Coffee Talk With The Cajun Mamas

From Mardi Gras To Meaning: A Practical Guide To Lent And Everyday Faith

• Chris Logan Media • Season 3 • Episode 43

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Ever feel like Lent sneaks up right after Mardi Gras mayhem and life’s chaos, leaving you unprepared and a little guilty? We’ve been there. This conversation traces a real, imperfect path from overwhelm to peace, anchored by confession, the Eucharist, and one small practice that changed everything: praying intentionally for one person a day and writing their name down. No lofty vows, no spiritual gymnastics—just a grounded, daily rhythm that softens the heart and strengthens your relationship with God.

We unpack what Lent actually aims to do—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—and why it works best when you choose a habit you’ll keep after Easter. You’ll hear how a tear-filled Ash Wednesday turned into clarity, how a simple line—“Empty me, fill me, use me”—became a lifeline during school runs and late nights, and why tools like Hallow’s Pray 40 challenge and a tiny notebook can make consistency feel human. We get honest about fasting that isn’t really fasting (hello, seafood feasts), and share practical swaps that create space for love: less late-night scrolling, fewer reactive replies, more attention for the people who need it most.

If you’ve started late, fallen behind, or never observed Lent before, you’re not disqualified. Begin with today. Pick one name. Say one short prayer. Let mercy meet you in the ordinary and carry you beyond Easter with habits that heal rather than pressure that punishes. Join us for a warm, down-to-earth guide to spiritual fitness that fits real family life—and discover how small, steady choices can turn a heavy heart into quiet courage.

If this resonated, tap follow, share with a friend who needs a gentle reset, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

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Warm Welcome And Sponsor Shoutout

SPEAKER_01

I knew it was coming. I couldn't see it in your face. I was trying to hold it off. Don't no, don't hold it. I know. It feels so much better.

SPEAKER_03

You might throw your back out and try to hold that in. Ask me how I know. Okay, how I know.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Coffee Talk with A Cajun Mamas. Grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and let's dive into real conversations about life, motherhood, and a little inspiration to brighten your day.

SPEAKER_04

Welcome back to Coffee Talk with Accajun Mamas. Today we're gonna talk a little bit about um Lent and our Linton journey and what's what's going on right now.

SPEAKER_02

And whether you're Catholic or not, I'm sure there's always some part of the year where you're like, okay, you're trying to get a little more physic, not physically fit, spiritually fit. Spiritually fit. So join us. Don't leave us. Let's discuss.

SPEAKER_04

Yes, yes. You'll take some nuggets out of it, I'm sure. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Or you'll give us some nuggets in the comments, I'm sure.

Why Lent Matters And What It Is

SPEAKER_04

Yes. Okay. So let's thank our uh sponsor for the month, Little Pearls Pediatric Dentistry. They are located in Lafayette, Louisiana. So if you in the in the area and you're looking for a good dentist for your kids, um that will be a like a place they actually like to go to. Look forward to it and um feel safe and comfortable and have fun there. Contact them um at Little Pearl's Pediatric Dentistry and give it a try. You know, she offers, did you know she offers um care for like special needs children too? Like she's certified in taking care of them. Um kids with sensory issues, and anxiety.

SPEAKER_02

You know, dentist uh going to the dentist anxiety, what you call that? Dental anxiety? Dental anxiety, that's probably a name for it. But you know, kids can be scared to go to the doctor, and and it's nice to have somebody who this is what they do, you know.

SPEAKER_04

I like how she says here like her her whole team is by the way, is trained in this special training for to work with nervous wiggly children. I'm like, there's lots of wiggly kids out there.

SPEAKER_02

You gotta have the patience too, you know. So having a team that specializes in that, that sees this all the time and works only with children is gonna make a difference for your child too.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. So you can give them a call at 337-568-0322 or go to littlepearlsds.com and you know see what they're all about and what she has to offer. Thank you, Pediatric uh, um, excuse me. Thank you, Little Pearls Pediatric Dentistry, for being our sponsor this month.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, thank you, Dr. Ainsley. Oh, yeah. All right. Let's discuss Lent this year. Okay. In no way, by the way, you said, okay, I can tell that in no way had you prepared for Lent this year. Had you? No.

SPEAKER_04

I feel like I don't ever prepare for it.

SPEAKER_02

I feel like I used to so much better than I do now. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04

I you know what I'm gonna blame it on?

SPEAKER_02

Sure.

SPEAKER_04

Being busy. Okay, I'm gonna blame it on that because all of February, February was a blur. You hear me?

Struggling To Prepare And Feeling Overwhelmed

SPEAKER_02

January is a blur. Well, if you have going back that far. But it was so long though, I forgot.

SPEAKER_04

January, well, yeah, I don't feel like January was as much of a blur as February. February, yeah. Well, so there's only like 28, 9 days. You're missing like a few days of the month, and it makes a big difference. But we had our Mexico trip, and then we got, and then we were sick, and then we had Mardi Girl, and then Lent comes right after Mardi Girl, okay. If you don't know, um, and by the way, um, you may not, maybe you don't even know what is Lent and why do we participate in it? So it's basically uh mirrors Jesus' 40-day fast in the desert, okay? So Lent is I think technically 46 days long. Um the time like we as Cajun Catholics in South Louisiana mark it by Mardi, it starts right after Mardi Gras, okay? There's Fat Tuesday with Ash Wednesday. It's Lent starts with Ash Wednesday and it ends with Easter, okay? Um, so it's just a time where you really try to grow closer in your relationship with Jesus and God. And a lot of times people will give up something as a sacrifice um and fast from something. Um, I like to also try to do something extra, okay? What's the three things? Uh prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, right? Okay. And almsgiving is like, you know, giving uh maybe you give a little extra in the collection plate during Lent, or maybe you give of your time to volunteer somewhere or something like that. Um, so that's in a nutshell what Lent is, and the purpose is really to deny your flesh of something that you enjoy, or you know, it's a sacrifice for you. God bless you. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01

I knew it was coming, I can see it in your face. I was trying to hold it off. Don't no, don't hold it. I know, it feels so much better.

SPEAKER_03

You might throw you back out and try to hold that in. Ask me how I know. Okay.

SPEAKER_04

But yeah, so you're the whole goal um is to really just deny yourself and grow closer to the Lord, you know, in that sacrifice. So um, and I feel like I always do like sweets or candy or chocolate or something is like a the big thing most people do are sodas, you know, if you like if you drink a lot of coke.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um but it's not just about like don't eat candy, you know, it's about like do better. You know, in my mind it's like during this time you try to do better, and I try to pray more, and I try to like pray for someone.

Confession, Eucharist, And A Heavy Heart

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I just when I started this lint, this is me. Yeah, tell me. I had no expectations, um, it was nothing any different. Um, I hear the things and I know the things, and I'm just like, I felt in no way called to do any of those things this year. And so um I personally when I I I had fun on Mardi Girl, okay? Had a lot of fun on Mardi Girl. And I just know that I needed to go to confession. And when I say fun, I drank. I drank, okay, because I like to drink my beers, and I I guess I did overdid it. I didn't do anything stupid, I didn't do anything like that, but I just knew in my heart that I could not go into this land with this burden on on myself, okay. Um I knew that I couldn't on my heart, you know, go to Mass and fully participate in the Mass. Because as Catholics, we believe that Jesus is present in the Eucharist, and if you have sins on you, then you should not receive communion. Uh, you know. And I just like I felt so heavy about it this year. And I felt guilt that I didn't prepare for Lint better. And so when I went to Ash Wednesday Mass, after we played and we did our coffee talk and all the things, I was just like, okay, now I gotta go to church. And God already forgave me, you know, but it was me. I knew. And so I'm just like, all right, what do I do? What can I do? I'm not I I I can't fully participate in this mass. Uh I didn't have the time to go to confession. Um, we were late going because my husband got home late, and I just felt all this stuff packing on me and packing on me, and the kids were acting crazy, and um, not all of my kids, just the babies. And I just I once I got to church, I broke down completely. Like I just there was a steady stream of tears coming out of my face, and I was just like, what is going on? You know, and I just I didn't know what I wanted to do. I still I was can I was confused about what I was gonna do. You know, what are you gonna do for Lent? How are you going to grow closer to God for Lent? What are you like? And I felt like this pressure, and the homily was just like, okay, after I listened to the homily, I was like, okay, I know what I'm gonna do. Because I always put so much pressure on myself, you know, like okay, I'm gonna give up this and I'm gonna do give up that, and I'm not gonna do this, and and I'm gonna do this for somebody, and I end up kind of like a New Year's resolution, none of it happens. And then I'm like, oh, look what you did, you didn't again.

Letting Go Of Guilt And Resetting Intentions

SPEAKER_04

So and I think let me just say real quick, like, that is not the purpose of this. If if if this like and if if you think of it like a resolution and you fall off the wagon or whatever, and it causes guilt and shame, like that is not the purpose and the intention of this, of Lent. So shake all that off. And if you fall off the wagon in the middle, start start, just start again. The attitude of your heart is all that Jesus' care cares about. You know, if your heart is in the right place and you just want to please him and grow closer to him, that's that's it.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, so anyway, no, and I just was like, I've never felt that before. You know, so I knew God was calling me to do something, but I just didn't know what it was. And in the homily, he was like, sure, you can take a cold shower, yeah, you can do this, yeah, you can do that. But what at the end of this lint, what will you have wanted to take out of it and make it a habit? You know, like it's something that you did and you want to make it a habit for the rest of your life. And I was like, What? So we're not just stopping on Easter, make it a habit for 40 days to develop a habit. Yeah, I like that. A good habit. Yes. And then I knew what I was gonna do. I I said, you know how when you come across a friend and they might just be like, hey, pray for me. Can you pray for me? I'm doing this, or um, you know, uh just pray for me. Yeah, you know, you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_04

I need y'all to pray for my cousin. He's going through something today, whatever.

Choosing Habits That Outlast Easter

SPEAKER_02

And then you say, Oh yeah, girl, I'm praying for you. And then you never do. And then you never do, yeah. And then that gets lost in translation. So this is not anything new, and people have been doing this, and I know that, but I'm just getting started with this. I decided that I'm going to pray for one person intentionally a day. So then I said that in our mom entourage group, and uh Justine texted me off the side again, Justine. Um, and I said, and she said, So, like, how often are you praying for this person? I said, once a day.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

One Person A Day Prayer Practice

SPEAKER_02

That's what I got. Yeah. Okay. If I can't remember to pray for you and I say I'm gonna, yeah, then if I've write it down, you know, I'm gonna write it down and and I'm gonna pray for that one person. Well, who shows up on my doorstep with a little notebook for my birthday so I can write down who I'm praying for? Justine. She comes with a little notebook and a little sticker, and she said, I thought you could use this to write down the people you're praying for every day. And so what I did, I wrote down every single day. And whenever sometimes my husband's like, I know you're praying for people. Hey, why don't you add this person to your prayer list? Or when I see somebody on Facebook that clearly needs, you know, prayers, maybe they're having some kind of medical, whatever, they're in the hospital. I write, you know, I write that person down, and so far, so good. I love that I have been praying for one person a day, and I don't need a pat on the back, but I'm hoping that I can make it a habit. And through my trauma on Ash Wednesday, yeah. I I I came out on the other end, just I feel so much better about what I have going on. I did make it to confession before I went to church this weekend, and um and and I and I got my Jesus at Sunday Mass, and I just yeah, I feel so much better. Yeah. And my my daughter, when I came back from uh confession, she said, Do you feel like a brand new person? Shh. I'm like, I do. I feel so good.

SPEAKER_04

You know, I feel so refreshed. I love that. So as you were telling me all that, I thought in my head, I'm like, you need to write these names down. And then here come Justine.

SPEAKER_02

Here comes Justine. Because had she not brought me that little book, I'd still be like uh trying to think of somebody on the fly. Or now I have a list of intentional people. Right. You know, they don't even know half of them that I'm praying. I don't even know them sometimes. And that don't matter. But if I keep this up, you know, yeah, then when you know, I this could be good. It's good to pray for others and not just yourself all the time. Yeah. Although, like I feel like when I pray, it's mostly gratitude. I'm not a really, you know, oh God, why are you doing this to me? Why is it me? Whoa is me. I'm not like that usually when I pray. Um, but I think just to have something else, somebody else, you know, pray somebody else.

SPEAKER_04

Putting somebody else above you, above you. Um the Hallow app has that pray 40 challenge during Lent. That's been really, really good.

SPEAKER_02

I'm I'm up to date on it too.

SPEAKER_04

And I always fall behind and I'm like, not this year. Um I was behind maybe two days and then I caught up and I listened to all of them. So I'm trying I'm staying up, okay?

SPEAKER_02

Um but even if you fall behind, just listen extra or you know exactly.

SPEAKER_04

Like I like to listen, I'll I'll put it on while I'm driving uh home from bringing the kids to school or going get the kids or whatever. Um try to catch up that way. But anyway, it's been really good. And um the prayer, the prayer like at the center of it was um or is uh empty me, feel me, use me. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02

So good. Empty me of all of my worry, fear, all the things. Fill me with your love and keep going, because I took that straight from you.

SPEAKER_04

And um, yeah, and then use me. Use me to do your will. Yeah, you know, yeah. If we like just prayed that simple prayer every day, impactful. Like just so impactful.

SPEAKER_02

Um, because that made a big impact on me. Because I was just like, what how simple?

Tools, Notebooks, And Staying Consistent

SPEAKER_04

How simple, but like when I heard it, it was like my mind just was blown. I'm like, that is how we should all try to live, you know, empty of ourselves, of our pride, of our our own agendas, of our you know, selfishness, uh anger, all the all the whatever is in there that don't need to be, and whatever God wants to take out of us, empty me, Lord, of all that. Then fill me with your will, your plan for my life, your love, your compassion, your your view, you know, and then then he can use us. Once we are emptied of ourselves and full of him, then he can use us.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, it's just so good. And and I never let me just say, there's never been a regret listening to the how hollow pray 40. We did it, uh the Advent one was great. Um, last year I listened to the the Pray 40. I think I might have missed the last couple of days because it's just uh that's Easter time, you know. But I don't know. I think I don't I can't remember if I made it through the whole thing. This year it is my absolute goal. So that's prayer. Yeah, I got my alms giving. And I I'm gonna be honest with you, I ain't fasted from nothing. That's I'm still eating like a goudon.

SPEAKER_04

But you fasting on the days you're supposed to fast, like you know from from meat?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I don't I don't count that.

SPEAKER_04

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Well, do something extra. I mean, sure, I like ham and and beef, but I mean, if I fill it in with seafood, then I mean really. Eat your tuna fish and egg salad. Tuna fish is delicious to me. That's not a fast. Look, bro, I love it. Oh my gosh, your mama didn't like mix tuna fish and macaroni and cheese. No.

SPEAKER_04

Well, a lie. I'm pretty sure I remember this this, and my brother will tell you about this tuna noodle casserole she made that scarred him for life. Yeah, I don't remember, I was little, but like him and my dad have a joke about it, like that it was horrible.

SPEAKER_02

Oh no. So yeah. My mama, like, she would always mix uh macaroni and cheese and tuna fish. And I loved it. Really? We all loved it, but not Lainey, because she's weird, and like my kids don't eat it. And I'm just like, well, I love that so much. Macaroni and I like a good just egg salad.

SPEAKER_04

Like, cause it tastes, but you don't like deviled eggs too much. It tasted like a deviled egg to me.

Hallow Pray 40: Empty Me, Fill Me, Use Me

SPEAKER_02

I don't mind egg salad, but I feel like you need a little tuna. Yeah, you need some protein, I guess. A little tuna in there. I don't know. But anyway, that's a whole different tangent we just went on. But it's just like, no, that's not a sacrifice for me. I need I need to, I don't know, stop eating brownies. I told you we were gonna do that in the new year. Yeah. Here I am. She was like, uh Rosie said, that's mama's birthday cake. And I looked at her and I said, that's the second one. Like that's the second can of brownies we make. So I don't know. I need to work on my uh my fasting for sure. But um I mean, I just I don't know. I had to tell that story because sometimes you just feel like you're in the in the dumps.

SPEAKER_04

In the dumps. And and like you said, like it was just piling and piling up on you. And usually, isn't that when like God wants to do something in you or like something good's about to happen, is when you feel the heaviest and just you just gotta hold on. You just gotta hold on to your faith and just pray that prayer. Empty me, feel me, use me. Come, Holy Spirit. That's all you can say. Sometimes that's all you can say.

SPEAKER_02

Empty me of this anger, of this frustration, of oh it's just so good. And it insert anything you can do.

SPEAKER_04

Insert exactly, whatever you're going through at the time.

SPEAKER_02

Uh, it's just it was it's so good. So if you haven't started on that, or if you're starting late, or if you don't even observe Lint, but you want to see what it's all about, go listen. Because I promise you, you won't regret listening to it like ever. You're not gonna be like, oh, I I wish I'd have never listened to that. You're not gonna be like that. No, just good stuff coming out.

SPEAKER_04

No, and if you want to share anything in the comments about your your Linton journey, we would love to hear it. So go ahead and leave us some comments. That would be great. Well, thanks for listening. Yeah, everybody. I hope that you picked up something to resonate with you or got some encouragement out of that. And if nothing else, that simple but very impactful prayer. Empty me, fill me, use me, Lord. That that could just go a long way to help whatever you're going through at the time.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's a good one.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So uh, and thank you so much to Dr. Ainsley Oye um at Little Pearls Pediatric Dentistry for sponsoring us this month um for Coffee Talk with Accajan Mamas. It's always good to have somebody good on your side, especially when it comes to your kids. We know we gotta bring them to the dentist. It might as well be a good experience. Yeah. And that's what Dr. Ains Ainsley does.

Fasting, Food Tangents, And Real Sacrifice

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, she provides simple, age-appropriate education for both children and parents, helping families build healthy oral habits at home. And also, um, if you have a special needs child, you know, or somebody, uh a child with sensory issues or anxiety or anything like that, her whole team is trained to help your child be as comfortable and at as at ease as possible. So you just know that they're on your side when it comes to special needs. Um, you did I did you know that you you're technically supposed to bring your child to the dentist um before they're a year old or when their first tooth comes out? I I mean I did not know and did not do that. Um, but having that early, like um bringing them in early like that will get them even more comfortable to go in. And she gives that first free, that first visit is free.

SPEAKER_02

Right. And they go every six months. So, you know, starting them as as early as possible, you know, they're gonna get used to it and they're gonna my kids love to go to the dentist. They they can't wait to go. So um y'all visit her at littlepearlsdds.com. Um, or you can call them at 337-568-0322. And if you're local or you're not local, because I will I will travel to a good dentist or a good doctor. So uh they located in Lafayette at 2912 Johnston Street. Y'all give her a call and y'all go check out what she's like. Little pearls. Little pearls. All right. Thank y'all so much for listening and thank y'all for listening. We'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_04

We'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_00

Thanks for joining us on Coffee Talk with a Cajun Mamas. We hope you enjoyed your cup of coffee and our chat. Don't forget to subscribe and share with your friends. Until next time, keep the coffee brewing and the conversation flowing.