Happy Mardi Gras!! I was going to whip up one my famous king cakes to get all gluttonous over tonight but as I sat on the couch last night and looked at the hours of prep that it takes )that I could have done during the three home bound snow days)...well it looks like Fat Tuesday is going to be Fat Sunday this year...
So as much as today means party and fun and getting all that sin out of our system, tomorrow marks Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. It is also that time of year where I get really annoyed at all of the Facebook posts about people giving up chocolate or alcohol or whatever they failed doing for their New Year's Resolution. I appreciate giving up vices, I really do, but the real meaning of Lent is less about giving things up and more about giving more time to God. If you are giving up chocolate and spending that time that you would normally be shame-eating a bag of Kisses at your desk praying or volunteering or doing something great for others then you have the right idea, but if you are giving it up and are in no way using that time to better your connection to the world or prepare for Easter then, please, stop. Just stop. Don't use my holy holiday as an excuse to lose five pounds and don't spend time slamming organized religion or Catholics or Muslims or Jews or anyone on every other day and then talk about how you are giving up shopping for 40 days teehee teehee. I know, I am being a rude Catholic myself, but I take a lot of shit for being Catholic in the first place, and I just want my Lent back, dammit.
Now that I have that out of my system...
For Lent this year I am giving up my iPhone during the evenings; I know that does not quite sound like a sacrifice to some, but for me it is a chance to put the distractions away and focus on something much more important: my time with my family, with myself, and with God.
Being a mama that also works full-time means that getting home at night means clocking into my other job; getting dinner together and in everyone's mouths, talking to Madeleine about her day, playing and reading books together, tubbie time, spending time with Matty and getting a little time for myself to relax, which is usually spent browsing Instagram, playing Words with Friends, tweeting about sitting on the couch....and before I know it I am tuned out of what is right in front of me and WAY more exciting than picture's of other people's babies and dinners: my baby and my dinner and my handsome hubby who wants to talk to me about all of the exciting things that we have going on.
So from when I get home in the evenings to when I go to bed at night for forty days I am going to put my phone away and stop being so busy, so distracted, so zombified into social media that I am neglecting the amazing blessings that are right there in my house for me to savor. Maybe this will give me a little more time to read the Bible, meditate, do some yoga stretches or reflect on my awesome life with my husband; maybe I can spend a few extra minutes snuggling my sleeping baby, smelling her hair and feeling her little breaths on my chest; maybe it will just give me the opportunity to slow. the. heck. down, which is something I have been in need of so intensely lately. All I can hope and pray for is that I will come out the other side of this holy season feeling renewed, recharged and more able to live in the moment and with grace, patience and appreciation for it all.
So as much as today means party and fun and getting all that sin out of our system, tomorrow marks Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. It is also that time of year where I get really annoyed at all of the Facebook posts about people giving up chocolate or alcohol or whatever they failed doing for their New Year's Resolution. I appreciate giving up vices, I really do, but the real meaning of Lent is less about giving things up and more about giving more time to God. If you are giving up chocolate and spending that time that you would normally be shame-eating a bag of Kisses at your desk praying or volunteering or doing something great for others then you have the right idea, but if you are giving it up and are in no way using that time to better your connection to the world or prepare for Easter then, please, stop. Just stop. Don't use my holy holiday as an excuse to lose five pounds and don't spend time slamming organized religion or Catholics or Muslims or Jews or anyone on every other day and then talk about how you are giving up shopping for 40 days teehee teehee. I know, I am being a rude Catholic myself, but I take a lot of shit for being Catholic in the first place, and I just want my Lent back, dammit.
Now that I have that out of my system...
For Lent this year I am giving up my iPhone during the evenings; I know that does not quite sound like a sacrifice to some, but for me it is a chance to put the distractions away and focus on something much more important: my time with my family, with myself, and with God.
Being a mama that also works full-time means that getting home at night means clocking into my other job; getting dinner together and in everyone's mouths, talking to Madeleine about her day, playing and reading books together, tubbie time, spending time with Matty and getting a little time for myself to relax, which is usually spent browsing Instagram, playing Words with Friends, tweeting about sitting on the couch....and before I know it I am tuned out of what is right in front of me and WAY more exciting than picture's of other people's babies and dinners: my baby and my dinner and my handsome hubby who wants to talk to me about all of the exciting things that we have going on.
So from when I get home in the evenings to when I go to bed at night for forty days I am going to put my phone away and stop being so busy, so distracted, so zombified into social media that I am neglecting the amazing blessings that are right there in my house for me to savor. Maybe this will give me a little more time to read the Bible, meditate, do some yoga stretches or reflect on my awesome life with my husband; maybe I can spend a few extra minutes snuggling my sleeping baby, smelling her hair and feeling her little breaths on my chest; maybe it will just give me the opportunity to slow. the. heck. down, which is something I have been in need of so intensely lately. All I can hope and pray for is that I will come out the other side of this holy season feeling renewed, recharged and more able to live in the moment and with grace, patience and appreciation for it all.
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