Lent 2011!

Mar 8

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I have never done anything for Lent.  Never fasted.  Never sacrificed anything.  Nada.  Zip.  Zero.  Zilch.

I always thought Lent was some weird holiday for Catholics (just being honest here).  But it’s more than that.  Lent is simply a time of preparation.  It’s a 40 day preparation, leading up to the Holy Week (the week of Jesus’ death and resurrection).

Lent

I was out running tonight with a group of guys.  I get together with them once a week (at least).  We workout, run and even study together.  It’s a great group.  Tonight, we ended up on the subject of Lent.  One of the guys in our group basically said, “We should do it.  We should sacrifice something for Lent.”  So, we decided to go for it.

Since Lent is a time of preparation through sacrifice, we will each be sacrificing something to God for 40 days.  Each guy chose something that would be difficult for him to give up.  The idea being that it would be something difficult, a challenge, something that would really be a sacrifice.  One guy chose sweets, and another chose Mountain Dew.

What about me?  I wasn’t sure what to give up.  I was stuck.

So I went to my ever faithful wife and asked her what she thought.  When I asked her to make it tough, I had no idea how tough she was going to go.  Still, it’s a great challenge and I’m going to go forward with it.

For 40 days, I’m going to give up social media!  (Isn’t she brutal?)

I’m exempting my blog from this fast/sacrifice.  All other social media will go.  Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, Tumblr, Path, etc.  40 days.  All gone.  No comments.  No posts.  No status updates.  No picture posts.  Nothing.

My goal is to spend the time I would usually be on social media, reading Scripture, praying and clinging to God as Easter approaches.

So, there you have it.  Lent 2011 – no social media!

What do you think about Lent?

Will you be sacrificing anything this year?

About Stan Rodda

Follower. Husband. Father. Shepherd. Apostle. Husker.

Posted on March 8, 2011, in disciplines, holidays, Jesus, pastors, polls, Prayer, qotd, social media, social settings, technology. Bookmark the permalink. 25 Comments.

  1. Sarah Moore | March 8, 2011 at 10:56 pm

    I read this thinking, “Is Stan in my head?”..lol. I’m inspired. Goodbye Facebook… Hello, God 🙂

    Reply
  2. Charlie's Church of Christ | March 9, 2011 at 1:06 am

    I will not be giving up anything this year – but a social media fast is a great idea (though I’m glad the blog will stay alive!)

    Reply
  3. bill (cycleguy) | March 9, 2011 at 5:05 am

    I hate to admit it but with all that has been going on, it snuck up on me. I will have to pray and consider what God wants. Can’t give up social media since I am not involved except my blog. 🙂 btw: I was like you. I had barely heard of Lent, let alone practice it, until just a few years ago.

    Reply
    • Stan Rodda | March 9, 2011 at 7:09 am

      Same with me, Bill. I hadn’t even thought of it until yesterday. The more our group talked about it, the more we felt the challenge surface. So, we went for it. And I’m with you, I had barely heard about it until about 6 years ago. I owe you an email as well. I’ll get that done as soon as I can.

      Reply
  4. Jay S. | March 9, 2011 at 6:46 am

    Maybe I will be mayor of places on foursquare now

    Reply
  6. Jay S. | April 16, 2011 at 10:25 am

    Dude lent is over!

    Reply
  7. Stan Rodda | March 9, 2011 at 10:19 am

    Thanks for sharing my blog link on your site. I really appreciate it.

    Reply

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