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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me keep my Lenten promises and see that good will come out of doing that! Amen.

Jesus met a Samaritan woman getting water from a well. "Give me a drink," Jesus asked. The woman said, "You're Jewish -- your people don't like mine. Why ask me for a drink?" Jesus answered, "I could give you living water." Then He told the woman all about her life, so she believed in Him. She told friends, and they followed Jesus, too.

Lent started not long ago. Are you already counting the days until Easter?

Some kids give something up for Lent, like dessert. Other kids promise to do something extra, like sorting through clothes to give some to poor people or doing chores without complaining.

Whatever you do, the trick is to do it without moaning and groaning. If you struggle with that, this week's Gospel (John 4:5-42) is for you: The lesson is that, when you do what you need to, you might get more than you asked for.

In the Gospel story, Jesus meets a woman from another culture. Jesus is Jewish and the woman is Samaritan. She assumes that, when He finds out, He won't like her, since some other Jewish and Samaritan people don't like each other. She's so sure Jesus is unfriendly, she won't even give Him a drink of water!

A Lenten promise to do something positive or stop something negative can be tough. You may realize how much you crave soda or how often you complained about making your bed. Hopefully, by the end of Lent you'll be cruising through those moments without being crabby.

Doing what you need to can have great results. The Samaritan woman would agree: When she listened to what Jesus had to say, she realized He could help her live a better life. She had been doing unhealthy things, but now she followed Jesus and got her friends on board, too.

Giving someone a drink of water is a simple thing. As hard as giving up dessert might seem, that's not awful, either -- and you may learn you don't actually need so much dessert. Do what you need to and make Jesus proud, and you may end up as happy as a Samaritan![[In-content Ad]]

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