I am not a Catholic. I grew up in a southern Baptist church (which I would love to talk about/answer questions about anytime for those who are curious), so Lent is not something I really knew much about growing up, save the occasional comments from my Catholic friends or being confused about why the school cafeteria had cheese pizza instead of the usual pepperoni on Fridays during that time of year. I never really thought much about it, honestly. When I got to be a teenager, I used to give things up for Lent, just because it seemed like a lot of my friends were doing it and I always like a good challenge. I would give up things like sodas, or chocolate, or usually some other type of food and just treat it like a matter of will power. I was totally missing the mark. I did realize at some point how stupid this was, so I stopped giving things up altogether. Hey, I'm not a Catholic, who cares?
But over the last year, I have been thinking a lot about what distracts me. The other day, I was talking to one of my co-workers, and she said, "Janell, you are like the social media queen." It's kind of true, I do post a lot on Facebook and Twitter, and I am constantly checking up on what my friends are doing/posting. I am actually a pretty big advocate for social media - since I moved to New York, it's been a great way for me to stay connected to the people I love all over the world, as well as reconnect with people I haven't seen in years.
But ask anyone who knows me, and they'll tell you that I am constantly distracted with checking and posting on Facebook/Twitter. I neglect the relationships that are right in front of me sometimes and stare at my phone instead. And I hate that I do this because the relationships in my life are really important to me, and I never want to neglect them because I am living in some virtual reality.
Also, I find that I'm not always myself on social media. Sometimes I post out of anger or frustration or to try and impress the people I think will be looking at it. If you were to look back at my Facebook over the past 6 or 7 years, depending on who I was spending time with or who's attention I was trying to get, you would find a whole lot of different versions of me.
It's been on my heart for a while that I need to find a way to be less distracted by this. A few weeks ago, I felt God leading me to take a little breather from posting on social media. And I did for about a week. It was one of the best weeks I've had spiritually in a long time. The people I had been trying to impress were no longer distracting me, and I was able to focus on some areas of my life I've needed to focus on for a while. I spent more time in the Word, in prayer, actually talking to my friends and family, hanging out with teenagers, and serving people in my community. It was a really refreshing time.
J.R., my pastor at Apostles, was talking about Lent tonight, and how it is such an important time of reflection for Christians, a time to look at our lives and see where God wants to make changes. And this is definitely an area that needs to be scaled back in my life.
So, for the first time in years, I am giving something up for Lent. And it will be the hardest thing I've ever given up, for sure. But I'm no longer looking at it as a challenge to be met, but an opportunity for God to change my heart. And I'm kind of excited about it.
I may post the occasional blog during this time (I haven't decided if this falls into the "social media that really distracts me" category - in fact, according to the frequency of my posting, I don't think it could ever be considered a distraction, haha), but beyond that, I will not check or post anything on Facebook or Twitter during the season of Lent. So don't be offended if I don't give you a happy birthday shout-out, or comment on how adorable your baby/dog/boyfriend is. If you need me, call or email me. Or better yet, let's hang out in person and have real conversations. I don't ever think social media was intended to take the place of that.
