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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

today is the beginning.

for the next 40 days...

NO complaining


NO cursing
NO chocolate


in observance of Lent, for the next forty days i will go without complaining, cursing and chocolate.
can i do this? i believe it will be challenging, but i'm willing to try. what will you give up?


a little history on the season of Lent:

Lent is a forty-day period before Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday. We skip Sundays when we count the forty days, because Sundays commemorate the Resurrection. Lent begins on 9 March 2011 and ends on 23 April 2011, which is the day before Easter.

In the Roman Catholic Church, Lent officially ends at sundown on 21 April (Holy Thursday), with the beginning of the mass of the Lord’s Supper.

Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. All churches that have a continuous history extending before AD 1500 observe Lent. The ancient church that wrote, collected, canonized, and propagated the New Testament also observed Lent, believing it to be a commandment from the apostles. (See The Apostolic Constitutions, Book V, Section III.)


A Lenten Reflection

Give up complaining——focus on gratitude.
Give up pessimism——become an optimist.
Give up harsh judgments——think kindly thoughts.
Give up worry——trust Divine Providence.
Give up discouragement——be full of hope.
Give up bitterness——turn to forgiveness.
Give up hatred——return good for evil.
Give up negativism——be positive.
Give up anger——be more patient.
Give up pettiness——become mature.
Give up gloom——enjoy the beauty that is all around you.
Give up jealousy——pray for trust.
Give up gossiping——control your tongue.
Give up sin——turn to virtue.
Give up giving up——hang in there!

9 comments:

Sam W. said...

those are wonderful lenten sacrifices.

Ashley said...

Thank you Sam!

Brandi said...

You can do it! I like the Lenten Reflection :)

Marz said...

Dang girl!! Just giving ONE of those up for Lent would be hard enough, go you for going all in and giving up THREE very hard things to give up! You can do it :) I gave up chocolate for a month and after that month was up I went back to sweets hardcore haha Maybe I should give up sweets again for Lent *But I've already had lots of them today so that kinda messes that up! ha Good luck! :)

p.s. love your new blog header! I can see that you were always adorable :)

NKriste said...

That is wonderful that you are giving up those things for Lent. My boyfriend suggested that I give up chocolate, but I decided on pop. I have a feeling it will be hard. haha But, I really like the idea of giving something up so I will do it. :) I am new to following your blog! It looks lovely. I can't wait to see more! ~Natalie

Ashley said...

in LOVE with your new header pretty lady!

Cat said...

What a fabulous commitment. I definitely need to give up complaining on cursing...sounds like a wonderful and product change! :)

Ashley said...

Thank you ladies for you encouraging words! I'll let you know how well I do! :)

Unknown said...

These are great!! I've got to reflect on the list and give something up. think lent is so beautiful.