Lent time!

This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the official start of Lent!! 

It is that time of year again to give up something for Lent. Lent is the time to fast before the feast of Easter to mimic Jesus’ 40 day fast in the wilderness.  It is thought to be a “spiritual spring cleaning,” a time to refocus your life on the Lord and get rid of those things around you that may be hindering your relationship with Jesus. (a little tidbit I learned, the word Lent comes from the German word for springtime)

My roommate Kate and I have taken on the task of giving up bread! I know crazy right! But I like to choose something that is really hard for me and not just give up something for the sake of doing it. I like to challenge myself so I can truly strengthen my faith during this special time. I mean in the grand scheme of things…it’s 40 days! You can do anything for 40 days right…  Yes it will be difficult, but with Kate by my side, I have faith we can do it! And hey, maybe we will shed a few pounds in this process J

So, I was sitting in Pilates class Monday morning and the subject of Lent came up. My instructor, Renee said you should give up something that consumes your life and distracts you from your relationship with the Lord. When she said that, it really got me thinking. That is really what Lent is supposed to be, so what do I need to give up that is distracting me from furthering my relationship with Jesus? This is a pretty obvious one, occupying my free time at work with Facebook, Twiter and everything else on the Internet. This too will be gone for Lent. These “social networks” have changed this world both for the better and for the worse. It is truly a way to stay in touch with family members and close friends but it also creates a distraction from the real reason we are here. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing either one of them because I LOVE them (just a little bit of my guilty pleasure) but I’m going to cut back significantly, specifically during work hours.

Within one week, I received two different books that will help me along my way. Cole’s Dad and Mom, Mr. John and Mrs. Cindy, both gave me books dealing with encouragement and living with and for the Lord. I have started the one that Mrs. Cindy gave me titled “God Never Blinks, 50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours” by Regina Brett. So far it is WONDERFUL! (More on this book later, it deserves a blog post of its own)

I encourage everyone to give up something for Lent whether you are a believer or not. Just to challenge yourself and I promise you can charge thru it with flying colors! I believe in you!

With Love,

Emily