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| Heading into the Desert People! |
Wow, this year is moving quickly. Anybody else agree with me?? Here we are already at Lent, and as a friend reminded me the other day: "Lent is a time to draw away from the World, so that we can draw closer to God." Amen. Love that. I am not sure who wrote that, but I feel like that sums up lent pretty well.
I have been reading a fantastic book lately called, "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster. It is not a Catholic Book, but it talks about all these things we as Catholics grew up with; Saints, meditation, prayer, fasting, service, confession, and lots of other things.
He gives meaning behind many of these practices that we as Catholics have probably taken for granted. By that I mean, many of us do these things without the SLIGHTEST knowledge of why. We do them without understanding how they are supposed to help us grow closer to God. "So you mean fasting is not supposed to be for the purpose of loosing weight?" Right, that's called dieting.
So in what ways will I draw away from the World, so that I can draw closer to God?
I usually start big, because my odds of keeping ONE of these promises is better if I have a greater number. I realize this is not ideal. But, hey I am doing the best I can.
As usual I am giving up soda and alcohol. I don't drink a lot of alcohol anyway, so that is not too difficult for me, but my Diet Coke habit always gets out of hand. A few years ago I only gave up Soda, and I found myself substituting Alcohol. Yeah, probably not as much of a sacrifice. Sort of like people who go out for Lobster on Friday's during lent. Sorry. Do I sound like I am judging?
Next I am going to be better about having personal prayer time everyday!!! This needs some examining and revamping in my life, lent is perfect motivator to do that. I am hoping to wake up 30 minutes before the rest of the house and spend that time focusing on the important things. The desires for this are real, but we will see if I can keep this promise.
One new thing I am going to try, is NOT buy myself any new things during Lent. I was just thinking how I would like a new pair of shoes, or if I have time maybe I will try and visit one of my favorite boutique consignment stores to see if there is anything good. Then I thought, WHY???? DO I need that??? No, I have closet full of stuff, so LENT when I am purposefully trying to draw away from own selfishness and draw closer to God would be a good time to limit my selfish purchases. Then I should probably donate that money to missions.
Yelling less at my kids is another positive habit I adopt most Lents. To be fair I have been working on this one all year. I have a bad temper when the noise escalates in this house. I really need to get myself in gear before I ruin all of these blessing!!! One time I actually yelled at my kids for causing me to break my Lenten sacrifice of Not yelling. That was not a good moment.
Whatever the sacrifice or the action that we try to hold to during lent, the Purpose should be again, TO DRAW ME CLOSER TO GOD. TO cause me to desire HIM more and myself less.
So find something. ANYTHING. Subscribe to any of the amazing Lent email subscriptions. Two of my favorites are:
Mathew Kelly's at www.dynamiccatholic.com and Bishop Robert Barron's at www.wordonfire.org
Alright have a HAPPY Journey into your dessert, I hope you all grow in wisdom, power, and LOVE of the amazing dude, who LOVES US ALL SO MUCH!!!! (I'm referring to God.)
As usual I am giving up soda and alcohol. I don't drink a lot of alcohol anyway, so that is not too difficult for me, but my Diet Coke habit always gets out of hand. A few years ago I only gave up Soda, and I found myself substituting Alcohol. Yeah, probably not as much of a sacrifice. Sort of like people who go out for Lobster on Friday's during lent. Sorry. Do I sound like I am judging?
Next I am going to be better about having personal prayer time everyday!!! This needs some examining and revamping in my life, lent is perfect motivator to do that. I am hoping to wake up 30 minutes before the rest of the house and spend that time focusing on the important things. The desires for this are real, but we will see if I can keep this promise.
One new thing I am going to try, is NOT buy myself any new things during Lent. I was just thinking how I would like a new pair of shoes, or if I have time maybe I will try and visit one of my favorite boutique consignment stores to see if there is anything good. Then I thought, WHY???? DO I need that??? No, I have closet full of stuff, so LENT when I am purposefully trying to draw away from own selfishness and draw closer to God would be a good time to limit my selfish purchases. Then I should probably donate that money to missions.
Yelling less at my kids is another positive habit I adopt most Lents. To be fair I have been working on this one all year. I have a bad temper when the noise escalates in this house. I really need to get myself in gear before I ruin all of these blessing!!! One time I actually yelled at my kids for causing me to break my Lenten sacrifice of Not yelling. That was not a good moment.
Whatever the sacrifice or the action that we try to hold to during lent, the Purpose should be again, TO DRAW ME CLOSER TO GOD. TO cause me to desire HIM more and myself less.
So find something. ANYTHING. Subscribe to any of the amazing Lent email subscriptions. Two of my favorites are:
Mathew Kelly's at www.dynamiccatholic.com and Bishop Robert Barron's at www.wordonfire.org
Alright have a HAPPY Journey into your dessert, I hope you all grow in wisdom, power, and LOVE of the amazing dude, who LOVES US ALL SO MUCH!!!! (I'm referring to God.)
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