitute celebrating Lent. 

I celebrate Advent, and have been a part of churches that celebrate Advent. Advent is beautiful as each week we prepare ourselves for the coming King. Doesn't it just make sense that we would do the same as we prepare and worship the One who takes away the sins of the world? If it wasn't for Easter, Christmas is not all that important. 

I do think there is a significant difference between half heartedly giving up addictive items for Lent, and looking carefully at the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross and deciding to sacrifice as a response. 

This year World Vision and InterVarsisty have partnered together to create a "Lent Experience." They don't say experience, I do, because I am not sure what to call it. If I had to call it something other than experience, it would be Bible Study/Prayer Time/Process Time/Watching Videos/Learning about sacrifice/Seeing how other people sacrifice/ Actually sacrificing/ sacrificing with other people/advocation/education.  Experience sounds better, right? 

The Experience can be as little or as much as you want to make it. Each week of Lent (6 weeks) is a different theme. 

Check out the website Watch the video. If you are interested, feel free to sign up. I will be blogging on my experience, sharing what I am learning and inviting you to the same. 

Why am I making a big deal about this? 

1. I think it is a good discipline for Christians to set time aside this time of the year and refocus their life as they look to the cross. 

2. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. As a christian, I both want to celebrate and worship Him for that, as well as follow His example to make significant sacrifices in our lives. 

3. Our church has been reading the book Radical, and asking how then shall we live? This is a great piggy back to Radical and what my pastor has been preaching/teaching/challenging and exhorting us for the last 8 months. 

4. As a community of believers, let's make sacrifice, stand up for our faith and be the hands and feet of Jesus. 

Please join me!! 

A thought before we start....

"To get ready, ask yourself what sacrifice means to you. Spend time thinking about how our generation can sacrifice to change ourselves and the world around us—and to ultimately reflect Christ’s sacrifice for us. "

Are you in? Leave a comment. 

Did you answer the questions about sacrifice? Leave a comment. 

Have questions? Leave a comment. 

You get the idea. 

For the cause of the down trodden

For the love of all that is holy and good, which is only Jesus Himself, would you please look at the following links?


1. Sign the petition for International Justice Mission. IJM is a missions organization that is working hard to stop human trafficking around the world. Seriously, it takes one minute. And then pass it around to everyone. Because human trafficking needs to stop NOW.

2. Speaking of human trafficking, did you know that in a few days, this will be the largest human trafficking weekend throughout the world? More women and children will be trafficked during the Supwerbowl than any other time during the year. Read this.  After you read this, will you please spend some time in serious prayer for this to end? Oh Jesus, bring your kingdom!


3. What are you doing for Lent? Do you celebrate lent? If you celebrate it, would you consider doing something different with me? And if you have never celebrated lent, would you do something different with me? Check out what World Vision is doing, and join me!! Take a peak here....

Blessings friends!

Why I had to drink 1 day old coffee yesterday and no coffee today

I grew up thinking Lent was bad. It was something that Catholics did, and because I was not Catholic, I should not do it.

In the past few years, I have been experiencing the beauty of Lent. Every year, for 40 days, I can "do something" that will strengthen my faith, grow my knowledge of God, give something up in remembrance of what Jesus did on the cross, or simply use the 40 Days to be disciplined in my spiritual life.

This year, World Vision has set up series of stories and exercise to help people to engage with justice in scripture, with God's heart for justice and the disadvantaged. Each morning I have an email waiting for me with something to pray for, to do, read, or video to watch.

This week we learned about "worth-less-ness" through this story. We were challenged to give up something this week that would show "worth." We decided that we don't really think much about our food. We can easily run to the grocery store and get whatever we want, whenever we want.

The Plan......

On Sunday, when we received the email we decided that we would not spend any money on food until the following Sunday. NO MONEY on FOOD! NO MONEY ON DRINKS! And no, our cupboards were not  stocked full with fresh groceries on Sunday afternoon. We also decided that we could give up meat, because most people who are hungry don't have meat as an option:)

The results.....

• We are using food in our house that we have forgotten about. Frozen veggies, pasta, rice, cans of soup, etc. 
• We have saved money 
• We realize how blessed and spoiled we are. We can get to the store whenever we want to get whatever we want. Do you know how many people around the world aren't able to do that? 
• I find myself not wasting anything. I made coffee on Wednesday and did not drink the whole pot. When I woke up Thursday morning I knew that there was no coffee left and that I could not go to the store. I poured it out of the pot, put it the microwave and wham. Best coffee ever? Nope. It did the job, and I am learning to be grateful in everything. 
• I have learned that I really can do without. So often, I think I "need" something and I am quickly reminded of those who live on $1 day or less. 
• If we can live on less, and grocery shop less, and spend less, then we can give more. Simple math. We need to give more. How selfish of me to be upset that I had no coffee to brew this morning, (and won't until the very earliest Monday morning) and yet there are people around the world who are literally starving to death. Ok, you can have my morning coffee money!! Lord, give me an attitude of generosity! 

Other things you should know about this journey....

• I have had some things given to me that I have consumed. On Wednesday my boss bought me lunch, today I had some coffee from my pastor, and tomorrow I have already paid for my meals at an all day scrap event. 
• Lent is a beautiful thing and I am pretty sure I will celebrate it for the rest of my life.

Lent is on

This year, Jon and I are doing something different for Lent. We are joining World Vision, and pursuing what the Gospel says about justice.

This came in my email today from World Vision. May it be a blessing to you.