Like they do every year at the start of Lent, our church gives out these little black books. Inside the “Little Black Book” are daily Scripture readings and inspirational stories and meditations – all of which are meant to help us strengthen our walk with God and bring us closer to His son Jesus. The book starts out with some helpful suggestions for different ways of approaching the readings and a few prayers to get you started. And then on about the fifth page is has a blank area for the reader to write down their Lenten intention which is really nothing more than setting your focus on some area of your life that could use some divine intervention.
In years past, a lot of times I directed my intentions toward the goal of being a better Christian or a better wife and mother. Sometimes my intention would be for healing and comfort for a friend or family member who was suffering. I would say for the most part my Lenten intentions have always been directed outward. This year however, although it felt extremely selfish in the beginning, I turned my intention inward and asked for God’s help to answer that $64,000 question, “Who am I?”
This year, my Lenten journey has taken me to some very uncomfortable places. But I’ve arrived safely to my destination. And while I’ll admit that I don’t quite have it all fleshed out just yet, the one thing I know for sure is this-
I am a child of God.
As a Christian, Easter is when I celebrate the fact that I have been redeemed in my Father’s eyes because of the suffering, death, and resurrection of his son, Jesus. This is such a simple Truth and it has been right before my eyes all along. And the funny thing is that this is by no means a new revelation to me – I’ve known this Truth since I was a little girl. I have always believed in God and had a strong faith, but I’ve always used my Christianity to answer the question, “What am I?”
So now having applied this essential Truth to my identity, who I am, everything else is seems to have fallen into place. My life, my purpose, my hopes and dreams – all of these things are no longer scary or uncertain. I am able to rest in the peace that I am a child of God. And that’s enough.
I pray that you this Easter brings you the hope and peace that comes from knowing that you are a child of God.
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord. And our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” St. Augustine
Happy Easter! Kelly
P.S. Below you’ll find a link to a little story I wrote ten years ago about what Lent means to me and its and usefulness to my spiritual walk with God. It came to me on my commute to work one gorgeous Spring morning. I was meditating on life (something never change) and coming to terms with the fact that Tripp and I could not have more children. I was just trying so hard to make sense out of all the struggles that we had faced. So as I was driving along, I thought it through and fleshed it out. And then once I got to work, the words just seemed to flow out of my head on onto my keyboard. At the time, it was a very healing message from God (at a time when I really needed healing) and I felt so special that God would reveal Himself to me in that way.
I came across it a couple of months ago, and although at first it brought back all the painful memories of that time in my life, utimately it reminded me of how blessed I am and how wonderful it is to be a child of God.
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