Lent

So, the day before Lent started, I totally pigged out on some amazing almond bark.  I wasn't even thinking about the fact that it was the day before Lent, i.e. Mardi Gras.  I just saw the chocolate and ate it.  Later, though, I was contemplating what, if anything, I should do for Lent.  As I was thinking about it, I decided I would give up sugar, meaning any foods with added sugar, beyond those minuscule amounts found in bread and such.  I was actually thinking it wouldn't be that big of a sacrifice, because at our house we rarely have anything with sugar in it, and my mom always sweetens things with other natural sweeteners, such as honey or agave nectar.  So, I figured, "why not?  It will focus my attention on Jesus when I do run across something sweet, and I'll have a reason not to eat unhealthy foods."  At first it was relatively easy, because there weren't that many opportunities where I actually was tempted with sugar.  However, last week I headed to Virginia to visit a friend and watch her perform in a play and get proposed to on closing night (watch it here), go to DC (where I had never been before), and go wedding dress shopping (which was all tons of fun). The only problem was that I had to be confronted with sugar pretty much non-stop.  Then it really did become a sacrifice for me.  Instead of eating sugar literally every meal though, I got to feast on Jesus. As I approach the end of my commitment, I'm realizing more and more that any sacrifice I might choose to make pales in comparison to the one which Jesus made during Passion Week nearly 2,000 years ago.  I'm also realizing that feeding my relationship with Christ should come first, and that when I get hungry for physical food, I should be yearning just as much or more to be fed with the spiritual food of my relationship with Jesus.  I'm starting to consider fasting once a week for one meal, to continue the reminder for me that feeding on spiritual food is just as important to spiritual health as physical food is to my physical health.  Giving up sugar for forty days has been a worthwhile sacrifice, and although at the beginning I had no idea what I would learn, now I do. It has been so worth it!