{"id":44220,"date":"2014-03-10T10:30:55","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T15:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=44220"},"modified":"2014-03-08T10:50:13","modified_gmt":"2014-03-08T16:50:13","slug":"im-giving-lent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/03\/im-giving-lent\/","title":{"rendered":"What I\u2019m Giving Up for Lent and Why"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Get<\/a><\/p>\n

So I don\u2019t know about you guys, but I\u2019m really excited about this Lent. I don\u2019t know why because I usually dread Lent when it comes around. The thoughts that usually enter my head are things like, \u201cWell, here we go again. Time to deny the flesh and things. Joy.\u201d or \u201cGoodbye, happiness. See you at Easter.\u201d Yup, time to give up that darned Facebook and fall off of the Earth for the next 40 days.<\/p>\n

But this Lent for me will be an interesting one for me, to say the least. I\u2019m right on the brink of graduation in May. My world is about to change drastically (and needless to say, I am soooo excited to be done with school forever). I\u2019m not quite sure what\u2019s gonna happen and I know that this Lent will be quite the challenge for me.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re gonna think I\u2019m crazy, but within the next 40 days I will be going to\/serving on 3 retreats, going to New York and Boston while also trying to do this Lent thing and try finish school and serve the Church and blah blah blah other things. Ya, my parents aren\u2019t exactly the happiest about all of this. I just hope I don\u2019t fail all of my classes. Oh well. It should be interesting to say the least. I\u2019m really looking forward to seeing what God has in store for me.<\/p>\n

So anyways, here\u2019s the things I\u2019m going to be giving up for Lent and why. Feel free to post your list in the comments!<\/p>\n

Going Mirror-less<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This Lent I will be giving up mirrors. I guess it\u2019s kind of implied that this also means that I will be giving up makeup as well, unless I want a disaster of a clown face. I guess this one is kind of a penance for all of us. Yay for more sanctification!<\/p>\n

I think it was a couple of Lents ago that I heard about doing this. One of my goals for this Lent is to focus less on myself and how others see me. I think this will be a good way to forget about myself and focus more on the needs of others. I also think that it will be interesting as far as job interviews and networking parties go, as I will have to break my fast in order to give the best impressions. I imagine it will make my We\u2019ll see how it goes\u2026<\/p>\n

Going Netflix-less<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This one is mostly due to wanting to have more time to spend with the Lord, but it also kinda has to do with the fact that my dad has kicked me off of his Netflix account. Sigh. Oh, adulthood.<\/p>\n

Anyways, I guess this one was sort of forced on me. I\u2019m really sad to give up my Chuck-marathoning as I was really getting into that show, probably a little too much. The other day I took this thing called the Collegiate Learning Assessment that tested how UT has taught me how to think. I was really paranoid that it was actually a test to see it I was fit for Fulcrum, which is the evil agency that Chuck is trying to fight. See, it\u2019s little things like this that tell me that I need to watch less TV.<\/p>\n

But I really think this is a good way to slow down and disconnect from the world a little bit. I\u2019m not saying that secular shows are made by the devil or anything, but I can definitely see how someone without faith could be easily influenced to sin because of secular media. I can also see myself becoming more used to things like cohabitation and contraception because of the commonality of it on TV. It\u2019ll be nice to just live in the world without these influences for a while. Thanks, Dad. I guess.<\/p>\n

Going More Jesus<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

So I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m gonna be able to pull this one off, but I guess we\u2019ll see. Also, I don\u2019t know if the title of this section makes sense but whatever. I\u2019m going to try and spend at least 30 minutes to an hour everyday with Our Lord in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Hmm, ya good luck with that one.<\/p>\n

I suppose if it\u2019s meant to be, God will give me the time. I\u2019m currently kind of discerning my vocation right now so I think this will be a good practice to slow everything down and be with Jesus. I know He\u2019ll show me the way as long as I trust in Him.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s my list! Let me know what you think. Is this too much? Is this too little? Will it never be enough? What are you doing for Lent and why?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be praying for all of you this Lent and I ask that you please pray for me as well. Happy fasting!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So I don\u2019t know about you guys, but I\u2019m really excited about this Lent. I don\u2019t know why because I usually dread Lent when it comes around. The thoughts that usually enter my head are things like, \u201cWell, here we go again. Time to deny the flesh and things. Joy.\u201d or \u201cGoodbye, happiness. See you… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-blog","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t