Lent and Withdrawls

Think of this post as a quick muse/devotional thought.

In my quest for the truth (mainly starting this new year), I've been doing some more digging in the Word and just spending time actually paying attention to God. He's always there, you know... and even though you know He knows your thoughts, sometimes it's just helpful knowing you can talk to Him about crap, ya know?

I love properly used memes. This one's a little off par, but it will do.

Enter February. Now, every year around this time, there's a little (err... not so little) day called Fat Tuesday. Everybody loves Fat Tuesday, because Fat Tuesday is fun to say, makes people giggle, and basically gives the impression that you can/should eat and do whatever you want. Basically, it is the YOLO mindset (I freaking hate that word). What people don't really think so much about is the day which follows. The day after Fat Tuesday is Wednesday. Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.

Lent is defined by Wikipedia as a Christian observance meant to prepare the believer; it is a form of fasting. While the main denominations that faithfully observe this are Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Anglicans, most Christians at least know about the concept of Lent. Mention Lent to almost anyone and they'll look at you and say "Oh, are you Catholic?" No, I'm not Catholic. I just happen to care about my walk with God.

Here is a spattering of the top things people gave up for Lent in 2009. Interesting stuff.

Traditionally, Christians who practice Lent give up something for the forty-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter to better focus on striving towards holiness in life. Now, in the past, I've given up soda pop (and am currently) for Lent, but never really thought much about it. I would do it mainly for the challenge, if you will... the "thrill of accomplishment" -- and go right back to gorging myself with Mountain Dew as soon as Lent was over, gloating at my abilities in self denial. But soda pop isn't that dear to me. Yes, I shamefully love my Mountain Dew (you can buy it for me here at a ridiculous price), but it's not like I can't live without it.

So this year, I wanted to take things a little more seriously when it came to personal sacrifice for Lent. But what? There's nothing I really do that I can give up... my life is pretty boring, right?

Oh no. HELL NO. Nononononooo...

You might laugh at me. Feel free; I felt pretty pathetic in hindsight. Facebook isn't everything; but hey, it's pretty huge. But then again, you might not hold Facebook at the same esteem that I do. Facebook is a ridiculously integral part of my life, and has been for the past five years. It's my main source of information, and by far my foremost means of staying connected with some of the closest people in my life who pretty much all live as inconveniently far away from me as possible. If I am online, I pop Facebook into its own happy little tab and surf the Internet, peeking up at Facebook's tab every now and then to see if a little (1) appears next to the tab name (meaning I have a notification). Or better yet, hearing that multi-emotional "pling" (depending on the nature of your conversation) that means someone else on Facebook cares enough to chat with you. I love Facebook -- maybe too much. But give it up for forty days? Craziness!
 

Oh, shut up.

Yet here I am. Six days into this suddenly meaningful journey called Lent, and I haven't been on Facebook once. At first I missed my Facebook tab... but now I'm used to it being gone. It feels like it's been a longer time than six days, but in all reality, this is probably one of the longest stretches I've gone without it. I will say it is rather unsettling to be without a security you've felt pretty much every day for five years. Yet, at the same time, it's very freeing. I have more time to do things, and I've been far more productive even when using the Internet. Was Facebook that large of a distraction for me? Apparently so.

So no Facebook or soda. For the first few days, I was very irritable. Think of a room full of girls with PMS (keep in mind, I have five sisters. Nothing shocks me anymore). I was that pissy. But as time has passed, my mood has improved, and I've started thinking more about why I am sacrificing these things. What do I prioritize more-- Facebook or my time spent with God? More times than not, I waste hours on Facebook and don't even think about God. Just six days into Lent, I am thinking more about God and how I am living than I have for the past month.

So be encouraged. I know I am. And hey, only thirty-four days to go for this boy. If Jesus could handle it, and He empowers us to do even greater things, then how can we fail?

I plan to post after Lent on how I feel about everything. It will be interesting to see if/how my perspectives have changed.


**this boy now gets his caffeine from coffee**

- Knolster