Pack Your Bags...

And let's head out to the desert together. Lent offers us an opportunity to purge, purify, renew. It offers us a reason to let go of things we normally hang on to - hurts, obligations, habits. During Lent, we recognize the beauty of simplicity, we feel the freedom of traveling lightly, we appreciate the quiet. In 40 days we will pick up our crosses once again, but for now, we can lay our burdens down - a little bit along the way. Each burden laid is a battle won against the Evil that seeks to keep our souls from Divine Rest.

It calls to mind a song I love:

I'm trading my sorrows, I'm trading my shame;
I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord.
I'm trading my sickness, I'm trading my pain;
I'm laying them down for the joy of the Lord.

Refrain
We say yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord,
yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord,
yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord. Amen.

I am pressed but not crushed,
persecuted, not abandoned,
struck down but not destroyed.
I am blessed beyond the curse,
for His promise will endure,
that His joy is gonna be my strength.
Though the sorrow may last for the night,
his joy comes with the morning!

For the forty days of Lent, we'll be posting suggestions towards devotions, plain living, plain food, crafts and activities to do with your children, and beautiful thoughts about this season of fasting - all centered around this year's theme: "Surrender".