Ask Elnora--About Lent??? Lenora Worth

Easter is on the way. Elnora has always loved the Easter season. Maybe because Elnora's birthday is in April. And Elnora loves presents! I also love Palm Sunday. I love how at our church the children will walk in waving their palm branches. We all know that Easter brings the sadness of what Christ went through for us, but it also brings the grace and beauty and the meaning of what being a Christian is all about. We are going through Lent right now. Usually, Elnora gives up chocolate or ice cream for Lent, even shopping! But this year, I decided I'd try something different. I'd try not to speak as much. I know--you're all laughing at that one. It hasn't been easy, let me tell you. But I've tried to not speak so much in a bossy way. I'm trying very hard to give up being bossy. I'm letting go of control in a lot of areas. I think because I'm about to make an important life change when we move to our retirement condo later this year, I've learned to be still and know that God is in control. I don't raise my hand to be the first to volunteer as much as I used to. I don't feel that nagging need to be in charge, to go forth and steamroll my way into a project. I don't feel the need to be the first to speak up in a group or to remind others of what we need to be doing and when. I'm learning to do what I do as a writer--sit back and observe. It's been quite refreshing to do this. Amazing how silence can bring so many answers. I haven't always been successful at this task, this letting go, this being silent. Especially when I see so much injustice in the world and I wonder why the world has to be so cruel. But I have always been an Easter person. I have always believed in spring and renewal and hope. Christ gave me that hope. Lent is just part of the journey. Someone at church was talking about the children's moments and one of our pastors was asking about Lent. One of the children spoke up and said that was the stuff that comes out of the dryer. Everyone thought this was really funny and it is. But that kid might be onto something. Lint is mostly fibers and dust. And we know from our ashes that we are only dust, after all. We return to dust but our spirits return to God in Heaven. So that got me to wondering? What kind of lint have you found in your Lent? What have you let go, what have you cleaned out, what have you swept away? Children are shrewd in their innocence. Sometimes, it is the stuff that comes out of the dryer, sometimes it's the stuff that gets caught in that trap in our brains, that stuff that clouds our judgment and holds us down. Let's discuss--Can we let go of the lint in these last days of Lent??