LENTEN PROMISES

Lent begins this week. Every year, I try to pick some character flaw that I wish to change, and use it for my Lenten promise. Or I may give up candy, chocolate in any form, or cake. Sometimes it’s hard to decide what I might give up for Lent. Maybe this year I’ll give up…

• Feeling put upon. Let’s face it; there are a lot of unreasonable demands on my time. Demands like regular meals or clean laundry. I often feel put upon if I have to put down a John Grisham novel just to do something dumb like make dinner for the family. Instead of feeling put upon, this Lenten season I will cheerfully and willingly slap peanut butter and bread on the table before I rush back to my book.

• Selfishly keeping all the fun things for myself. Yes, this year, I will learn to delegate. Instead of slapping the bread and peanut butter on the table, I’ll allow my daughter the joy of providing a nutritious meal for her family. And whatever she decides to cook will be fine with me—as long as her brother takes her to the supermarket to get the ingredients, and her other brother does the dishes when they are done. Oh, and someone brings me a plateful as I huddle by the woodstove, immersed in John Grisham.

• Chocolate. Haha! Got you with that one. Did you really think I would give up chocolate again? It was a nightmare. I learned that it is near impossible to avoid chocolate in any form for the entire Lenten season. I could narrow it down. I could give up…M ‘n M’s. Or maybe Payday Bars. Yes, that would work. Especially considering that I don’t even eat Payday Bars.

• Poking fun at local car commercials. Now, that would be hard. It would be easier if they didn’t air in the early morning hours before I’ve had time to swill a gallon of coffee and wake up. I’m not sure I could hold back the snide comments. But I could try. I could switch my bitterness to some other form of television abuse, like poking fun at celebrity birthdays.

• Complaining. Now, this might not seem like a biggy to you, but it is to me. I complain a lot. Loudly, and bitterly. It’s my one indulgence. (Ok, it’s not my ONE indulgence. But it is my biggest indulgence) I like to complain, and can get quite creative when it comes to moaning about a problem. I’m not sure it would be easy to stop complaining, but that only makes the challenge bigger, right?

• Winter. That’s right, I may give up winter. Oh, it would be hard at first. I would miss the snow down the back of my boots. I would miss the slip-sliding across icy parking lots with bags of eggs and bread. I would miss numb hands, frozen toes, knees with no feelings, and frostbitten cheeks. I would miss the long-johns and the mittens. I would especially miss the fifteen minutes it takes to get dressed in winter gear to go to the mailbox, only to get a flier for a big furniture sale. But I think I could do it. I know I can do it! That’s it! For Lent this year, I am officially giving up winter.

It wasn’t an easy choice. It may not have even been the best choice. But it feels like the right choice. I am willing to sacrifice the rest of my winter fun (an oxymoron if I ever heard one!) and bow down to my Lenten promises. Deprivation, here I come.