Lent

I have to be honest.  I have never fasted anything for Lent.  I never really understood it.  I didn't grow up in a church and the churches I attended/attend as an adult don't "officially" do Lent.  I heard people talk about it in general terms but it wasn't until recently that I really began to understand what Lent was about.  So, here is what I learned.  In a nutshell the season of Lent is about becoming closer to Jesus through fasting (self-discipline for a spiritual goal), prayer, and giving back.  These are things that I should be doing all year, but this is a time to especially focus on it.

Fasting:  after a lot of self-examination I have decided to give up the internet for all but an hour a day.  (The hour is necessary due to an online Bible study I am participating in as well as checking email for communications with customers and teachers.)  The internet is my biggest time waster and I to often get on to just check something "real quick" only to discover it has been much longer than I thought.  I will have to more be diligent about what I do and focus on what really NEEDS to be done online rather than wasting time.

Prayer:  I seem to do better with prayer when I journal, so I have pulled out my prayer journal again.  I have become the gal who throws up the quick prayer whenever something pops into my head but I don't really spend time in deliberate prayer.  I hope to work on that these next 40 days.  I will also be reading 40 Days With Jesus: Celebrating His Presence during this time.

Giving back:  My goal is to make 40 hats to donate to God's Tiny Angels during this season.  Since I won't be on the computer as much I should have more than enough time to complete this task.

So if you don't "see" me around the internet as much, at least you will know why.  I am hoping that this will help me to draw closer to God and as a result I can feel more peace, which is my goal for the year.    Do you participate in Lent?  If so, I would love for you to share what you are doing so I can pray for you.

Until next time,