The Rhythm of Lent For Me
How can I build better rhythms in this season?
How can I walk in these days toward Easter with intentionality?
How can I engage consistently and consciously with my Creator and Savior?
What can I step away from in efforts to step closer to Him?
What can I lean into in efforts to lean more into Him?
It doesn't look like giving up sweets or coffee or alcohol. Those things don't distract me from my walk with the Lord. It does look like creating space for healthier habits, which is what this whole year of focusing on rhythm is about.
It looks like turning away from the hurt and the shame and the guilt, it looks like repenting, it looks like finding freedom in forgiveness, in finding life because He conquered death forevermore.
It looks like cracking open a brand new Moleskine and spilling words daily, even on the days when words are scarce, because I find Him when I seek Him, and my writing is my seeking. It looks like going through a new devotional guide, a beautiful book from She Reads Truth that gives me Scriptures for each day and thoughts to prompt my own reflection. It looks like carving space for silence and solitude, because I hear Him best when I cut out all the noise and clear out all the clutter.
It looks like spending more and more time in Scripture, it looks like remembering all He has done, it looks like believing in all He will do.
It looks like doing the hard work of growth, of shedding layers of pride and shame and selfishness I've wrapped around me as feeble defenses against being known. It looks like having conversations and spending time with people who show me Jesus through their love and their words, and choosing that over other things because it's valuable and it's life-giving to know I'm not alone and others are running this race beside me.
It looks like working with myself instead of against myself-- I know I push back against expectations, I know I'm not a morning person, I know I'm not good at moderation (thanks, Gretchen Rubin)-- so therefore, I will work to shape habits that go with my grain instead of against it, habits that eliminate hurry and worry and anxiety, habits that fuel me well, strengthen me well, stretch me well, and keep me healthy.
It looks like doing away with hard and fast rules and soaking up sweet grace all the more.
May this season be one of growth, grace, and goodness. May we walk step by step alongside Jesus, God made man to save us, as He walks forward for us to the cross. May we grasp a little better this year how big that is. May we stand in awe of that sacrifice, may we marvel at that love. May we be broken by the weight of our sin so we can humbly know our need for a Savior, and may we accept His gift and embrace new life as it transforms us and heals us and sets us free.
We reflect. We remember. We remind ourselves and others.
He reconciles us to Him. He redeems. He restores.
May we know Him ever better, ever deeper, ever truer, ever more.
Other pieces on Lent that I love:
- Lent 2016: An Invitation by She Reads Truth
- Ash by Rachel Held Evans
- Lent for the Weary by Taylor Schumann
- The Ache & Hope of the Next Forty Days by Amber Thomas
- I Don't Got This by Sharon Hodde Miller