Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Could This Be the Lent?

Happy Ash Wednesday!!!!

Just kidding, it's not happy.

I hate Lent.

Hate, hate, hate.

As soon as anyone tells me I can't eat meat or snack between meals, ALL I WANT TO DO IS EAT MEATY SNACKS ALL DAY LONG.  Any other day, I could care less about meat, but on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays during Lent, I'm like what am I supposed to cook????

I know it's a character flaw.  It must be the sin of pride.  I want to be so saintly and accepting of sufferings thrown my way, but I am pitiful at it and hear myself complaining.  I pray to be a little more docile and a little less um, fighting Irish.  When am I going to get to that place?  

Could this be the Lent?

I think I need to change my attitude about Lent and make it more like my attitude about life.

Because the older I get, the more I have this thought: 

My "hard" life is full of so many good things.

When I start thinking about how hard it is to juggle all of the kids' needs and work a job I don't love to provide for my family and grocery shop and cook and clean and walk the dog and nurture my marriage and make time for family and friends and workout and feed the fish and drive the kids to their practices and lessons and games and don't even get me started on the laundry...

I literally pause.  Take a breath.  And realize...

I am living the life I always wanted.

I always dreamed of a loving, generous, handsome husband with whom to start a big crazy family full of funny, sweet, intelligent kids.  I hoped to live near the coast, surrounded by family, with good schools and great friends.  I prayed for a marriage and family where God was first and we would help each other get to Heaven.

So yeah, I am truly grateful for my life.  I can see that the "hard" parts are really just part of the whole package with all of the "easy" parts.  And you know, I'm not ignoring the hard parts, but hard doesn't equate to bad.  Just as easy doesn't equate to good.  Everybody is healthy and happy and thriving and what more could I desire?  I am so blessed.

I need to start viewing Lent in this same way.  

Each day when I want to eat the cookie or don't feel like praying the rosary, I need to stop and remember that these little inconveniences are just part of the journey, and for the most part that journey is so good.  Those sacrifices will lead to the eternal life I've always wanted.

Without the rain, there is no rainbow.  

Without the suffering, there is no joy.  

My kids certainly inspire me by their Lenten sacrifices:


So maybe this could be the Lent that I embrace the hard after all.  Let's do this!  

11 comments:

  1. Your kids sacrifices are impressive. Mine do not write theirs down on a family chart. Years ago a priest gave me dispensation from going meat free, because I have celiac and I'm already limited in what I can eat. I am going to try eating no meat when I'm supposed to have no meat this lent. I have a few GF ideas that I can go to as a substitute.

    I feel similarly, sometimes I feel bogged down by all of the things I have to do for everyone, yet I always wanted a big family and the things I need to do are all because life is good. Healthy family. Active children. We are blessed. Your faith is an inspiration. Thanks for sharing. Wishing you a lent that you find manageable and that you don't hate.

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    1. Do you like seafood? I find salmon or tuna salad such an easy GF sub for meat but my hubby hates seafood so he mostly eats eggs or pizza on GF cauliflower crust. It definitely narrows down the choices :( Let's pray for each other!!

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    2. I do not like sea food. I don't mind tuna fish, but I don't eat GF bread, so a sandwich wouldn't be an option and a bowl of it would be kind of icky. I do occasionally have GF pizza from Costco. I eat meat on my salad at lunch, but I'm trying more hard boiled egg there instead. I might do rice and beans for dinner.

      I also noticed the cold showers, yikes. I'm laughing at the reading in the bathroom. I would like a few of my kids to read more, but that wouldn't really suite our family either.

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  2. Okay - two of those Lenten sacrifices really struck me. Cold showers - that's hard core! No reading in the bathroom - the rest of the family will appreciate it! If my bookworms get engrossed while reading , it takes a lot of banging on the door to break the spell.
    I am very bad at giving anything up, so I'm going to try doing more praying. I wish I had your kids' willpower!

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    1. My husband is doing Exodus 90 with cold showers, so that's where Eamon came up with the idea :) And yes, Xander's reading in the bathroom bothers us alllllllllll.

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  3. I don't have the need to snack or eat meat, but I don't think I've even found my forehead to be as tempting to touch as I do on Ash Wednesday. And I had to go to 6:30 AM mass so it's an exercise in self restraint over this way! Praying you have a fruitful Lenten journey however God is calling you to draw closer.

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    1. True! I'm going to Mass at 7pm so I won't have much time to suffer that cross ;)

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  4. Thanks for the lent encouragement! You have sweet kids!

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  5. So I think we need a story time on Xander's "No Reading In The Bathroom"! That one made me laugh out loud!

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    1. In a big family, there's only so many places you can find some peace and quiet to read a book :)

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