Listen Up!
For as long as I can remember, “giving up” something for Lent has sort of fallen in the same category as New Year’s resolutions. I do the same ones every few years, with questionable amounts of success. I’ve given up chocolate, ice cream, swearing, and alcohol. Of course, these are all things I’d be better off without anyway (though they have proven now that chocolate is actually good for you, in case you needed further proof that God exists…), so I’m not sure that my motives were all that perfect. Yes, they were things I loved, or at least really enjoyed, but my end goal really was usually to shed a few pounds or break a bad habit. Not all that noble when you put it that way.
So much has happened in the last three years, however, that I think this Lent might actually be different for me.
Though I’m still nowhere near the Christian I’d like to be, I finally feel like I’ve gotten on the right path. God has led me to the right people, in the right place, at the right time. Everything has come together in a way even my non-religious husband can’t ignore. Every great thing (new baby, new job for hubby, and an incredible group of friends in our new neighborhood) and every unfortunate event, (including a miscarriage and a house fire), has opened our eyes to God - to the point where we feel like he’s been smacking us both upside the head for the last 36 months.
Some of us are a bit slower than others, but finally I can say, “I GET it. I’m LISTENING!”.
And so I’ve decided that that’s what the next forty days are about for me - quiet contemplation over all I’ve learned, all I’ve experienced thus far on the journey, and listening, really listening - to my friends, to my family, and to God.
