Lent? What is it? Most people have a vague idea about Lent. They know it involves giving up something but that is usually as far as the understanding goes.

Local Pastor at Chapin United Methodist, Jody Flowers, said, “For Christians, Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection.  In the early Church, Lent was a time to prepare new converts for baptism.  Today, Christians focus on their relationship with God, often choosing to give up something or volunteering and giving of themselves for others.”

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday which is forty days before Easter (not counting Sundays) and ends on Easter Sunday morning.

Pastor Flowers said, “The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan. Sundays in Lent are not counted in the forty days because each Sunday represents a mini-Easter celebration of Jesus’ victory over sin and death.”

Students may think there are only certain things that a person can give up for Lent, but anything is possible.  The idea is to sacrifice material items in order to strengthen someone’s spiritual relationship.

Pastor Flowers stated, “Basically, anything that causes someone to focus more on their relationship with God.”

Two students at CHS have chosen to give up two things they knew would be difficult. Sophomore Paige Weiss said, “I decided to give up bread and pasta, I chose bread and pasta because they are two things I love and knew it would be hard to give up.”

Junior Lannon McCoy said, “I gave up make up because I feel like there is a lot of pressure on girls to look perfect. What I look like with make up on is not what I actually look like. I wanted to use this time to become more comfortable with myself, and to focus more on my self-confidence.”

Local Pastor Jody Flowers explains how he chooses what to decide to give up for Lent,

“I choose to give up something that will free up some time for me to focus on my relationship with Jesus. Folks give up chocolate and all kinds of stuff, which is cool. I just want to make sure that what I give up will free up time for me to spend with Jesus so that I can be changed by the time I spend with Him.”