It Ain't No Desert....yet, that is

After becoming quite a sporadic blogger, I'm hoping a few of you still stop by. Here goes..

Fat Tuesday brought brightly colored beads and mediocre cake with the hope of finding, but not choking on, the plastic baby buried deep within the white flour, butter and sugar...oh and crazy colored icing.

Then came Ash Wednesday, where Catholic churches..and a few others, were crammed full to signify the start of Lent, a time of sacrifice for Jesus.

The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, repentance, self-denial — as they prepare for Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

Although we might not be practicing 'Catholetics' as Weston refers, we do embrace the idea of shifting our focus from distractions to the Resurrection. And we do that by choosing something to remove for 40 days and often something to add in, to draw closer to the Lord during those 40 days.

According to the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan.

If Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert, surely this Sister can give up something, right?

I would love to say my ultimate choice was the first...but sadly, no. I originally kicked around the idea of giving up sugar/desserts to loose a few lbs before my 20 year reunion in June. Don't judge. But ultimately, I knew the greater sacrifice was to give up a time-waster, distractor and procrastinator by the name of Facebook. Some questioned, a lot understood and I signed off right before midnight on Tuesday night. I even cleared my history on my computer and moved my app on my phone to the very end of the page as to not be tempted.

By Wednesday morning, I felt a little like Jerry Maquire after he wrote his infamous memo in the middle of the night, having to then live with his choice. Everyone clapped and cheered the next morning after reading a truly great perspective on a jaded industry. In reality, they really thought he had lost his mind. That one memo ultimately changed the entire scope of a career he had worked so hard to build.

I understand those of you who haven't drank the FB kool aid can't wrap your brain around why it would even be a big sacrifice to give up Facebook for a little over 5 weeks...and as I type this, I feel a bit foolish myself. There is something a little fun, and often brainless, about looking at pictures and hearing about friends' funny daily antics. I hid the annoying parts a long time ago....I don't care about the mafia, farm or anything else be collected. No offense.

So I logged off of the social network that has connected thousands, but in a way has made friendships one-dimensional. Face to face contact, with a lot of honesty and laughter (not LOL and ROFL), the opportunity to really see the facial expressions of my friend and the ability to give them a huge squeeze when I greet them is still the absolute best to me. That offers something logging on and reading cannot, plain and simple.

But if we are honest, there are bunches of little distractions around us that steal bits and pieces of our day and if piled all together, amount to quite a lot.

I bet I'm the only one.

At the end of the day, I want to be all there...wherever 'there' might be. Lots of things vie for my attention and divide my heart. That's not abundant living...not His plan for me.

Will I return to FaceBook in 40 days? Most likely. But I am sure looking forward to what He will teach me as I make a diligent effort to move my focus to things that last instead of things that distract.

And who knows? I might just find a few things to share on this little blog which has been neglected over the past month.

What's diving your heart or distracting you from His best for today?