By Kelyn Struiksma
Over the past couple weeks I have been slowly reading through Francis Chan’s devotional, Crazy Love for a better understanding of what it means to be in love with God as Valentine’s Day was approaching. I am a firm believer in taking the time to show the people in your life how much you love them. However, I was finding myself focusing less on what it means to love God in this season of love and instead was spending more time concentrating on my boyfriend and Galantine’s Day.
Wednesday, February 18 marks the start of a 40-day season of preparation which ends in celebration on Easter Sunday on April 5. As a believer and student attending a private Christian university, I have seen a general decrease in the excitement and challenge for believers in this season of fasting on campus and more specifically in my own life.
“We never grow closer to God when we just live life,” Chan writes. “It takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.”
Even though Lent always falls around Valentine’s Day, it wasn’t until this year that I realized how this season of love would challenge me to participate in my first year of Lent.
I am entering this Lent season attempting to challenge myself and explore a spiritual practice I have yet to experience. I have decided to walk through the Daniel Plan, focusing on the essentials of faith, food, fitness and friends as the prophet Daniel modeled in the old testament.
The next forty days will no doubt look differently for each individual. However, my challenge for you is to explore this season of love and Lent and to consider living life just a little bit differently, by either giving or taking something up and joining me in the pursuit to understand and learn to love Lent.