Writing Now, Naming Later: Lent 2015

It's Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. Usually I look forward to today and the start of the penitential season, but I'm not attending Mass or receiving ashes, which I love because it's beautiful in its humble reminder that we are dust and ultimately we will return to it. However, as the other prayer goes, we should repent and believe in the Gospel, which leads to our salvation in the future.

I guess not going, with bed rest and all, is kind of a penance in itself and a reminder that I am not fully in control of everything in my life.

I haven't actually determined what I'm personally adding to my life or giving up yet. I've been stuck on this for a week. I thought about giving up TV (for me personally), which I've done in the past, but with bed rest, TV isn't really distracting me from anything at the moment. I've also given up all music in the car before, but since I haven't driven in 2 months and likely won't be driving for another month and some, that's not going to work either. I don't want to give up Facebook; I was actually a little sad yesterday to see several friends disappearing off of Facebook for Lent (sometimes, it's the only contact I have with them). I have thought about reading the "Diary of St. Maria Faustina" since I recently purchased it and left it prominently staring at me from the bookshelf.

The only idea I'm excited about is to light Lenten candles at dinner, which I hadn't heard of before. It's like lighting candles on the Advent wreath. Apparently one of my friends I've known since preschool did it with her family when she was younger. My mom stopped by Michael's earlier today and purchased votive candles for me, which I plan to put on a plate or unused cutting board or something lined with purple construction paper, keeping on our kitchen cart, and putting them on the table at dinner. I'll have to figure that out tomorrow.

The last idea I had was to actually show my kids the Holy Heroes Lenten Adventure videos, which I did inconsistently towards the end of Lent last year. I just dislike showing them on my laptop because even with the "no touching the laptop" rule, my kids will still try to touch the screen or the keys. Somehow, they actually sat through them today without touching the screen. Andrew was really focused on the two we watched and Lucy, when not off eating a snack, also liked it. Patrick tried to stand in front of the laptop so they couldn't see it until he also got distracted by a snack.

Andrew, however, came home from school (without ashes, apparently they came off) and had decided in school what he would be doing for Lent: making his bed (in the morning) and sweeping the kitchen floor (after dinner). He was very excited about it: