Lent..something I didn’t grow up observing. Do I understand it ? Not based on the cultural norms that were examples for me from those around me. Giving up for lent was a huge deal but it wasn’t about the giving up it was more about giving up and replacing it with something else. That’s really not giving up it’s just changing cars. Kids would make a big deal about not eating hamburger but instead of spending the time thinking about God instead of not eating hamburger, it was simply we eat fish. That never made sense to me. Things were given up for lent as a sacrifice simply of only giving up not giving more time to God. In fact God and Lent didn’t really go together. That’s the impression I got as a child. Was it right ? Probably not. Was it totally wrong? Probably not.
Studying about our response to things around us forces us to either participate or ignore. We always ignored. However as an adult, I am choosing to participate in a way that makes “Giving it more not simply giving up”. I want to give God more of my focus by lessening my focus on something else. That’s basically what Lent is. I choose to not do this today, and instead of not doing this I will read the passage of scripture and think about it before resuming my normal activities.
I will focus on the cross and how important it is to me and where repentance fits in but I will also keep reminding myself of the empty grave because that’s where my HOPE is.
So today, Ash Wednesday, I am having a normal Wednesday, but I am choosing to put God in place of a few of the things I would normally do. Instead of listening to my Merle Haggard (I did meet his mother in church once) on I-Heart radio, I will listen to the book of Joel being read from my Bible app. Simple, but will redirect my heart. I am cleaning the house. “Create in me a clean heart Oh God.” I have been listening to podcasts rather than cranking the I-tunes up. Little changes, one step at a time, one way to see God closer than you did yesterday. 
Special Touch Ministry 