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Hello Families!
"The desert waits, ready for those who come, who come obedient to the Spirit’s leading; or who are driven, because they will not come any other way. The desert always waits, ready to let us know who we are – the place of self-discovery. And whilst we fear, and rightly, the loneliness and emptiness and harshness, we forget the angels whom we cannot see for our blindness, but who come when God decides that we need their help; when we are ready for what they can give us. "
Ruth Burgess ©2004 first published in
Bread of Tomorrow: Praying With the World’s Poor
Lent can be tough! It is a season that some fear, some hate, and some simply ignore. The idea of truly looking deeply at our selves without any masks on, without any rationalizations for our lives, can send people as far away from the desert or wilderness as possible.
But then we would miss the opportunity for grace. The opportunity to lay down our burdens, shame, guilt, sins, grudges at the foot of the cross and experience true redeeming love.
I wonder if we can reframe Lent and help your family see it as a season of true introspection without judgement, a time of claiming our warts, sins, true selves as we are right now and knowing that even though we just can't get it right, God's grace covers it all ...already.
Lent is slowing down our busy lives to clean out our hearts to make more room for God and simply spend time dwelling WITH God.
As Ann Voskamp (author of article below) found when she googled Lent, - 'Lent is preparing the heart for Easter. '
"Lent's like going with Jesus into the wilderness for forty days,
that we might let go of things that don't ultimately matter,
to experience more of the
One who ultimately matters most........
The wilderness is where more of the Word spoken is heard
- and we're formed more into a person of the Word."
So embrace the journey into the wilderness. Let go. Listen. Grow. Heal. Make Room. And remember that you are not alone!
One small but powerful thing your family can do together is start a new prayer practice. You can use the Prayer Jars your kids made on Wednesday night or this coming Sunday - simply have everyone write names, places, things that they would like to pray for during Lent on Popsicle sticks/or slips of paper and place in the jar. Each night at dinner, each person pulls out a slip and says a prayer for that person/place/thing.
Or you can use one of the beautiful Lent Calendars below and add people/ places, things to each space each night and color in the space.
Lent Calendar Praying in Color
Bless This Mess Lent Calendar Devotional
Keeping on with Lent Ann Voskamp
THIS SUNDAY:
This Sunday, I need an adult to stand with kids at the chapel after the 9:00 service to hand out the bags for the MAC Canned Goods Lent Drive, so if you haven't signed up yet to help with that, take a look at the Sign up
Jane Thorpe is on for Helping with Children's Church, but we still have slots from March 26th on if you haven't signed up to help there yet. Sign up
Save the Date - Vacation Bible School (VBS) will be June 5-9. Woo-Hoo!
Peace,
Kathy
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If you didn't get a chance to sign up for helping in Children's Ministries yet, please take a look at the links below
1) pick a Sunday or two to help with Children's Church;
Children's Church Ministry Sign Up
2) join a teaching team for the formation hour this Spring or think about starting in the Fall;
Formation Teacher/Helper Sign Up
3) help with our Faith in Action activities each month;
Faith in Action Sign Up
4) help with VBS June 5-9;
VBS Volunteer
5) help us during our Clean Up Day/Marie Kondo Day - TBD
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