Let's Do Lent

“...a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

(Psalm 51:17b)

Here we go again. The season of Lent is already upon us, again. And that's a good thing. I love the season of Lent.

Last year at this time I began an experiment of sorts that melded two passions of mine – photography, and devotion to God's word – into this blog I call “Picturing My Faith.” Frankly, I was surprised at the impact that this blog had on me personally, and on so many of you who took time to read my devotions. It made such an impact on me that I decided to continue the blog after Easter (though not on a daily basis – whew!, it was a challenge to write something every day during Lent!).

Photography has given me a unique lens (pun intended) through which to view the world from the perspective of faith. When I take pictures of the everyday, ordinary things we encounter in the world around us, something stirs within me. I am moved by what I see in the photos, because with each picture I discover amazing new things about God, and myself, and the world in which we live. My photography has been God's gift to me, to help me see things anew and afresh, and to appreciate God all the more.

I write this blog because I want to share my amazement at God and God's world with you.

So let's do Lent together. This year instead of sharing stories and devotions with you, I have chosen to use my photography as the springboard for daily prayer. So, technically, I won't be talking to you in my blogs – I will be talking to God. But I invite you to listen in on my conversations. Just so you know, my prayers are pretty basic – I thank God a lot, I pray for help, and I stand in awe of God's majesty, glory, and grace. Or as Anne Lamott wrote, the three essential prayers are “Help,” “Thanks,” and “Wow.” Most of my prayers will probably fall into one of those three categories.

Prayer is also listening to God. So sometimes my prayers may simply be words from Scripture that I (we) need to hear.

Let's do Lent. Let's take advantage of the forty days between Ash Wednesday and Easter (not counting Sundays) to recognize our need for salvation, to anticipate the amazing love Jesus shows to us on the cross, and to try to understand what it means to rely fully upon God for life – true, abundant, eternal life.

Let's do Lent.

Let us pray...

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