Look, we’ve been honest with you all along, so why stop now… Let’s just say that your bowls were no match for your ash. Fortunately, even though we only received a few bowl shots, the winning picture was particularly good. Sara Agne from Phoenix, AZ, sent the following note with her bowl:

My bowl is actually a deep tray my husband’s aunt gave us for our wedding seven months ago. It has our wedding invitation framed in the bottom of it. The container reminds me that God is at the center of our marriage and at the center of my FastPrayGive challenges, cheering me on. The post-its and the pen in the tray are for keeping track of my progress on the challenges.

Thanks for making this Lent so unique and for all your great content!

Ok, we’re willing to grant that maybe we took you by surprise when we asked you to “Show Us Your Bowls” last week, but now we’re giving you fair warning . Just send in a picture of your bowl by Thursday March 26. The winner will receive a tin of Busted Halo brand M&M’s and a bag of Busted Halo brand Swedish Fish!

Let’s go people, put your bowls in an email and send them to us ASAP!!!

Having Trouble Keeping Up With the Fast, Pray, Give Calendar?

Even simple Lenten practices aren’t easy — especially if we’re out of shape.

Lent is really a marathon, not a sprint. The good news is we’re letting you jump into the marathon at any point along the way and finish with us. Remember, you can’t fail! If you’ve fallen down along the way, and who hasn’t, just pick yourself up again and join in.

Some Tips

Your old habits may not die as quickly as you’d like, but by the end of 40 days we think that you will have at least become mindful of what leads you into a more wholesome (holy?) way of life. The spiritual life is really all about mindfulness — understanding what is good and bad for us in a healthy way.

With this in mind we’d like to offer some additional support to you for those times when you’ve slipped during Lent. Here are some easy tasks to help you become more mindful:

1. Notice the patterns. What are you doing when you feel the most energy in your day? Do you feel more energized on the days you have been fasting? The day after? How are you feeling when you are giving of your time to others? What’s been really hard — that saps your energy — and why do you think that happens? When you trip up, is it on the same day or at a particular time? What is happening then that leads you astray?
2. Note the barriers. What is it that keeps you from your Lenten tasks? Do you become a horrible gossip when you hang around with a certain clique in the office? Is there someone in your life who brings out the worst in you? When you’re participating in a certain task do you get grumpy? What about when you don’t get enough sleep, or are overworked, or fail to pray?
3. RU scrupulous? Each time you slip up, do you beat yourself up about it? Do you get a feeling like you can never do anything right? If so, you may suffer from scrupulosity, an obsessive concern with one’s personal sins, including “sinful” acts or thoughts that are usually considered minor. Mental health experts may even consider this a type of obsessive compulsive disorder for some. One way to overcome a scrupulous Lenten journey is to simply know that you are going to mess up and to expect it ahead of time. Whenever you do, simply note it in our Slip Support Station and then start over. It’s not a big deal. Get it off your chest and then move on.
4. Pray for freedom. We all have our own biases and prejudices that keep us from truly being free. We’ve come to believe certain things about ourselves, others and situations, but often these are simply inventions based on some of our own experiences. Throughout Lent, make a simple daily prayer to the Holy Spirit to be free of anything that keeps us from seeing ourselves as we truly are.

Regardless of the place you are in right now, you Lenten journey this year should indeed be one of gentleness and challenge, that helps you listen to where the Holy Spirit is calling you in your life. Ultimately, that is what will lead you to a better place.