Where is the year going?! It feels like I was making the journal entry for January just the other day! I feel like I have focused on my faith more this month than last. I researched Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and Lent and put all of the information into a Word document to keep for years. I started my Bible activity/discussion Word document as well in regards to the Sunday readings for the year. I have centered them around the weekends that I want to begin a Family Catechism for so that if we can begin that in September, then I can be totally organized for that! I have not started a monthly rosary yet. Anxiously awaiting the arrival of Jonah and getting blog posts scheduled took a lot of precedence in February.
I am glad I did get some research into the beginning aspects of Lent. I did learn a few things. Now, for March, I will research the end of Lent: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday. I will find crafts we can do for these days, have family discussions and also list the ways we are to observe these days. I do know a lot about these days already but I want to make sure I am understanding all aspects of this time of the Liturgical year.
I also did not define the terms I wanted to define last month so I will research those and add it to my “reference book”/ binder that I am creating. I will also define a couple of new terms this month to add to the book like: the triduum, Ember Days. I also will be separating my “reference book” into 4 different binders. Three of the four binders will be for the three years of the Missal and will be separated into the “Sunday’s” for that Missal’s year. Then, the fourth will be for an annual reference to monthly devotions, Saint’s observance days, feast days, etc., that follow the yearly calendar. It will also include the sections for Lent, Easter, Advent, Christmas, etc.
The one portion of the binder that I would like to focus on is the Family Catechism portion. I really want to bring that to life this Fall and I would like to have the dates, the gospel readings, discussions, crafts, and general flow of the monthly events figured out ahead of time for September to June. This way when the time comes to begin Family Catechism, it’s already figured out and we can just roll with the general plan each month!
The one thing I am disappointed about not starting was my Lenten tree idea, but I will definitely be saving it for next year! Or perhaps figuring out a way to incorporate it into Advent so I can do the idea for Lent and Advent. I did not have any paper to draw the tree before Lent began and Jonah decided that Shrove Tuesday was a perfect day to send me into labour so I couldn’t even figure out a last minute tree idea! Oh well though. We can use it in the future. And perhaps I can set some money aside to laminate the leaves to reuse for the future and when the kids write their kind acts and things on the leaves, they can use dry erase markers so everything will be reusable for years to come!
Our Lenten adventure started out a tad rocky but also amazingly fruitful for our family! Welcoming a baby on Ash Wednesday was a fruitful way to begin Lent but needless to say, we did not make it to Church that day. Then, since I had fully prepared myself to make meatless meals all month for the family, there were only a few freezer meals in the freezer but they all had meat. I forgot to convey to Josh’s Mom that it was okay for her to serve the kids those meals. So, there was a bit of a kerfuffle when it came to meals for the first week of Lent, but once I was back home for good, we were back on the meatless meals train! For the most part, the kids are eating the dinners and have even really enjoyed some of them. I think for them it’s more of a mental game where they know there’s no meat in the meals and they don’t want to try them.
Well, that’s all I have to say about the previous month and what I intend to focus on for this month. A lot of my time is focusing on Jonah and breastfeeding, making meals, keeping up with household chores, and staying sane! We will see what all I can accomplish before April!
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