I HEART Facebook...a little bit less

Remember how I said “I HEART Facebook”? Remember that? It wasn’t too long ago.

Well, I still HEART Facebook...but, I’ve given it up.

For Lent.

And I’m not Catholic.

Why, after proclaiming my undying love for it would I give it up?

And for so long?

Well, there are a few things for certain:
1. I cannot, will not give up sweets for Lent. That is crazy.
2. I choose not to give up Diet Coke. When I’m craving my sweets and don’t want to totally cancel out a workout I might have done, Diet Coke to the rescue!
3. If I’m going to give up some Internet related item, why not give up blogging. That means I might have to actually start writing stuff down in my girls baby books. I have such a long streak going of not writing in them that I don’t want to break it now.

You might recall in my first Facebook post that I called it “the ultimate time waster”. Truer words have never been typed.

Ultimate.
Time.
Waster.

I understand, I do not NEED Lent to actually give something up. By, hey, when in Rome…or the Vatican…

I’ve never done the Lent thing either, you know, not being Catholic and all.

I have a friend whose dad is Catholic. She, however, was raised going to church with her mom, at a church of Christ. Her parents are happily married and have been for many, many, many years. My friend, because she was part of a household that actually gave things up at Lent, was accustomed to the practice. During our friendship, she gave up: Coke (which pretty much flows through her veins so this was a big one for her), processed sugar (candy), and other insane things. AND SHE NEVER CAVED.

I was always so impressed.

Anyway, after proclaiming my love for Facebook a few weeks ago, I realized, I spend WAY TOO MUCH time on it.

I mean, I was kind of aware that I was neglecting other things because of it, but WOW, I was really neglecting things because of my old pal FB.

Since February 24th, I have not looked at Facebook, expect to type “…giving up Facebook for Lent” as my status on that Tuesday.

At first, I thought, what is everyone doing? I wonder if so and so had her baby or if so and so uploaded those pictures. I have had a few email notifications (which I meant to turn off on Tuesday but can’t go do it now because I might be tempted to check Status Updates) of people wanting to be my friend. And I can’t confirm them. I hope I’m not hurting feelings.

I mean, really, it’s ridiculous that I am feeling guilt about not confirming these friendships when I realize these people have probably forgotten that they even asked to be my friend.

Why didn’t I feel that same guilt about neglecting God? He has always been here, waiting for me to put down my computer and “hang out” with Him instead.

I have been neglectful in giving Him my “status updates” all the time.

I have not been as interested in finding out as much as I possibly can about Him and instead, have spent my time finding out about the person from high school and what he/she has been up to.

I have logged onto my computer the first thing too many mornings instead of opening up my Bible first thing in the morning.

When I have had a few minutes of quiet time, I have gone to the computer screen instead of the Bible.

I am prayful that this Lent season will give me perspective and help me to reprioritize my life. I want to know God and His Word as well as I knew the number of pieces of flair I had.

So, my blogging friends, I hope that, at the end of Lent, I will be able to write a post about what a soul-searching time this has been for me and how I have grown closer to God and know His word better.

That is my prayer.