I have barely paid any attention to winter this year. Typically, I embrace the season, get charged up for lots of snow and can’t wait to hit the slopes. But this year, I have given little thought to outside winter activities. It’s as though I just want to move beyond the season, avoiding it all together. I have yet to go skiing. In fact, I haven’t even taken the ski boots out to see which pair will fit each of my three growing boys this year.

No. I have overlooked all the stuff that I love about winter. I realize that this isn’t healthy – I’ve become numb to my surroundings. Every second of each day has purpose, and to wish it away for something better to come is to miss some important steps along the way.

Of course, unseasonably warm temperatures, mixed with lively thunder and lighting storms, as occurred last weekend, would trick the numbed mind to move beyond winter. Add to this, the seed catalog arrived with a special offer extended to those who order before Jan. 31. But then something else happened, and my head is spun around again.

Last week I opened my calendar to book a business trip. Would Feb. 8 work for me? I was asked. I checked my calendar and was shocked – Ash Wednesday.

Hadn’t I just scolded myself for blowing off winter? This was unbelievable. Lent was about to begin. Lent. The very word means spring. And sure enough, it is early this year. Had my desire to move beyond winter been more mystical than I thought? Could this suggest that mentally, physically and spiritually, I actually was in sync?

God only knows. Each year I embrace the season of Lent as an opportunity to journey more closely with Christ. To embark on this journey means buying, metaphorically, a spiritual pair of shoes that are way too big for me, and renewing a promise to grow into them. It’s all about walking the walk: embracing God’s Holy word, the teachings of Jesus, and living them in all that I do, day in and day out, season to season, year to year.

Prayer, sacrifice and charitable acts, important pieces in this walk in faith, are never easy. Cultural lifestyles and workplace environments offer some of the greatest challenges. It’s easy to blame worldly distractions as the culprits that lead me astray. But Lent isn’t about blaming others. It’s about recognizing our faults, acknowledging our contributions to worldly mess and trying to make things better. I like to call it a spiritual spring cleaning.

Finding a way to make mundane activity a meaningful prayer is another challenge that I attempt to embrace each Lent. Naturally challenged in the housekeeping department, I try to turn housework into a form of prayer. I realize that when I do this, something funny happens. Without a Lenten focus, it’s more typical for my prayer to be distracted by the world around me. In Lent, when the prayer becomes the focus, the mundane gets done with little thought. I’m glad that Lent helps me view life, nature and relationships differently. It spins my head around.

If I can’t clean the house for me, perhaps its time to clean the house for God, and I’ll start by sifting through all the ski boots. The February calendar also says winter school break. It’s time to do some prayerful spring skiing.