"I’m participating in the Keeping LOVE in LENT Blog Link-Up 2013, hosted by
Raising (& Teaching) Little Saints, Truly Rich Mom and Arma Dei: Equipping Catholic Families. We'll be sharing different ways, tips, stories and real-life experiences that will help us focus on Lenten sacrifices, prayer and good deeds, and how to carry them out with LOVE instead of a GRUMBLE. Please scroll down to the end of the post to see the list of link-up entries.”
When my children were all much
younger I had a hard time explaining Lent to them. Advent was easy. The children understood very well what it
meant to prepare for the coming of a new baby.
But Jesus’ passion and resurrection were mysteries I struggled to put on
a toddler/pre-school level.
I did my best to explain to them about how our
bad choices hurt Jesus. I read them
children’s books that showed His passion, His crucifixion, and His
resurrection. But the whole idea of sacrifice
and fasting seemed a little lost on such young children.
Then I came up with an idea that
seemed to help make the Lenten season more accessible to little minds. I cut out dozens of paper hearts and
explained to my family that for the next 40 days during our night time prayers
each of us would take a heart and write a good deed on it that we had performed
that day. The idea was to encourage my
children to be more loving and to think of others, just as Christ was thinking
of us and loving us as He hung on the cross.
The
children’s acts of kindness included things like: “I shared my toys”, “I helped
my little sister”, “I gave mommy a kiss”, “I let my friend go first”, “I prayed
for our neighbor.” It was such a simple
thing but as Lent progressed that year, my children grew to enjoy being more
kind and thoughtful. They started to
understand the idea of giving to others and the value of sacrificing their
little wants and desires for those of others.
It gave the children a chance to practice little forms of fasting and
almsgiving in addition to our prayers each day. And, it gave us a way, as a family, to prepare
our hearts for Easter and to focus on doing saintly acts, instead of sinful
ones.
We
hung our “good deed hearts” on the wall in the kitchen, adding more and more of
them each day of Lent. The growing line
of them along the kitchen wall provided a wonderful visual of how love can
multiply when we offer kind acts in Jesus’ name. By Easter, we were literally surrounded by
love because our hearts had stretched around the entire room meeting again to
make a complete circle.
 |
| Purple for penitence |
 |
| And red for the blood Jesus shed for us |
The first year with the paper hearts
was about seven or eight years ago but we have continued the tradition. And, though many other Lenten practices have
joined it as the children have matured, this one continues to be special and
meaningful to us.
Some of our other Lenten traditions include:· Attending the Stations of the Cross at Church every Friday evening· A family sacrifice- for us it is always desserts· Focusing exclusively on the Sorrowful mysteries for our family rosary· Participating in the Holy Week services at Church
How
have you explained and observed the Lenten season with your little ones?
Check out the Lent reflections participating in the Keep LOVE in LENT Blog Link-Up 2013! We'll be sharing different ways, tips, stories and real-life experiences that will help us focus on Lenten sacrifices, prayer and good deeds, and how to carry them out with LOVE instead of a GRUMBLE.
Discover new Catholic Blogs to follow!
Lenten Love: Little Acts of Love (pending)
This Cross I Embrace: Keep LOVE In Lent (pending)
I love the idea of the good deeds on hearts. I am getting so many wonderful ideas today! I think I will also try to go to stations of the cross with the family. We went once last year, but the kids didn't really understand. I'll spend some time explaining this year and maybe it will be more meaningful.
ReplyDeleteStations of the Cross has been a part of our Lent since my children were little. They did not understand all of the prayers and reflections but I remember those early years that they did understand that Jesus fell down three times and that when he met His "mommy" on the way she was sad to see Him hurting so much. It was little things but their understanding has grown and deepened.
DeleteI hope your Lent is fruitful and spiritual.
I like the purple hearts! It's a great decoration to have around the home for Lent - so nice to look at :)
ReplyDelete@ Crystal, maybe check out local parishes that may offer different kinds of Stations of the Cross which are more family-friendly? My old parish used to do Living Stations, with actors portraying different people along the Via Dolorosa- like Veronica, and, my personal favorite, the carpenter who made the cross Jesus carried and died upon. It is powerful, but easier to grasp for children, at the same time.
Thanks Amy. The hearts do look nice and since they represent our loving acts for others, they are a reminder of Christ's love for us too. :)
DeleteI must be a mother, because this post made me tear up. Thank you for sharing! I need to put this in the book of things I want to do for the future.
ReplyDeleteAlso I'm so excited that you're a writer. I'm following!
http://loveletters710.com
Megan-- I am so glad that you were touched! I look forward to getting to know you through sharing my blog and reading yours!
DeleteBlessings, Kari
super great idea! can't wait to try this one with my family. :)
ReplyDeleteHope your family enjoys it as much as mine does! God Bless.
DeleteI love the visual reminder of our deeds!
ReplyDeleteWe also go to Stations as often as possible. My little ones love it and it's one of my favorite memories of childhood.
Stations are one of our favorite parts of Lent. We look forward to it every year! Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteThat's a great idea - I love family traditions. I think they are one of the best ways to help our kids learn how to incorporate the faith into their way of life, and also one of the best ways to bring everyone together... Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteTraditions are important, I love them too. There are so many blessings that come from those special things we do each year together! :)
DeleteI love observances of Lent that are visible to the world. This is no exception!
ReplyDeleteLent is a great opportunity to share with the world the blessings of a Christ-centered life! I always think about that on Ash Wednesday when I go out with my ashes.
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
I love the idea of the paper hearts! They look so nice on the wall, and it is a great visual aid for the little ones to see their love for Jesus grow through their sacrifices for Him.
ReplyDeleteWe pray the Stations at home when we can't make it to church. I usually let my son carry the crucifix as we walk through the house stopping at each Station. (I post pictures of the Stations throughout the house) We try to do this every Friday, but I have to admit, I do forget at times. I agree, Traditions are very important, and a great way to instill our belief in our children. God bless!
I love the idea of including your son in the Stations by letting him carry the cross. That must make him feel very special and important.
DeleteGod Bless!
The idea of paper hearts is wonderful. They are a perfect way to tie in the love we need to have during lent. Hearts on a wall are a wonderful reminder of how to love others.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Looking at our hearts all through Lent is a constant reminder of love, and helps us to appreciate all that Jesus does for us.
DeleteI love your idea of hearts! I have very young children, too. My eldest is only 4 years old. My youngest just turned 1. Thanks for sharing. We've been sharing and teaching our sons about Lent but involving them in our Lenten traditions like going to Masses with us, doing the Stations of the Cross among other things.
ReplyDeleteI think making our children part of all that we do as Catholics is the best way to teach them our faith. They are never to young to be included. God Bless
DeleteLove your hearts banner, they are a great visual. I agree Lent is a lot harder to for kids to understand.
ReplyDeleteMy children are slowly getting to understand Lent better now as they are getting into the pre-teen/early teen years. Of course, that brings other challenges.
DeleteBut life is always a learning experience, isn't it?
God Bless!
I love your idea of the Good Deed Hearts. :) I'll keep that in mind when I have my own children :) Have a blessed Lenten Season! Love lots ~ Ginger
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. I hope your Lenten season is blessed and fruitful as well.
DeleteI love the paper hearts, and will try this out with my kids. I think they would respond better to doing something good than giving something up. A blessed Lent to you and your family!
ReplyDeleteMy children always love crafts- so maybe that is why this activity has been so meaningful to them! Doing something good is much easier for little ones to understand than giving things up, I think.
DeleteThanks so much for your comment.
What a wonderful idea to do the paper hearts. I wish I had so many great ideas when my kids were little! We still have yet to make it to the Stations, but I'm hoping soon we will do it. Thanks for the great ideas :)
ReplyDeleteLaura- Thanks for stopping by. I, too, have found many great ideas that i wish I would have known about sooner. I think it is never too late to try new ways of observing Lent and growing closer to God though.
DeleteBlessings!
I told the all that it was a time to make more room for Jesus in our hearts. We would watch a lot of Christian movies, especially about the cross and resurrection, turn off the T.V and pray as a family kids are naturally joyful, receiving God's love and reflecting it back to others, and they are naturally generous and simple. THEY taught ME
ReplyDeleteIt is wonderful how children can enlighten us in so many ways--without even trying to. They have a way of seeing the world with fresh eyes and delighting in things so that it is all contagious, I think.
DeleteGod Bless, and thanks for sharing your ideas as well.
I just read in another Keep LOVE in LENT post that Advent is about waiting for Jesus to come...and Lent is about waiting for Jesus to SAVE us. I thought that was short and sweet and a good little explanation! I love your good deed hearts taped up on the wall. A great reminder!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful way of explaining Lent. As a mother, sometimes I complicate things unnecessarily, wanting to give my children full understanding and knowledge before their little minds are ready to grasp such deep theological truths.
DeleteKeeping things simple makes so much more sense. Maybe that is what Jesus meant when he said we must be like little children....
Hi Kari,
ReplyDeleteI've seen you post a comment on my blog and others and I couldn't find you back until the link up. I'm so happy I did! Your good deed hearts are a wonderful visual of how your children interact with each other and you. I'm guessing it might get a bit competitive with one child wanting more hearts than his/her siblings! Installing these practices and values at a young age will build them up in the way they should go. Well done! May God bless you and draw you near to Him on your Lenten Journey. May Our Blessed Mother wrap your family in her loving embrace.
How wonderful and simple to do the good deeds on the hearts. That is a great way to keep love in lent for the little ones and then expand on it as they get older. This year I think we may add doing a salt dough crown with tooth picks as the thorns so my daughter can visually see the thorns coming out when she does a good deed. (There's still time in lent to adapt some new traditions) =) May God bless you and your family during this season.
ReplyDelete