Showing up to church is easy. Bringing your heart is the tough part.

Lent snuck up on me this year. Because we weren’t observing it church-wide, and because I have a baby not sleeping through the night, I decided to not observe this year. I am regretting that. I spent the Palm Sunday service trying to not feel, to not think too much about the heaviness of the last week of Christ’s life and the gruesomeness of the crucifixion. My heart was not prepared.

            I love how we had different stations for different parts of the week, to really isolate certain events.  We were able to experience and touch parts of the Easter story. To try to carry a cross. To ask God boldly in a garden. To wash the feet of loved ones. To imagine bringing justice by tossing tables. To hear a rooster crow and think of how we have each denied Jesus in ways large and small.   

            Had I observed Lent in some fashion, I would have been more prepared for this. The Bible app on my phone even had a reading plan, so I am really without excuse.

But God makes all things new.  

We have seven days to prepare our hearts in some small way for the glory and burden of Easter. Join me in meditating on whatever station you needed the most. Let us be ready on Easter to hear and absorb the story of God’s relentless love for us.

Beth Kropf