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.
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| 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?
I think it's awesome how you're learning Swahili. My grandfather is fluent in English, Zulu, and Afrikaans, and knows a bit of Swahili I think, but he was stationed in South Africa, where there is less Swahili and more Zulu. ;) Have fun!
ReplyDelete-Kirsten