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What Lent Means to Me

12th March 2023

 

As we reach the halfway point of our journey through this Lent and our Forty for Forty donation campaign, our Operations Manager, Kathy Byfield, reflects on What Lent means to her….
 
Romans chapter 5, verse 8 says
 
‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’
 
Lent, to me, is the opportunity to move closer to God. Recognising my desire to keep control is a barrier to developing a loving relationship with God. By giving up some of my old habits (barriers) and developing new habits (no barriers), I will realise my true purpose in serving God’s people through my role at Greenwich Foodbank.
 
For some giving up the old habit could be to stop eating chocolate for 40 days, a new habit, but then on day 41, indulge in eating chocolate again, back to the old habit, and I must confess that I, too yo-yo from old habits to new habits only to fall back to the old habits.
 
This year my focus is to do one thing differently, and for that to happen I need to know what new habit I have to create in order to move nearer to God.
 
During the 40 days of Lent, I am working on changing the old habit of defaulting to wanting to control everything (an old well established habit) to learning to let go of control and passing it back to God. By spending more time reading and reflecting on His word, I am beginning to understand how to rest in God’s love.
 
So, when I read and reflect on Romans chapter 5, verse 8, it brings me hope that when I am deflated because I have fallen short again, I can feel assured in the solid knowledge that I am never too far from God and his loving arms are ALWAYS wide open to receive me.
 
As I journey towards Easter with a new habit in tow (fingers crossed), I remember a quote from writer, poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou
 
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

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