I have never participated in lent…ever.  Growing up, my family never did it, never talked about it, or even mentioned it.  It wasn’t until last year that I found out about it but was too late to start (had about 3 days left until it was over).  But this year is different, so here is what I am giving up to focus more on Jesus:

• Facebook. Yeah I know, it’s not a “serious” thing to give up.  Maybe I should focus on giving something more meaningful, but maybe Facebook is the number one time waster in my life.  I give up Facebook to reject apathy.
• My watch. It helps that my battery died a few days ago, but I am always looking at my watch.  I am consumed by time: being on time, scheduling my time, making use of my time, getting frustrated when others aren’t on time, etc.. I need to learn how to live in grace with others when they are 1 minute late and not focus on their shortcomings.  I give up my watch to love others better. (Hilarious because I have a tattoo that says “love” on my wrist that my watch covers…Good one God)
• Claiming how busy I am.  Let’s face the facts, everyone is always busy with something.  As said by my best friend Dave Dunmyre, “I hate it when I ask how people are doing and they tell me how busy they are, I don’t care about what you are DOING I care about how you ARE.” I give up using busyness as an answer to how I am doing.

Are these small things? Absolutely. Are they going to help me focus on God? Absolutely.