Helping Hearts, Blog of Anne Sanders

There’s a new way to do Lent, not give something up but add something new. I heard about it from Karen Ehman of Proverbs 31 ministries . I had decided this year to add a new morning and evening prayer for the 40 days of Lent and then I heard of Karen Ehman’s idea of Reverse Lent. Ehman suggests doing one of five things: 1.        Writing a note each day to tell someone thank you or share a memory. 2.       Call someone each day to tell him or her you’re glad he or she is in your life. 3.       Do something to lighten someone else’s load. Help a family member, friend or coworker by doing a chore that is usually theirs. 4.       Help a stranger. 5.       Serve someone who usually serves you, like the postman, a teacher or pastor.   I think it’s a great idea! Everyone is talking about what they’re giving up and I absolutely ...

Easter has come and gone. It was a busy but nice day for us.   I volunteer in our church’s three and four year old Sunday School class and usually have from about 17 to 23 kids in there.   I have a helper most days, too, because that’s a lot of kids for one person. This Easter, we ended up having 35 children in the class.   Thank God for my friend who came in during the first service to drop off her child and saw that I had 31 children already. She volunteered to help me and in the end we split the class up into two classes next door to each other.   The kids are so adorable.   They love the little games we play in there like playing hot potato with different items or taping stickers to a picture on the wall. They also love to share. One child shared his mealtime prayer on Easter with the rest of us, closing his eyes and singing it to the whole class. I’m sure you’ve heard of the James 1:27 verse: “Re ligion that God our Father accepts as pure and fau...

I did not grow up going to church and the churches I have attended since I became a Christian in 1992 have not made a big deal of Lent so neither have I. That is, up until this year. This year I am fasting every Wednesday night to Thursday night as part of Lent. Although I’ve heard for years what my Catholic sister is giving up for Lent, I’ve never really given up anything before.   I fasted once (not during Lent) and found it to be a spiritually satisfying experience so I’m looking forward to doing this on a regular basis. My church is having everyone who is willing fast one day each week from the beginning of Lent, February 22 (Ash Wednesday) to April 5 (Maundy Thursday).   Then we are breaking our fast with a sedar meal. I was even more excited about doing this because I know about skip1 .   It’s an organization that asks people who have a lot to skip something—a meal, a latte, a round of golf, a dessert—and give what they would spend on it to a project to prov...