Giving Up (For Lent)

I love Lent.

I love challenging myself to give up something for the Lord.
The more I love the "something", the more successful I feel.

Most years, I find myself giving up some sort of food. Last year it was peanut butter, my absolute favorite thing to eat at the time. (I was averaging a jar of peanut butter every three days. Yup.) The year before, it was bread. (I didn’t do that one again, on purpose. It almost killed me.)

This year, I can hardly even think of a single food I LIKE, much less love. It would hardly be much of a sacrifice to give up anything in that category, and if there is a food I can currently eat… I really need to eat it.

So this year I’m attempting something a bit more daring. 

I’m giving up all computer time until after work – 4:30 PM.
Every night, my computer is going to get shut down before bed, and the rule is that I can’t start it back up again until I get home from work that evening. Hard? Yes! I typically check my email right away every morning and several times throughout the day.

But I think this will be a nice break for me – I won’t start my day mulling over anything I read in my inbox or any project I need to get done that night. (And, it will be a nice break for my computer, as it rarely gets shut down, and I hear that’s good for them from time to time.)

I love Lent!
And at the end of Lent, we will find Easter and full fledged Spring.  

Hooray!

(an accurate idea of what Timmy looks like in the morning, sans caffeine)

Timmy didn’t celebrate Lent before he knew me, but since then, he has always given up caffeine. (I say, “Welcome to the real, stimulant-free world, babe!”) This means he is extra sleepy in the morning, and it is much easier for me to convince him to snuggle in bed just… a little… longer…