There's a first time for everything...

So I think I'm going to give this Lent thing a whirl.

As fate would have it, I'm a Southern Baptist gal and not actually Catholic.  And I've never, ever participated in Lent before.  At least I don't think I have.  (Which suggests that I have not, because I feel certain that I'd remember giving something up for 40 days.)

So we've established that I'm utterly inexperienced in this.  But the idea of taking 40 days to focus on Christ is so appealing to me.  Yes, I do realize that I should be focusing all of my days on Christ, but I am unavoidably human and continue to struggle with this very basic tenet of my faith.  So I'm thinking that this might be pretty perfect for an imperfect girl like me. :)

So what am I giving up?

Well, again, it's something I should probably already be doing anyway, but for my first Lent stint (ha!), I'm giving up all non-water beverages. 

On the Slim-4-Life plan, I'm limited to 16 oz. of non-water drinks a day anyway, and I'm not ever allowed to drink any dark colas (i.e. NO DIET COKE!).  But because my love for Diet Coke is deep and unyielding, I allow myself two diet cokes per week.  What can I say... I'm a rebel, y'all.  (And you'd better believe I savor every last drop of those two cans.)  And Fresca is free game, so I usually have one of those every other day or so, as well as the occasional Skinny Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks as a treat.

I realize this is probably pretty lame, as far as spiritual sacrifice goes, but I think it'll actually be a really neat way to give God a little more of me.  When Wednesday afternoon, say 2:30, rolls around, and I start craving a cold can of deliciously refreshing, aspartame goodness, I'll think of Christ and what he endured for me and remember how small my sacrifice is compared to His.

And because I want to really make this about Him and not my desire to be healthier, I'm also going to commit to reading two Bible chapters each day.  Yet again, I should be in the Word daily, but I don't always make time like I should.  Maybe this will jump-start a habit?

So what are you guys giving up for Lent?

(And also, happy birthday to my big brother.  You're almost 30, Bub.  Holy cow, you're getting old! ;))