Lent begins this Wednesday as we observe Ash Wednesday and the official start of the 40 days (plus Sundays) of preparation for Easter. Lent, from a word meaning lengthening (of days), is a time we focus on personal repentance and fasting . It is also a time that historically the church has focused on preparing new members to join and restoring members who have fallen away to the community. My prayer is that as we prepare for this time, we will find ourselves full of excitement for what God wants to do in our lives and in our churches. Don’t worry if you aren’t certain what that is at the moment. That is exactly what the 40-days is all about.

I’ll be writing daily (Monday through Friday) as a part of my lenten preparation for Easter and invite you to have a birds-eye view of what God is doing in my heart through the lectionary passages for the week.

If you are in Lexington and are looking for an Ash Wednesday service, let me also invite you to the Downtown Campus of FIrst UMC for a 6:00PM service that concludes with the imposition of ashes.