Today’s Fast, Pray, Give seemed easy enough: try and take some of the focus off yourself and focus on others and praying for God’s help.
- Fast from self-pity and complaining.
- Pray for God’s help in handling something difficult in your life.
- Give a kind word to someone who lacks confidence.
However, while I think that it did work like that to some degree, it also made me aware of how much I complain. Sarah and I went out to eat and were enjoying our bread + olive oil/balsamic vinegar and then it finally hit me that our service was REALLY slow. It had been quite awhile from when we ordered and still no food. I think I remarked about something and Sarah asked, “Are you complaining…?” And then I said something else later after lunch that bordered on self-pity…
I think that’s part of what’s helpful about things like this – it helps you become more AWARE. Awareness is really one of the most important things – no one can change anything about who they are if they don’t notice it. I think turning the focus off of ourselves during this time of the church year is a helpful and important move to make – and while I struggled with that today and failed a variety of times, it was helpful at least to have the awareness of that.
It’s not too late to join with the folks at Busted Halo and participate in the Fast, Pray, Give lenten disciplines.
