Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.
I am not Catholic or Lutheran or a member of any mainstream big name denomination but I do have an appreciation for the Church calendar. I thank the time I went to a Lutheran school for that. At times I thought it was torture but even then I knew I was learning things that would increase in value as I grew in knowledge and understanding. Lent is one of those things growing in value.
In my layman's terms Lent is the season leading up to Easter where we consciously turn our thoughts on the life that we have been born into... that depraved live, this depraved me... while knowing that there is a perfect Father God that is all good... the utter opposite of who we are without Christ. It is a sobering season of reflection and repentance.
BUT! Oh I love that "but"! There is hope, there is light, there is life! That hope, light, life is in Christ. The perfect  Son of God who willingly gave up His life so that I might have the hope of eternal fellowship with God our Father!
See, just as I typed those words hope flared new in my heart, a smile touched my lips. This probably happened for you too as you read those simple inadequate words.
For me personally, in an effort to bring a bit more stillness to my world so that I can truly contemplate all that I want to during this season, I try to choose something to "give up" for a while. Something that tends to not lead me to Christ. Some give up meat, some give up dairy or sweets, some give up TV, the list goes on. Being pregnant I will not be curtailing my diet as we already try to eat balanced and healthy. I gave up chocolate a couple years ago, that was hard, but this year I am giving up something that truly occupies more time than I devote to God (including going to church, prayer, reading the Bible, etc). Facebook.
It will be hard. In the 12 hours I have been observing Lent (yes, I was sleeping for 6 of those hours) I have already thought of at least 4 "status updates" that would get lots of responses. I have thought of things I know will happen during this season that I would love to share with my friends globally (like finding out if Gummy Bear is a boy or a girl), I have thought of things that I will miss seeing. But, there's that word again, in the end, when I celebrate the glorious resurrection of my Lord and Saviour on Easter morning, it will be worth all the silly little things that I will find hard to give up in the meantime.
So here is to a little self sacrifice so I will have an appreciation of the ultimate sacrifice.
This website gives a pretty good overview of Lent. And he also gives a pretty good explanation of why some churches don't observe Lent.