Reflections on Lent 2011

Lent is always a special season and this year was no different.

Now that the 40 days have been completed and we have celebrated the resurrection of our King, I look back on Lent and reflect on the real highlights.

This year there is one practice that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Sherri and I decided that we would read through the four Gospels during Lent. This ended up being one of, if not the, richest times in our 5 1/2 years of marriage. Each evening we would sit down and read two or three chapters and then spend a good amount of time discussing what we read. There were several nights when these discussions lasted for over an hour.

We would discuss our thoughts about what we read, our beliefs, dis-beliefs and questions. Then we would take the time to wrestle through it all. It was often messy, but always good.

We enjoyed this format so much that we have decided to keep it going. We are going to continue through the New Testament and then loop back to the OT.

Taking time to, not just read the word with my wife, but also discuss it and have time to talk through it has been amazing. I believe that our lives and our marriage will reap the benefits from Lent 2011 for a long time thanks to this spiritual discipline that we took up.