Whoa. When did Lent sneak up on me?
Clearly I’ve been out of it for a while because I suddenly looked at my calendar today and saw that it is Ash Wednesday. Did it sneak up on anyone else too? Perhaps this explains all the weird Facebook status updates about not using Facebook for the next 40 days?
So last year I attempted to give up alcohol for Lent. Not because I have a drinking problem (which is nothing to joke about) but because I thought it would help me save money and concentrate on finding ways to spend time with friends outside of happy hour. Well it was an epic failure because I forgot and only realized it halfway through a happy hour at Fado’s in downtown Austin a week into Lent. But, I figure it is fate that I forgot about it because that is the happy hour where I met Rahul!
This year, after quickly debating (read: today) what I am going to give up for Lent I decided that I’m not going to give up anything. I won’t get deep into religious doctrine, because everyone has their own beliefs and why would you care about mine… but basically, I don’t feel like giving up something like dessert, beer, or meat will bring me closer to God.
Instead, I am going to continue to live my life as usual, but save all my receipts from coffee shops and bakeries — purchases that I consider total luxuries and certainly not a necessity. At the end of Lent, I will total up how much I’ve spent on all of that and donate it to a charity. I’ve yet to choose a charity (suggestions?) but I am thinking something to do with the military since my big brother is in Afghanistan. It won’t be much money, I’m guessing maybe $30-40, but maybe I’ll divide it into a few small donations to a few charities.
I also saw this, the 40 Days of Water mission that looks amazing. If I hadn’t failed so miserably to give up alcohol last year I might consider it. But I think this sounds incredible! Let me know should you feel so inclined to participate — I’d love to hear your experience! (And it doesn’t have to be for religious reasons, either!)
So are you giving up anything for Lent? Do you have a suggestion for a charity? Do you think we church goers are crazy?
you could consider donating to my komen 3-day walk team!
Hey I didn’t know you were doing that — that is awesome! You can put me down for something… I’ll figure out how much in April
I always tell myself that I’m going to do Lenten devotionals, and then I never make it all of the way through
.
Do you have a smart phone? You can probably get an app or something with daily devotionals or even just create an alert on a calendar so it reminds you to do them.
Wait, I thought your brother was at Ft. Lewis. That’s so soon to be shipped out again!
I like your idea. I did kind of a pseudo Lent this year, but more for my own personal reasons than for any religious ones.
He was at Ft. Lewis from May to early December and then his unit got shipped out. He was just barely over the 6 month minimum requirement for time between deployments
Yeah, I think Lent can also be used by non-Christians if they want to challenge themselves for 40 days (or 30 or whatever) to make a change for the better. It’s not all about God, that’s just the origin.