If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18
It may seem a little early to be talking about Lent. After all, we just celebrated Christmas and Epiphany. Many Protestants still view Lent as a strictly Catholic observance, but I think, whatever your denomination (or lack thereof), there is value in observing a time of preparation before Easter. You don’t get the resurrection without the Passion.
For those who do observe Lent, it usually involves giving up something you enjoy as a spiritual discipline. When you miss that thing that you gave up, it can prompt you to reflect on Jesus and his sacrifice. Celebration is a wonderful spiritual discipline, but so is self-control and self-denial when used in healthy ways.
This year, something to consider either in lieu of or in addition to giving something up is to consider kindness as a spiritual discipline. To that end, I will be facilitating an online book club study of The Kindness Challenge: Thirty Days to Improve Any Relationship by Shaunti Feldhahn. Meetings are going to be via Zoom on 5 consecutive Tuesday evening, from 7:00pm – 8:30pm, beginning February 23, 2021 and finishing March 23, 2021.
The idea behind the challenge is to spend 30 days focusing on improving one relationship in your life through kindness. The book presents a simple (though maybe not always easy) daily 3 step approach to transform your relationship through kindness. Kindness is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). It is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). So it must be pretty powerful stuff.
If you want to check out the book, here’s the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Kindness-Challenge-Thirty-Improve-Relationship/dp/1601421222/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1A1T0BYRIZYA8&dchild=1&keywords=the+kindness+challenge+by+shaunti+feldhahn&qid=1610401778&sprefix=the+kindness+chall%2Caps%2C203&sr=8-1
For more on The Kindness Challenge, here’s the website: https://www.jointhekindnesschallenge.com/
More on the book club: https://www.rbcommunity.org/event-Join-Scott-Wood-for-a-Lenten-Challenge-
If you want to join the series, send me an email: ScottWoodMFT@gmail.com.
scottwoodtherapy 
Posted on January 11, 2021
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