During the winter, it can be especially difficult to stay active. In spite of the fact that we all know the importance of activity and exercise, many of us are not close to getting what we need. It is for this reason that I am so excited about our plans for Lent this year! We still have some of the programs you have come to expect, yet we have also added a new wrinkle.
Now, if you want food, that will still be available. We have our “Leap Into Lent” Pancake Breakfast, which is a tradition we moved to Sunday morning from a more common spot on the Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras. The old tradition would be to eat a great deal before the fasting of Lent that would begin the next day with Ash Wednesday. This year, if you want it, you have that opportunity, as the Haiti Team will be doing a Spaghetti Dinner.
These meals are great and they serve a purpose, not only for fundraising, but also fellowship. The great part that is added this year is the work being done on our “Leap Into Fitness: A 40 day Journey.” Not only will we help you eat, we will help you work it off!
Our Outreach Team, along with the Haiti Team and our Parish Nurse, Irene Berger have come up with ideas not only to help you stay healthy, but also support the relief mission in Haiti.
They have plotted out a course for walking right here in our fellowship hall and into the education wing. If you want to work out somewhere else, you can do that, too.
If you keep track of your miles, you can imagine yourself moving to different places. For example, you can travel from Miami to Port-au-Prince. Or maybe you would be more interested in traveling from Port-au-Prince to Les Cayes, or from Port-au-Prince to Bon-a-dos. So you know, Les Cayes and Bon-a-dos are towns where our mission team has worked, while Port-au-Prince is the capital.
I hope and pray that you will take the opportunity to get involved with this exercise program. Not only will it relate to our Lenten Devotional, but it will also help us be better stewards of our bodies, perhaps the most important gift God has given us!
I am excited about our “Leap Into Fitness” for several reasons. One getting more exercise myself. Another is having a larger network for support and encouragement. Finally, it is great to know that congregational resources can be used to bring about change.
I hope you will join me on our Lenten Journey. And who knows, as we walk more inside the church while the weather is bad, who know what we will be ready for in the spring?!
In God’s peace,