Why I won't tell you my Lenten resolution

When I was little, I knew that both of my parents were Catholic, although my mom converted after she met my dad. And I knew that they both truly believed in Catholicism and that they both truly loved God, but I had this idea in my head that my dad was somewhat "more Catholic" than my mom.

If I asked my mom and my dad a question about religion, my dad would pull out scholarly texts and the Bible and give me a full sermon on the subject.

My mom was much more likely to say, "God loves you," and then give me a hug and a kiss.

My dad spends Lent joking about how horrible he was at giving up Coke, and is always the one insisting on using an Advent wreath. My mom never really comments about the fact that it's Lent, other than to remind me not to eat that leftover hamburger for lunch on Ash Wednesday. When I was little, my dad was usually the one saying that we should pray a rosary as a family before bed, while my mom seemed content to bless and kiss each of us in our beds.

I guess it's because my dad was more outspoken about it, but I just always assumed as a kid that my dad knew more about religion and God than my mom, that he was "more Catholic." If I had a question about theology, I would run to my dad.

One day, though, I don't remember the exact conversation, but I think I asked my mom what she was giving up for Lent.

She replied that she didn't like to talk about stuff like that, because it lessened/defeated the purpose.

And it just hit me, all of a sudden, that my mom actually has an extremely deep and personal relationship with God.

But she's really humble about it, and she doesn't want to brag about her awesome knowledge about God or her awesome relationship with Him.

And thinking back, she always has been a wonderful Christian example.

And she's always given really good answers about religion, even if those answers are sometimes just a kiss and a smile and "God loves you."

Because she understands that sometimes that's a better answer than a full theological argument.

And she knows that my dad likes to explain theology.

So she just lives out her humble, quiet Christian example and lets everyone think of my dad as the religious expert in our household.

Long story short, my mom is amazing. And I really want to be like her, so I'm not sharing my Lenten resolutions with anyone anymore (unless I have a really good reason to share).

Sorry for the long personal story.

I'm praying for you!

:)