I’ve never been one for action movies, but lately, I have reels of them running through my head as Lent moves full steam ahead. I’m a character in every scene, preparing myself physically and spiritually for the battle.

The training scenes speak to me. I love feeling prepared. My prep might not look like hundreds of situps, punching bags and running up flights up steps, but it is my personal training plan necessary for the battles waiting for me around every corner throughout my day. This preparation gives me a sense of comfort and calm as I know each day will have its own challenges.

The reality is that there are seasons in life when we are faced with “opponents” around every corner. This is especially true for those of us parenting older children. There are some days we have fought so many battles that we go to bed battered, emotionally beaten and bloody, but like the Karate Kid or Rocky Balboa, we get back up again because the fight is worth fighting.

One week into Lent and I found myself walking into my husband’s arms the other day, needing shelter from a mental storm outside our control. I whispered through tears, “Must it be so hard sometimes? I know it to be worth it. I know God is working! I know He is sheltering us, but if we are under the umbrella now, Lord, thank you for your mercy, for to step outside it would surely break me.”

I’m pondering the practical for my fight scene redemption arc. What might it look like? How do we get back up when we are struck down? I think of Calvary; how brutally Christ fell and got back up. I think of the saints who suffered for what they knew to be right. I ponder what it truly means to love as a parent, to be bold like the saints and speak for truth, to lead with love but be firm and fierce.

And that pondering? I am putting it all into my prayer time. I’m keeping myself in constant conversation with the Lord. He is fortifying me.

I’m asking Mother Mary to hold my hand when I have to do hard things. I am finding myself pulling into grottos at churches and sitting with her, asking for a hug like a little child.

Writing it feels like so little, but I think it’s absolutely right. It’s a fierce rebellion against self-apathy and a clinging to a faith that has withstood the test of trials bigger than mine. I visualize my anchor of faith grounding me in truth, and I breathe in grace, mercy, and gratitude and turn my face to the sun.

It’s the paradox of the Christian life to walk through Lent embracing our crosses and joyfully calling “Here I am Lord, send me!” well knowing that where we are benignly sent is purgative. Yet how beautiful it is to know how we are being refined.

I go back to my fight scene reels and think that Rocky Balboa did not become a champion by dodging punches. Jesus Himself, immediately after His baptism, was led into the desert to face the devil’s temptations. I am noticing that Lent calls me into my own temptation to wonder why such suffering? And yet the truth is that Lent is about our mortality, our dying to ourselves, and our need for transformation. Embracing these crosses that come our way, no matter how difficult, draws us closer to the heart of Jesus.

There will be days when we stumble, when we feel like we are losing, but as St. Paul reminds us, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

Perhaps Lent is our training ground, our time to step into the spiritual ring with Christ as our coach and our guide, trusting in His wisdom and plan.

This article also appeared at The Catholic Times.