Family Lent Project

[bettyg]

Lent is coming and we’re looking for ideas for this year’s family lent project. In past years we’ve given up TV and even the car. We usually make a list between what would be difficult, possible, and just inconvenient and try to go as far as we can.

Any ideas?

 

[PatienceAndLove]

Internet- except for school/work needs. And checking email.

For me that means:
No Facebook
No MySpace
No CAF
No MDC
No Linux forums
No random surfing (that sure did help my porn addiction, let me tell you)

 

[bettyg]

Thanks Miss Kristen,

Giving up the computer has made the short list, with exceptions for things like school work and other obligations.

Similarly, the phone has also made the list.

The last thing o the list is the toilet, but I hope we don’t go there.

We’re hoping to make a descision by Wednesday to give us a week to prepare.

 

[Jennifer_J]

You don’t only have to give things up. You can take something on. Something we like to do every year is make a list of friends and family and draw a name each day of lent. We pray for that person and then send a card letting them know we prayed for them.

 

[IrishAm]

When my girls were young, we had “A Loving Lent” each year. On posterboard, I made a calendar for each of the days of Lent, and divided each day into three sections (there were three girls). At the end of the day, each one of them had to tell me “something loving” they had done, we wrote it in the square, and taped a dime in their square. The money, in our case, usually came from money grandparents had sent in Valentine cards, although I could have provided it as coming from sacrifices they were making during Lent. (For example, if someone gave up candy, it was the cost the candy would have been . . . )

At the end of Lent, we took the completed posterboard to the Rectory to present to our pastor to use the funds as he saw fit. He always made a big deal of it – although I’m sure the office workers who had to untape all the dimes were glad to see the girls grow up and leave home!

They are all adults now, and seem to appreciate the effort I made for their Loving Lent. It was something even the youngest child could do, and the older they got, the more thoughtful their loving acts became. Although, I must admit, there were plenty of days when, right after dinner, I would hear a flurry of “may I help you?” or “let me do that for you” – a sure sign someone could not think of a single loving thing they had done that day!

(We also had an Advent Wreath-like devotion each night with a cross and candles for each week of Lent. My girls were always attracted to candles burning . . . little pyromaniacs at heart, I think . . . )

 

[leonie]

My husband is a big proponent of having “silence.”

None of my talkative kids will go along with this!

I like the idea of doing reparation during Lent.

For the agony in the Garden, I’ve read of this devotion:

Have the kids gather 30 quarters to atone for the betrayal. Have them donate the “silver” to a charity.

Do one hour of adoration to atone for the apostles weakness in not staying up with our Lord.

Place a sign on your front window, “we believe in Jesus Christ!!” to atone for Peter’s denial.

 

[CatholicSam]

My husband is a big proponent of having “silence.”

None of my talkative kids will go along with this!

I like the idea of doing reparation during Lent.

For the agony in the Garden, I’ve read of this devotion:

Have the kids gather 30 quarters to atone for the betrayal. Have them donate the “silver” to a charity.

Do one hour of adoration to atone for the apostles weakness in not staying up with our Lord.

Place a sign on your front window, “we believe in Jesus Christ!!” to atone for Peter’s denial.

I like that one!

Our one and only TV broke today, and I’m considering putting off the repair until after Easter We’ll see… We don’t really watch that much TV anyway, so it wouldn’t be a very big sacrifice (maybe the kids would find it more of a sacrifice than the adults, but they’re already getting used to the idea that the TV doesn’t respond when they push the power button).

I really love the idea of “taking up” just as much as you “give up” for Lent. I’m considering learning a new Chaplet each week and pray it a couple of times during that week. I have a book of chaplets, which I really want to make more use of. DH wants to put an extra emphasis on spiritual reading.

I’m hoping to be able to take advantage of our parish’s weekly Stations of the Cross (probably DH and I will take turns, so each of us will go every other week) as well as the recently instituted weekly Holy Hour (also probably fortnightly for DH and I trading off with the kids).

 

[LeonBloy]

Internet- except for school/work needs. And checking email.

For me that means:
No Facebook
No MySpace
No CAF
No MDC
No Linux forums
No random surfing (that sure did help my porn addiction, let me tell you)

this is what I’m doing, too (by the way I’m an MDC lover and Facebook lover, too:blush: )

I’m totally unplugging the thing. I have a huge list of other stuff, but this is the main thing.
I’m also going through all the stuff we have and giving away what we don’t use or isn’t beautiful. Weird, but we need to detach from all the stuff here.
And I’d like to aim for daily Mass…