Failing Lent?

I just had to share this!

People ask me all the time "What are you giving up for Lent?" or more often "Why are you giving something up for Lent?"

My answer usually goes something like this:

"I am Catholic." (even though the Catholic Faith isn't the only one who practices the traditions of Lent)

"Lent is a time of sacrificing, fasting and preparation for The Resurrection, so I give something up during this time as a sacrifice."

"I need to loose weight...so I am giving up sweets.." Just Kidding...that is not why you give something up! Haha!

I am assuming all of you aren't Catholic...a pretty safe assumption.  Maybe some of you don't practice the season of Lent at your Church or in your Faith...but I am pretty sure this explanation will hit him if you love Our Lord.

Ann Voskamp, the author of One Thousand Gifts, tweeted this today and it totally made sense to me and explained the act of sacrificing and fasting something during Lent.

She said (or tweeted), "The Secret to Fasting in a Failing Lent: Fasting is about Communion: be broken of something to be made whole in Him"

...and I was intrigued so I clicked the link on the tweet and read further...(such a gifted writer!)

Voskamp continued, "The realest fast is to hold fast to Christ..Fasting, it is that: abstaining from anything that hinders adoration of Christ."

And then she quoted this from Andrew Murray:

"Prayer is the one hand with which we grasp the Invisible.  Fasting the other---with which we cast away the visible....Prayer NEEDS fasting for its full and perfect development."

And she closes with this thought...which I will continue to ask myself this Lenten Season...and maybe you can too...

"Is my fast failing because I am focusing on what is empty---instead of WHO is filling."

You see...when you give something up...something that possibly is or isn't taking your time away from Christ...when you struggle in a fast or sacrifice...in order to overcome our human nature during that struggle...we NEED God...and this in turn brings us closer to Him...We then are filled by HIM!  Beautiful!

Sweets...you've got nothin' on this girl!