Longing for Lent

"Longing For Lent"

Yeah, I know what you are thinking.  No way, Jose!

But, yeah, I mean it.  Our oldest is 15 years old, I mean 15 years "young".  ;)  So we have been doing this Lenting thing as a family for quite some time.  That doesn't mean I'm getting old, does it?  Nah - I'm forever young.  We have many traditions that we have carried through many years.  These traditions bond us and shape us as a family.  They help form our faith and plans for different seasons of the Liturgical year.  And for some reason, I'm always "longing for Lent".  So ready to begin.  Not that I'm 100% ready and set up and prepared to begin.  But my heart and soul is ready to jump in.  Same with my kids.  They can't wait.  Even with the giving up of things - tv time, electronics, sweets, coffee, pop, etc... and doing/giving more, they are ready to jump right in and surprise me with their sacrifices each year.  These sweet kids have a heart to give.  A heart to love.  And a heart to sacrifice.  The Holy Spirit dwells so beautifully and shines during Lent - in the love, sacrifice, and family bonding.

So, what do we do?  Let me share a "few"...

CROWN OF THORNS
**pictures and tutorial found here of how to make a table top display and tool for keeping track of our Lenten sacrifices

LENT SONG
**Lent song for kids (and review of Dogma Dogs cd) found here

REPENT CROSS WITH HANDPRINTS AND LENTEN CALENDAR
**We make the large cross out of brown constructions paper and tape it to a door or wall.  Each family member traces their hand on construction paper, cuts it out, writes their Lenten promises on it, and  tapes it to the cross.  We also hang up some printable Lenten calendars, where the kids color a square each day of Lent, counting down the days to Easter.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS
**Multiple times a week, we march around the house with flashlights and pray the Stations.  The Stations we use are these posters and they are hung up throughout the house, so we can march from room to room as we pray them.

LENTEN DEVOTIONALS
**See my post over at Cuppa Catholic on our favorite Lenten devotionals

JESUS TREE
**You can buy a kit here to make this beautiful Jesus Tree felt tree and ornaments, which ends up being a Family Lenten Bible Study - starts at Genesis and leads up to the Death and Ressurection of Our Lord

LENTEN LEGOS
**Let your kids build away!!  Here's a look at some of our Lenten Legos.

CATHOLIC WEIGHT LOSS
**A look at my fasting from last year

HOLY THURSDAY TEA
**food and scripture to teach the meanting of this day

GOOD FRIDAY TEA
**food and scripture to teach the meaning of this day

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Linking this post up with Siena Sisters, which will have a Lenten Blog Hop

Click on the image below to get more ideas for Lent this year!

"Take up your cross" - Lenten plans 2014

Tomorrow night, we will be celebrating and feasting at our church's Mardi Gras party (Shrove Tuesday), in preparation for our 40 days to die with our Lord.  So many opportunities to grow closer to him and unite our pains and sufferings to His.  I get SO excited because of the spiritual growth, both personally and as a family.  Here are some links that we will be using this year and also some plans that we've done in the past and will continue this year.

**Crown of Thorns - one of our favorite Lenten activities!!
tutorial and pictures found here

**Lenten devotionals
A Lenten Journey with Jesus Christ and St. Therese of Lisieux
(will be read at breakfast)
Welcome Risen Jesus:  Lent and Easter Reflections for Families
(will be read at lunch)
Amon's Adventure:  A Family Story for Easter
(will be read as a family read-a-loud at bedtime)

**Jesus Tree banner and daily scripture reading

**Stations of the Cross - we'll set our posters around the house to pray as a family (with flashlights in our hands and all the lights turned out - totally sets the mood and the kids LOVE it!) and we'll also go to our church's Stations of the Cross on Wednesday (or when we can make it).  In the above picture, Max is holding a set of Stations with props that I created last year.  I'll try to create a post to share more about that later.


**Thinking about taking part in the Skirting Up Lent Challenge - although I only have a few longer skirts and a couple short skirts. I could do laundry a lot and find some good tights to keep me warm since we are not even close to spring-like weather.  Again, I'm thinking about it - I may even try to wear skirts 3-4 days each week??  That may be more doable!!  ;)

**Lenten audio retreat
audio retreat for each week during Lent - can't wait to start this!!  Maybe with hubby after kids are in bed??

**Busted Halo videos (Lent, Holy Week, Stations of the Cross)

**Holy Heroes Lenten Adventure - daily emails with videos and activities for your children

**Holy Thursday liturgical tea

**Good Friday liturgical tea

**I'm sure the young'uns will build some Lenten Lego's again.

And, as always, these are our plans.  Will we get to everything and finish it off successfully?  That would be nice, but like last year, every day is in God's hands and when things don't go our way, then there is more to offer up and unite with Him.

Other links and ideas....

66 Ideas of what to Give Up or Take Up for Lent 
Give Up, Take Up, Lift Up - good article from USCCB
An Introduction to Lent


++I adore you, O Christ, and I bless You, because by Your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world!!  ++

Lenten Crown of Thorns devotional

We have made a crown of thorns as a Lenten devotional for several years now.  My sister-in-law was the first to share this lovely idea with us, and it was a such a meaningful one that it stuck!  We LOVE our crown of thorns.  It sits as a centerpiece on our dining room table, and throughout our day, we pull out thorns as we make sacrifices and perform acts of kindness.  This serves as that visual reminder that our small acts of love take away some of the pain Jesus felt on the cross and can bring Him JOY. 

This devotional means so much to us, that we branched out and shared with it with many others this year...  My sister and her 3 boys came over on Ash Wednesday and we made one for each of our families.  We had so much fun together!!  Then yesterday, the first Saturday of Lent, I was able to share this devotion with my parish family at a Lenten workshop. 

Here's how to make the crown of thorns and some fun, detailed pictures to go along with it....

First step:  
Mix the dough with a wooden spoon and knead it (aka - play with it!!!) 
The recipe we use is:  4 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, 1-1/2 cups of warm water

Second step:  
Divide the dough into three balls, and again, knead/play with it. 

Third step: 
Roll out into 3 ropes, braid them, and bring together the 2 ends to form the crown.  Then transfer to a cookie sheet.  You can actually place the 3 ropes on the cookie sheet before you braid them to make for a smoother transition.  (NOTE:  This is the hardest part, so be patient with yourself.  I am terrible at putting the 2 ends together and it always looks kinda messy.  It doesn't have to be perfect.  Remember what our Melody said...)

Fourth step:  
Break toothpicks in half, dip broken end of toothpick into oil (this makes it easier to pull out of the crown later on), and place into the crown.  As we do this step, we always talk about the ways we hurt Jesus, because the thorns actually represent our sins. 

 

Like I said, I always have a hard time putting together the 2 ends....  I had a jumbled mess this year, and actually tore out some of the dough and ended up with an extra ball.  As you can see, our sweet Melody did not let it go to waste!

Fifth step: 
Bake at 350 degrees for a little over an hour and a half.  You want it nice and firm.  Once cooled, display as a centerpiece on your table, and include a bowl for the toothpicks to be placed in. 

++  May God bless you during this Lenten season and help you unite your acts of sacrifice to His suffering on the cross!  ++