Lent Decisions

I am such a pathetic Christian at times.  I wrote on my last post about sacrificial worship which brought me to the point of deciding what I wanted to sacrifice for Lent this year.  I know, Lent sounds a bit old fashioned in our modern culture.

But I believe that Lent still holds value, so I have practiced Lent for about the past five years. So today as I was trying to decide what I should give up for Lent, I looked it up on the Internet.  The Internet can answer any question, right?  Here's what I found on the Internet. "Many modern Protestants consider the observation of Lent to be a choice, rather than an obligation. They may decide to give up a favorite food or drink (e.g. chocolate, alcohol) or activity (e.g., going to the movies, playing video games, etc.) for Lent."

 OK, so I thought of what I could give up.  Videos games would be easy because, I don't play video games.  Or is Wii Fit considered a video game?   Anyway, I thought about giving up something I really love and thought I could give up reading fiction for Lent.  That would be huge for me, but then it came right down to being sacrificial. Because I realized that I will be driving back and forth to California five weekends during Lent for women's retreats.  When I travel I listen to audio books. They make the time fly by as I drive.  Audio books keep me awake as I drive. Argh! I thought, "I can't give up the audio books."  Do audio books count as reading fiction? AND I need to review a few books for She Reads! And what about the book club that I belong to--next month's selection is a fiction book." I started to maneuver my way around the sacrificial offering of giving up fiction reading for Lent.

I will honestly tell you, I decided not to give up fiction, because I don't think I can do it.  I would rather give up something hard, that I feel that I can carry through the entire Lenten season.  So, I am pondering.  Wondering what would be sacrifice, but within my ability to keep the Lenten vow. 

I will keep you posted . . .

Still trying to Keep the Heart-Print Faith,

Susanne