In an immigrant family, a key to retaining a connection to your native culture is in the celebration of festivals and holy days. Relying on the age-old Bengali calendar and blithely ignoring Gregorian time, we'd gather with other families to eat rice and chicken curry, listen to poetry recitals, enjoy traditional songs and dances, and essentially underline our identity as Bengalis. In the same way, those of us who are trying to raise ambassadors for Christ should use the church calendar to nurture a strong Kingdom identity in our children. As we lead them through the foreign world of popular culture, seasonal celebrations that connect us to the church universal are a must. Lent is a great place to start. Family-oriented 2006 versions of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer (traditional Lenten practices) include:

• fasting from television or other things like noise or media.
• welcoming strangers around the table (we're trying that this year)
• changing the way we relate to money
• forty days of family devotions related to the lectionary
• simplifying life, or
• jump-starting a family ministry to those without a home.

Find more ideas to celebrate the season of Lent purposefully in this article by Annette LaPlaca, and please, share your links and ideas with the rest of us.