Lenten Sacrifices

I've been giving things up for Lent since I was in about 9th grade.  The first thing I remember giving up was strawberry Cremesavers.  (Remember those creamy, individually-wrapped Lifesavers?)  I grew up with a number of Catholic friends, so I picked that habit up from them, and am quite grateful for it.

Since about 2007, I've given up facebook for Lent.  It's always difficult at first because of how much I've come to rely on facebook for communication and staying in the loop with my friends around the world, but I've come to look forward to it every year.  By this time of the year, I've usually become so attached to my need to know what's happening in all of my friends' lives, and my need to share every mundane detail of my life, that facebook takes up much more of my free time than it should.  In giving up facebook for Lent, I'm freed for 40 days (46 days, really, because I don't take Sundays "off") from the anxiety of wondering if I've missed some big news, and from the narcissistic idea that nearly 700 people care that I got new curtains.  I have so much more free time than I ever imagined I actually had in my packed schedule.

I try to fill that free time with worthwhile activities each Lent.  This year, in addition to catching up on some reading, I'm trying to learn some Swahili.  I just installed Rosetta Stone for Kiswahili on my computer, and I am so excited to get started.  After going to both Mombasa and the Rift Valley in Kenya and seeing how few children in those areas were comfortable communicating in English, I realized I really should try to learn some Swahili.  Swahili and English are the two official languages in Kenya, but English isn't very widespread outside of the urban areas.  In addition to the official languages, there are dozens of local/tribal languages and dialects.  Despite three years of German in high school, I've never really felt comfortable with any language other than English, so it's going to take some work, but I'm willing to put in the effort.

600 children ready for VBS out in the Rift Valley

All of the amazing things that happen to me during Lent--better prayer life, more consistently working out, more time for self-improvement--make me feel like giving up facebook for Lent isn't much of a sacrifice at all.  It reminds me (in a small way) of how Jesus told us that "All who have given up home or brothers and sisters or father and mother or children or land for me will be given a hundred times as much."  (Matthew 19:29).  No, giving up facebook isn't the same as giving up a home or a family, but in giving it up, I do feel like I'm being given 100 times as much fulfillment in return.

What are you giving up for Lent this year?  How is God working in your life through that sacrifice?

Prayer circles

I recently read a book called "The Circle Maker" by a local pastor & author named Mark Batterson.  In it, he talks about how God wants us to "pray circles" around our biggest dreams and greatest fears.  Prayer has never really been one of my strengths, but this book has inspired and excited me to pray bolder prayers and dream bigger dreams.

I'm discovering that I like to be doing something physical while I pray, to help me focus.  Usually it's hiking or running, but this week I tried some prayer-painting.  It served the double purpose of allowing me to pray for my dreams while painting, and also giving me a physical reminder to KEEP praying circles around my dreams:

 

The dreams God has placed in my heart aren't completely clear yet, but I know they involve me spending an extended period of time in Kenya.  I cannot adequately explain to you how much joy being in Kenya and serving the people there brings me.  Over the past two summers, I've spent a total of nearly 6 weeks in various parts of Kenya, loving on the children and serving their leaders through several different outreaches.  I fell in love with the country and the people, and I know God has given me this dream to serve the people of Kenya full-time.

I don't know when God will call me to go back to Kenya with a one-way ticket, and I don't know what it will look like when I get there, but I'm praying circles around that dream in the meantime.  I'm praying for clarity for my vision, for provision to get me there, and for the faith I'll need to rely on God in whatever situations I end up.  I've already started recruiting some friends to be praying for my dreams with me, and I'd like to invite you to be praying, too.  And check out "The Circle Maker" and start praying for bigger dreams & visions for yourself, as well, and let me know how I can pray for those dreams for you, too.