unplugging

So, I have never done anything during Lent, as I’ve always assumed it was a Catholic ritual. And since I’m not Catholic, well, stands to reason that I wouldn’t participate in it.

However, the more research I do, the more I discover that it actually originated in the early church, and that denominations all over the planet practice Lent.

“The purpose of Lent is to be a season of fasting, self-denial, spiritual growth, conversion, and simplicity. Lent, which comes from the Teutonic (Germanic) word for springtime, can be viewed as a spiritual spring cleaning: a time for taking spiritual inventory and then cleaning out those things which hinder our corporate and personal relationships with Jesus Christ and our service to Him.”

And boy-oh-boy, do I have some hinderances/distractions to clean out.

Namely, things that live in the virtual world…a.k.a. this blog, Facebook and my cell phone.

Granted, I’m not a Facebook crazy-head that posts a status update every time my bladder gets full or when I eat a bowl of Fruit Loops. And I don’t spend an inordinate amount of time stalking looking at everyone else’s status updates.

But if you added it all up, it does suck up my time.

And so does this blog. And all the questions that roll into my Inbox as the result of said blog.

And texting.
And phone calls.
And on and on.

And I wind up spending more time “talking” to people out there in Internet land than I do my own children. They’ve probably heard “I’ll help you with that in a minute” more than they’ve ever cared to.

So for the next 40 days, I am fasting from these distractions.
No more blog posts till April.
No more Facebook till April.
And my cell phone will be silenced, so that I’m not tempted to answer it every time it twitters with a text or rings incessantly.

If you know my home phone number, or my email address (you know…those old fashioned thingys), then that’s the way to reach me.

So don’t take offense if you write a comment here, asking me about how to adopt from Uganda, and I don’t answer.  Or if you post on my wall and I don’t write back.

Sor-ray.

(Don’t panic Wild Olive and SixtyFeet…I’m still all yours!)

I’m just at the point in my overloaded life where I need to purposely take a step back in order to spend more time communicating with the faces who are in front of me…my husband, my children, my friends and my neighbors.

I need to be a better wife, mom, sister, daughter and friend.

And, of course, I’m hoping that this break from this very large world of connectedness will free up time and clear the clutter from my brain so that I can spend more time drawing closer to Jesus, the only One who can transform me into His likeness.

Alas, I shall miss you, but I’m excited about my newfound freedom.

See you on the flip side.