lent, lent, go away!

I decided for the first time this year that I would like to observe Lent. I had been observing my tendencies to indulge in sweets and it seemed like a good time to start fasting the stuff. So I did, and besides the one time at Jodi's where I popped like 3 gummy bears into my mouth before I realized what I was doing, I've been good. There were also some dessert-type dishes in Perú in which I had partaken, but that was mostly just to be respectful and finish off what was given to me.

Overall, it hasn't been that difficult to walk past open bags of M&Ms or licorice that gets brought into the office, I've even stayed away from sweets at small group! Now that it's getting to the end tho, it's been a lot harder. We've had cake in the office for birthdays, and it looks really good and everyone keeps getting multiple pieces and saying that it's delicious...or last night after Seth and I were done dining in Macchu Picchu for our anniversary, he offered to get me ice cream because he knows it's my favorite.

I couldn't imagine doing an actual food fast for 40 days like Jesus did. Especially if I was out in the wilderness by myself with the power to turn stones into bread. There have been ways to distract myself from wanting something sweet. Gum has helped, and pop too, but it's usually something food related. It's just really made me realize how much I had allowed my feelings to dictate my behavior. I would pick up candy or sugar just because it was there. I hate feeling like I'm not going to get any of something if it's made available, even if I really don't like it all that much. So I have some, and then I immediately regret it. But for the last 35 days or so, I've had to think about it, and I've been able to say no every time, and it didn't take much effort. So now I'm glad that Easter is coming, but hopefully I'll also be able to make sure that I don't just automatically fall back into where I was before.