40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS

And I'm not talking about the 2002 movie with Josh Hartnett, although the setting might be the same as it does take place during LENT.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten season, which will eventually lead up to that high holy day of Easter. As a child, this day was always marked by getting ashes on our forehead (something I hated) and deciding what we would give up during this forty day period. Of course, back then, we tried to get away with easy things like mashed potatoes or liver but that never did fly with my mother.

So, as I sit here, I'm trying to decide what I will give up for the next forty days. The only thing that makes sense, and the only thing that would be a real sacrifice, would be to give up chocolate because there's not a day that goes by that I don't have some sort of candy made with chocolate. This would end up killing two birds with one stone as it would also help towards my diet and improve my overall health. So that's it.....NO CHOCOLATE FOR THE NEXT 40 DAYS!!! Somehow, writing it down makes it more real and, if I write it down, I will be forced to do it.

I remember some years ago, when my son was about 10 years old, I asked him what he would give up for Lent. I told him that it had to be something that he really liked or else it wouldn't count. He looked at me and said, "I'll give up playing video games for Lent." I couldn't believe my ears but he was true to his word and, to this day, it's something I've never forgotten and something for which I've always been proud of him. It's the kind of thing a mother never forgets especially since kids at that age played video games for hours upon hours every day and he was willing to give this up. Needless to say, on Easter morning, the first thing he did, upon awakening, was to pick up where he left off. That day, there were a few new video games on the TV to show how much I had appreciated his sacrifice.

I've now put away all the Milky Way, Almond Joy and Snicker bars I have in the house not to mention the peanut M&M's and chocolate covered caramels. I bid farewell and told them to sit tight until March 23rd. And, just in case you're thinking that there are more than forty days between today and March 23rd, you're right because Sundays are not included in the counting of the Lenten calendar.

By the way, if you're wondering why this post was done in purple, it's because this is the color for the season of Lent......a color fit for a King and in preparation of a King.....and, if you're reading this, I'm not referring to you, my brother Michael!!!!