Lenten

Easter is about 6 weeks away, April 12. Many times, this holiday sneaks up on me. This is the Christian's most important day to celebrate, but I often feel under prepared.

We spend a lot of time on preparing for and celebrating Christmas, with advent calendar, wreath, candles and readings, special traditions and decorations. Yet, for Easter, we don't experience the same anticipation and preparation- at least, not to the degree I'd like.

This year, I've done some reading on Lent and have been challenged to spend the six weeks prior to Easter to focus on preparing for celebrating this glorious holiday.

Here are a couple of things we are doing this year:

1. We are each choosing one thing to give up (fast) for 40 days that we feel is a hindrance to our devotion to the Lord. (Examples: TV, media, reading novels more than the Bible...etc.)

2. Use this lent season for self-examination and evaluation.

3. We are making a Box of Repentance. Throughout the day, we will write down on a small piece of paper sins we've committed and place them in the box as an act of confession. On Easter, we will take all the papers and burn them as a symbol of what God does to our sins because of what Christ accomplished on the Cross for us.

Another resource for ideas: Treasuring God in our Traditions by Noel Piper