Last year for Lent I participated in an online book club via WINE (Women in the New Evangelization) in which we read and discussed Walk in Her Sandals.  Our facilitator (Allison Gingras of Reconciled to You) came up with the fun Instagram challenge below.

At first I was content to share a picture but as is my way I quickly had to make it harder for myself by coming up with a quotation for each day as well.  Having done all that work, I thought I would at least share the fruits of my labors in case anyone might find them helpful or enjoyable!

The quotations are attributed, and the pictures are all mine.  🙂

DAY 1

Word:  Walk     Picture:  Conservatory in Como Park, St. Paul, MinnesotaExcited to start the Lenten journey!

DAY 2 

Word:  Disciple     Picture:  Roof of parking garage in downtown KnoxvilleLove this picture of Lorelei with the sign she carried when we marched in solidarity with immigrants and refugees. With our parish church in the background and the sign she is holding, I think this picture says a lot about the demands of discipleship.

DAY 3 

Word:  Grace     Picture:  Cathedral of the Assumption, Louisville, Kentucky“Do you want the Lord to give you many graces? Visit Him often.” ~ Saint John Bosco  

DAY 4 

Word:  Season     Picture:  Forks of the River Trails in Knoxville, Tennessee“Love is a fruit in season at all times and within reach of every hand.” ~ Mother Teresa 

DAY 5     

Word:  Open     Picture:  Statue of Mary in my garden“Let’s not be afraid to receive each day’s surprise. Whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy. It will open a new place in our hearts . . .” ~ Henri Nouwen

DAY 6     

Word:  King     Picture:  Main Altar, Cathedral of Saint Paul in Minnesota“This is the calling of Christians: . . . To make this kingdom of Christ a reality, to eliminate hatred and cruelty, to spread throughout the earth the strong and soothing balm of love.” ~ Saint Josemaria.

DAY 7     

Word:  Gift     Picture:  William on his 16th birthday“If you . . . know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?” ~ Matthew 7:11. May we all greet God’s gifts with the same delight William showed upon opening this one!  

DAY 8     

Word:  Wait     Picture:  side altar, Cathedral of Saint PaulPsalm 130:5-6: “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.”

DAY 9     

Word:  Hosanna     Picture:  Sky in front of my houseIsaiah 6:3: “Holy holy holy, Lord God of hosts, Heaven and Earth are full of Your glory!” 

DAY 10     

Word:  Empty     Picture:  Ancient bowl at the Minneapolis Institute of ArtEmpty me, Lord, that I may be filled with You. 

DAY  11     

Word:  Abandon     Picture:  Carl Cowan Park in Knoxville, TennesseeSaint Ignatius Loyola: “Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they would allow His grace to mold them accordingly.” 

DAY 12     

Word:  Heart     Picture:  University of Tennessee Trial Gardens, KnoxvillePsalm 51:10: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

DAY 13     

Word:  Cleanse     Picture:  Front porch of our former homePsalm 51:2: “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”

DAY 14     

Word:  Love     Picture:  Our mantel at Christmas1 Corinthians 13:13:  “There are three things that last . . . The greatest of these is love.”

DAY 15     

Word:  Sacrifice     Picture:  Pieta at Cathedral of Saint Paul in MinnesotaMother Teresa: “A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt and must empty ourselves. Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His LOVE than in your weakness.”

DAY 16     

Word:  Saint     Picture:  Chapel of Saint Patrick at Cathedral of Saint Paul“All hail to Saint Patrick!” ~ Father Frederick Faber

DAY 17     

Word:  Generous     Picture:  Forks of the River Trails in KnoxvilleSt. Louis de Montfort: “Pray with great confidence, with confidence based upon the goodness and infinite generosity of God and upon the promises of Jesus Christ. God is a spring of living water which flows unceasingly into the hearts of those who pray.” 

DAY 18     

Word:  Trust     Picture:  Lighthouse in Duluth, Minnesota“I will trust the promise. You will carry me straight to shore.” ~ Rend Collective

DAY 19     

Word:  Good     Picture:  Detail of one of my Christmas decorationsGood Saint Joseph, pray for us! 

DAY 20     

Word:  Victory     Picture:  Bookwalter Cemetery in Knoxville, Tennessee1 Corinthians 15:55: “Where, O death, is your victory?”

DAY 21     

Word:  Sight     Picture:  Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville2 Corinthians 5:7: “We walk by faith and not by sight.”

DAY 22     

Word:  Strength     Picture:  My son Teddy after sweeping the LiftathonPhilippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Him that gives me strength.”

DAY 23     

Word:  Cross     Picture:  Freedom Baptist Church in Rosedale, MarylandWe adore You, O Christ, and we praise You, because by Your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

DAY 24     

Word:  Mary     Picture:  Boticelli painting at the Baltimore Museum of Art“Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.”  ~ Saint   Maximilian Kolbe

DAY 25     

Word:  Suffering     Picture:  Bookwalter Methodist Cemetery, KnoxvilleLamentations 1:12: “Is it nothing to you, all who pass by? Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering?” 

DAY 26     

Word:  Prayer     Picture:  St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia“Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit, and raises man to Heaven.” ~ St. Ephraim of Syria 

DAY 27     

Word:  Silence     Picture:  Jefferson Rock in Harpers Ferry“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.” ~ Mother Teresa 

DAY 28     

Word:  Faithful     Picture:  E. Vedder Painting, Baltimore Museum of Art“The Sorrowing Soul between Doubt and Faith”   Mother Teresa: “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”

DAY 29     

Word:  Petitions     Picture:  Statue at the Baltimore Museum of ArtSaint Thomas Aquinas: “. . . Since she is the Queen of Mercy . . . She cannot refuse your petition.”

DAY 30     

Word:  Watch     Picture:  My son’s kitten, SawyerLuke 21:36: “Be always on the watch . . . that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

DAY 31     

Word:  Frozen     Picture:  Saint Francis in my garden“The sky can never be frozen/because its vastness has chosen/all warmth of our lives as we look above/with unbreakable hearts armoured in love.” ~ Munia Khan 

DAY 32     

Word:  Peace     Picture:  Festival of Nations at Dollywood“Let there be peace on earth . . .” ~ Sy Miller and Jill Jackson

DAY 33     

Word:  Darkness     Picture:  Jack O’Lantern Spectacular in Louisville“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

DAY 34     

Word:  Sunrise     Picture:  Morning in my front yardPsalm 65:8: “The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.”

DAY 35     

Word:  Maternity     Picture:  Cathedral of the Assumption, LouisvilleG.K. Chesterton: “Mary leads us to Christ, but Christ leads us back to His Mother, for without Mary’s maternity, Jesus would become a mere abstraction to us.”

DAY 36     

Word:  Beginning     Picture:  Pellissippi Greenway,  Knoxville“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” Isaiah 43:16.17.

DAY 37     

Word:  Freedom     Picture:  Cades Cove, Smoky Mountains“Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” ~ John Paul the Great

DAY 38     

Word:  Spring     Picture:  My summer gardenSaint Therese of Lisieux: “If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness.” 

DAY 39     

Word:  Joy     Picture:  Painting by Emily for my father’s birthday“All the trees in the forest sing for joy.”  Psalm 96:12

Picture 2:  John and I, Christmas Eve 2016
“Joy is prayer; joy is strength: joy is love.” ~ Mother Teresa

DAY 40     

Word:  Flower     Picture:  Late Summer gardenSaint Jean Vianney: “As a vigilant gardener labors from morning till night to destroy the weeds in his garden, and to ornament it with flowers, so let us labor every day to uproot the vices of our soul and to adorn it with virtues.”

DAY 41     

Word:  Light     Picture:  Cades Cove, Smoky Mountains“God is light, and in Him there is no darkness.” 1 John 1:5

DAY 42     

Word:  Fire     Picture:  Backyard Christmas tree bonfire“Go forth and set the world on fire.” ~ Saint Ignatius Loyola

DAY 43     

Word:  Sisters  Picture:  Emily and Lorelei on Election Day 2016       “Sisters are different flowers from the same garden.” ~ Unknown

DAY 44     

Word:  Room     Picture:  Inn at Woodhaven, Louisville“When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father.” Matthew 6:6 

DAY 45     

Word:  Happiness     Picture:  Lorelei with a longed-for Christmas gift“You pray, you love–that is the happiness of man upon the earth.” ~ Saint Jean Marie Baptist Vianney

DAY 46     

Word:  Drink     Picture:  Teddy during Junior Parents’ WeekendEcclesiastes 9:7: “Eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart.”

DAY 47     

Word:  Easter     Picture:  Immaculate Conception Church, KnoxvilleJohn Paul II: “We are the Easter people, and Alleluia is our song.”

Have a blessed Lent!