 Ash Wednesday is February the 14th. Christians will begin to observe Lent on that day, the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter, excluding the Sundays and between those two days. During those 40 days, I want to invite you to some spiritual disciplines and invite you to think about how it is that you will prepare for what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, how it is you will deepen your relationship with Christ. I want to share with you what I'm going to do. Once again, I'm going to read the Gospel of Mark during the season of Lent and I will read a chapter each day of Lent, including the Sundays. And since there are only 16 chapters, I will read through the Gospel of Mark three times. It's the way for me to becoming immersed in the story of Jesus, so that perhaps in my life I begin to make his story truly my story. I want to invite you to think about what a daily reading of one of the Gospels would mean for you during the season of Lent. And I want you to think of some special act, something that you could do, not just give up, but something you could do to express your relationship with Christ, whether it is in service in some way or a way in which you're going to advocate for what it means to be a follower of Jesus. But during this season of Lent, my hope and my prayer for the United Methodist of North Texas is that each one of us will find our path to deepen our relationship with the one who has given us life. May you have the most blessed season of Lent.