We have to remember the blessings God has given us.  We should make certain to thank God everyday for what he has allowed in our lives. It’s easy to forget. So I am going to list all the big things for which I am very thankful.

I have a very good life.
God has blessed me.
My family is wonderful.
We are very happy.
We are all healthy.

I will keep these positives in mind and focus on them. This is the first step for me. I will remember how good I have it.

God will give us all we need.  We just need to ask.  He does want us to put some effort in though.  We have to choose to allow him into our lives.  Our thoughts and actions need to ‘jive’ with what we ask.  If we ask for love, joy or patience, we have to offer these things to others and thank God for that opportunity.   We need to work with God, not against him.

If we pray, listen to and work with God, we can accomplish everything He wants us to.  This needs to be done not only with the big things but the everyday, mundane things.  We need to remember to thank God for the dirty clothes because we have clothes.  We need to remember to thank God for the bickering children because they are wonderful gifts.

I will thank God for some everyday things I tend to stress about when I shouldn’t.  If I remember what I already have, it will be easier to get through the day.  I may even complete what I want because I’m not stressing about all I need to do.  Here’s the current list of positives in my life right now.

I have time to do all I need.
My home is beautiful, organized and clean.

Do you see what I tend to get stressed about?  This will change and all these statements will be true and obvious to everyone who meets me.

Lots of prayer, effort on my part, and staying positive.

With God, anything is possible.

We started our day with a very deep conversation.  The Holy Spirit had to be guiding my answer because I was still barely awake and Jake went away happy.  Gotta love the little ones.  Their faith is deeper and more trusting than ours ever can be.  I just pray he never loses that.

May God keep you and your family healthy and happy.

I was giving suggestions for what to do to remove a thorn: a good deed, a kind word, a special prayer for someone, even resisting a temptation.  I gave the example of having a candy bar in front of me and not eating it.  I don’t know if he was picking on me or trying to help me work on my strength, but my 8 year old then ran upstairs, got two pieces of Christmas candy and placed them in front of me.  I jokingly tossed them at him and when I went to bed they were sitting on my bedside table.  After my morning shower there were 3 sitting on the edge of my bed.  If I don’t make a big deal about not eating them and taking out a toothpick, I think those pieces of candy will follow me around all Lent. 

I will read my Bible daily.  I will pray alone.  I will pray with my family.   I will go to Confession and take my family.

Sacrifice

I’ve been thinking about what I need to sacrifice for Lent this year.  Traditionally I give up sweets, but it has become a mini-diet not a focus on God.  This year I’ve decided I need to give up internet surfing.  I find myself procrastinating on-line, a lot.  I will only give myself 30 minutes a day to check e-mail and write in my blogs.  I am just realizing how much time I do spend on this.  Of course the sweets are gone and I will really watch my language when frustrated.

Almsgiving

The money I save on not buying sweets and my favorite expensive drink at the grocery store will buy food for the local pantry.  I will go through my home and give away items we no longer use.  I will volunteer to help at upcoming events at my church.

Pray for me, I’ll pray for you.

One family created there own Jesse Tree out of felt.  Each day they read scripture and work their way up to Jesus.

Another idea is to use jellybeans to keep track of prayer, almsgiving, and sacrifice throughout Lent.  Each color is assigned as something.  As the very large jar is filled, the children will see what they have done for Jesus.  On Easter day, then fill the rest of the jar with white jellybeans to signify the need for God’s grace to make up for our imperfection.

Also you can take those palms from last year.  Carefully burn them.  Place the ashes in a pot of dirt for Lent.  On Palm Sunday, add grass seed to the dirt.  By Easter Sunday the grass should have grown.  New Life.  Others have suggested planting Amarillis bulbs at the beginning of Lent.

I even received some great recipes:

Many people shared recipes for a Crown of Thorns.  In case you haven’t heard, it’s a piece of dough braided and formed into a crown.  Then toothpicks are stuck into the crown to signify our sins and the fact that Jesus bore them for us.  Place the crown on a purple cloth or paper.  As Lent goes on, family members that do good deeds or offer special sacrifices and prayers can pull out a ‘thorn’.  Some families then paint the crown gold, place it on a white cloth and cover it with flowers on Easter morning.  Hopefully it will no longer have thorns.

Resurrection Buns sound delicious.  They are hollow on the inside to remind us of the empty tomb.  They also taste like cinnamon buns.  Yum!

Easter Cookies are another favorite.  These are made the evening before Easter.  Each ingredient is compared to Jesus’ journey to the cross and finally burial in the tomb (oven).  On Easter morning, the cookies are decorated and enjoyed.

I’d like to thank Leslie, Julie, Jenny, Diane and Kerry for all the great ideas.

I also found some blogs and sites with ideas.

I like the prayer basket idea here:

http://totustuusfamily.blogspot.com/2009/02/lotsa-links-for-lent.html

The Catholic Bishops’ site is good:

http://www.usccb.org/lent/2007/

This site has good ideas for children’s prayer:

http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/child/lent/01.html

This parish site has many great family ideas:

http://www.sfaparish.com/lent_activities.htm

Now I have so many ideas to choose from for our family.  All I really want is to make Lent a time to grow closer to God and help those around us.  May this Lent season draw you and yours closer to God as well.

Lori

I’ve been looking up ideas for the season and I’ve also asked friends what they do as families.  I thought I’d share some of these ideas.

Fat Tuesday:  eat up all the sweets in the house, have King Cake, have a party, make and eat paczkies (a polish donut), each member of the family writes down something they’d like to work on during Lent and places in a special container to look again at when Easter arrives, create a Lenten paper chain with things to do to prepare for Easter

Ash Wednesday:  attend Mass, receive ashes, day of fasting and abstain from meat, start lenten sacrifice, start work on relationship with God and start improving relationship with others, plant seeds that will bloom by Easter

Throughout Lent:  Pray, try to get rid of things and actions that distract us from God, clear out house, sacrifice favorites such as foods and entertainments, give alms, give more time to others, focus more on God, pray the Stations of the Cross, attend Adoration, attend 1-2 more weekly masses, celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, keep home plain, make and eat pretzels or hot cross buns for dessert, add Works of Mercy to your daily life

Fridays: abstain from meat

Maundy Thursday:  attend Mass, share a Passover meal

Good Friday:  pray the Stations of the Cross, attend services, my husbands’ family makes homemade Polish sausage and colors Easter eggs

Holy Saturday:  attend the Easter Vigil, get Easter baskets filled with food for Easter and colored eggs blessed

Easter Sunday:  attend Mass, decorate home with flowers and signs of spring, hide Easter eggs, hide Easter eggs, prepare and eat a full beautiful Easter morning brunch or dinner using food blessed on Saturday, Lamb cake, Lamb butter

These are just a couple of things I have come across or we already do.  I think the whole point is to clear our lives of distractions from God.  Does anyone else have ideas on how to make the Reason for the Lenten Season Jesus?   Please share.

Feed the Hungry – boys are always hungry, so I have that one covered

Give drink to the Thirsty – see above

Clothe the Naked – I have lots of laundry to do

Visit the Captive – If we have any time-outs today, I’ll make certain to go give the child a hug at the end

Shelter the Homeless – I will clean my home

Admonish the Sinners – I’ll correct bad behaviour quickly and with patience

Instruct the Ignorant – We’re homeschooling today, so this is easy to fit in

Counsel the Doubtful – I’ll pay attention to when my children may need and want some advice on how to deal with something in their lives

Comfort the Sorrowful – Hugs are always available

To Bear Wrongs Patiently – If no one is listening to me (trust me it happens a lot), I’ll patiently remind them what I said.  This one will be hard.

To Forgive all Injuries – Mostly I’ll try to not take the above personally.

To Pray for the Living and the Dead – in my morning prayers, evening prayers and throughout the day

I do many of these every day but sometimes I resent having to.  I need mostly to change my attitude.  Today, I will live my normal life happily for my family and for God.