Lenten stationary

Hello my faithful readers,

It hasn't been so long since I've last written, but there's a chance that it will be until the next time I write. I've determined what I'm going to give up for Lent, a practice I try to do every year, and this year looks to be especially difficult, and could potentially affect all of you. I've decided to cut my Internet usage back to once a week, and therefore cut out Skype for these six weeks. It's not that I spend an awful lot of time online, but I also don't like where I am with Bible study and prayer, and I'm hoping that cutting back on this distraction will at least give me some time. It will certainly be extremely difficult for me to not talk to my parents or my boyfriend for that long, but I just bought some new stationary today, and I've got a Bible waiting to be marked up further, so I think I can manage.

I realize that my blogging about this may seem like just some great difficult thing I want to broadcast, but I would like all of you to keep me accountable. Not so much checking up and seeing how I'm doing just sticking to the once-a-week deal, but upholding me in prayer. If I could ask you to pray for strength as this will certainly be very difficult for me, and I'm sure I'll think about not doing it at some points. Please pray that I will make time for Bible study, meditation and prayer with God that I can connect, and really listen and think about what He's telling me through His Word, and work that I'm doing here.

This year so far has certainly caused me to think far more about who I am as a person, what I want out of life, what I need, what I have to offer, what God has planned for me, than I ever could have imagined. I'm soaking up slow-living, slower than I ever have before, and certainly slower than I want to live the rest of my life. But this year is kind of a breather for me, not just from school, but in life. Just kind of a time to take a breath, a deep breath, and look around, make sure everything is as it should be/I want it to be/need it be. I'm seriously thinking through things, and reconsidering and rethinking, not that I haven't before, but I actually have time to now, so I'm taking advantage of it! I'm reconsidering where I want to go to college, what I want to major in. I'm rethinking what I want singing and violin/fiddling to look like in the rest of my life. I'm thinking about what part/role service/missions will take in my life, or rather what role I will take in it. I'm thinking about my passions for theatre and writing, for politics and social justice, for psychology and peace, and how far I want to take those, how deep they run. Pray that I can listen, to God, and to those around me. Thank you, for listening, for reading, for praying. May you find meaning around you this Lenten season.

Blessings,
Rebecca