Lenten Practices
When I was growing up this was the time of year I had to make a decision, was I going to give up candy or sucking my thumb. It was a tough decision. They were my two favorite things. In my Catholic household the practice of Lent meant I had to give up something I loved for 40 days. I usually picked candy. Lent was never really explained to me when I was little. I just knew it was going to be 40 unpleasant days. Then when I was in middle school the Catholic discipline changed a little and we could add on something rather than give up. That really appealed to me. Because in all honesty I ate more candy on the sly by “giving it up.”
As I grew up I discovered Lent was to be a time of sacrifice to focus my faith. I’ve tried many things over the years. The thing for me is to make Lent pinch a little so I notice daily or weekly and it helps me focus my faith. I try to pick something that is a sacrifice of my time, my money or my talent. Here are a few suggestions if you want to try the discipline of Lent this year:
Give up or cut way back on social media.
Add on weekly time at a homeless shelter.
Each day in Lent pick an item from your closet or home to donate. On Easter you’ll have 40 things to give away.
Add on writing a note or sending a card to a loved one daily.
Give up knitting for yourself, and add on knitting for charity.
Give up your daily latte money and donate it. Or buy a latte for the person behind you in line all through Lent.
Lenten Blanket 2019
My Lenten practice is to knit only with stash yarn and make a blanket for charity. Each of the twenty squares in 12 inches. I sew them together into a 4' x 5' blanket and donate it to a homeless shelter.
Here’s the pattern I use
Cast on 4 stitches.
Row One: Knit one, knit into the front and back of the next stitch, place a marker, knit to the end of the row.
Row Two: Knit to one stitch before the marker, knit into the front and back of the next stitch, slip marker, knit to the end of the row.
Repeat Row 2 until the piece of knitting measures 12" square, bind off.