I just received an email from a couple I married in the first year I was ordained. The baby is now all of 10 days old (well a little older now when you are reading this). My mind went spinning between medical and spiritual and I realized that the number 40 was significant for both these cases.
A normal pregnancy is about 40 weeks. In that time the child begins growing/developing immediately upon conception with cells dividing and differentiating (becoming what they are supposed to be; distinguishing themselves from others). In the end a beautiful new creation comes out of the dark into a new world with all its lights and new-ness.
We are (or at least should be) on that same path but a shorter time line. Lent has 40 days and is a time of growth and development for us as Children of God. Our process in Lent is A LOT different than our development in the womb, but at the end (if we engage in a very real way and are willing to grow) we will emerge from this 40 days a new creation, differentiated from our past and closer to the person we are meant to be as the image of God.