A Dozen Lenten Ideas

My husband always gets a little annoyed that Christmas gets more fuss and bother than Easter. (Except he would never use the phrase "fuss and bother." I feel it is important to protect his reputation by pointing this out.) Anyway, he has a pretty good point, which is that if Jesus never rose from the dead, it wouldn't have mattered whether he was born. Dur.

I was not raised in a household that bothered about Lent--in fact, I don't think I even knew what it was until, uh, college. (WASP-y childhood neighborhood, anyone?) But I think we're going to introduce the  celebration of Lent to our household, because like I said, Easter deserves more fuss and bother than just one day of eggs and bunnies and candy. (Don't worry, our celebration will still include candy.)

So I surfed the Internet in search of some ideas to pirate.

I loved this Lenten Basket , with its different-colored decorations that have meaning attached. I could see using it as a centerpiece and taking it out in the evenings to talk about the meaning of this time of year.

[via]

This resurrection garden is jaw-droppingly beautiful and easy enough to replicate. And I ADORE this one, too, along with the explanation attached. While I was on that site, I finally looked at the thousand gifts idea that everyone I know is so into. Maybe that'll be a good idea for this season, too.

I'm excited to make these pretzels as a reminder of prayer (and the cross!) I also want to make hot cross buns in a nod to my Swedish heritage.

[via]

This crown of thorns activity is a meaningful one that even a young toddler could participate in. I'll probably make the crown out of salt dough.

I liked the marble painting of a cross along with the verse "By His stripes we are healed" on this site. It's another a young child could do. Love to incorporate Scripture into our activities.

[via]

There were tons of great ideas for us Protestants on this page. I'm thinking of some sweet homemade card ideas and love the idea of acting out some of the parables.

There's some good, meaningful stuff on this site as well, to help children understand the meaning of Easter. SP's a little too young for that still, but I'm a big fan of tradition, so I like the idea of starting now.

I'm thinking about some sort of Easter-inspired sensory bin for Sweet Pea that ISN'T about eggs and bunnies...my ideas are still in the swirling, not-quite-formed stage on that one.

I want to get some resurrection-related Scriptures into some of our activities as well. This site has a lovely idea about teaching the Easter story.

I'm thinking about a fast--though I want to talk to Marc about it before I declare it to the world--and some additional giving. My friend John e-mailed me recently about needing money for his continued education in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but the fees are about $200 more than I expected. I'm feeling a nudging toward sacrificial giving, though, so that'll be another thing to discuss with the husband.

I'd also like to be intentional about reaching out to internationals--students and refugees and maybe some illegal immigrants if I can find them--during this time, as a reminder to me and my house that Jesus came for the whole world. We are commanded dozens of times to love the foreigner--this is a perfect time of year to be a little more intentional about that. Specifically, I'd like to have our refugee friends to dinner, and bring food and a gift for some international students I know who just had a baby.

What are you doing for Lent? Linked up at: