Lent 2018

This year, Lent began on February 14th - Ash Wednesday (and of course Valentine's Day). Once again I am committing my mornings to the spiritual discipline of journaling the Word. I'll be following the daily devotional, "Silent Witness" offered by Lutheran Hour Ministries. I've created a set of travelers notebooks to contain my journaling.
Here's a bit more...

Week 3 Lenten Journal Wrap-Up

During Lent, I'm primarily working in a journal (see here for journal set-up) as I read and reflect on the daily devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries Lenten Devotion booklet, (free to print, HERE). The theme is From the Cradle to the Empty Tomb and the entries follow Jesus as He makes His way towards His death on the cross. The devotions are mainly from the book of Luke, which is another great advantage for recording my visual faith entries in a journal, rather than the pages of my Bible. 

This week I missed one day of journaling. Here is the rest of the week's wrap-up of my entries.

Lenten Journaling Week 2

During Lent, I'm primarily working in a journal (see here for journal set-up) as I read and reflect on the daily devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries Lenten Devotion booklet, (free to print, HERE). The theme is From the Cradle to the Empty Tomb and the entries follow Jesus as He makes His way towards His death on the cross. The devotions are mainly from the book of Luke, which is another great advantage for recording my visual faith entries in a journal, rather than the pages of my Bible. 

Here is this week's wrap-up of my entries for days 8-15.

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Lenten Journal - Week 1 Wrap-Up

During Lent, I'm primarily working in a journal (see here for journal set-up) as I read and reflect on the daily devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries Lenten Devotion booklet, (free to print, HERE). The theme is From the Cradle to the Empty Tomb and the entries follow Jesus as He makes His way towards His death on the cross. The devotions are mainly from the book of Luke, which is another great advantage for recording my visual faith entries in a journal, rather than the pages of my Bible. 

Here is this week's wrap-up of my entries for days 1-7.

Day 1 | Ash Wednesday

Day 2

Day 3

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 Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Lenten Journal

Lent begins this week with Ash Wednesday on March 1st. Many Christians use the 40 days leading up to Easter as a time of special reflection, repentance, and drawing closer to Jesus. Some commit to "giving something up" in order to better focus on Jesus' suffering and death. Some add special devotions or attendance at mid-week services in their churches.

Lutheran Hour Ministries offers a free daily devotional on their website HERE. You can download to your e-reader, print, or subscribe to daily e-mails or podcasts to stay in the Word throughout the 40 days of Lent. I'll be using this devotional and journaling every day. To prepare, I've put together a separate notebook to record my reflections and creative journaling. I'll be posting daily on Instagram and my Facebook page and then doing a weekly round-up here on my blog.

Check out this video to see what I've done in the past and my Lenten journal for this year.

What are your plans for Lent? 

Lenten Journal Journaling

I have let my blog fall to the background a bit as I've posted more on Instagram and Facebook. We are just about to get into offical summer, but since I highlighted my journal at the beginning of Lent, I wanted to post some of my journal pages that I completed in that time. Here is a quick and simple video showcasing most of the pages I completed in my Lenten Journal for 2016. 

Lenten Journal Journaling...Preparing

Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. My Lenten journey will included journaling in a special notebook I created from an old hymnal.
I removed the pages of the hymnal and added elastic straps to hold folded paper notebooks (dori-style). I used some of the hymnal pages, scrapbook papers, and a few other odds and ends to create a unique place to respond to my scripture and devotional readings for this special season.
I decided to follow along with Sacred Holidays this year and purchased their devotion booklet. It includes a word a day prompt as well as written daily devotions. I'll also utilize my Portals of Prayer and other readings as they come up.
My goal is to be in my bible and journal each day - each morning to be exact - before I jump online to check e-mails and read Facebook and social media posts. It can turn into a big distractor and time waster for me, so it should not be my first focus in the mornings.

 

This morning's word is "messy" and the scripture readings included Genesis 3:19 and Isaiah 61:3. Such a great way to begin Lent. Life can be messy. Relationships can be messy. We ourselves are messy. Our sins contribute to that mess and the black ashes many of us will receive on our foreheads today are an outward representation of our sinful selves. During this season of Lent we are called to examine our messes and repent of them. And then we receive. We cover ourselves in ashes, but God - but God - He sends His Son to us and places on our heads beautiful headresses, annoints us in sweet-smelling oil, and we dress in a garment of praise. (see Isaiah 61:3) 

Want to know more about this sacred season? Watch this video.