Lent

Though I am not Catholic, I really enjoy Lent and the concept of giving up or taking on something as a physical recognition of Christ's sacrifice for our sins. It also adds to the anticipation build-up of Easter, a holiday that is just as important as Christmas but is quite underrated and overlooked. My fascination with Lent started in college freshman year when I lived with several Catholic girls (yeah B2W!) who all gave up something. As I am never one to be left out, I happily followed suit.

The hubs has never been very into Lent, but this year he's agreed to take part. Here's what we've decided to give up/take on:

1. No TV except on Thursdays. (Why Thursdays? you ask...Thursday has been our standing date-on-the-couch night since we started dating/watching The Office and Grey's Anatomy. As we feel that it is only beneficial to our marriage to spend this quality time together, Thursdays will be staying around. All other days, though, the tube is staying off!)
I'm hoping this will also result in vast amounts of free time to do the following:
a. finish thesis
b. read my Bible
c. read for pleasure

2. Eat at home every night during the week.
This has been a goal for so long now, but we really feel like sacrificing our eating out will result in more quality time together and our taking better care of ourselves/losing weight. (I'm pretty sure Lent is not supposed to be about losing weight a.k.a. self-centeredness, but it's a good time to make this commitment and stick with it short term, hoping it will result in something more long term.)

3. Keep up with the Monthly Bible Reading Plan that our church puts out.
We just need to plain be in the Word more. No way around. This gives us a method and a place to start.

4. Write a letter or card to someone once a week.
Ok, this is mine, not Patrick's. I'm starting this week by writing to my sister-in-law and family in Australia who we have yet to thank for our Christmas present (oops). I got lots of pretty stationary for Christmas plus a really fun stamp-thingy with my name and address on it (thanks, Susan!). No time like the present to put it to good use.

So there you have it. Our Lent List. I'll keep you updated on how it goes!! What are your thoughts on Lent? Are you planning to give up/take on anything?? What a great time to look at our priorities and rearrange where necessary.

(By the way, the "L" on my computer is broken. It is quite hard to continually type Lent when having to violent force down the L key, so if I've made any typos, please forgive. Just an FYI...)