Ahh… RATS!

I’ve been muddling through my day, thinking about what “it” is that I am going to leave behind for Lent. As I sat here, writing a CPE paper, I realized I knew. I just didn’t want to admit it. In my desire to have forward momentum in my life, what holds me back? In areas where I seek to gain mastery, what trips me up?

In the words of the writer of Hebrews 12:

 ¹ So then let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, ² and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. He endured the cross, ignoring the shame, for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of him, and sat down at the right side of God’s throne.  ³ Think about the one who endured such opposition from sinners so that you won’t be discouraged and you won’t give up.

Hebrews 12 CEB

My extra baggage… the thing or things that trip me up were the places where I didn’t keep to my inner “plan” today. Once I answered a simple question, I knew what my Lenten discipline would be:

What trips you?

GAAAAAAaaaahhhhhhh!!!! NO NO NO NO NO!!! To paraphrase Moses, “Oh Lord, please make me give up something else!!!”

I LOVE social media! I enjoy reading posts, commenting, posting links, cartoons, commentaries, blog posts…. But it takes up too much time. I’ll allow myself my Scrabble-type games. And I’ll keep up with my blog and Twitter. But the rest of Facebook and it’s mind-sucking qualities? Yeah. I need to set those aside. And yes. Pinterest goes away too.

Is social media bad? No, actually, it is a great tool to keep in touch with friends and family. It helps me think about what is going on in the world (and where God may — or may not — be active and visible!) It keeps me informed of important social issues. It makes me laugh.

And it seriously sucks time out of my life. Major sad face. 😦 But to focus on the aspects of my spiritual journey that I KNOW are more important… social media has to be trimmed down.


The second area I need to exercise self-discipline is with food. BIG sigh. This year I’m exercising self discipline with no chips, crackers, crunchies, etc for snacks. I LOVE crunchy, salty snacks. And they are all pure carbs. BAD, bad, bad, bad except in moderation. Which I can clearly tell by my BMI, I do NOT excel in practicing moderation. So my goal here is indeed doing just that – carbs in moderation: YES – bread for sandwiches or toast. Maybe a few pita chips with a meal. But not for snacks. I’ll be having fruits, veggies, and so on. And looking wistfully at the carb-y snacks in the pantry.

I’ll be better for time well spent, and calories better managed. And it’s important to note that I do this not to punish myself, but to prep for the marathon.

The race is on… so buh-bye Facebook until April 8th. If you are my friend IRL, we’ll keep up via my blog and Twitter. See you later!

P.S. I did NOT want to hit the “publish” button on this post… but I did.