Family Ministries News

Hello Faith Families,

Are you feeling lucky? That is what I think of when it is March; St. Patrick’s Day, green shamrocks, & leprechauns. I have a little Irish in me on my Mom’s side, but a few generations removed. A few other things come to mind, my mom’s birthday on the 23rd, my husband’s birthday on the 29th and SPRING BREAK!

We will also begin the season of Lent on March 5th. According to Google, “Lent is a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving observed by Christians in preparation for Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday.” I often wonder what Lent has to do with us in today’s day and age? I think we need to take a look at the bigger picture or even ask the harder question, is Jesus or the church still relevant in today’s world? Some people would argue that neither are needed anymore. And I would ARGUE with them in a very loud voice that they are WRONG! Last month I hid 100 little Jesus’ around the church. It has brought people so much joy and fun looking and finding them all over our building. Can you imagine if we let a little Jesus into our lives every day, every minute, every second? What kind of joy and love it would open up for our lives?

When Jesus went into the dessert for 40 days, I’ve often wondered if he understood the magnitude of his mission here on earth. I tend to lean more towards, he DID understand, since he WAS the Son of God and all. Back to the question, what does Lent have to do with us today? Again, I think it comes down to Jesus’ mission, which was to teach and remind the Jewish people to love God with every ounce of your being and love your neighbor as yourself. How are we doing with that? I am grateful for God’s grace and love, because, boy oh boy, am I a work in progress. Jesus knew that, and God knows that!

What Lent is offering this year is for a time to look and see what God is wanting from us? The church has traditionally told people to sacrifice or “give-up” something in their lives, like Jesus did in the desert. Something that would be a bit of a challenge to you, not real-life sustaining things, like nutrition and water. Some suggestions could be fasting, giving up something of luxury; i.e. coffee, dessert, sweets, snack, smoking, drinking alcohol, T.V./streaming, social media, etc. This is great, but sometimes taking something on is a challenge also, especially when our lives are running a million miles a minute. We have small groups starting. Can you make time in your schedule to join one? How about volunteering with Sunday School, helping at a local charity, reading your Bible every day like Pastor Conway has suggested, or even writing down 3-5 things you’re grateful for each day, sitting and just breathing for 5 minutes a day. This one is a bit crazy. When you wake-up in the morning, say a prayer to God for how grateful you are to be alive today! Prayer is a very powerful thing, that I for one, take for granted sometimes. God loves to hear from us, not just in the bad times, but in the GOOD times too.

May this month bring you much luck and many blessings.