I’ll confess there are quite
a number of things I should sacrifice—as of thirty years ago: letting
frustrations get to me; sugar; chocolate; carbs—in general; Diet
Dews (I have, however, cut down to ½ every few days…ONE HALF! I literally pour half down my sink. That is HUGE for moi! Yes, and wasteful. But it's for a good cause, right?); Diet Vanilla Cokes from Sonic
(This addiction, too, is one I am making significant improvements on for my
well-being—aarrrgggghhhhh...); sitting (As in sitting on my couch toooooooo much, watching
the telly, and not moving around enough to get my metabolism going. Yep. Me
loves to sit.); being shamefully disorganized. Etc. Etc. Etc. I could probably list about thirty more
issues/things/foods/bad habits I need to immediately sacrifice. I won't. You’re welcome.
Instead, at this time of
year, i.e. Lent, I’d like to share that TLC and I spend a few days prior to Ash
Wednesday discussing what we should give up. When she was young, I
encouraged her to challenge herself. My siblings and I learned, early on, if we gave up something we didn’t even need/want/or have, Lent went a lot
smoother! It was wrong. So wrong.
I’ve gained weight and I’m
mad at myself. TLC has lost a lot of weight and I’m mad at her. (Just kiddin'.
Honestly. I am!) Anyway, the logical thing for me to do was to try, once again, in
Jesus’ name, to give up sugar. Instead, I made it “snacks.” Mostly because at least 3/4ths of our "snacks" involve sugar and/or chocolate. We both indulge in snacks. Every day. Sometimes twice a day. Sometimes four times a day. (I could be considered out of control.)
We determined we'd only have three meals a day. (We use the term "meals" rather loosely because we both normally have very light
breakfasts and mostly light dinners/suppers.) I repeat: No snacks. None.
ESPECIALLY zero after our last meal. Our hope is that Jesus’ sacrifice will
inspire us. (Two nights ago, as I watched TV, I had to pray these words:
Please, Jesus. Help me. Help me to stay on this couch or go to my bedroom and
get in bed. Before I head to that kitchen and snack. Please, Jesus. PLEASE.
PLEASE. PLEASE. I’m proud to say my plea must have been heard. I went to bed without a sidetrack by the fridge.)
So far, so good...but it has just been four days. Kiddin'. Again. WE CAN DO THIS.
