Lenten Journey

For lent I decided to give up Facebook. There are some people out there who don't even have facebook... so YES, I know you can survive without facebook.. and YES, I know it is not a necessity in life! But... I enjoy it!! I love being able to keep up with friends and family on an almost daily basis!! But, like anything there comes a point where we can take things a little far... I had facebook on my phone and would check it numerous times a day.. and when I say numerous.. I mean there have been times where I prlly checked it 6-7 times in a 10 minute span!! At a restaurant... in the car... sitting there talking to friends.. and then I would come home and sit on the computer on facebook for 3 to 4 hours... Soo I guess we can come to the conclusion that I was OBSESSED! ha ha!!

Soo when I began to think about Lent coming up I started to think about the documentary, No Impact Man which I had recently watched. The movie was about a husband and wife and their two year old and they phased out everything that was having a negative impact on the environment. They stopped buying anything except local produce grown within 250 miles and not in packaging.. they walked or rode bikes where ever they needed to go..they phased out electricity.. They took a very radical approach to raise awareness for the environment. There were so many things about the movie I enjoyed, but the biggest thing I got out of it was once they cut out big things like T.V. and electricity they began to lead such a simpler life and grew closer as a family. They got out of the house and went to parks and played family games!

So After watching it I began to think a lot about "simplifying". Since moving to Omaha I haven't had t.v... Well, I have a t.v. but we don't have cable and we don't get local channels because we have no cable box... And I LOVE it!!! I still watch dvd's but I am not imprisoned by a t.v. show every night!! I am looking back and realizing how much I worked my life around t.v.! So when I began thinking about lent, I was thinking about the purpose of giving up something, and the purpose is to Lent is about conversion, turning our lives more completely over to God and his way of life. Conversion means leaving behind an old way of living and acting in order to embrace new life in God. Which to me goes right along with simplifying our lives! Just like No Impact Man gained more quality time with his family. So, along with with more time for family and friends I am hoping to to build a strong relationship with God!!

I understand that cutting out facebook and t.v. doesn't just build your relationship with God, and it doesn't make you spend more time with family and friends.. Because even when you give up one vice in life there is always another waiting for you to pick it up... I found this true when I first became a vegetarian. I was giving up meat for my health... but I often found myself eating processed greasy bad foods! So when you make a choice to abstain from something negative in your life, you need to have the positive things in mind and be ready to embrace them.

So like every little journey in life, I am excited to see where my lenten journey brings me!!!

Peace and Love,

Green Teen!!!