Lent really crept up on me this year. Fortunately, I have a stockpile of resources to help my family and me along my Lenten journey. In lieu of a thought-provoking post, I’m simply going to list some resources, ideas, books, etc. I’ve used in the past, plan to use, or dream of using when my life isn’t such a beautiful, chaotic mess.
I know I’ve missed some great stuff out there, so please feel free to share your own links and/or resources in the combox.
Happy clicking!
(Oh, and please forgive the funky formatting below. I’ve tried to fix it multiple times with no luck.)
Books
Bringing Lent Home with Mother Teresa: Prayers, Reflections, and Activities for Families
Welcome Risen Jesus: Lenten and Easter Reflections for Families
Magnificat Lenten Companion (it looks like the hard copy is sold out, but it’s available as an app)
Around the Web
Catholic Icing’s Lenten Navigation Page
Catholic Mom’s Lenten Activities for Children
Christ’s Journey to the Cross: Lenten Insipiration for Mothers (an old reflective essay of mine)
Conversion Diary’s Recommended Reading (for adults) for Lent
Elizabeth Foss’s Preparing for Lent post (includes link to all her Lenten archives)
His Mercy is New Lent Links and Resources
Lent for Little Ones (an old post of mine, but we still put to practice many of the ideas I included)
Karen Edmisten’s Meaningful 2011 Lent post
Recipes (including lots of meatless dishes perfect for Lenten Fridays)
This is an amazing resource my friend put together. It offers 40 days’ worth of meatless menus, shopping lists, easy recipes, and fun commentary. All the recipes serve 12, so it’s the perfect plan for large families who want to live out the discipline of Lenten abstinence.
Avocado Corn Salad with Tropical Smoothies
Kid-Friendly Cheesy Broccoli Pockets
Tofu Parmesan (don’t judge it until you try it!)
Kate, a great list, thanks for sharing! I plan to come back and click around this afternoon!! :) I have also put together a list of ideas we have used or found:
http://www.candacemercyisnew.blogspot.com/2012/02/lent-links-resources.html
Candace recently posted…over 3,000…and still counting
Thanks, Candace! I added your link. The images you have over there are just lovely.
Great resources! I should go check right now whether my library has any of those books.
Would you mind posting sometime about what you guys do for Easter baskets? My husband grew up doing nothing but chocolate and candy in Easter baskets (they hunted for real hard-boiled eggs, which seems a bit unsanitary to me) and I grew up getting “stuff” in my basket and in plastic eggs (and a little chocolate, but not too much since my parents didn’t want us in sugar comas). I’m curious whether that is a Catholic thing or unique to my husband’s family or a regional thing. Maybe I should host a “carnival of Easter traditions” to help me research, lol.
Great idea! I’d love to post something about this. Just in case I don’t get to it though, I’ll give you the quick rundown. Growing up, my parents stuffed our baskets with candy and some gifts. However, my husband and I really are trying to simplify our life and just don’t feel our kids need that much more stuff. What we plan to do this year is to have just a little bit of candy in their baskets and then something religious like a wooden saint doll (like ones sold here: http://www.etsy.com/people/StLukesBrush). I also may fill a plastic egg or two with a dollar bill since we’re starting to teach our older two daughters about money and the importance of saving and giving to charity. In year’s past, the girls have gotten a religious book in their baskets. The grandparents always host an Easter egg hunt as well. Hope this helps!
Oooh, thanks for putting this together. It snuck up on me too this year and this is very helpful! Thanks!