Baby Steps for You, O Lord!

Every year I look forward to Lent. More than any other time of year, this is the season to yearn and strive and crave to be near to our Lord.

But Lent also usually makes me nervous. What should I give up? How can I make Lent really meaningful, and not just a sort of diet? What if I can't stay the course with my sacrifices? And what about these sacrifices, anyway...when I was Protestant, I didn't really give up anything, and it's still hard for me to get my head around what it's all about.

But this year, I'm feeling ready. Lent is a time to separate ourselves from the world, and sacrificing some of our worldly attachments helps us to realize that we are not, as the saying goes, human beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a human experience. It is a time when we embrace sacrifice in solidarity with our fellow men who suffer from human needs greater than ours--indeed, greater than we can even imagine. And our puny little sacrifices are even, in a holy and mystical way, united with the eternal sacrifice of our Lord.

And the Lord, in His most amazingly infinite goodness, uses our sacrifices and self-denials to bestow us with blessings. Really, truly--blessings we can only imagine. Actually, the Holy Father fully explains it here much better than I can, of course. Here's an excerpt:

The faithful practice of fasting contributes, moreover, to conferring unity to the whole person, body and soul, helping to avoid sin and grow in intimacy with the Lord. ... Denying material food, which nourishes our body, nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by His saving word. Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.

So this year, without hesitation, I'm giving up the hardest physical thing for me: Diet Coke. Don't laugh--I'm serious! I even told the kids, so I really can't cheat. Looks like we're also going vegetarian as a family for Lent, too, since Bill's giving up meat. That should be pretty good.

I am also giving up candy, chocolate, and...here's the kicker... "recreational computer use." That's right, friends: I'm giving up blogging. It's nothin' but minimal email for me, until Easter. My new laptop has definitely been MUCH too much of a connection with The World, and one from which I really must separate myself for a while! So it's off to the desert for me...I'll keep up with putting up homeschool posts--and OF COURSE MPD's first birthday which is fast approaching now--but I'm thinking to actually publish the posts after Easter.

In addition to sacrificing these worldly attachments, I've been saving some special books for me and for the kids for Lent--I'll put them on our bookshelf over on the sidebar if you want to take a look. Also, for pragmatic as well as very spiritual reasons, I'm planning a home organization-fest and spring cleaning for Lent..."getting the house ready for Easter," as I told the kids. I'm also planning to make weekly Confessions during Lent (usually I go about once a month), just because I (greedily) want the blessings that I know will ensue!

See you at Easter, and may you have a very blessed Lenten season!