Embracing Life's Journey: Lent.

Lent is what I would call an excellent opportunity to put yourself to the test. The ultimate test of allowing God to take control and work wonders in your life. Truly giving up something that is something you cannot live without and allowing God to fill that void - or hole if you have read my previous blogs - is the epitome of what I have been striving to do in my life and inspire each of you to do. The form of fasting that you choose can be anything that you really struggle without on a daily basis.

Tonight we attended the Ash Wednesday service at church and as we were walking down the isle to receive our cross of ashes I kept thinking about what I could give up that would be a real test for me. I had decided when I woke up this morning that I was going to give up ice cream. Now, that doesn't seem like much to some people probably but, ice cream is seriously one of my major weaknesses. So as we were in the car driving home we were talking about what each of us was giving up and my husband suggested giving up facebook. Now to some this may seem insignificant but to many people (especially in our generation - Generation Y) facebook is part of our daily routine...multiple times a day. With the access we have today to the Internet through our smart phones, wi-fi, lap tops, tablets, etc. it is amazing to me we get anything accomplished in our days. In fact I was literally just telling (more like crying) to Sean today that I get nothing done throughout the day - sadly I felt the reason was because of school and Cannon were so demanding. So I thought about that and went through my day and I realized Sean was on to something. I have become so engulfed in knowing what my 'friends' are up to that I literally would check my facebook several times a day. I tend to keep my 'friends' limited to people that I know on a personal level of some sort but most of the people on there I don't talk to on a regular basis. The amount of time I spent each time I checked my facebook was huge and definitely interfering in my day causing me to get caught up and distracted. Not to mention when someone says something ridiculous I would talk about it to Sean - as if it even really mattered in the scheme of life.

So...Sean and I have both decided that we will be giving up facebook and fast food (as part of our goal to get healthier) for lent. We both admittedly played on facebook this morning but after walking out of church this evening and having our discussion we deleted the facebook apps on our iPhone's and the iPad. This is (sadly) going to be a long first week or so but I suspect that God will find amazing ways to step into our lives more and get us back on track and help us refocus our extra time and energy on His will.

I personally and so very excited about this and I am looking forward to what God has in store for us over the next several weeks, leading into the rest of our lives. :) I will still be sharing pictures and videos of Cannon on here so don't worry. Here are some pictures of our trip to Michigan this past week. Unfortunately Charlie's marker had a layer of very thick ice over it so we couldn't get any pictures of it but we did get pictures of Cannon with the flowers and teddy bear we brought for Char. We will be heading back up there this Spring and Summer and Fall etc. so eventually we will get some great pictures - hopefully.

Side note: It was a rainy, cloudy and dark day the day we went to see Charlie and literally, I kid you not, the moment we stepped out of the truck the sun came out over Charlie's grave. I was so overcome with peace and it blew me away. I of course still had many tears and still felt the sharp knife but I did not feel one bit of anger. It was so refreshing and something I have really struggled with in the past. I love and miss Charlie so much but somehow I am slowly starting to heal.