“People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.” On an ordinary afternoon, these words flash, flicker through my mind, and suddenly, I’m 16 again, eye black on my cheeks, wearing camo pants I borrowed from a … Continue reading →
Hey, yes I’m talking to you. You cute, young bride, you. You handsome, brave groom. I’m talking to you people. You have no idea what you’re doing. You are standing there, walking there. Laughing and talking there. You think you … Continue reading →
This year, our church tried out having different people volunteer for a month of children’s church teaching. I got the privilege of spending May with the kids and it was such a joy! The group of kids in our church … Continue reading →
We’ve been up at Willow Creek for the evening. Sarah Bessey was there, and so I had to go. And then I had to stay and then I hugged her and didn’t tell her well enough how her words have … Continue reading →
To my sweet babies, I recently attended an event where the speaker was lauded for suffering something great without anyone knowing about it. And I felt my cheeks burn red while I politely put my hands together for this cancer … Continue reading →
In the midst of a surprise pregnancy and surprise no insurance, the baby who made me a momma turns three. We stay up late cleaning and decorating and readying our first house for its first birthday party. I hang pink and … Continue reading →
I thought about you today. I wish I could say I think about you every day, but I don’t. I wish I could say I think of you often. If I’m being honest, I don’t think of you as often … Continue reading →
Neither David nor I grew up aware of the church calendar, so we are navigating a bit of uncharted territory with our little family when it comes to things like observing Lent or celebrating other feast days throughout the Christian year. We … Continue reading →
Ash Wednesday is coming up on March 1, which is just a week away!
I’ve been very much enjoying Word and Table, a podcast about liturgy, sacrament, and the great tradition of Christian worship, which also means that I’m continually wiping tears from my eyes while folding laundry, washing dishes, and making lunches for the little people in our home. I recently listened to an episode about the Church Calendar, which was fantastic. Historically, Lent was the time that new believers would practice spiritual disciplines in preparation for baptism on Easter Sunday. They would also learn The Lord’s Prayer and the Creed during this time. A really beautiful thing I only recently learned is that this was something that the entire church would intentionally join them in. This just makes me love Lent even more. What a beautiful picture of what Jesus has done for us, what it means to be the body of Christ.
Maybe, like it did for me, reading or remembering this reinvigorates your desire to observe Lent as a family. Maybe it helps to guide you into the areas you specifically want to focus on. Maybe you’ve never celebrated Lent before, but you’re going to go ahead and give it a try. Friend, I encourage you to prayerfully consider how the Lord would have your family observe this season of penitence and preparation as we look forward to Holy Week and Easter. And, because this is a part of my job now (AMAZING!), I have roped together some resources and some ideas and I’m passing them on to you, with a note of caution:
If you’re anything like me, this can get overwhelming. There are a fair number of wonderful ideas and practices your family could take up during the Lenten season. I encourage you (and myself) to be cautious. Pray. Carefully decide what direction you will take with Lent and choose a few things that serve the purpose of continually directing your heart toward Jesus. These practices are no good to us if they don’t stir in us a grief about and hatred for our sin and raise our gaze to Christ. So, whatever you choose to do, do it in joy and in freedom that the purpose of our fasting and our praying and our giving is to feel the ache of our brokenness, our deep need for a Savior and to lift our eyes to his beautiful face.
Amon’s Adventure: A Family Story for Easter– Arnold Ytreeide *We haven’t read this one, but it comes highly recommended and is a book you can read throughout Lent, finishing on EasterSunday. Probably best for ages 7/8 and up.
The Good of Giving Up: Discovering the Freedom of Lent-Fr. Aaron Damiani *I haven’t had the chance to read this one yet, but we’ll be reading it this year. It is written by a priest in our diocese, and it’s been suggested to us by a few of our friends from his parish. Includes a section on celebrating Lent with children.
Family Worship: Lent is a good time to establish a family routine of prayer and scripture reading together or to continue in an already established routine. Perhaps you would like to try to learn the Apostle’s Creed or the Lord’s Prayer together. Consider using a resource to walk through the stations of the cross, following the revised common lectionary readings, or using a Lenten Liturgy.
Commit to pray together each day, give special attention to repentance and to praying for the least of these. Perhaps your family would like to choose a specific group of people to pray for during the season (see more about this in the “almsgiving” section).
Activities
Prayer Chain: Create a paper chain with 40 links– You can write names of people on them, things your family is praying for, or scripture passages. Each day take one of the links off during family devotional time and pray for the person or issue on the link.
Prayer Station: Create a prayer station in your home. This can be as simple as a chair with a purple cloth or piece of construction paper taped to it, or you can choose to include a small tray or basket filled with items such as: a children’s Bible, prayer book, small pad of paper and crayons or markers, pictures to color or printed Bible verse cards, brave parents of older children could include a candle (or a battery powered one!). Ann Voskamp has a beautiful piece about how they use a station like this in their home.
FASTING
Many families choose to give something up for Lent– this may be a meal once a week, treats, television, etc. It is important that no matter what you choose to give up, you explain to your children the reasons we are doing this– to join Christ in his sufferings and to lift our eyes to him. It can help to think of and talk about Advent and Lent as the similar seasons that they are– we are fasting before we feast. In Advent, we are consciously waiting for the coming Christ, and in Lent, we are actively paying attention to how sinful and empty we are without the risen Christ. Disciplines and practices that we take on during these seasons of waiting (Advent) and penitence (Lent) should always serve to direct our hearts towards Jesus.
Activites
Burying the Alleluia: This hands-on activity can help children understand Lent as a time to mourn and repent of our sin. Together make alleluia banners– these can be as simple as markers or watercolors on large pieces of paper or as complicated as fabric banners sewn together– the important thing is that this activity can be done together and can provide an opportunity to talk about alleluia– what it means and why we say it, and to discuss why we won’t be saying it in our services during Lent. Together, either on the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday or on Shrove Tuesday, bury the Alleluia banner, either in a box outside or in a closet in your house, in your basement, etc. Then on Easter morning, get it back out and display it in your house throughout the Easter season.
Sundays are Feast Days: Lent is 40 days plus Sundays. Sundays are always feast days. Decide together whether you will continue your fast through the Sundays or whether you will choose to feast on the Sundays: if you choose to eat simple meals during Lent, for example, perhaps you would have pancake breakfast on Sundays.
ALMSGIVING
The third spiritual discipline observed during Lent is almsgiving. It can be beneficial to focus on a specific group of people for the entire season, to learn about them and to commit to pray for them. Some examples include: refugees, the unborn, children in poverty, people in the 10/40 window, orphans, foster children, etc. There are many tangible things that your family could do in addition to monetary donation during Lent to support ministries and organizations that are dedicated to these populations and bountiful resources online to help your family learn about them and pray for them.
Activities:
Gift Jar: Throughout Lent, place money in a jar to give as a gift on Easter. Together as a family decide where that money should go. Some families choose to eat simple meals and put all the money saved in this jar, other families agree to put a portion of any money they receive as gifts in the jar– talk together about how you will give sacrificially during Lent.
40 bags/items in 40 days: Go through your home and collect things that you no longer need (one bag/item each day) and either donate them, or sell them and add the money to your giving jar.
I hope that these resources are helpful to you as you prepare to enter into this season with your family. If you are interested in more resources, I will be adding ideas and suggestions to this Lent Pinterest Page throughout the rest of the week, so please check that out if you are looking for more ideas.
Maybe this is old news to you, or you have practices your family has treasured practices for celebrating Lent. I’d love to hear about them!
“Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth: Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is only by … Continue reading →
