Great Lent is almost here! I truly love this season–it is one of my favorite times of the year. I look forward to the change in rhythm that it brings: the frequent and beautiful services, the call to slow down and eliminate things that draw my focus away from God, the solemn anticipation of the most glorious day of the Feast of Feasts.
But, (can I be honest here?) sometimes Lent is really hard.
–Planning meals takes extra effort since I can’t just open a box of mac and cheese whenever I don’t have the energy to cook a real supper.
-Services are frequent and beautiful, but that can be a difficult thing if you have young children. Wrangling three young children while trying to make prostrations isn’t really conducive to a peaceful, meditative spiritual experience.
-Temptations seem to rear their ugly heads with greater frequency and intensity. Sins that I thought I had put behind me find ways to seep back into my life. Frustration builds and my patience wears thin.
-And the guilt. Oh, the guilt. If “Mom guilt” is a thing, surely we can agree that it is even stronger during Lent? We see other mothers posting pictures of their children happily engaged in a Lent-related craft. We think of all the things that we “should” be doing to help our kids really grasp the beauty of this Lenten season. We miss a few services because of illness or exhaustion or just plain lack of desire to keep children calm and quiet during yet another hour of church. And cue the guilt.
If any of that resonated with you, I get it. 100%. Been there. Am there.
So, today I just wanted to share 3 resources that may help you out during Great Lent this year. They are all fully Orthodox, reasonably priced, and designed to help lessen stress and increase family engagement during Lent.
And, I have used all of these resources and can honestly recommend them.
Quick caveat: if any of these would add to your stress or guilt-load, don’t think twice about ignoring the recommendation. Do what works for you and for your family.
1. Pascha Passports
We used these Pascha Passports for the first time last year, and all three of my kids (then ages 3-9) loved them! Each child receives their own passport and sheet of stickers. They are able to place stickers on designated spots for each of the Lenten services they attend (it actually begins in the Triodion, but you can start later if needed). There are also stickers for “Day Trips” like going to Confession, saying the Jesus Prayer, and more.
I was actually astonished at how into the whole thing my kids were. They looked forward to attending the services, happily talked about the meaning of the various services with me, and were excited to put their stickers into their passports.
The passports (put out by Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church in Loveland, Colorado) are also insanely affordable. A passport costs $2.10 and a sticker sheet costs $1.00. There is also a shipping fee. I was able to get 3 passports, 3 sticker sheets, and shipping all for $15.
If going to services has been one of your stress points, the passports may prove helpful! I would recommend them for ages 3 through at least 10. You can order here.
2. My Beautiful Lent
I am not a super creative cook. Instead I tend to streamline meal-planning and simplify anything that I possibly can. (You can see that by Our Honest Lenten Meal Plan!)
Plus, I work outside the home as a full-time teacher. By the time we get home around 5 each night, I am completely sapped of energy. Start making a crazy complicated recipe involving ingredients I can’t pronounce? Not likely.
Because of this, I really like My Beautiful Lent–a website and Lenten meal-planning service run by Cynthia Damaskos. My Beautiful Lent gives three different options for their services, starting at $19.
I especially enjoyed the weekly video interviews that Cynthia does with various Orthodox priests, authors, and more to discuss Great Lent. This year’s guests include Kh. Frederika Matthewes-Green, Abbot Tryphon, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick, and Joshua Jackson among others.
If Lenten meal-planning causes anxiety, you can check out the website here.
3. Tending the Garden of the Heart Devotional Book
Finally, this last resource is also the most recent. As a convert from Protestantism, I often struggle with the idea of doing devotions as a family. Is it ok? How should I do it? Am I being “Orthodox enough”?
That is one reason I loved Elissa Bjeletich and Kristina Wenger’s book. There is a 3-4 page devotion for each day that can be done as a whole family. There is also a fantastic appendix with further ideas for crafts, activities, and more based on each week of Lent.
Tending the Garden of the Heart, published by Ancient Faith Publishing, is a meaningful tool to help your entire family engage in the spiritual discipline of Great Lent.
I found the devotions (about a Scripture passage, life of a saint, or theme of Lent) to be suitable for elementary-aged children to high-schoolers. The discussion questions at the end of each chapter range from basic comprehension questions designed for a younger audience to more in-depth analysis appropriate for teenagers.
Finally, I really appreciated the section titled “How to Use This Book” that gave readers permission to dip into the book when they had time but not feel guilty if they missed some days. Don’t try to play catch-up, the authors encourage, but just go to today’s reading and work from there. As a struggling perfectionist, I was thankful for this advice!
If you would like to help your family grow spiritually during Lent (without having to come up with ideas all on your own!), you can purchase the book here.
Giveaway!
And, now, a bonus! I will be giving away a copy of Tending the Garden of Our Hearts to a lucky reader!
To be enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post. Let me know either what your greatest struggles are during Lent or what you are looking forward to this Lent.
The giveaway will close on Tuesday, March 5. I will then use the random number generator to select the winner, whom I will contact via e-mail.
A Blessed Fast to you all.
I am looking forward to the spiritual challenge. I feel like this is a time to focus on the spiritual life I’m always wanting to maintain. It like a time to start fresh
We LOVE the Pascha Passports! They are great for kids of all ages. The adults enjoyed them even more than the kids!
For struggles it would be meal planning for a child that is on the spectrum (ASD).
Thank you for wonderful resources! For me one of the biggest struggles during Lent is accomplishing all those goals I set at the beginning of the Lent. This goes from crafts and readings beneficial to better understand the meaning of Lent, to limits I put on myself, to cleaning the house to meet Easter.
My biggest struggle during Lent is driving to and back from the extra services, as our church is far away!
This is our second Lent as Orthodox and with 4 small kids (5, 3, 2, and 6 months) I’m looking forward to engaging the kids and being more intentional.
I am looking forward to my social media fast and just to slow down for a while!
This is our family’s first Lent as catechumens, and I struggle with not only learning the what and how and why myself, but passing that on to my three year old in a way she can understand.
I’m looking forward to helping my little engage more with the Lenten services and season. We’ve already been talking about fasting. He’s sad about not having bacon, but happy to have more chances to serve in the altar.
I look forward to Lent as a time to refocus spiritually, and prioritize that (most important!) part of life that so often takes a backseat to more urgent daily/life choices. “Spiritual” books get moved to the top of my endless TBR stack, I might actually take the time for both personal and family devotions that so often never move beyond good intentions, the prayer of St. Ephraim reminds me daily of my need for repentance, etc.
But I agree that it is HARD. One of my struggles is navigating the fast with a large family of picky eaters/allergy sufferers. It is one thing to deal with my own sinful attitudes toward food, and another to handle all of the complaining of my children, when the fasting food is not to their taste. (Out of five children, I have two who won’t eat peanut butter, two who can’t abide hummus or avocado, and one who “crashes” when she doesn’t get enough protein in a meal.) That combined with my own pride as a cook leads to endless reinventing of the menu plan and extra time experimenting with yummy new “fast-friendly” recipes, which kinda misses the point!
My other big challenges include the driving distance to attend services more frequently, and the management of high-energy children throughout solemn services. We do what we (think we) can, but probably less than we ought. Our new word for this season is “reverent!” We also need to grow in the area of alms-giving as a family, through acts of service when money is too tight for financial giving.
Lots of room for improvement. But then again, that really IS the point!
I struggle most with going deeper beyond just avoiding certain foods and with helping my kids to learn why we are also limiting things like screen time. Even though our kids have been raised in the church, the teenager especially has been giving more push back, seeing these “rules” as pointless.
Lent. It’s beautiful and spiritually nourishing. The food I prepare my family during Lent on the other hand, not so nourishing. In the past, I’ve gone out of my way to find healthy and (not terrible) tasting ingredients to prepare. I end up spending precious time and money on the meals and 95% of the time, it’s quite nasty and the leftovers sit in the fridge, untouched, until they must be tossed out. I’ve gone the other way too – I made simple meals with pasta and grains that were bland but not disgusting and the whole time I’m thinking about the starchy mess I’m feeding my family. It’s not good for any of us, but they’re willing to eat it because it’s comfort food. I need a simple, inexpensive, way to do a “less is more” menu this Lent that’s healthy and at least not unpleasant to eat. I understand that the food shouldn’t be wild with flavor and savory but I don’t want to keep wasting food and time. Sigh.
Looking forward to the confession and forgiveness aspect. Thanks for this post! You always have such well-thought out stuff!
My greatest struggle is making that extra quiet time for myself and my family.
Thank you for this post. I’m really thinking a lot this year about making achievable goals…and hoping that Tending the Garden of Our Hearts is a part of them! I’ve been eyeing this book, I appreciate your review of it.
I’m looking forward to my first Lent as a mother and introducing her to the church (currently in our 40 days!).
Good morning! Thank you for continuing to serve mothers with such a practically spiritual, Orthodox website. The chaos of family life is often in stark contrast with quiet of Lent, so having resources and help is a balm to me!
I’m looking forward to a quiet Lenten season. The kids and I are unplugging the TVS and devices for 40 days to make our day “more quiet” so that we can “hear God” a little bit more. I find Lent such a different spiritual journey with kids. There’s more chaos and disruption but you also witness their little “spiritual moments” that make it so worth it.
Thank you for writing this article! With 5 small children and being a fairly-recent convert, I definitely relate to the Lenten challenges you describe. Quiet reflection and extra services are difficult but we try to persevere. I did get the passports and the kids are thrilled (thank you). I do look forward to quitting the extra “noise” in our lives during lent and taking a more inward focus.
We just had our fourth child and things are crazy, but I’m striving to show my kids a reasonable level of seasonality, if that makes sense. We are in a season of busyness and care, but we don’t have to throw Lent out entirely. We are learning to offer to God what we can from where we are in this moment.
Thank you for the suggestions Sarah! I always enjoy reading your posts. This Lent I’m looking forward to more reading and some intentional quiet time. Also, stepping away from my phone more often.
Thank you for the article! I would love to try the Little Passports with my kids. Sounds like they would enjoy that.
I really like your posts.
I hope to involve my children more this Lent
I have been a baptized Orthodox Christian for 20 years but I have slowly fallen farther and farther away from the faith, allowing this modern age to delude me into thinking I didn’t need the church or such an ancient faith. After 2 great losses and spending the past 3 years trying to fill a hole in my heart that this earthly realm can’t fill, I’m finding my way back to my faith roots and God and bringing my children with me. I’m looking forward to the reset that Lent can bring for my family as well as the spiritual growth that I need right now. And I look forward to bringing my children closer to God in the church and hope that they find Orthodoxy to be as beautiful and peaceful as I once used to feel myself.
Thanks for sharing these ideas! I always need as much encouragement as possible to get through Lent 🙂 My daughter is newly 3 and has been very testing in church lately, so I think that will be my biggest struggle this Lent: getting through services without both of us losing our patience! Thank you so much for your encouragement!
Thank you all so much for your comments! Kahlee is the winner of the giveaway and will be contacted shortly. Have a blessed Lent!
My greatest struggle during Lent is attending services. During the week it’s simply not possible to attend any services and I really wish we could.