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Wow!! This one definitely hits home for me!! Thank you for sharing. Now I know what Iā€™m going to be doing on Monday - purging!! And searching for the root of that sin!! šŸ™šŸ»šŸ™šŸ»

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I love this! This is the first year since maybe 2019 that Iā€™ve really given up much bc the past few Lents have been so emotionally devastating that I couldnā€™t give up anything else. I tried to survive. As a result, my Easters were not particularly glorious.

This year Iā€™m giving up a few dietary things as well as social media. I reflected on it to make sure I wasnā€™t just using Lent as a self improvement tool like it sounds like you did.

I learned that those things really were keeping me from God. The food gave me a sense of control and man would I rage if I felt even the slightest bit of that control being taken away. (So so much had already happened that made me realize none of us really has control but also, it felt like others had so much control over me.) Iā€™m so much more at peace just a few days in although part of that is also bc those foods are so bad for me.

I realized social media was a hiding place from all thatā€™s overwhelming. Thatā€™s not always bad but it was at this time in my life. My daughters need my presence and my peace, and socials were taking both of those.

Have you ever read My God and My All? It was a well read mom pick about St Francis. There is so much in there about living without, although his asceticism isnā€™t something a mom could or should strive for.

His humility has shown me how very little humility I have. It helped me learn to turn the other cheekā€¦ in theory even if Iā€™m not always strong enough to live it in practice.

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