Lent

Lent

I grew up knowing what the word meant, but don't remember hearing about "giving something up for" Lent. It wasn't until I was in college that I heard about denying yourself something so that you could focus more on what Christ did for you. I had a friend who was Catholic and did some serious fasting. I didn't think I was into that. So, there were a few years in college where I gave something up. One year, I gave up salad and sex. . . two things I didn't care for anyway. I was just trying to be funny. :)

The practice of self-sacrifice fell to the wayside for many years until recently. It has been a good practice for me to give something up. I'm continually reminded of the time of year, and I find myself thanking Christ for what He did for me. It is a good practice for me I think.

The hard thing is choosing what to give up. It has to be something that I'll miss, but not something that will negatively impact my family. This year I chose facebook. I really enjoy facebook. I enjoy connecting and interacting with others. This has indeed been a big change from the usual for me. I do have a couple of exceptions to my fast though. Since facebook can be a tool for others to communicate with me, I allow myself to respond to messages if I'm contacted. This has happened four times since Lent started.

This fasting has been great for me. I've discovered a "freeing up" from the computer. I've had some more time with which to do other things during the day. Sadly, I have missed some cool announcements (that I know about). This is hard for me. I love celebrating the birth of a new baby or the announcement of a new job. It is difficult to know that I'm out of the loop. So, when Easter comes, I'll gladly log on and look for some baby pictures. I'll also be paring down my list of friends. I haven't set my parameters yet, but I have some time to come up with them. After Easter, I'm committed to enjoying facebook, but spending less time using it. We'll see what happens. :)