Candy, I shall miss thee!

Is it really Shrove Tuesday already? Am I really going to kiss my beloved candy goodbye for all of Lent? The harsh reality is that I am. I really am. I have a feeling this decision will hang heavily over me throughout Lent. It will require self control when the kids ask for candy as a snack. It will require me to not be mean to my husband if he prances around in front of me eating a Reese cup. It will require me to not be stingy in tossing Jolly Ranchers out to my 7th grade CCD class [for correct answers] because I can't have them. I am going to live as though Nerds, Jolly Ranchers, Sweet Tarts and the occasional chocolate (I'm not a fan of chocolate--it hurts my teeth and burns my esophagus.) do not delight me in the least. I will simply put them in the same category as chips and other foods which I don't eat and couldn't tell you where there are found in the store. But, I'm sure I'll have days where I miss my candy. Those will be the days where I'll need to dig deep and offer it up. I haven't done that enough in the past, so I'm sure this will be good for me.

Giving up candy isn't all that I'm doing for Lent. I'll be doing the 40 bags in 40 days challenge, too. I spent much of this weekend scouting out things that I can rummage through during Lent. Three years ago I began packing up our belongings in our old house in anticipation of our move. Some of those boxes, which were packed 4 months before we moved, are still sitting in our garage. I've picked through them and removed the items we needed, but there are lots of things that I haven't thought about in three years. Those items will likely find themselves at Goodwill in the near future. Over at Faith and Family, I said I'd rid my home of 40 Target sized bags of stuff. I think it's quite possible that I will be able to exceed that. When we doubled our living space, it was my hope that we'd have more space than we knew what to do with and that some rooms would echo. That is not our reality. I am going to do my best to eliminate as much stuff from our house as I can without causing a revolt.

Spiritually speaking, I'll be doing some Lenten reading. Fr. Longenecker's The Gargoyle Code will be daily reading for me starting today. I read the book back in November and I loved it. I'll spend a few minutes each day reading this book. I highly recommend this book. I'll also be delving into The Magnificat Lenten Companion. I'm hoping to get to adoration once a week during Lent. And since I'll be reading The Gargoyle Code, you can bet I'll go to confession at least once or twice this Lent.

I'll be doing the Lenten Adventure with the girls. I tried to convince Madeline that she should say the rosary with me every day this Lent, but she found the prospect of saying the entire thing every day to be a little overwhelming. So I told her we will focus on one decade of the sorrowful mysteries each day. That works for her, and it's something I know Ellie will be able to handle, as well.

I'm hoping that all the family activities I'll be doing with the girls will pull Bryan in, too. He happily complied with the hand tracing for our Lenten Sacrifice Garland. I see that as a step in the right direction. Perhaps he'll add a few flowers to our Merciful Cross, too.