oh hey, it's lent ✝️

hey guys! welcome back to the blog! in today's post i will be talking about lent and how we should be preparing for it! i'm posting this a couple days early so that y'all have enough time to think over what you will be offering up and things you could do on your spare time. 

about 2 weeks ago my youth minister set up a table at our life teen night with a bunch of lent resources. to be completely honest i don't really like lent. why? because i have to offer things up, i have to fast, and the masses on Holy Week are so loooong. but this year i'm excited! i can't wait to jump into lent. anyway the paper i picked up had a lot of ideas, here they are:

WHAT TO GIVE UP FOR LENT: 20 WEIRD IDEAS

• Don’t eat the last bite of your food
• Park at the very back of the parking lot
• Put a popcorn kernel in your shoe every day
• Don’t use your apps
• Get to know your neighbors
• Pray the “Hail Mary” and do an ab crunch for every single word
• Stop complaining and/or being negative
• Give up texting and call whomever you need to talk to
• Don’t use utensils
• Give away 10 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, and a pair of shoes
• When you wake up, jump out of bed, kiss the floor, and learn humility
• Wear the same 4 outfits for all of lent
• Everyday do 20 (or 100) push ups and offer it up for someone who’s sick
• Leave a post-it with a positive message on it wherever you go
• Cut out all screen-time (phone, TV, computer) after dinner
• Use your weekends to babysit for free
• Send a different person from the Life Teen Staff an affirmation email every day of Lent
• Don’t straighten or curl your hair
• Sit and stand up straight – don’t slouch!
• Every day take a picture of something or someone you’re grateful for and hang the pictures in your room

the ones i highlighted are the ones i really liked, i hope this gives you ideas on what you should give up this lent. on the same paper, there were the creative ideas and i will also add them here:

WHAT TO GIVE UP FOR LENT: 25 CREATIVE IDEAS 

1. “This year I’m giving up shoes as often as possible. I’ll still wear shoes if I’m doing a work project or if I have to fly on a plane. But I’m going to avoid going to places that require shoes.” – Paul, a Life Teen Missionary

2. “I’m addicted to caffeine so I gave up all drinks but water for Lent two years ago.” – Amanda

3. “Last year I didn’t give up anything for Lent, just added more prayer life. This year I am going to add more prayer life and give up Facebook.” – Josephina

4. “I gave up spoons and forks. I learned to use chopsticks. It was funny for my friends and made it easy to talk about Lent in a way that people were cool with. We laughed a lot.” – Matt

5. “I’ve heard of people giving up their beds for Lent. They slept on the floor or the couch.” – Anna

6. “I fasted for all of Lent one year. One meal a day really brings souls to Jesus, especially your own!” – Erika

7. “I’m going to treat my body as a temple of God during lent… everything I read, watch, listen to, eat, drink, do, say, etc… focusing on being a temple of God.” – Paul

8. “One year for Lent I wrote a letter each day. I made a list of 40 people who have touched my life in one way or another. Each day of Lent, I wrote a person on the list a letter of thanks for how they touched my life and I prayed for that person on that day… it was a wonderful experience!” – Patty

9. “I tried improving on my spirit of giving.” – Peter

10. “This year, I’m giving up the radio in my car in order to focus more on the things that are around me that God created! I can’t wait so I’ve already started doing it!” – Joshua

11. “One year I gave up my bed. I slept outside in a tent. And I live in Canada! So it was well below freezing! I even kept a blog about it. Another year I made a few shirts out of burlap, and wore one under my regular clothes for all of Lent. Both were hard, but really helped me those years.” – Brandon

12. “This year, I’m giving up all sweets, (I work at a frozen yogurt shop) and am going to use the constant reminder to pray for one person in particular every day, I made a list/calendar via Facebook of friends that need/want prayer.” – Aimee

13. “I have an issue with vanity, especially when I get ready in the morning. So I decided a couple years ago to just wear the first outfit I put on every morning. What I learned from that was how to get a source of self esteem beyond my outfits.” – Carrie, a Life Teen Missionary

14. “I didn’t do this, but last year two of my friends gave up warm water for their showers.” – Maria

15. “This year I’m giving up having my phone with me during the day because I’m always checking my email throughout the day. My hope is that having moderation I can be more present to the people around me. I want them to see my deeper connection with God.” – Kaitlin, a Life Teen Missionary

16. “I want to listen more.” – Carmelina

17. “I have given up makeup in the past, and this year I am giving up meat!” – Kimberly

18. “Usually during Lent, on top of giving up something we love but don’t need, we say that any money that is found in the laundry, couches, and anywhere else was God’s money and we gave it to the poor. I remember one of the first years we did this, I found a $20 bill in a parking lot.” – Alyssa

19. “Two years ago I went to adoration every day during Lent. I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t make it every day but I made it most of the time and it changed my life to get and be with Jesus that much, it was an awesome experience.” – Jacob

20. “I know a girl who said she only listened to Christian music during last year’s Lent. She said it was hard at first, but soon loved the depth and meaning behind many Christian songs.” – Molly

21. “Getting more involved in the church. Getting help for my depression. Focusing on being a better Christian in general, being more concerned and in tuned to God’s plan for me and my family as opposed to ‘our plans’ for our lives.” – Erika

22. “Getting to the 3rd floor using stairs not escalator/elevator.” – Francisca

23. “I’ve adopted a priest in Chile… I offer daily prayers and sacrifices for Father Juan Nunes!” – Tony

24. “I’ve never done it, but I’ve heard of people giving up the snooze button on their alarm clock. They said that it was harder than they thought, but it taught them a lot about discipline.” – Jessica, a Life Teen Missionary

25. “I didn’t do it for all of Lent, but for Holy Week last year I gave up my pillow. Honestly, at first it was fun, but it proved to be hard. But it made me realize how blessed I am to even have a bed.” – Sara, a Life Teen Missionary

i think that these ideas are awesome because it's hard to come up with ideas to offer up. in lent we don't always have to offer "something" up we could also offer up our time and talent. we could help at a soup kitchen or help take care of your siblings. the list goes on. but i think it is important to take on things that will help you get closer to Jesus, not just to offer things up in vain or just to do it because it's lent. 

i hope that this post has helped you brainstorm about what you'll be giving up! 

until next time!

☆