40 Days of Seeking Him Lent 2017 Week 5

I have been, or can be if you click on a link and make a purchase, compensated via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value for writing this post. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

After weeks of fasting and prayer, the end of the tunnel which is Lent is in sight. Next Sunday on Palm Sunday,
we will begin Holy Week. So, there’s about 10 more days of Lent and our arrival at Holy Thursday.

Update on My Lent 2017 Journey

Spending Fast ~ Now that we are back from Colorado, I am back to making use of our stores. Although, I have needed to run to the grocery store for perishables!

What might throw a series wrench in my fast is that we arrived to a dead vehicle. We think it is the starter, but that won’t be determined until we get the part to the parts store for testing (hopefully today!) Instead, it means sharing one vehicle with my college son and spending more time at home.

Health ~ This past week, I feel like I’ve gotten back on schedule for my regular exercise. I’ve also been praying about my issue with hives. I’m convinced it is tied with the hypothyrodism and am not sure I want to be taking Zyrtec for the rest of my life. Guess what happens when I forget to take it for a few days? Hives.

So, I am covering the issue in prayer again as well as doing a lot of research on alternative treatments and ways to improve my immune system through nutrition.

Spiritual ~ I continued with my primary focus on personal prayer. With only one vehicle, a snow dump, and annual testing for my 8th grader last week, daily Mass took a back seat again. This week, I do plan to go on Wednesday at a minimum as my eldest does not have class that morning.

What I did experience with my youngest son was the Friday Soup and Stations. Oh, how I missed the combination of fellowship and prayer!

Last Week’s 40 Days of Seeking Him Link Up

I am so grateful to all the bloggers who took the time to share in the Lent 2017 Week 4 linkup. I am always inspired reading the thoughts of others.

If you somehow missed seeing linked posts, hop on over to see them now. Remember that it is never too late to embrace Lent!

I do have a few posts to highlight for you.

The post with the most visit was Lenten Sacrifice = Easter Habit by Robert at The Fisherman’s Shoes. I know that I can totally relate to Lent sneaking up on you and the haste to find something to be your Lenten sacrifice. And, as he shares, when you do an old ‘stand-by’ like giving up chocolate the outcome isn’t always great. I’ve met people who take that path and then when Easter arrives they gorge on the item from which they fasted.

Rather, we do need to have an eye to beyond Easter Sunday. The part that really struck me was, “Lent is supposed to be a life changing experience; and how can our sacrifice have any value if we simply slip back into our old habits once the 40 days are over?” This is why I find creating a new habit of daily Mass or additional prayer time is what I am often called to do in Lent. The last few years, I would continue that habit for a time after Easter had arrived because it was helping me grow closer to God. And, who wouldn’t want to continue on that path!

 

My friend Chris at Campfires and Cleats shared her post Defeat, Endurance, Loss: The Stuff of Lent. Ever hear how death comes in 3’s for people?  Well, her post talks about 3 people in her life who have died during Lent this year. One is a fellow blogger who perished in a fire with her husband and young children leaving 2 behind. There’s information about a fund to help those children as they struggle to go on with their lives.

Death is never easy for those left behind. While we might long for more time with the person, we can hold onto the memories and honor their lives. And, we can pray for those friends and family who are suffering loss.

Grandma Edie and Felicia Mollohan at Homeschool 4 Life linked up 2 posts with free printable books. Both are great for early readers to work through as you prepare for Easter.

The one that really caught my eye is Holy Week Printable Booklets & Grandma’s Reading Corner. Not only can you print out the booklets, but Grandma Edie recorded videos of the booklets being read aloud. So, beginning readers can follow the words on the page while hearing her voice.

The parts of Christ’s life which are covered include:

The Triumphal Entry
Anointing Jesus
Judas’ Betrayal
Lord’s Supper
Jesus Prays in the Garden
Crucifixion of Jesus
Jesus Lives!

 Those are just a few of the linked posts. Please consider popping over to last week’s link up to find some beautiful hand drawn Scripture by Carol at Home Sweet Life and well as a though provoking post by Chris at Walking the Path.

 

Did you have a favorite post from last week?

40 Days of Seeking Him Sampler

If you have been reading the blog for a while, then you might recall that this link up started in 2011 as a daily one. I didn’t always participate in the link up, but have made an effort to do it as often as possible. We switched to a weekly link up format which means at least one anchor post per week here.

I decided to pull together a ‘sampler’ as a free ebook to subscribers. If you are already a subscriber, just open up a recent weekly newsletter and click over to the appropriate “subscriber only” page.

If you are not currently a subscriber, you can get your copy when you sign up. (There’s another faith bonus waiting for you as well…a coloring book showing the Fall of Adam and Eve.)

40 Days of Seeking Him Lent 2017 Week 4 Link Up

This year, I am joining Trish @ A House Upon the Rock in co-hosting the 40 Days of Seeking Him meme.

The linky will be up each week so you can add in posts daily, weekly, or whenever you are able.

The posts can be about anything related to Lent and preparing for Easter. This includes crafts, food, devotions, music or reflections.

I hope that my readers will join us on the journey through Lent as we seek to grow closer to Christ. Christian bloggers are welcome to join us in the weekly link up with posts that they are writing to showcase activities or reflections taken during this Lenten journey.

We are expanding the platform for this meme to include a 40 Days of Seeking Him Pinterest board for submitted posts and a Facebook group.  I hope that you’ll check out the Pinterest board and join us on Facebook, too, as we seek to grow closer to Christ.