Below are some Lenten reflections from Rebekah Vepraskas. She originally had posted them on her blog and we've reposted them here with her permission. Thanks Rebekah.

A little peak inside my soul. During the season of Lent, I have changed some things around. A little adjusting. No big deal. I am fasting via Facebook (FB) for the Lenten season. Also, I am working hard to be more diligent with my quiet time. Really reading the word (Life Application Study Bible NIV) and praying. I wasn't willing to do an actual food fast because I am still nursing Baby Sam. I have had many quiet, but poignant "ah-ha" moments since Ash Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent.

A couple of things have happened...

I am not sidetracked with FB and I feel inspired to blog.

I am doing a better job writing down my children's adorable musings. (This is thanks to my Aunt Gayle who reminded me what a treasure my blog will be to my children one day.) Oh, my kids? I had only really thought of how I love my blog, but how great would it be for Jack, Bodie and Sam to know my love for them as a young mother and how I treasure their words and thoughts? Not to mention recording what those sweet words were! Pretty fantastic.

The baby books are caught up and the babies they honor are happy.

I get this sense that I am always bumbling, struggling, striving not to feel like a complete train wreck. To keep me, my home, my kids and my state of mind at somewhat of a homeostasis. My FB fast has helped a lot.

I am reading passages from the Book of Common Prayer. It's a chunk of daily Bible reading and I have grown to love it.

All of this reading made me curious and I have dug in to find out who some of these authors really were and what they were all about.

I have learned that Psalms is a model of Christian life. (I was a little lost as the Psalms seemed to be "all over the place" if you read very many.) Some Psalms are mountain top moments and some are valley bound. They are written during praising, mourning, war time and peace. This simple fact helps me to understand where the Psalmist are coming from. There are also 8+ authors of Psalms, so the fact that the flow is wonky is no surprise. If it is a model of our lives, my life and flow are wonky, too, sometimes. :)

That Jeremiah (the author of my life's verse) was a prophet and no one in Judah listened. He faithfully advised the people for 40 years and everyone ignored his prophesies. He was never what the world would have considered "a success." But, his scriptures inspire me so.

That Paul, in his letter to the Romans, had only heard of the church being started there. He did not know the Roman church, nor had he ever been there. But, he wrote to them to encourage them and teach them what he knew about the Christian faith. Which gives us this awesome road map for faith and our belief in Jesus Christ.

A few days into Lent, my Aunt Teddi encouraged a group of ladies at a prayer breakfast to "Pray the Word daily." I have. It's funny when someone's words ring in your ears. I put down all of my devotionals that gave me a thimble full of scripture and I picked up the Good Book.

A friend of mine named, Lisa, told me the same day, that she was mentoring some young ladies and she found that they "weren't reading their Bibles!" (a little embarrassed, her words stung). Don't worry, Lisa, in a good way. A kick in the pants is quite often a good thing. Her words are ringing in my ears, too.

My pastor and I talked briefly about the daily scripture readings (which are encouraged church wide and beyond.) I asked what he does before he reads his scripture, trying to get a roadmap, an owner's manual, an idea of how this Bible reading goes? I asked, "Do you pray for clarity or for direction?" He said, "I just pray a very simple prayer and pray for peace and then I dig in." He went on, "If we believe as Christ taught that the Bible is the bread of life, it is like eating. We need to eat everyday to live. But, we don't always need for our meal to be fantastic, we just need to have food to sustain our bodies. We will eat a great meal, every other week, perhaps, maybe more often. Scripture reading is very similar. It won't always be fantastic, but it will sustain you and when you do have a really dynamite revelation, it will stand out, just like a dynamite meal. Relax - in - the - word."

Really? Wow. His simple advice has meant the world to me. I am able to relax and not wait for God to hit me over the head with revelations and signs and wonders. For the first time, I am not stressed out when reading the Bible, which is awesome.

Our church observes Lent and being raised Baptist, this is all kind of new to me. It really has been a great experience. I am listening. "Hello God, I've got my ears on."

I have sweet memories of waking up with the sunrise at my grandmother's house. Baba would be curled up in her chair, reading her Bible. Sometimes, she would be praying (with Bible in hand) or just finishing her quiet time. I feel connected to her now as I spend time reading the scriptures. I treasure this.

I called my Aunt Carole and thanked her for this big Bible that she gave to me the weekend I graduated from the University of Georgia. It is this huge lug of a Bible that has mainly been read on Sundays. It is 12 years old and for the first time, I have really begun to study with it. She doesn't remember giving it to me. Funny and true. She signed the inside, so, I give her credit anyhow. :) You don't really know the impact you make on others. Thank you to my Aunt Gayle, my Aunt Teddi, my Baba, my Aunt Carole, my pastor, Kris McDaniel and my friend, Lisa Inlow for helping to make my Lenten-fast pack a punch.

A couple of weeks ago Old Navy was having a sale on coats. I have been needing more professional coats to fake out people at meetings and mislead them into thinking I am professional. I was able to get a great bargain on the coats, I went home and I followed my usual procedure.

To ensure I do not hoard as I get new things, I give away. I was looking through my jackets and there was one that was particularly cute, a faux leather jacket with lining. I had not worn it in awhile, so I decided that this was one of the jackets to be given away.

This past Sunday, I was at Lazarus with the Sunday team. I remembered I had the jacket in the trunk and laid it on top of the car to see if I could give it to someone. This gentleman named Joshua had just come up to get some toothbrushes for his kids. I asked him how old his kids were figuring maybe a high schooler or someone slightly smaller could use it. He looked at it and said "Are you really giving this away?  Could I give it to my wife?" I said " of course" (not thinking much of it). He teared up and said how discouraged his wife was (his wife and four kids are staying at a local shelter while he stays in their truck nearby). He spoke about how this was going to bring her hope.  That this was going to be a reminder that God is there - something tangible. He was so emotional that I about teared up. I could tell that it did something for him to have found it and to provide it for her. I remembered leaving and being deeply moved.

I paid about 10 dollars for that jacket at Charlotte Russe in 2002; such little money and effort. But today, it was a lifeline of hope to someone who was in fact sinking in despair. You never know how God can use the little you are offering in a big way.

Please continue to pray for Joshua and his family, for a job and place to live. Pray for the Spirit to equip Lazarus volunteers to assist them in an ongoing way.

Diane and I just celebrated our one-year anniversary (actually it was in February, but who’s counting?) of moving into the neighborhood of Vine City and it has caused me to reflect back on what God has done this year in our hearts and in the neighborhood around us.  We moved here from Peoplestown, which is a neighborhood with a similar socio-economic landscape of Vine City located just south of Turner Field and one of the biggest reasons we decided to move to Vine City from Peoplestown was the opportunity to live in an inner-city neighborhood alongside other Christians.  To be perfectly honest, we had gotten lonely in Peoplestown and missed the body of Christ.  There were so many needs that we could clearly see, but as two people, we were unable to even come close to meeting these needs.  There were other Christians doing great things in the community, but there was a deep lack of people living in the community and seeking to love their neighbor.  Also, we wanted to intentionally engage in community with Christians who had a heart to be the hands and feet of Christ to their direct community.  I could feel myself becoming hardened and quickly forgetting that the motivation to love can’t be mustered up, but must come from realizing my own need for Jesus and we needed people who were willing and able to push us back to God’s love and repentance.
So, we made the plunge and bought a little Werther’s (or in my wife’s words, “puke brown”) colored house on the hill on Sunset Avenue, right in the heart of Vine City.  There was already a couple, Joel and Carol George, living down the street and in the few months following our move-in, more folks from Trinity, as well as believers from other churches, also bought or rented houses nearby.  Since moving in, our prayers for a deeper community with believers have begun to be answered in an overwhelming way.  Just a few days after we closed on the house, we had a “paint party” and for 3 days our home was filled with friends and family painting practically every square inch (including the scary black and red room that my little cousin seriously suggested we should just board up and forget about) beautiful shades of blues, greens, yellows, and browns.  Since moving in, we have been able to walk to friends’ houses and share meals, pray together, confess struggles with, and live life alongside each other and it has been a glorious thing.  We have had the opportunity to meet and become friends with amazing folks from the neighborhood, some of which have lived here for 40+ years!  They have welcomed us into their homes and we have shared meals together in our house as well.
There have been plenty of ups and downs, joyful moments and heartbreaking situations, but God has continued to give us our “daily bread” and this is more than enough.  We have been overwhelmingly humbled by how welcoming folks from the neighborhood have been.  Most of our neighbors were living in Atlanta, some living in Vine City, during the Civil Rights Era and endured an unbelievable amount of hate from white people who looked a lot like me.  They have shown so much grace and love to welcome us into our neighborhood to the point where our next-door neighbors, whose kids grew up playing with Dr. King’s children, refer to us as their “grandchildren.”  We look forward to taking walks in the evenings to visit neighbors as they relax on their front porch.  God has been gracious to provide so much relational trust between us, as well plenty of other folks from the church, and the people from Vine City.
One of the most exciting parts about the past year has been how God has connected folks from the neighborhood to Trinity.  Soon after we moved, some of our neighbors became interested in coming to church with us, but we had a difficult time organizing a carpool.  Therefore, we got together with some other people from church and decided to hold a weekly pancake breakfast at our house and invite anyone from the church or the neighborhood who wanted to come.  This has proven to be a great avenue to relationally connect people from church with Vine City and it has been amazing to watch people from the neighborhood (primarily youth) become a part of Trinity.  Just last week, I was coming back from a softball game with one of the kids and he looked at me and said, “I love church, I feel like I get to see all of my friends every Sunday!”  This made me so thankful for the opportunity they get to hear the Good News of the gospel every week in kid’s church and to be welcomed into the family of Christ by the church.  Through the hard work of Katie Rigby and Cheryl Case, a mentor program has been set up and a number of the youth from the neighborhood have been paired with a guy or girl from Trinity who is relationally invested in the neighborhood.  It has been a joy to watch the kids’ faces light up when they talk about their mentors and see God’s love lived out in the commitment these mentors have to the children of this neighborhood and their families. 
We are so thankful for the opportunity to live in Vine City and see the church connect to the neighborhood, understand the needs of Vine City and then seek to effectively meet those needs.  There have been plenty of hardships (tough relationships, heartbreaking family situations, burglaries, etc.), but God has consistently reminded us of his commitment and love for us and this is what spurs Christians on to love and remain committed to seeing “His kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven.”

If you are anything like I have been most of my life, you had no idea what Lent is, except for maybe something in your belly button. Perhaps you have more than the vague awareness of Easter and a familiarity with what this day means, but for me, it was simply one of the two days a year that my family might feel mystically compelled to go to church. As such, it's been really important for me since my investigation of this Christianity thing began to try to understand rightly what this season and day commemorate and what powerful implications they have in the present.

So for some years now the church I attend has been observing the season of Lent. I learned quickly that Lent is the season in the liturgical calendar that at once recalls Jesus' 40 days of being tempted in the wilderness and also prepares the hearts of believers for the day of Jesus' resurrection at Easter. Lent is a time for praying, fasting, and repenting; a time for sharing in the suffering of Christ before sharing in the newness of life that burst into the world upon his death and resurrection.

That all sounds well and good, but what does it mean? I think for a lot of people, Lent means a time of giving something up out of some dutiful responsibility without thinking twice about why. I've heard Christians and non-Christians alike talk about giving up drinking or giving up weed or giving up coffee for 40 days, but only out of curiosity to see if they can or out of vain obligation. They do it to challenge themselves or to better themselves, which, although these can be good things, are not what Lent is ultimately about. Giving up M&Ms for 40 days while never thinking about the Lord doesn't change anything, it merely proves that you can do it (or not, depending upon your success or failure). Now I am not saying that this is intrinsically wrong, but for the Christian believer, it is not what God intends fasting or the season of Lent for.

Lent is the time when we are confronted with our own sinfulness, when we look our sin in the face and come to God asking for forgiveness so that we may draw closer to Him and share in the mission that He began over 2000 years ago. I've been doing it for years with varying degrees of success, and I still don't have it perfect, but I've learned that Lent is not a time for giving up bad habits or sins; that should be something we're doing year round. That's why a few years ago when I "gave up alcohol" for Lent but I was really trying to give up drunkenness, I didn't achieve much.

Instead, Lent is about giving up GOOD things as an act of the will to participate in the ways Jesus went without, to engage actively in the suffering of Christ. Jesus tells us that, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." That's just what Lenten fasting does; it's a tangible way in which we say no to ourselves and yes to Jesus, bearing the weight of our sinfulness and walking after him. It is not meant to be a way to punish ourselves for our sin, but a way to remind ourselves of the places where we don't yet fully reflect God's glorious image and to take practical steps to draw closer to Him and closer to bearing that reflection in the world.

This ties in closely to the mystery and the power of Easter. With Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection the entire world changed forever. Not only did he bear our sin and shame upon the cross, but he traveled through death and out the other side to a new, radically transformed, bodily life. He is the first to go through this miraculous journey, but by no means the last. His resurrection powerfully linked heaven and Earth together forever. With his resurrection, the kingdom of God began to shine in a brand new way into a dark world through a window that will continue to get larger and larger until all creation sparkles in that light.

In the book of Romans, Paul tells us that, "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." God's good creation (everything He has made, our world, and us in it) was marred by sin but with Jesus' rising from the grave, God began the work of recreating everything that has been hurt by the power of sin and death. God says in Isaiah, "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." The hope of this new life, this new creation where God's space (heaven) and ours (Earth) are forever joined together which began so long ago with Jesus Christ, should live in the heart of every believer.

Again in Romans we are told that not only heaven and Earth, but we ourselves shall be transformed in just such a way. "And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us." God does not want to scrap His good creation because it has been wounded and broken, but He wants to take what He has made and redeem it. The hurt and pain we feel in this life because of sin, He is in the process of burning away and transforming us just the way He did His very own Son. For as Christians, we share in the sonship of Jesus himself.

This, then, is what Easter points to. We share in the suffering of Christ now to share in the joy and newness of life that comes with his resurrection. Those who believe in Christ for salvation already have a seed of this new bodily life within them where heaven and Earth are linked and God's glory shines brightly on all. Conversion and baptism are the outward (or inward, depending upon how you look at it) symbols of Christ's Spirit coming to dwell within us and the beginning of God's redemptive work in us that will be complete when Jesus returns and all of creation, and us with it, is transformed and resurrected as Christ himself was.

So we observe Lent. And we rejoice at the work that began on Easter. And we celebrate God's mission to redeem and resurrect His good creation with Christ at the helm, triumphing over sin and death and decay and evil for all eternity. We invite Jesus' Spirit in to begin transforming us now into the people we shall be when the kingdom of God comes on Earth as it is in heaven. We intentionally build for the kingdom of God in the present by loving each other, by taking care of the planet God put man as steward over, by forgiving others, by producing art that reflects God's beauty and truth, by advocating for justice for those with no voice, by feeding the hungry and helping the poor. Because we know that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. God began a redemptive work on that cross and with Jesus' resurrection that changed the world forever. And we groan and wait and share in Christ's suffering now, that we may see resurrection life shock and change us and all creation some day. And it begins here and now.