Ash Wednesday

it's that time again. last year b and i participated in Lent and both thought it was a very cool and amazing experience. some of our dear friends from dallas participate as a congregation at their church. nope, they're not catholic and neither are we....but to me it's a very cool tradition, something you can learn from, gain a new experience from and definitely benefit from.

if you've never done it, i would encourage you to. if you think it's weird, that's ok too. if you don't know what it is, well....take a listen (or read).

Lent is forty days long (not counting sunday) leading up to Easter and representing the time Jesus spent in the desert. "The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial."

So traditionally one is supposed to give something up during the 40 days. And in it's place (according to some beliefs) replace it with something that will enhance your relationship with Christ.

this year i've decided to give up facebook for 40 days (along with a couple of food items). facebook sounds trivial you might say....well, it's actually my "go to" for down time and sometimes...dare i say....a time waster. something that will be a little difficult for me to break myself from b/c it HAS become a habit.

so here we go.

another thing b and i do during these 40 days is follow along a daily devotional taken from a book entitled "via cruces." it contains a short blurb for each day of Lent. it's a very cool experience and can really open your heart and mind in new ways to what Jesus went through, for us, so many years ago.

so perhaps you want to join the Lent journey...maybe just for fun or maybe to regain control in an area of your life that has gone awry. whatever the reason...the season is upon us to reflect on the biggest gift we were ever given. eternal life through death.

(if you're interested in the daily devotions from "via cruces" go to ibclent.com)