And so it begins...

Ah, Lent... Yep, it's that time again. Pretty much everyone you run into is familiar with the idea of giving something up. If you are Catholic, it's almost an expectation from those around you. There are many people that aren't Catholic, other Christian sects, that will also give something up for Lent as well, but mainly, it seems associated with Catholics as accurate or inaccurate as that may be.

This time honored tradition is intended to be a form of self-sacrifice as we make preparations for Easter. We remember the suffering of Christ for our sins just prior to His resurrection and although our own "giving something up" would never match the sacrifice of our Savior, it helps to ground us and bring us back to the gravity of our sins. At least, it's supposed to.

When I was young, I noticed that giving something up for Lent became a very much a contest of who could be more sacrificing. A person who loved soft drinks suddenly took every opportunity to declare, "Oh, no, I can't have that, I gave it up for Lent." It almost becomes a competition prior to the start of Lent, "So, what are you giving up for Lent?" A challenge that, to me, comes off as, "How holy are you? Are you a good Christian/Catholic? Can I come up with a better sacrifice than you?" Lenten sacrifices take on a whole new face when during the six week time period things that are given up become new topics of conversation. "I'm sorry I'm so tired lately, I gave up caffeine for Lent and it's really wearing on me." Today's social media avenues are a great medium for expressing one's plight, "Day three of no chocolate. I would love a Snickers right about now." I can't help it, but all I see is, "Look at me, look at me, aren't I holy?" with a side of "Feel sorry for me and these religious practices I've adopted."

Another phenomenon that happens, though surely less frequently, I'd hope, is the sacrifice that really isn't a sacrifice. "Oh, I'm giving up skydiving" for someone who never goes skydiving, or "I'm giving up McDonald's" for a person who never goes. More often, this type of sacrifice is probably more likely seen from one who only has minimal interactions with the "negative" item, a person who eats ice cream once or twice a week to give up ice cream really isn't a sacrifice, or someone who gives up exercise when they really want an excuse to get out of doing it.

Possibly the most common habit is that of giving up something that the person perceives as bad. People choose unhealthy dietary habits that they feel have become excessive, intake of chocolate or soft drinks. Some decide to avoid certain spending habits they feel have gotten out of hand and decide to give up Starbucks visits or regular trips to the video store. More recently, perceived social media addictions are coming under assault with a large number of people bidding farewell to Facebook and Twitter for the next 40 days. While these things may fall under that category of sacrifice, I'm not sure that it achieves the purpose. In the case of some, it's an excuse to jump start self-improvement, but does that really do anything to bring glory to God? It may benefit your health, your pocketbook, your relationship with friends and family, but what about your relationship with God?

And all of this for what? Does giving up chocolate really bring you closer to God and closer to being the type of person you want to be for Him?

In more recent years, we've heard at church (at Catholic churches anyway) a recommendation to alter the perception of Lenten sacrifice. Rather than being encouraged to give something up, we are encouraged to take on something that brings us closer to God. Suggestions include attending daily mass or getting more involved in charity work. Sometimes it is difficult to work such things into our schedule. It is a sacrifice, after all.

No matter what we choose for our Lenten sacrifice, should we choose to participate, I think it's important to keep in mind Matthew 6:16-18. Just sayin'.

Welcome 2013... two weeks later

The last time we spoke, it was September. I could make excuses about not updating my blog, but the truth is, I was lazy and it wasn't a priority. How's that for honesty?

The holidays hit as they typically do, with me not planning nearly enough. What else is new?

Halloween approached and I only fleetingly considered taking the kids out, but had no real desire, so I didn't bother considering costumes. Ok, I really wanted to dress at least one of my kids as a pirate, but didn't really want to do the work, so I let it be a fleeting thought. Halloween morning, I was convinced (or was that guilted?) to take the kids out by one of my neighbors and spent the afternoon sewing a pirate costume for Noah and scrambling with items August already had to make him a train engineer for their first time trick-or-treating. It ended up being a great evening and the boys had a blast once they got a hang of the concept.

Our Thanksgiving plans seemed to change by the day. The in-laws were coming, then not, then they were, then not. We invited my brother and his family and they joined us. Preparations were in the works for one, then two Thanksgiving dinners. I bought two turkeys only to discover we had one in the freezer. Then we only ended up with one Thanksgiving dinner and my in-laws were unable to join us. Regardless, it was a wonderful meal. I was successful in my first attempt at cranberry sauce made with real fresh cranberries and my first time ever making pie - a fantastic pumpkin pie made from scratch all the way down to the homemade pumpkin purée. Yes, I'm bragging.

Christmas came upon me before I knew it. It didn't help that I somehow missed the memo that my in-laws wanted to celebrate two weeks early when they came for a visit. How I missed that, I don't know, but I went with the flow and had their gift shipped to them since I ordered it while they were here visiting.

I thought Christmas day would be a nice calm day with just us. We had gone to visit my family last year and since Taran's parents had just been here to visit, we decided to stay put. The morning was great with cinnamon rolls for breakfast (this time I cheated with cinnamon rolls from a can) and Taran and the boys opening presents. It was lovely and picturesque until the power went out. Come to find out, there had been tornadoes in the area and the high winds knocked some trees down on power lines. So, there I was, Christmas night cooking by candle light and flashlight. That was an adventure. At the same time it was kind of nice having the "mood lighting" and I was slightly looking forward to another candlelit evening the next day. Taran went in search of a generator since our fridge and freezer were losing their cool (ok, that was a bad pun) and came home early from work the next day to get the van and run to pick it up along with other supplies. I had been out that morning obtaining candles, flashlights, and other supplies to help us get through the next several days as the electric company predicted our power would be out for the rest of the week. We got the generator up and running. We had minimum power for the most essential things including the fridge, the deep freeze, and some to outlets for charging our phones. I was ready to hunker down and relax in the less hectic lifestyle of electronic "needs." A few hours later, the power returned. In the end I think it was only about 30 hours that we were without power. Despite not really needing all the supplies we gathered, it's nice to know we now have them in case we should need them again. Not having a generator was one thing that worried me living in Houston with the occurrence of hurricanes here.

A week later, my brother and his family came to visit again. They came bearing gifts from my family in the Dallas area where they had gone for Christmas. We celebrated Christmas for a third time with  presents all around and had a nice visit with them.

After the whirlwind, I finally have had the opportunity to realize it's January. A new year. I have projects to work on and books to read and more things I want to get done than I have time for. I'm not sure what this new year will bring, but I'm looking forward to getting things done. =)