With varying level of success each day, I’ve been praying this Novena to the Holy Spirit in preparation for Lent to help me discern what God is asking me as we prepare for Easter.  Despite my inability to be faithful in praying it each day, it’s bearing a lot of spiritual fruit and helping me to realize that I need to change my approach to Lent 2016 compared to previous years.  After a lot of prayer, reading Pope Francis’ book, The Name of God is Mercy, and listening to Fr. Mike Schmitz, my theme for Lent 2016 is:  It’s Not the What; It’s the How.

Last Sunday, Fr. Mike Schmitz continued his fantastic homily series about work with, “Everybody’s Working: Not What, But How.”  It was a very timely and on point reminder for me as a pregnant (33 weeks) stay-at-home mama with three littles that this is probably not the chapter of life to take on a bunch of Lenten mortifications; instead, I need to reexamine how I’m approaching this vocation and all of its daily duties.

With that in mind, I examined my vocation in light of the three words:

1. Fast
2. Pray
3. Give

I’m sharing my Lenten game plan below in the hopes that it will hold me more accountable and that we can work on our HOWS together this Lent.

Here’s what I’m feeling called to do this year:

Fast

• From Digital Distraction:  Make my smart phone a dumb phone.  Delete e-mail, apps, and Internet.  Only use the phone to call, text, listen to podcasts, and find directions or emergency information.
• From Exhaustion:  Monday through Friday be in bed at 9:30, lights out at 10 p.m.
• From Groggy Morning Mommy:  Get up half an hour before the kids Monday through Friday for quiet prayer time.  (Get up an hour before the kids on mornings that Philip has to leave early so that I can shower, too.)
• From Hangry Mommy:  Eat a high protein breakfast and mid-afternoon snack
• From TV with Philip:  Limit ourselves to one hour one weeknight per week

Pray

• Attend Tuesday morning Mass
• Spiritually “adopt” a loved one and offer all of my Lenten sacrifices for him/her (especially the discomforts of pregnancy)
• Family Stations of the Cross in the family room after dinner on Thursdays (Fridays don’t work with our schedule this year)
• Lectio Divina (fancy term for praying with scripture) with the daily Gospel reading during morning prayer before kids wake up

Give

• Reading streak: Read-aloud time with the kids at least 10 minutes each day.  (Sidenote:  Our read-aloud time is bringing big blessings.  Do yourself a favor, and check out The Read-Aloud Revival.)
• Family Sacrifice beans jar
• Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy:  Starting this week and continuing throughout the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, choose one of the corporal or spiritual works of mercy each week.  Discuss this work of mercy as a family at dinner, sharing examples of how we lived or witnessed this work of mercy in action each day.  Add images and words related to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy around our pantry door to create our family’s own “Holy Door” for the jubilee year.  (Isn’t that door idea great?  All of the credit goes to my friend, Allison!)  The book Divine Mercy for Moms is going to be my manual.
• Lights Out Night:  Select one weeknight each week of Lent to go without electricity from the time dinner is served until bed.  Give each other focused attention for the evening.  We’ve done this before, and I wrote about the experience here.
• Healthy Mama:  Walk for 30 minutes 3 times a week.

What’s Your Lenten Game Plan?

That’s what I’m doing.  What’s your Lenten game plan?  I’d love to hear all about it!  I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to start working on the how of my vocation instead of my usual what for Lent.