Give it up!

Today is Ash Wednesday. I have never observed Lent before. Growing up, our church never observed Lent as many Protestant Churches don't. But this year I have decided that I need to celebrate Lent as a way to grow my faith and strengthen my personal walk with Christ.

What have I given up...Facebook AND Pinterest. I have been thinking about this for several weeks and I believe this is going to be a HUGE challenge that is going to grow me in even bigger ways.

In addition to giving up social network sites, I am committed to adding prayer and quiet time daily. It is actually pathetic that I haven't been more consistently in the Word, and I want to be more disciplined in this area.

When I think about the amount of time I waste on both social networking sites it is ridiculous. Sure, I can justify how they keep me in touch with friends or encourage me to cook healthy meals for my family. But in reality they have been wastes of valuable time that I could be spending building true relationships with friends, nurturing my daughter and growing my personal faith.

It is going to be hard {both sites, sadly, have become almost second nature to look through as I am standing in line at the grocery store, pumping gas, when Emrie takes a nap, etc.}, but the intention of Lent is to give something up that is a sacrifice, just as Christ sacrificed His LIFE for us! In that light, stalking other people on the computer shouldn't be too large a sacrifice!

My prayer is that I will spend my new free time being more intentional with Emrie, doing things to build other's up, improving my attitude and knowledge of God, and finish a few projects around the house.

I couldn't be more excited to raise to this challenge and please keep me in your prayers as I begin this 40 day journey!