Lent

Tomorrow is the first day of Lent. For those that aren't familiar, sundayschoollessons.com gives a brief description: Lent is the 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday until Easter observed by Christians as a season of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter. This time follows Jesus from his adult ministry through His suffering during Holy Week to His crucifixion and death on Good Friday. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and continues through Holy Thursday (when Holy Communion was instituted at the Last Supper) and Good Friday, when Jesus was tried, crucified, and buried.
Lent is a time of stripping down to essentials, as each Christian focuses on his or her individual relationship with God. It is a time when Christians remember our baptisms, when Jesus washed away our sins, giving us newness of life to celebrate in the triumph of Palm Sunday and the glory of Easter, so Lent became a special time of study and prayer in preparation for their baptisms.

This year I have decided to give up television. This is huge for me because I have it on a lot. I live alone and even if I'm not watching I like the background noise. It's also nice to just zone out in front of the tv after working on school stuff and thinking thinking thinking all the time. To balance out my no tv, I am also limiting Facebook/MySpace, etc... to 30 minutes a day. This will keep me from replacing the tv with computer fun. Which would totally happen. And the final thing on my Lent list is NO SNOOZE BUTTON allowed. It might sound silly but I am embarassed to say how many times this button is pushed on some mornings. It is utterly ridiculous. So all these things combined are going to give me a lot more time to pray, read, get things accomplished for school, and anything else that needs to be done. I'm actually looking forward to this time very much. I know it will be really hard some days, especially on the weekends, but I know that it will be an amazing time with God. I also want to incorporate a day each week that I take time and do something for someone else. Whether for someone I know or don't know. I just need to reprioritize things and tune into what God is wanting for me. And not just for what His plans are for me, but what I need to be doing for Him. This time of year is a great reminder of all He did for me and for you. I want to really soak in these 40 days leading up to Easter in a way I never have before. I pray that you are blessed during this time as well.