Wednesday Wonder

I have had complaints.

When I introduced the Lenten calendar last year, everyone seemed to enjoy it. We were praying more because each day gave us something to focus on. Those who opted to put in the money suggested by each day’s inspiration were talking about what they discovered in their lives when they stopped to look for the purpose of the calendar.

Apparently, this year, people are getting upset because they are too blessed!

Let me explain. If you decide to use the calendar to save some money to put toward whatever project you or the church have going on, you stop to do a count regarding the item of focus for the day. When some of us start to count what we have and then look at what is suggested as a ‘payment’ for it, we discover our blessings are hitting us in the wallet. We are too blessed!

Now, I didn’t provide the Lenten calendar to make anyone put money toward a project. Yes, in the past, these calendars have been used to help get donations for the Mission and Service Fund or a building project or something like the signboard we are currently fundraising for, but for me, the true intent of these calendars is to pray.

Lent is a time for us to be more intentional about our prayer life. And, if we make prayer a habit during Lent, then it might just stay a habit since you have been doing it for 46 days by Easter. Long enough to truly form a habit.

Each day on the calendar provides a focus for prayer and an opportunity to be grateful for what we have. We are truly blessed. While some of us have more than others, when we work together in community and care for one another, we all have enough. We may not have a lot of extra, but we have enough.

The reminders for prayer put things in perspective for us. When we stop to think about the lightbulbs or faucets we have in our homes, the number of shoes and books we own, it puts into perspective how blessed we are compared to those who have neither home or clean water at their finger tips, let alone closets and shelves full of shoes and books.

So, whether you are using this year’s Lenten calendar to help make a donation to the current fundraiser, saving for something personal or just as a way to deepen your prayer life, keep the complaints coming.

Those complaints mean the calendar is working. It is helping us see how blessed we are and to thank the One who blesses us so abundantly.

While Lent can be seen as a time of wilderness wandering and temptation as we move toward the darkness of Good Friday while trying to find our way to a deeper relationship with God. It is also a time of opportunity. We have the opportunity to deepen our relationship with God and see more clearly how truly blessed we are.

And maybe, just maybe, it will help us become a blessing too.