You’ve all been invited to write about what makes Lent and Holy Week meaningful to you for our 2025 Lenten devotional book. So – what exactly is a devotional? It’s a book or digital source of daily readings that help us grow our relationship with God. Daily devotionals are short, inspirational pieces of writing, often based on scripture, designed to encourage personal reflection and prayer. Sometimes they include just a brief personal story, and sometimes they include scripture and a prayer for the day. They often focus on a specific theme or passage. You can find all kinds of devotionals, some made for 30-40 days, and some for an entire year. The Upper Room is a well-known devotional in booklet form that is also available at upperroom.com.
Your entry should be just 2-3 paragraphs, up to 250 words, and is due by February 17th. You may send your story via email or printed or handwritten on paper.
Think of something you’ve done during Lent and write about it:
- Fasting from screen time, certain foods, habits, or even the news! How was that meaningful to you? How did you use that extra time to spend with God?
- Exploring breath prayers, prayer beads, walking a labyrinth, or a nature prayer walk.
- Participating in a study group or reading a book that inspired you. Maybe reading through the Gospels during Lent.
- Serving at a soup kitchen or food pantry.
- Doing something as a family – having a simple meal weekly and donating what you didn’t spend on food, collecting coins for donation, or attending Holy Week worship.
Just start writing. When I taught college journalism, my colleague, a well-known, long-time Chicago film critic often said that even people who write for a living sometimes have to make themselves actually sit down and write! Now, go write!
Be sure to sign up first!
Blessings,
Pastor Becky
An example devotional:
Praying for Strangers
I experienced a number of meaningful Lenten experiences when I led a study group at UMCG using the book Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit, by Paula Huston. This book focuses on simplifying our spaces, use of money, care of the body, mind, schedules, and relationships. For each day of Lent there was a reading of the day, and a practice – something specific to do that day. These were things like giving something away you are not using; spending a day without email, Facebook, or other social media; apologizing to someone angry with you; and inviting someone lonely for tea and conversation.
The practice for one day was to go out and for ten minutes pray for the strangers you see. Now, our normal reaction is to acknowledge those we encounter in some way – with a nod, a greeting, or a smile. It isn’t hard to add a quick prayer for them. Praying for strangers helps us think more about others and less about ourselves. We may not know what someone is going through, but we can pray for them – that God will be with them and get them through whatever they’re facing. I still occasionally practice praying for strangers I see. Our Lenten disciplines can actually become things we practice as a regular part of our lives all year ‘round.