Today lent finishes for our family!!!!! i am so excited. We as a family chose to do only water for drinks!!!! and boy was it HARD. We also did it for the whole term so although lent does not officially finish until Sunday i think, we are finishing today as it is the last day of term.
Last year we did no tv, and i tell you this has been WAY harder. As we go into Easter, i am reminded of the life giving sacrifice Jesus made and am looking forward to the most significant holiday of our year.....and a nice cup of tea :)
So is anyone else doing lent? I have been doing it for about 5 years now, but it is our whole families 2nd year. Its an opportunity to deny yourself something for the 40 days leading up to Easter. A chance to, while you crave and think about what you cannot have, (did chocolate one year!!!) remember the sacrifice Jesus gave at Easter. A chance to grow closer to him.
Last year my husband decided as a family we should all do lent and we should have no tv, which in our house seemed a really difficult reality. And to make it even more difficult we decided to do it for the whole term!!! not just 40 days. At first it was hard, the kids complained.. a lot, but after about a week we had all settled into a new way of life. More time for homework, more reading, earlier nights, more board games. I Loved it.
This year we decided to do the term thing again and do it again as a family. This year the thing we have given up is drinks, all drinks apart from water!!! NO juice, fizzy, tea, coffee, alcohol. The whole shabang!
It's hard!!! I want a glass of coke, i want a latte, i want a hot chocolate on a cold evening. But you know what, it's not as hard as having all your friends turn against you, not as hard as being whipped and spat on, not as hard as having the sins of the world on your shoulders.