Why does a girl like me care about Lent?

For most of my life Lent meant something to my friends and nothing to me... friends with ash on their foreheads and giving up Dr. Pepper, chips, and candy. Fridays were vegetarian, for lunch we had to go to Pizza Hut for cheese pizza, but we couldn't touch the Dr. Pepper. I was intrigued by the idea but also thankful that I didn't have to give up anything.  I could drink my Dr. Pepper and have pepperoni on my pizza. I was thankful to be an evangelical, there was no ash for me, no giving up for Lent, no preparation for the Easter season.

But now, I've been counting down the days until Lent, until Ash Wednesday.  I won't be giving up pop, chips or candy and I'll still have a burger on Friday, but my heart enters into the Lenten season with awe.  My heart longs for awe, not the giving up of trivial things, but living in the continual attitude of awe.  Awe because the universe was created with a word.  Awe because the same Jesus that was a part of creating the universe came as a human baby.  Awe because that baby was both man and God and lived a holy life.  Awe because he chose to be the pure blameless sacrifice.  Awe because His being a sacrifice for me means that I now get to enter into His eternal life.

Lent comes from the Old English word meaning spring or the lengthening of days. Spring, that thing we long for after a cold snowy winter, where death turns to life and new growth pushes away the old, where our skin is warmed by the burst of sunlight and energy returns to our bodies.  Lent, a season that historically the church observed as a time of fasting, of remembering the suffering of our Savior that ends with the celebration of Easter, the ultimate spring when death is forever conquered and eternal life forever available. For me Lent won't be all about the giving up of trivial things but rather hanging onto to the eternal things.  It will be seeing the places where I have been asked to share in Christ's sufferings and fast from the triviality of this world.  This girl cares about Lent because it awakens awe and stirs up wonder and breathes mystery into her very human existence.

And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

Romans 8:17

For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.

Philippians 1:29-30