Lent Resources for Moms

Can I give you a little advice before Lent begins?

Don’t Just Do The Regular Lenten Thing – AKA give up chocolate

Or you could: I’m not going to judge. I did that for so many years as a teenager. It was torture, right? In our house, we could have sweets on Sunday, so we would save up all our goodies until Saturday at midnight, and then scarf them down.

I can’t say I learned much from those years of starving from sweets only to purge as soon as Sunday rolled around.

As I got older, I started to realize the real meaning and idea of Lent. Lent is a breaking down of ourselves, realizing the humbleness from which we come. And ultimately, using the sorrow of Lent to preview the glory of the Resurrection.

Lent is really one of my favorite times of the year.

All personal feelings aside, let me share with you some of my favorite Lenten-based products and what I’m planning this year.

Hopefully, it will inspire you to try something different this year. (and don’t purchase any single product until you get to the end of this post!!)

What I’m planning for Lent

This year I want to delve deep into the mental prayer practice that I have been working to implement into my life the last couple of months. I recently started seeing a spiritual mentor because I felt so frustrated with not finding the time to pray and spend time with God adequately.

As a mom of 3 under 4, I crave that alone time and it is essential for balance in life.

On top of that, I feel God calling me to implement faith activities into my children’s lives and in my marriage. Definitely my marriage!

I have outlined some great products and ideas in the post for you!

That being said, let’s move on to the rest of the ideas here.

What I’m starting Ash Wednesday

I recently discovered this amazing Our Lady of Sorrows Journal by Lisa Luwia. Complete as an in-depth 9-day novena (I love novenas, find out why), this will be the perfect way to start my Lent, in the hands of Our Mother.

Not all of you will have devotion towards Mary or really get why this is important. But you have to understand one thing: Mary will always lead us to Jesus, ALWAYS lead us to His Love and Mercy. So what better way for me to start Lent than with Mother Mary? Amiright?

Free Lent Ideas

Here are some of the best free Lent ideas you can do in your family or on your own.

Family Ideas

• Pray a Rosary every night (or at least on Fridays)
• Abstain from meat every Friday
• Find a local soup kitchen to serve during Lent (or similar service-based activity)
• Go to Stations of the Cross at your local parish
• Have a “no technology” block of time each day in your house to just hang out, talk, and have fun together.

Mom Ideas

• Start a prayer journal and simply write down your prayers while you pray
• Implement prayer into your every day with the Free Catholic Morning Prayer Routine
• Find a holy hour or Adoration time near you that you can frequent during Lent
• Send someone you love/who needs love/prayers a text each day to encourage them
• Give up negativity/thoughts that are not healthy

Marriage Ideas

• Pray for each other every day (my husband and I set an alarm on our phones at the same time every day to say a quick prayer for one another)
• Find ways to love each other, especially when it’s hard
• Use Sunday night to plan out your week and make sure you are both on the same page
• Tackle projects together to learn about each other and their interests
• Commit to a few date nights, and make them service or activity-based rather than eating out and a movie

Lent Product Ideas

Most of these ideas come from wonderful Catholic bloggers like me who have great products that are geared towards helping you and increasing your spirituality. Lent would be the perfect time to check these out!

Kids’ Lent activities

For Christmas, I found these amazing books written by Katie Warner from the Catholic Company. My kids love them! Our 3-year-old requests them at least once a day and has a lot of the text memorized!

Kiddie Cat – $9.95

(affiliate link)

The Word of the Lord – $9.95

(affiliate link)

Cloud of Witnesses – $9.95

(affiliate link)

These might be a perfect gift for Easter or even leading up to Easter to discover during Lent! As I said, my kids love them!

Other Kids Lent Ideas:

• Stations of the Cross Activity Bundle (great for with your kids especially!)
• Lent Lapbook and Easter Bingo  by Sara J Creations

Self-care Ideas

I am not going to lie, some days it feels like I am dying inside. Often I don’t get out of the house except once a week, and other days I am pulling my hair out trying to coordinate 3 nap and bedtime schedules, plus everything else. You know how it goes.

Enter The Mother’s Mindset Course. Oh. My. Glob. Ya’ll. This is a game-changer. I have only been in the course for a week and these have been my takeaways:

• Learn how to set big, scary, awesome Goals!
• Understand how your brain works so you can outsmart it
• Practical ways to manage your emotions – I need that for sure!

I am excited to see where this course takes me. And like most courses, it’s a lifetime access, so I can use the methods again and again!

Prayer methods for Lent – journals, anyone? 

Prayer journals are super popular, and these are some of the best that I’ve discovered lately.

• Walking Holy Week with Jesus by To Jesus, Sincerely
• Our Lady of Sorrows Novena Journal by Catholic Mommy Blogs

I personally really enjoy journals because I like to visually see things. Often, when I see my emotions put into words, they become more real and manageable to me than if I just told myself “not to get angry” or whatever other things that are going through my mind.

It also calms me to write and get the thoughts out of my head, especially before bed. I find that I sleep much better when I don’t have lots of crazy things swirling around in my brain.

Using printables in your faith life

I adore printables. They can be useful, activity-based, schedule-based, or just for beauty and decoration! Here are some of the ones that are super cool to use for this Lent:

• Find a way to creat your own mother’s routine with Fiat Ordo, on Amazon!
• Easter Printables by Books Faith Life
• Lenten Printables from Saong Jai!

I’ve been busy working on my latest products. I have recently created a Family Scripture Spin-to-Read and a Family Handbook. You can check them out in my shop!

Hey Mama, Lent Can Be Amazing

While we focus on the little things and humbling ourselves during Lent, we also want to focus on Jesus, who is our Savior.

These ideas and resources in this post give you many options to figure out where in the world to start when it comes to living a liturgical Lent.

I hope you find something that will help you become more the person God created you to be this Lent season.

What is your favorite way to do Lent? Comment below!