Lent in September

"Self-denial is the root of all virtue" 


After reading my last post, my sister sent me a text that read, "Hey! I just read your blog. Do you want to give up one thing from your list and we will fast for each other?"

What a brilliant idea! Of course, I said yes and began to discern what I would give up. I decided to tell my mom about it. She wanted in on the fast and graces that would come from it. She told my dad about it, he wanted in to. My older sister found out and joined the gang, and I thought my husband would feel just plum left out if he found out we were all doing this without him, so he is in on it too. A huge family fast...in the month of September.

The next day, my mom and I placed all our names in a basket and prayed for the Holy Spirit to help guide and strengthen us all in our fast. We then picked names (from oldest to youngest) for each person to fast for. I picked my dad (more on that later). My husband picked me. I told him he better pick something big to give up!

I decided to give up sweets for the fast (refer to number one on my list: food). I picked this because it was the only one of my attachments that involve just me, and thus seems the easiest to start with. The rest would require compliance from my husband, so I'm saving them for a later date. Anyways, we decided not to start until the first (that's tomorrow, ya know?) so we could all pray about what we were going to fast from and then pray for the strength to fast. So here it goes...no sweets for thirty days. Hopefully and prayerfully, this 30 day act of self-denial will root me in the virtue of temperance and self-control.