What do you know about Lent? I always thought Lent was about fasting when you didn't eat meat and fat. As a Presbyterian, I didn't think that we should keep this tradition although I remember how my Catholic grandmother ate only popcorn on Good Friday. I thought it was important to her to keep her family tradition. But later I realized that Lent is about much more than taking away food. For me, it is a journey with Jesus when I remember the road toward the cross. During Lent, the shadow of the cross is always in front of us, we cannot forget about it.

When do we think about our things what we want to give up what is our reason?

We want clean hearts, we want to get rid of bad habits, we want to have healthy bodies, minds, spirits, etc. These are not bad goals but one of the most important reasons for Lent is to be ready for Easter, ready for the message that "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Do you want to be ready for this message? It's not too late to think about your own Lent journey, what you have to do to have purified heart for Easter, what is the things in your life which means a gap between you and God? What should you give up to have more time for God?

On October 1, 2006, Charlie Roberts shot 10 Amish girls and five of them died. Charlie's father was a police officer and he and his wife lived in the Amish community when the tragedy happened. Terri, Charlie's mother had a hard time to forgive his son who killed himself after he killed the girls. The parents wanted to move away from the little village but the Amish people helped them to understand what forgiveness meant.

Can you imagine how Terri, Charlie's mother thought about her son, can you imagine the anger, the shame which was mixed with the feeling that she lost her son. She was not able to forgive his son till those Amish people explained to them that how do we want forgiveness when we cannot forgive one another? We all need forgiveness but forgiveness is a choice.

Today when we start our Lent journey toward Easter and our minds are full of ideas what we should give up, I wanted to share this story with you to see that Lent is not only about giving up meats, fat or chocolate but choosing love, peace, forgiveness...

In Matthew 4:1-11 we can read about Jesus' 40 days when he was in the desert and the devil tempted Him but He was able to say No to him. Friends, we have to know about temptation and one of the biggest temptation when we don't think with temptations when we think we are perfect and we don't need Jesus Christ.

In the third chapter in the Bible, we can hear about how Adam and Eve were tempted and they couldn't say No. From the Romans we know that we are not better than Adam and Eve, we cannot say No on our own. And please don't think that you are not tempted. Temptation is part of our lives and it doesn't matter if we want to face it or not. How interesting that Satan didn't do anything else, he only talked to Jesus. Satan didn't act but he wanted Jesus to do as per his requests, just like he did in Eden when he suggested to Eve that she eat from the tree. It means we have to be really careful, we have to follow the way of Jesus, we have to know who we are, that we are the children of God. And the best way to know who you are is to spend time with God.

Once I got a little song book with children's Christian songs and there was a story at the beginning. Many years ago in a city there was a big tragedy, many children were kidnapped. A young lady lost her little son and daughter. 10 years later a miracle happened and the police found the kidnappers with the children but they were already grown up. The police and social workers organized a meeting for the families and children and when the lady who had lost two of her children looked around she was so sad because she didn't see her children. One of the officers suggested to her to think of a story or a song that she sang to her children when they were young, and maybe they would recognize it. The mother started to sing a simple children's song and when she finished it a boy and a girl ran and hugged her with tears in their eyes. When I read this story I decided that if I ever had a child I would sing to him. That is why I have two favorite children songs to sing to Gedeon and Lili. One is about how our hearts should always listen to God and the second one is the idea that we don't have to fear because we are the children of God. I sing these songs to them almost every day.

Because I know that we are like those kidnapped children. Once our father formed us and created us but later we wandered far away from Him, especially the times we didn't want to say "No" to Satan. But our God didn't want to lose us, so He sent Jesus who told us about our God and just like when those children recognized their mother's voice it is the same for us too. Our hearts start to long after God. If I am with God I can hear his voice in my heart, I can recognize His loving presence in my life. Spend time with God.

This is the only way to know who you are and how you can say "No" to the temptation.