Lent is back....dun dun dunnnn

Wow, two posts in one day...what an accomplishment...haha.

So today is Ash Wednesday, aka the first day of Lent, and although I cannot claim to be the most hardcore Christian, I still believe in the meat and potatoes of Christianity. And perhaps, that should be one of the lessons I learn from this Lent season- how can I be closer to God?

I called my mom this morning to specifically ask her what lesson she learned last Lent- because she had a fantastic lesson from the church she attended...which made me laugh and made me think about what it's really about. It was something like this:

"You know, most believers will give something up for Lent- whether it be chocolate, alcohol, red meat, junk food, fast food, sweets, etc...but let me remind you- Lent is not your personal Weight Watchers plan and God does not want your chocolate, alcohol, red meat etc. Instead, why don't we all give up something that prohibits us from connecting with God, or even do something (rather than giving up something) that would benefit Christianity in general?"

I also talked to my Mother-in-Law, Julee, to get further clarification on what Lent means in layman's terms and she simply stated that Jesus was stuck in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights and resisted every temptation that was presented to him...he put his belief in God first. I also tapped into another religious resource, Blake's cousin Reanna, to see what she had to say...and she stated that whatever you give up should not serve a selfish purpose. I'm really lucky to have all these ladies to help in my journey to learn more about and become more involved with Christianity- thanks for all the insight!

All in all, today is the first day of Lent. Last year I gave up dessert...sorry about that. The worst part was, I didn't hear about the lesson from my mom's church until after I had my mind made up for two weeks. Wait, that wasn't the worst part...the worst part was my dad's, sister's, Big Blake's, and Julee's birthdays were in March and my birthday is in April...needless to say, last year's Lent was a big FAIL. I have a severe weakness for cake! "Better luck next year" I said...well, it's 2010.

So....after being reminded what Lent should be about, I have decided that I will try to find the light in every situation- have faith that this is part of God's plan and not be so quick to judge (people). Unfortunately, I think giving up the judging part will be most difficult- I will have to remove myself from gossip and take a step back to realize that I have no idea about that person's journey- so who am I to judge? I'm proud that I am not using this year's Lent as my personal Weight Watchers program to trim inches off my muffin top...but to trim my heart to be better and be more accepting!

I will ask Blake what he's giving up or doing for Lent and get back to you.... :)