Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday

We celebrated Fat Tuesday tonight in order to prepare for Ash Wednesday tomorrow! The point is to feast in the evening prior to the day of fasting. Last year was the first time our family had a Fat Tuesday dinner - unfortunately Tara wasn't able to join us. Tonight, not only was Tara feasting with us, but so did my Mum and Dahd. It was fun to have the table full of family and fat food!

The traditional fare for Shrove Tuesday (another name for the day) is pancakes (in Britain the day is known as Pancake Day); so tonight we made our pancakes a little extra rich - an extra egg, extra sugar, extra vanilla. Then for toppings - well that's the real fun part: chocolate pudding, tapioca and whip cream; chocolate, caramel, maple syrup; huckleberries, strawberries, and bananas; peanut butter and M&M's! Mmmmmm..... Mum also cooked up some thick sausages and cheesy hashbrowns. Yup - we were feeling full when we pushed back from the table.

After dinner the kids shared what they are giving up for Lent (very cute...) and then we explained how we were going to put back a quarter a day during the season as a way to support our friends who are missionaries in China, Azerbijian, and Peru. Since each kid gets to put in one quarter a day, Tara and I are going to have to be making lots of change in the next couple of weeks! But I hope the kids get in the habit of finding quarters around the house and putting them into the folder (instead of finding quarters and then hoarding them in their toy box!).

With all the fun we had tonight with dinner, I'm looking forward to tomorrow as a day to reflect, repent, and renew. I need it.

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