Tomorrow ends the 40 days of Lent that I have been participating in. If you read my previousposts about this, you will remember that I chose to give up watching television for Lent. I also pledged to reduce my computer time to two hours per day at home. So… how did I do? Well, I did fine with the television part, but I was often on the computer more than two hours per day…
Here are some of my learnings - I really don’t miss watching television that much and I have ended up doing a lot more reading and engaging in conversations with friends and family than before. I also ended up doing more exercise in the evenings than I would have done had I been watching television. So all in all it was a positive experience for me. If I have any disappointment, it comes only in the fact that I did not really increase my times of prayer and reflection with/about God like I had planned to do… at least not as much as I would have liked to. It’s amazing to me how easily I can find other things to distract me from spending time with God.
So as Christians, today we remember the brutal death that Jesus suffered on the cross for the cause of humanity. Good Friday is a day that many of us tend to gloss over, wanting to instead focus on the joy of the risen Savior on Easter day. But it’s important to remember what it took to get us to the empty tomb. God loves us so much that he was willing to allow his Son to suffer and die for us. My friend Keith posted this quote today on Facebook that sums it all up pretty well - It’s from the book “Death on a Friday Afternoon” by Richard John Neuhaus.
“Stay a while. Do not hurry by the Cross on your way to Easter joy… the only simplicity to be trusted is the simplicity to be found on the far side of complexity. The only joy to be trusted is the joy on the far side of a broken heart, the only life to be trusted is the life on the far side of death. Stay a while, with Christ and him crucified.”
And after we have embraced the reality of our God’s suffering, we can then truly look forward to and rejoice in the fact that He overcame death, once and for all, and arose on Easter day!
May you all have a meaningful Good Friday and a joyous Easter!
Another month of positive results. Not as much as I would like, but I am still making progress. Hopefully, as the weather starts to warm up I can kick up the exercise a bit more so I can get to more like 4 pounds loss per month. How are all of you former “weight loss challenge” peeps doing?
Last month was not as big a loss as the previous one, but I still managed 2 pounds. I feel like I have some good momentum now and when I get off track I just kick up the exercise or reign in the eating the next day. See ya next month!
As I mentioned a few days ago, I am giving up TV for Lent. So far, it has not been too much of a big deal, but I have watched myself gravitate to other forms of distraction instead of using the newfound time to focus more on my relationship with God. Twitter, Facebook, and general web surfing can vie for my time just as much as TV. So I am going to amend my Lenten commitment to say that I will also spend no more than 2 hours per day on the internet outside of work. Yikes! Now I am really getting serious with this stuff!!!
I’m curious if any of you guys are participating in Lent this season, and if so, what are you giving up?
I took these pics with my iPhone today while visiting the Farmer’s Market down by the Long Beach Marina. Check out the orange and green cauliflower. I can’t wait to give them a taste!
Today’s Weather: Blue skies and 80 degrees. Ah, yes… California living! : -)
Being the technology geek that I am, I have long awaited the opportunity to own a Kindle Wireless Reading Device . Measuring a svelte 8″ x 5.3″ x 0.36″, this amazing piece of technology can hold over 1500 books! The new 2.0 version was recently released and I just received mine yesterday. Since it comes with Wireless 3G, I can download books to the device through amazon.com and begin reading immediately. There are also plenty of free ebooks out there that can be downloaded and then transfered to the device via USB. As far as print quality goes, the screen actually uses electronic-ink so it reads very much like a real book - kind of like a high quality “Etch-a-Sketch“, as my friend Mike puts it.
Since I have given up watching TV for Lent, the arrival of my Kindle comes at a most opportune time! It’s a pretty sweet device for book lovers and, for all you tree-huggers out there, another way to save the planet. : -)
Today is Ash Wednesday and it marks the first day of the 40 day season of Lent. I did not grow up in a church that celebrated this ancient liturgical tradition (nor does the church I attend now) but I became intrigued by the concept a year or two ago and have decided to incorporate it into my spiritual life. The general idea behind Lent is that it represents the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert where he endured several temptations by Satan. It is a season of soul-searching and repentance where through prayer, fasting, self-denial, and acts of justice, we look forward to and experience the coming death, burial, and, ultimately, resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. For most liturgical calendars, Lent ends at sundown on Maundy Thursday, three days before Easter. Many people participating in Lent choose to abstain from a particular “vice” in order to draw closer to God. The idea is that instead of choosing the vice, we choose God. So it is more than just giving up the vice - it is about spending this newfound time with God. And, if it means we now have extra money because of giving up the vice, it means that we give this money to charitable causes which advance God’s Kingdom.
As you may have guessed from the picture above, I have chosen to give up television for Lent. I LOVE to watch TV. Whether it’s 24, Heroes, Lost, House, CSI… you name it… I probably watch it. I routinely give entire evenings over to watching TV. As challenging as this will be for me, I really look forward to spending more time with God.
What about you? Do you participate in Lent? Are you giving anything up during this season?
I figure that since I haven’t heard from any of you (except for Sarah) for the past few weeks that it must mean we are “done” with the “Twelve Pounds After Christmas Challenge - which is fine with me. I am happy that I have reached that goal with a total of 12.4 pounds lost. My next goal is to reach 200 pounds by Easter (April 12). I know that I mostly blog about weight loss, and that it is not particularly exciting subject (though a very important issue in my life!), so I have decided to just do a monthly weigh in post so I have the accountability of all of you knowing where I stand. I have posted a graph that shows you my weight loss journey over the past year. I am determined to get to and maintain healthy weight and lifestyle. Thanks to all for your encouragement and support!
Break out the champagne people… we have a WINNER! Congratulations to Sarah Twilley for being the first to reach the 12 pound weight loss goal. We all know how much discipline it takes to do what we are trying to do, so be sure to let Sarah know how proud you are of her as she continues to move forward. YEAH BABY!!
I, on the other hand, had a somewhat confusing week. I really feel like I have lost weight, but the scale does not lie and it says that I am UP .4 pounds. : ( I did really well with exercise this week having biked and walked more than ever… so all I can come up with is the fact that I went away for a few days this week on a personal retreat (more on that in my next post) and I did not have (or want) internet access, so I couldn’t accurately measure my food intake and expenditure via the BodyBugg. I wrote it all down in a journal the best I could and when I got back yesterday I input all the information into the BodyBugg website. Based on what I put in, I should have lost weight… but I didn’t. All I can think is that the place where I stayed served mostly vegetarian type food, which tended to have a higher level of starchy carbs than I normally like to eat, and not nearly as much protein as I like. So I am thinking that my gain is from water weight. If next week is a really big loss then my suspicion will be confirmed… we’ll see.
So what about the rest of you. We haven’t heard from some of you in weeks… Shall I close down the contest with Sarah as the winner and me the runner-up by default? Remember that there are THREE prizes, so the question is: Are you all still in???
Tomorrow ends the 40 days of Lent that I have been participating in. If you read my previous posts about this, you will remember that I chose to give up watching television for Lent. I also pledged to reduce my computer time to two hours per day at home. So… how did I do? Well, I did fine with the television part, but I was often on the computer more than two hours per day…
As I 
Being the technology geek that I am, I have long awaited the opportunity to own a 
Today is Ash Wednesday and it marks the first day of the 40 day season of Lent. I did not grow up in a church that celebrated this ancient liturgical tradition (nor does the church I attend now) but I became intrigued by the concept a year or two ago and have decided to incorporate it into my spiritual life. The general idea behind Lent is that it represents the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert where he endured several temptations by Satan. It is a season of soul-searching and repentance where through prayer, fasting, self-denial, and acts of justice, we look forward to and experience the coming death, burial, and, ultimately, resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. For most liturgical calendars, Lent ends at sundown on Maundy Thursday, three days before Easter. Many people participating in Lent choose to abstain from a particular “vice” in order to draw closer to God. The idea is that instead of choosing the vice, we choose God. So it is more than just giving up the vice - it is about spending this newfound time with God. And, if it means we now have extra money because of giving up the vice, it means that we give this money to charitable causes which advance God’s Kingdom.
