Okay, so I am a little slow, and just got into this whole “Twilight” phenomenon.  My friend Bethany mentioned she was watching the DVD with her high school youth group girls and I was slightly interested.  So my wonderful husband got us the DVD and we watched it (on Blu-Ray, of course!), and I was hooked!  I fell immediately into the world of forbidden love and vampires!  So, I have been preoccupied for the last week or so reading all the books from Stephenie Meyer’s series.  I just finished the last one and am now satisfied.  My heart has beat like a high school girl again….sigh!  You should go check them out, too!

Also, I’m really excited to be meeting a new little baby today who is three weeks.  I’ll have some of her sweet baby newness for you in a few days!

Back to reality….

(My friends are gonna hate me for posting these photos, but who cares!)

So, what’s with the title of this post?  I didn’t even fully know what Lent was until this past Sunday at church!  I know, I’m 28 years old and still didn’t know!  Anyways, the above statement, “Give it up for Lent,” is something I remember my good friend Gina saying quite often during the lenten season.  Gina was one of the many wonderful friends I was so blessed to be able to hang out with during high school.  We were thick as thieves, always at one another’s houses.  I distinctly remember, and I hope correctly, that when one of us would wish for something, or complain we didn’t have something, Gina would so kindly say, “Ah, give it up for lent!”  All I knew was that Lent was when my other friends would not have chocolate or coffee or something they usually ate for 40 days.

However, this past Sunday, my pastor, Keith Peck, explained Lent in such a way that made its meaning and purpose very clear to me.  He explained Lent as giving up something we rely on, something that makes our heart happy, something that we focus on more than Christ.  And in giving up that thing, we are better able to realize our need for Christ.  Here’s the kicker:  His challenge was to give up gossip for lent!  When you think about it, it sounds pretty easy.  However, when you put it the way Keith did, it’s gonna be tough!  He said, “I challenge you to fast from speaking about another person who is not in your presence with a negative intent, no matter if it is true or not. To only speak of people who are not in your presence in a positive light.”  Ouch!  That hurts because I know I am very guilty of talking about others in my nice sounding way, but with my ill meaning intentions hidden beneath the surface.  I am going to try to take on this challenge.  It’ll be my first observation of Lent.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  (Pray.)

I have to end with one more funny old photo of me and my friends.  Here we all are at the prom.

Consequently, Bryan, the dude in the middle, married Hannah, the girl to your left.  And in case you couldn’t tell, I’m the girl on your far left, in the dark blue dress.