{Bringing Out the Dragons}

Day 2 of Lent.

This is my fourth year participating in Lent. My first year I was awfully pregnant with my son when the season started. I chose to give up listening to the radio, especially while driving, hoping I would use that silence to chat with the Man upstairs. It was hard, but I took steps toward being closer with God. It wasn't brutal, but it was very quiet in my car (until my son came at the end of March). My second year, I'm sorry to say, I can not remember what I gave up. My apologies. During my third year I chose to give up sweets and sleeping in. At that time our daughter was 5 months old and our son was 2yrs old :). So to lose more sleep then was necessary was quit the sacrifice. I would wake up at 7am and meet my friend Jill in my in-laws game room. We would sip hot tea and occasionally do yoga or just vent, and pray for each other if needed. I really enjoyed that time. It was time to be an adult and to really "wake up" with out kids around. This year I am fasting from sleeping in (again). I am trying my hardest to wake up before my kids do so I can have alone time with my self and with the Lord. I feel it will help me live each day more for the Lord if I start off with Him. I also want more discipline with reading His word. The most common way for me to communicate with Him is through quick prayer or worship music. It is wonderful and it is productive, but I want more. Next, I will be fasting from Facebook. Yikes. Ouch. The agony. Most people won't admit this, I am usually one of them, but I love Facebook. I love seeing pictures of other people, and other peoples kids. I love connecting with people and sharing my kids with them through pictures. I love seeing peoples sense of humor on a daily basis through their "Status Updates" and "Wall Posts". I am a Facebooker. I am a Facebooky.

I got the name of this post from our Pastor at church (Ed Gungor). He refers to Lent as a time to "let the dragons come out" because of the suffering that takes place when you go with out something you love. Like, coffee. Some people mutate into something from the Exorcist when they don't have their coffee or their "dragons" come out. It causes a void in your life. So instead of giving into your need for coffee, you hand your need to God. You let Him walk with you through your suffering. You fill your void with God.

I am human and I , like many other people, get caught up in the false loves of this world. I get tricked into thinking that I need to sleep in order to be a better mom, or to work harder. I think that I need Facebook to stay connected with people. I forget that I need God to be first in my life in order to be a better mother and I need to work for God in order to be a hard worker. And I need to love more like God loves in order to be a better friend and connect more to all of the great people in my life.

For the next 39 days, I will be digging huge hole in my soul, and filling my holes with the Light of the Lord. I will let the light shine through me, in hopes that I can be a light to my kids, husband, and friends.

So, there will be LESS of this......

And this....

And MORE of this...

And this...

And this...

Have a Great Day!