I've posted about Lent before, this is a special time or me. My plans for 2014 follow similar to 2013's plans - which means they are not the traditional "give one thing up for Lent" plans.
Lenten Promise #1 - run at least 1 mile for every Lent day
There are 46 days in Lent between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday. Assuming my knees hold up this should be very doable, but still challenging for me, to get these miles in. This is a new challenge; nothing like it last year.
Lenten Promise #2 - attending or participating in 7 spiritual events this Lent
This is a repeat of last year but I'm bumping it up from 6 to 7 events - basically one per week, even the short week of Ash Wednesday. There is such a wide variety of things to be counted - attending Stations of the Cross, Walking the Labyrinth, attending Vespers, going to confession, etc. I hope one of my events will be the new movie Son of God, that has limited theater release. I'm hoping to see it this weekend - either Friday night in place of Stations or else Sunday morning. Last year, my group of friends and I met up several times for Stations of the Cross. It really added to my Lenten experience. While we don't have anything planned yet, I do expect we will get together at least 2 or 3 times this Lent.
Lenten Promise #3 - consume no more than 1 bag of snack food per week. I know what you are thinking. For someone that is trying to lose weight and get in shape that is too much! Last year I had a similar promise with a higher total allocation. I do think this will be a challenge for me (and honestly that is true but sad to say and depresses me to post it publicly).
Lenten Promise #4 - volunteer work
I'm not sure what to include here or how to quantify things. I do know this is something I deeply feel I need to do. I would really like it to be associated with feeding the hungry - and as a sign from God, this year's St Dom's Lenten Outreach program is the the "Hunger Games". They are setting up volunteering at two different food shelters in Milwaukee. But sadly there are not being very clear or publicly stating when these activities will take place.
Same as last year, I'll try to do an update every Monday to let you know how I'm doing with it. Wish me luck!
