Children & Chocolate and Other Paths to God

To all my fellow Catholics, Fat Tuesday is in a few days, which for some of you also means Pancake Day! I only heard about this myself a few years ago, so here's the background to those unfamiliar:

Known also as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, National Pancake Day dates back several centuries to when the English prepped for fasting during Lent. Strict rules prohibited the eating of all dairy products during Lent, so pancakes were made to use up the supply of eggs, milk, butter and other dairy products…hence the name Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday.

I also just learned about the IHOP (formerly the International House of Pancakes) tradition and got this from their website:

In 2008, Fat Tuesday falls on February 5, which also happens to be Super Tuesday, on which a record number of states will hold their Presidential primaries. In the interest of embracing the democratic process, IHOP has postponed its celebration of National Pancake Day by one week, and will give away free pancakes on February 12.

IHOP gives away free short stacks of pancakes, and asks instead for donations to local charities. Since beginning its National Pancake Day celebration in 2006, IHOP has raised nearly one million dollars to support charities in the communities in which it operates. With your help, we hope to raise $750,000 for Children’s Miracle Network in 2008!

This is one of those traditions I didn't grow up with, but think it's so darn fun that I have to embrace it. So my family will be having pancakes this Tuesday at home, and probably for free at IHOP the following week as well! Enjoy!

I was reading Kate Wicker's blog today, and with Ash Wednesday right around the corner, she specifically asked people to share thoughts on Lent, or the carnival celebration that precedes it.  So, now that the kids are in bed, and the last "Mommy, I have to pee" call has been made down the stairs, I have a few moments to reflect on this.

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.