"God, our Father, you created us from the dust of the Earth. Grant that these ashes may be for us a sign of penitence and a symbol of mortality."
Ash Wednesday Liturgy
For me, Lent is a season of preparation, much like the Advent season before Christmas. It's a time of reflection, a time for prayer.
Not everyone gives something up. It's not "required" by any means. But the intention is to enter in to the struggle with Christ, to walk the journey to the cross with Him, and to use the time and energy you spent on something else and focus it on prayer, worship, and study. We sacrifice something we love in order to think about the sacrifice that was made for us.
I've been praying about what to give up. My first thought was social media... Facebook and Twitter. I wouldn't consider myself a full-fledged addict of either, but both of those things consume more of my time than I'd like to admit. I thought about giving up caffeine, mostly coffee. But honestly, I think that would just make me grumpy and defeat the purpose. I don't want those around me to suffer just because I'm making a sacrifice... ha!
I am praying about it throughout the day that the Lord would make it clear what He wants me to give up for the next 40 days. (yes, I know, I'm a day behind...) And honestly? I'm excited about it. I can't wait to see what happens as I focus more on HIM and less on the world around me. Our small group is also going to be doing the Daniel Fast the last week of the Lent season, and I'm both excited and scared for that as well... mostly excited to see how we grow as a group and individually as well.
Also in Lent, some choose to "add" something and I love this idea. Each day over the next 40 days, I am going to either write someone an encouraging note, or list out things I'm grateful for. I am working on my list of 1,000 things I'm thankful for (Ann Voskamp style) and this will help me get closer to completing this.
Do you give anything up?
hmmm, I've been thinking a lot about Lent this year. I want to add something. Mainly, I want to consider myself having a habit of daily reading my Bible. I've gotten the waking up early part down, but the problem is actually getting out of bed....
ReplyDeleteI'm contemplating a daily blogpost to hold myself accountable. We'll see what it turns out to look like. All in all, I'm thinking about it throughout today also.
Thanks for sharing. Good luck on the Daniel's Fast. Scott did that a few years ago for about 4ish weeks. We had a family event that caused him to stop, but he planned on 6 weeks. You should consult him on foods. I do have a recipe or two that would work, I believe, though.
I really love the season of Lent too--I know it is "supposed" to be more somber, but it just always reminds me of the hope of Easter!
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