Guest: Tsh Oxenreider

Author Tsh Oxenreider returns to the podcast to share about her new book, Bitter and Sweet, in anticipation of the upcoming season of Lent. Listen in for an overview of the pillars of Lent, practical suggestions for observing Lent, and the significance of “bitter and sweet.”

• Bitter and Sweet: A Journey into Easter
• “Lent is the 46 days, the weeks leading up to Eastertide in the liturgical calendar.”
• “Because of Chrst’s death and resurrection, and therefore victory over that death that you remembered on Ash Wednesday, you will actually live for eternity. It’s not forever; death has lost its sting.”
• Pillars of Lent: Fasting, Almsgiving, Prayer
• “We’re remembering that even though life is hard, and we live in broken bodies and a broken world, this is not all there is.”
• “Lent is long and it gets tiresome when we’re doing it just for the sake of seeing if we can do it.”
• “When we’re depriving ourselves of something when we fast or we’re letting go of something, it’s in order to make space for something else.”
• “The whole point of Lent is that you’re not going to be able to do it - meaning, you will fail at Lent [...] That’s kind of the point. It’s supposed to be hard and challenging. We’re supposed to recognize our need for God.”
• “That’s what our fast does - it reminds us that we live in broken bodies.”
• “Make sure your head is in the right place, that this is about hearing from God, not so much about seeing what you can do.”
• “I love that Lent has put Easter in its rightful place for me.”
• “The biggest suggestion I give to parents and adults who are working with kids is not so much to make it fun, but connect the dots with something that makes it really tangible.”
• “When we recognize that failing is just a natural form of growth, that it’s just something God uses to teach us and to make us more into who we’re meant to be, then it makes failure less scary.”
• “When we remember the hard, it makes the sweet so much better. That is a real beauty of Lent - fasting in order to enjoy the feast even more.”

What’s changing our lives:

• Keane: Son’s cast removed
• Heather: Bridge collapsing nearby
• Tsh: Living within 100 mile radius

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