Journey 2013 - Giving Up

Welcome to the (very late!) March installation of the Journey through 2013 blog along. As mentioned previously, the purpose is to commit to a purposeful exploration of some facet of your life and then write about one aspect each month. Thanks to Mathnerd for joining in the fun!


Lent is the theme for March, which is very fitting as it spans almost the entire month with Easter coming on the last day of the month. Lent is a penitential time of preparation for Easter and was established to help those coming into the church. (i.e. ME!)  Often, Lent is thought of the time to give up something that you want to eliminate from your life and add something to fill the empty place. Lent is the preparation time for those coming into the church - a time of learning, receiving blessings and hearing from God. The rest of the Church joins the Elect in their penitential rites to remind themselves of that time when they too were waiting to come into the church.

What did I give up for Lent? I gave up using my phone for facebook. It is harder than it sounds. Apparently, I have a problem of using social media to try to connect with people instead of connecting face-to-face. It is easier to just log on and see what people are doing far away instead of picking up the phone to call someone.

What did I add? I have tried to say the Rosary daily. And I have accepted all social invitations that have worked with my schedule (i.e. an evening where I might prefer to stay at home being an introvert. The second "add" occurred by accident but it really makes sense. If I am trying to replace online with in person interaction, the add needs to be something that makes sense as a replacement.

Lent is only a few more days and what have I learned from my journey this month? I've learned to give myself grace when I fail and encourage when I succeed. The journey of faith is like hiking a mountain - sometimes the way is steep and sometimes the way is flat but both types of paths have blessings along with their difficulties.

Choose to dwell on the blessings.

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Journey into Catholicism

Jan - Epiphany
Feb - Love
March - Lent
April - Easter
May -Pentecost
June - Birthday Bliss
July - Saint Day
August - Sunshine
September  - Anticipation of Waiting
October - Tears
November - Winter
December - Advent / Christmas