tis the season.... of lent.

i wasn't raised catholic, or in a church that really practiced lent. of course, of course our church celebrated the Lent season with the five or six purple candles or whatever.... but the idea of sacrificing or giving something up for 40 days wasn't really talked about too much i don't think. or maybe it was and i just always tuned the pulpet guy out..... that's probably more realistic.

so Lent... for the first time in my life, i'm doing it. and not just to do it and say i'm giving this up... but i'm doing it and i mean it. to Him alone be the glory and praise! and trust me if i'm able to get through 40 days of doing this, it will be to His glory!

for the past several weeks i've began to notice that sleep has become not only a necessity in my life, but a guilty pleasure.... scratch that, we'll just go straight to the point, it's totally an idol. i care more about sleeping and going to bed early, waking up late, ect... ect... then i do about most things, it's sick. the other night i fell asleep at 10pm, it was glorious... until about 10:30pm... when the people upstairs were being RIDICULOUSLY loud and woke me up, from my slumber... you know what my response was? i started screaming at them, through the ceiling! i know they didn't hear me, but i kept screaming... i mean for crying out loud, seriously ashley? that was the turning point for me. that's when i knew that i was out of control.

looking back i just laugh at the thought of the other night, i was yelling at the ceiling. weirdo.

so in my attempt to get over this, i have decided that every morning from now until East Sunday, i will be waking up at 4:45am. ouch...... yep, that's correct, 4:45am. that gives me an hour to do some much needed cardio, but more importantly an hour to meditate in the Word and prayer. then off to work by 7:30.

this morning marked day 1, and let me tell you it was a success! my state of mind in approaching all of it was centered on Christ, and it needs to be in order for this to continue. i am not now... nor have i ever been a morning person... but sweet Jesus by the time Easter comes, He is going to make me one. i'll be sure to keep you posted on how this goes for me. i'm sure a post here and there will give updates.

ALSO - if you aren't participating in Lent just because you can't think of something to give up, or because you don't think that it would be because of God... well then i just want to take a minute to encourage you to rethink that, and really dig deep into your heart about what sacrifice means to you, and what it would mean to our Father if you chose to do it. i'm not saying, give something up tonight... maybe your lent won't start til Saturday, or May.... and you know to me right now that's ok. Lent is about celebrating the life, death, and resurrection of our Savior and being born new through His power. the practice of the 40 days of Lent is for His followers to honor Him and glorify His Name and sacrifice by giving something up that causes them to sacrifice. just because it's Lent now, doesn't mean this isn't something we should only practice this time of year, it's something to be celebrated all the time.

my prayer is that we as believers know this in our hearts, and desire to be men and women who act on our faith. that we take hold of our fears and the darkness they penetrate and conquer them with the power of the Holy Spirit through our actions and our prayers.

shout out to my girl Sophie, thanks for reading. i pray that you know how deeply loved you are by God, and that He shows you just how beautiful you are. love you friend. :)