A Fair Lent

 I am all too aware of the many pressures bearing down on parents, so the idea of trying to engage the family
in some sort of Lent fast or habit has the potential of becoming the straw that breaks the camels back. For those who missed it, yesterday was the beginning of Lent which ends on Easter Sunday. Lots of christian's choose to observe Lent in some way either by fasting in a certain way or as encouraged by '40 Acts', taking on something new and living more generously.
What I like about the '40 Acts' is that rather than encourage us to give something up for 40 days like chocolate, which if you're like me is broken on Easter day by a chocolate gorge, they're encouraging people to take something on. The hope behind this is that we make a positive a permanent change in our life becoming more of a blessing to those around us. The 40 ideas they've given are fantastic and you can see them in Becki's earlier post. They include things like trying to live off £1.40 for one day or baking cakes and sharing them with class mates as well as many other creative ideas.
Fairtrade fortnight ends this weekend and we have a guest speaker coming to Kids Church on Sunday to help raise children's awareness to the importance of Fairtrade. This is an issue that God cares about and I believe he wants children to care about this as well.

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,

    and this is what he requires of you:

to do what is right, to love mercy,

    and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6v8

Walking home yesterday evening I came up with a practical idea that I can do with my family to support Fairtrade and help us think about the issues facing people who work so much for so little. What we've decided to do is change our usual breakfast meal not every day but just once a week. Every Monday throughout Lent instead of having our favourite cereal we're all going to eat a banana together and pray for Fairtrade. It's not 40 acts it works out as 6 acts but it's something that we as a family can all do together from the youngest in our family through to the adults. 
You might want to do  the 40 Acts throughout Lent, you may want to do one every other day, you may want to give up chocolate (heed my earlier warning), you may want to give my idea a try or come up with your own idea as a family. I want to encourage you to give something a go but don't let Lent overwhelm you because that is not what Jesus wants. What matters most throughout lent is what matters most throughout life and his name is Jesus. Any activity, any prayer or any idea we adopt as part of Lent that isn't aimed at getting closer to Jesus in my opinion is a waste of time, so lets try and get closer to Jesus this Lent.