Lent? What the Heck is That?

  ** UPDATE** I thought it only fair that if I was going to laugh about mimes I should put this image of myself out there.        This pentecostal girl knows a thing or two about the following:

1.  A Jericho March
2. How to mime to music (even with scarves if need be),  
3. Being slain in the spirit...even if only to escape the firm hand pushing on your forehead 
4. Knows how to do the pentecostal two step
5. Some churches affinity for banners
6. Sad attempts to blow the Shofar
7. Off beat tambourine playing
8. That super awkward seemingly forever long silence when everyone waits for an interpretation

But what is this thing called Lent?

A few years ago I remember having a conversation with Rob or my journal or both about how I feel that most pentecostal churches seem so disconnected from our Christian heritage. Now there are many things (well maybe not many) that we do well but there was always a sense of not going deep enough in our practices . Growing up it seemed that all mainstream denominations were not valued but rather looked as being empty cold places lacking in a fullness of  relationship with God. (Which if I am honest is how I feel about most churches these days. But that is an entirely different post for another day.)

So, I don't find it too curious that we find ourselves in a gathering of believers who come from Methodist, Baptist and even Catholic backgrounds. With them they bring their experiences and practices that make us sometimes raise our eyebrows and go, hmmm, that's interesting. This brings us to Lent...which up until a few years ago all I knew about it was that it was the reason McDonald's advertised their fish sandwich so prominently every spring.

Now, at the beginning of the year I felt Father God calling me to a season of dying to myself and opening myself up to what He wanted to pour into me. I felt specific things were to be laid down. So I began to prepare for this -not sure what it would look like.

Apparently, I was getting ready for this foreign practice known as Lent. Now, Ash Wednesday was a bit of a stretch for me but Lent has been an interesting and fulfilling experience for me. I continue to learn about this practice and I am finding some of that richness and depth that I was longing for in the past. I hope you know my description of my Pentecostal heritage was all tongue in cheek. I still most definitely am a Holy Ghost believing, spiritual tongue speaking, praying for a miracle, living out the Book of Acts and want to dance my heart out for Daddy God pentecostal. I am just learning to appreciate and gleam from these practices that help me experience Father God in new and rich ways. Here is a link to a great post about why we do some of what we do in Lent. Hope you enjoy and are able to take something  from it as I have.