I’ve never been big on celebrating observing Lent. I was raised in the church of Christ and we certainly don’t observe it as a whole body like I believe Catholics do. I have not found Lent commanded in the bible anywhere and I know some people may believe observing something like this could be “adding to the Word.” But I don’t think there is anything wrong with it. In fact, I participated last year by giving up Facebook. It was hard.

I think Lent is a great chance to give something up or to do something different in your every day life for 40 days that will bring you closer to God. I am all about strengthening my relationship with the Father. And yes I know I can do this any time and should do it outside of the constraints of a 40 day period leading up to Easter, but it can honestly be hard to stay motivated without some kind of goal in mind.

So people all over the world are starting today on a journey with God to strengthen their relationship with Him, spend time in prayer and hopefully grow and continue good habits after this period is over, and I thought I would join in again.

This year I’m doing something a little bit different. Instead of giving something up for Lent, I am going to add something to my every day life. Every morning I am going to spend time in the Word with the help of my 40 Days with Jesus Journal from Naptime Diaries! If you follow me on Instagram, then you probably already know that I won this journal from a giveaway on Oak and Oats blog and I was absolutely stoked! I almost couldn’t wait till today to start it!

This morning I read the first passage, Luke 2:22-38, and learned about both Simeon and Anna’s hope in Jesus as their Savior even though Jesus was still just a child! That’s pretty amazing especially since most of the Jews around them at that time weren’t even thinking about a savior. Most people had no idea He was on earth with them at that very moment. But these two believed and had hope that he would deliver their people!

The great thing about this journal is that, while I am sure I have read that passage many times, I have never stopped and thought about it this much. Especially not in the context of “the living and real hope we have in Jesus.” (Naptime Diaries’ 40 Days With Jesus 1st page).

I am super excited to see where this journey takes me. I can’t wait to explore that hope as well as God’s call for me to be something more. I want to revisit how my life should look as I follow Him and how to bless others along the way!

Are you celebrating Lent this year? What are you doing different for 40 days?
Thanks for reading!
*Linking up with Oak and Oats blog