40 Days

Recently the Lord has been tugging on my heart about SACRIFICE. What does it mean? And what am I willing to sacrifice on a personal level?
Today was the official start for the 40-day period of Lent. Many people in the church will be giving up something in these next 40 days, whether for the right reasons or not. Soda, chocolate, and Facebook are common things that people fast.
Days before this season, I had no idea I would be participating in such a ritualistic observance. I didn't grow up Catholic or Lutheran, so I had no experience with Lent. One day when I was browsing my Facebook newsfeed, an ad in the sidebar caught my attention. It was for World Vision ACT:S. I decided to click on it and look into it more.
World Vision ACT:S is a 6-week challenge over the period of Lent to explore how acts of service can reorient our everyday lives. The launching pad for the challenge was to define "sacrifice" and read Romans 12:1-2. This is what those verses say:
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
The Lord desires to be close with us. In fact, He is jealous for us. He didn't just create us in His image to boast about us! He sent His only Son to die on the cross for our sins and give us eternal life (John 3:16). Now THAT's what you call the ultimate act of love and sacrifice! The cross is a symbol of divine romance. Jesus laid down His life for us. He went through unbearable amounts of pain and suffered for every sin - the white lies, the murders, the gossip... EVERY wrongdoing - of every person that ever did and will walk this earth. That's pure love.
This perfect and holy act of sacrifice compels me to do the same for the glory of the Lord. No, I'm not going to go out and crucify myself on a tree. But I won't be afraid of persecution if it comes to that. I will live a life of righteousness to honor my King and my Father!
How am I going to do that? After thinking through the many things I could sacrifice and the reasons why I would do each, I narrowed it down to this:
I will give up all Internet use except for homework, blogging, e-mail, and ACT:S updates. I will not use the Internet as a "filler" for gaps of time that are both short and long when I have nothing else to do. Instead, I will dedicate that time to the Lord through prayer, reading the Scriptures, fellowshipping with other believers, loving on others, speaking words of encouragement, listening, writing, acting humbly, serving, and being real.
This act of sacrifice will not be easy. It's going to hurt and push me beyond my norm. It's going to require selflessness. I'm going to have to get rid of the "me, me, me" syndrome that's been governing my mind for a long time now. It will be a spiritual battle.
But I know with the Lord by my side and the Holy Spirit living inside of me, I will be able to persevere through these next 40 days! Even though I may fall, I will not give up. I will stay strongly rooted in the Lord and keep my eyes focused on Him.
I don't need to schedule out a huge chunk of my day for the Lord. It's definitely beneficial if I do and the Lord rejoices in that; however, the Lord desires my ENTIRE day! He yearns for bits and pieces of every hour, so that's what I'm going to give Him. I'm going to strive to see Jesus in every moment of my day. I'm going to be a beacon of joy in a place of hopelessness. I'm going to thank the Lord for His beautiful creation surrounding me. I'm going to sprinkle words of encouragement and comfort to the broken.
And even if I stumble, I will not be discouraged. I will be comforted by His grace and keep trying. It will be a process but I am excited for the journey the Lord will take me on during this time. I am the Lord's.

A Slave To Media

Two days ago I took a media fast. It was for a class, but at the same time, it was still something incredibly interesting to experience and learn from.

I scrambled out of bed to the obnoxious buzzing of my alarm at 7:30 a.m. and scurried to class. Initially I forgot about my media fast. I read through the few texts I received from Twitter and the weather forecast, and then I turned my phone off and set it on my desk the remainder of the day.

It was crazy. There were moments when I wanted to turn on my iTunes shuffle and browse through Pinterest, or moments when I wanted to text my friends and ask them how their days were going. It was so hard restraining myself from using media. I felt Amish, in a way (ha ha).

My initial observation was pretty straightforward: Media influences us so much. In our fast-paced, pop culture driven American society, we cannot go one hour without the media world intersecting with our own world. We constantly rely on text messages to communicate with people, Facebook to keep us up-to-date with our friend's lives, Twitter to rant about our daily little happenings of life, and T.V. shows to pull ourselves away from reality and place ourselves in the footsteps of a make-believe character. It's no surprise we become stressed when we don't have these media tools to rely on.

Earlier this week, I logged my media intake for an entire 24-hour period. I filled an entire page in my notebook tracking down every time I used media. I sent a text at 8:00 a.m.; I listened to the radio during my drive to the auto shop; I played Words With Friends during night class; I watched "The Big Bang Theory" on my friend's Netflix. The list goes on and on

After reflecting on my daily dosage of media, I realized that I am irrevocably dependent on media. Media is my master and I am its slave. Why am I okay with this? Media keeps me connected and entertained, and without it, I feel lost and uninformed.

Yet... while my mind compels me to believe this, my heart knows that being tied to media is ultimately tearing away at me little by little.

Let's go back to my media fast. Despite feeling the need to turn on my computer and log-in to Facebook, I felt FREE. I felt more alive and happy than I have been in such a long time. I found joy in talking about life with my RA; I found peace in walking between classes without having to check my phone; I found productivity in doing my homework ahead of schedule rather than waiting for the last minute to do it. I was like a little bird flying free from my cage containing heavy loads of media! As cheesy and cliche as that sounds, it's so incredibly true. The only better feeling in the world is overflowing with the presence of the Lord. And that's saying a lot.

What I learned from my media fast: Media distracts us from the simple things in life.

It drives our attention to the "cyber world", for lack of a better term. Our physical surroundings are slumbered into the background and we become engaged with the pictures, words and videos on the screen. Our minds travel INTO the media form - whether it be a computer, T.V., cellphone, or radio.

When we become absorbed into media, like water in a sponge, it is difficult for us to focus on the simple things in life. We surpass the beautiful moments of life surrounding us without the blink of an eye. We don't see the pink and yellowed painted sky outside our window, and so we miss the opportunity to run outside, lie down on the grass, and enjoy the autumn wind whisper on our cheeks. We lock our eyesight into the screen and don't hear our roommate talk about all that the Lord has been doing in his/her life, and so we miss the opportunity to encourage him/her and share similar thoughts with him/her.

There is so much happening around us, even in the tiny radius of our city. There are people with stories to be heard; there are events about culture and any possible human interest; there are mountains of books to be read; there are activities to DO and CREATE.
God created the world and everything in it wonderfully and uniquely. We should desire to discover it. Go on an adventure. Try something new. Instead of plugging yourself into your Xbox or Facebook for an hour, go on a bike ride. Bake a pie. Fly a kite. Read a non-fiction book about a cause that catches your attention. Knock on your neighbors' door and learn about them. I challenge you.

And this isn't just about you. This is about me.

Recently, my roommates convicted me of using the Internet much more than I should. Whenever I have a spurt of free time, it is so easy to plop down on my bed, snatch my laptop, and surf the Web.

So, I'm taking on a challenge. For the next month, I commit myself to:

• No Facebook or Twitter on my computer
• 15 minutes of Pinterest per day

What will I replace these things with? Ultimately, spending more time with the Lord and digging deeper into relationship with people. Genuinely loving on people by investing my time and energy into them. Learning more about my passion - fighting world hunger. Becoming more grateful in my everyday life. Appreciating the small things the Lord has placed in my life. And that's just the beginning. :-)