Day one of Lent, and the struggles begin

I have this grand plan of teaching the boys about Lent this year.  It is similar to a Jesse Tree from the Advent season where one would read a verse and apply a symbol to the tree daily.  They get to learn more about our God and I get in the Word daily.

As we all know, it is one thing to read and comprehend what you are reading. It is a total other realm to try to explain it to someone else.  I figure if I have to explain this totally abstract concept to my 7 and 5 year olds, then maybe I will understand Him better.  My theology is not super and I am an attack-it-with-gusto type of learner so I am sure this experience will be an interesting one.

Enter Ash Wednesday.  I have "written" my own progression through the last of Jesus' life for the 40 days and I am ready to begin the teaching.  My boys enjoyed doing the Jesse Tree readings in the morning with breakfast and so did I.  They were a captive audience, so to speak, and Buzz especially would focus on the verse to guess what the symbol was going to be.  He was the one that said "When are we going to read our verse to guess?" on December 26, and he was genuinely disappointed when we I told him that the Jesse Tree was done for this year.

I grab my Bible and sit down with them.  Wouldn't you know it that Buzz pipes in "Oh no!  Not again!"  Criminy, this is going to be a long 40 days if that is his first reaction.

I read the dust-to-dust verse from Genesis 3.  I had plans to use ashes from the wood burning stove for the wall poster.  I look over at the stove and realize that DadOfAllTrades has cleaned it out.  Not only removed the ash pile, but vacuumed it out.  I could possibly eat off the bricks they are so clean.  All I need is a finger-full of ash for this lesson.  None.

I am hoping this is not the way Lent will go.  Ugh!