What I Gave Up for Lent (1st Post)

They say when we write things down it is one way to keeps us accountable. Well, I'm giving myself that challenge, which is why I am writing this post. But, before I tell you what I have committed to for this Lent season, I think I need to give a very brief background story.

Dating. Where to even begin with this topic. I feel everyone has an opinion, statement, story, quote, plan of action, or thought about this. To simply state my story: I have dated ever since I could date. I think I have celebrated more anniversaries with different people, rather than celebrating an anniversary of being single!  

This Lent season I have given up on thinking about the boys of the past and the boys of the future. And right now some of you may be thinking, "How do you even do that?" It seems like a task that is easy to fail in, because is it even possible to control our thoughts? Well, I don't have a list of rules for it, but it is pretty simple, at least in my head. Anytime I start to think about past relationships, especially thoughts that start with "I wish I Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda," I pray and ask God to take those thoughts away and replace it with good things and happy things. Or anytime I start to wonder and think what the right (future) person will be like or hope for him to be, then I also pray and ask God to take those thoughts away for now. The reason I don't want to think about a future man is mainly because I'm still working on my present self. These past four Sunday's the Young Adult Group that I have attended went through the book of "Song of Songs". It painted a beautiful picture of courting/dating and marriage that I realized that I do want to have some day. I will admit that I have had a problem in the past of painting a picture of what I wanted my boyfriends to be according to the world's standards, rather than accepting them for who God had made them to be.

So, How in the world am I going to control my thoughts in a culture that has music, movies, books, t.v. shows all about heartbreak or hoping for true love? Or in season where many of my friends and family, including my younger sister (CONGRATS GABY!) are planning weddings that they want me to be a part of? Well, so far one answer is, "God" and the other answer is "I don't know yet and hopefully by the end of these 40 days it will be answered." However, what I do know is I want to start living for today and not letting the past define me or the future control me. 

I started this commitment March 5, 2014 and day 3 I was already tempted. I'm not going to get into to much detail about it, but I will say that life is ironic. However, now I am on Day 6! I know this is the journey that I need to be taking right now, which includes finding out my likes, dislikes, weaknesses, strengths, making new dreams, and producing new hopes. I want to start doing things that I normally wouldn't do and it doesn't have to be extreme. It could be as simple as listening to a new band or trying something new at a restaurant that I usually go to.   

So something new I did this past week:

I bought my first grown up purse. Ya I know, I know...sounds stupid for the ones who don't really know me. However, for the people who do know me....this is a big deal! I'll have to post pictures or something so that you can really comprehend how big of a deal this is! 

By the way, I'm not sure what my blog posts are going to be about yet, but stay tuned to find out! I'm thinking it could be anything from work stories (I work with Kinders, which means never a dull moment),  travel plans (I love traveling!), or just really random things that I like to do, such as Pajama and Heels night (I'll have to explain this one day). 

Well, these are things that I had to say.