A Lenten Discipline

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” -James 1:2-4

It has been a common small talk conversation around this time of the year for me to ask "what are you giving up for Lent?" A lot of the time I get answers along the lines of nothing, or those who are giving up sweets (God bless you guys!) or various other things Netflix and the like. And in response for the past three years I have said that I am giving up meat and becoming either a vegetarian or a Pescatarian (which means only eating fish). Now for those of you who don't know me that well, I love meat. So the first few years of this Lenten practice it definitely helped me grow in my faith.

After this past year of being a vegetarian I felt as though I needed a new reason to press on, to dig deeper into my faith and the reason for this season of reflection. It was about a week before Ash Wednesday and I was having a conversation with my good friend Emily. She was telling me about how we should walk with purpose wherever we walk and most of the time people don't do that. That got both of us thinking and it was actually her idea to wear Chacos for Lent to give purpose to our walk with the Lord. Through the snow, the rain, the freezing cold puddles, everywhere we walk to walk with a purpose and remember that we are walking in the Lord's footsteps.

Through this Lenten season I know there will be trials and many temptations to put on warmer shoes but "the testing of your faith produces perseverance" God has my stinky little feet in his hands and he will lead me on right paths and he will lead you on right paths too!

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” -James 1:2-4