A simple, yet purposeful, Lent

I was convicted as I read this passage the other day:

“When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?” Zechariah 7:5

ouch. So, God gently reminded me that the purpose of Lent in my life should be for Him. Lent should not be about a great blog post. (I’m not even going to search the web for the *best* Lent ideas this year! gasp!) Lent should not be about making myself look grand and spiritual.

Lent should be about God and my personal, intimate relationship with Him. Lent should be a time of focus. Lent should be about opening my hands up and letting Him give and take what He will. Lent is about being willing. Lent is about growing.

This year for Lent, things will be simple in our homeschool, simple in our plans and simple in my heart. I have plans to get some spring cleaning done, finish some books that have been on my nightstand way too long, and meditate/memorize more Scripture. But, these are things that need to be done anyway. So…

Here are my simple Lenten plans:

~~ I want to re-read one of my favorite books about slowing down…Not So Fast: Slow-Down Solutions for Frenzied Families

~~ I also want to focus, with my children, on praying for various countries around the world. We will use the daily emails and videos from Operation World as prayer prompts.

~~ The kids will color 1 square per day on our Journey to Easter pages – free printable Easter countdown pages found here.

~~ Finally, my last tangible idea to share is that I am going to start 1,000 gifts journals with my kids as well. I think the Lord told me to do this with them very clearly one day as I was reading Ann Voskamp’s book on the subject, One Thousand Gifts . I am looking forward to sharing my journal with the kids and having them start one of their own.

So, the main fixtures of our Lenten season will be:

Slowing down
Prayer for the world around us
Graditude

Sounds just right: simple, yet purposeful.