# 156: STARTING TO PREPARE FOR MY LENTEN!!!
TO ALL MY SWEET BLOGGING FANS AS OUR CONTINUING WINTER MOVES ALONG INTO A HOPEFUL TIME OF SPRING…………
My Friends, Fans, And Readers…….
Here I am.
And Winter has only a few weeks left to go.
Spring is coming…….
How do I know?
Prepare with me by reading my latest Blog…..
From Your Dearest Mary Ann-san !!
BLOG: # 156: STARTING TO PREPARE FOR MY LENTEN !!!
Hey Everyone ! I do not know how you have all been feeling lately, but it has been like icy cold over here in Hilo. I have really been freezing in the mornings, not wanting to get up out of my nice warm bed. That means of course, Winter is still here.
But Not For LONG!
As I look outside my apartment front door, I can already see some Spring-like flowers about. Pinks, yellows, and other colors. But you can not fool me. It is still very much Winter yet.
And yes, My Darlings! I know too, that the calendar says that Spring begins on this Leap Year on 19 March, 2020.
Well, I have news for all of you. The calendar can say whatever it likes every year. But Spring does not come for me until LENT is over and Easter comes. Then all is NEW and Spring is REALLY, REALLY, HERE !!!
And right now: I am starting to prepare for my Lenten. Lent begins this year for me on: Ash Wednesday, which this year is the 26th of February. And it lasts until Easter which is the 12th of April. Wow. That sounds like an awful long time, doesn’t it? Well, it’s like six weeks. Actually 40 days. But, you know what? One day when I felt that Lent was sort going extra long and I had nothing better to do at the moment, I found myself actually COUNTING how many days there were. And I came up with 46. Forty-six. I thought I miss-counted and tried again. And again. Forty-six. And this year, because it is Leap Year, the number is forty-seven.
BUT THIS IS NOT MY POINT.
It doesn’t matter HOW LONG LENT IS.
Or how many days it is SUPPOSED to be.
THIS IS NOT MY POINT AT ALL.
MY POINT IS: WHAT LENT IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT. I MEAN WHAT IT IS.
First of all, in the beginning, I didn’t like Lent. I hated it actually. So when Lent came around, I would just wait it out and celebrate Easter and the coming of Spring when it came along.
I mean, by not: “DOING LENT”, I wasn’t missing anything, right? Easter and Spring were still going to come whether I “DID LENT” or not.
So why, when Ash Wednesday and Lent came, a few years ago, did I decide, this year, I am going to do Lent? I wanted to see what it was all about? To see if I was really missing anything or not. I took home the Lenten Calendar they gave out at Church that year and was determined, this year, I am going to follow the calendar and actually “DO LENT”.
“DOING LENT” that year was a new experience for me. I actually found out that I HAD been missing something by not doing it.
Lent is a time of Prayer, of Fasting, and Almsgiving. It is a time I now look forward to. It has turned into something I love and wouldn’t miss doing for anything.
Plus, I need my Lenten, this year, more than ever. I have more bills than ever, a higher rent than ever, I need God’s Help with everything. I am so worried this year, I have told God, that I wasn’t sure if I was going to be ABLE to do my LENTEN this year, at least not without HIS DIVINE HELP. I mean, HE already KNOWS what kind of a situation I am in right now and HE KNOWS that because of it, I won’t be able to give as much money to my Rice Bowl as I used to in years past. But that doesn’t mean I am not going to try.
My Lenten means a lot to me. And I want to grow Spiritually by doing it. I want help others by doing it. Lent means being with God more, not less. It means giving up stuff so you can spend more time with God. Are you willing to give up your T.V. for forty days to be with HIM more? Would you give up playing your newest and latest computer game for forty days because you loved HIM that much and wanted to be with HIM? How about your favorite something to eat? This year, for Lent, I am giving up my STEAK. Have you been overly angry lately? Tell God about it and say I am giving up my bad temper for Lent and then try to kinder, calmer, more caring of others for the next forty days. SPEND MORE TIME WITH GOD. REMEMBER THAT HE LOVES YOU.
Or perhaps, you do not yet know God. You can get to know Him. Lent can help you do that too.
I know for a fact that I haven’t been reading HIS WORD—my Bible enough. I am going to try and read it more. Doing more Spiritual Reading. Making time for it. If I can read a “pleasure book”, write my blogs and my novel, I can make time to read His Word and be with HIM more.
Yes. In a few days it will be Lent—
And I can’t wait for it.
Until my next Blog—-
I happily remain—-
Your Dear Mary Ann-san
Mary Annさんはカリフォルニア生まれです。
旅行で訪れたハワイに魅せられて21歳の時にオアフ島にやってきました。
パパイヤ工場で20年間働き、退職後はハワイ島のキラウエア火山から４６キロ離れたヒロの郊外に住んでいます。
今は猫との暮らしを楽しんでいます。
初心者から楽しく英会話♪
本八幡・津田沼・西船橋・佐倉
英会話・英語塾ネイティブ講師レッスン
バイリンガル講師派遣
