Lent

In past years Lent has been...something that we knew was happening but failed to remember to do much about it.  I think because at some point after leaving highschool and leaving home it just became this thing that you didn't really think about in relation to your life per se.  But now that I've become involved at our church and we have kids and we're going on a more regular basis, it doesn't feel like something that's blindsided us.

The other week I was putting together a short session on Lent for my 6th grade Faith Formation class and one of the best ways to describe sacrificing something for Lent was this.  Instead of sacrificing, it's replacing.  Many people give up pop, but what do you replace it with?  Water?  Juice?  Some people give up chocolate, in favor of what?  Fruit?  Nuts?  I love this idea.

This year I'm giving up eating out.  But not in I'm never going anywhere variety, but where it really impacts my life.  You can find me at least twice a week calling my husband up at work and saying "....so I don't really feel like making lunch today.  Will you pick up xyz?"  It's this laziness that has prompted me to do something about it.  There's perfectly good food in the fridge, I just don't feel like doing anything with it.  Then at the end of the month I wonder where all the money went!  Oops.  In a burst of overachieverness I thought I would donate the money I saved to charity.  Then in a realist moment, I wondered how I was going to track when I didn't.  That part will have to be worked out as I still like the idea of donating to charity at the end, but not sure how to quantify that with my 40 days of Lent.

When I think of Friday's on Lent I think of cheese pizza and tuna sandwiches.  Pretty boring and definitely not something you want to eat every single Friday for about 2 months.  I think maybe once we've had tuna casserole.  But I'm reviving it tonight.  Tuna casserole with green beans and crunched up Ritz crackers on top.  It sounds yummy, I hope it turns out to be just as exciting!