Juliana Elizabeth Travis

          Lent is a 40 day long fast which starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter.  The 40 days  represents the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness resisting temptation from the devil.  To learn more about Lent and the Methodist beliefs, click here .           As Ash Wednesday approached, I thought a lot about what I wanted to give up for Lent this year.  I honestly could not think of  anything to give up.  I spent a lot of time thinking about things in my life that distract me from God that I needed to get rid of.  Number one on my list was my phone.  I debated for days on this one... should I really give up my phone for a month and a half?  I made a list of things that I do on my  phone that are a distraction-- texting, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and a few games.  I often find myself scrolling through my  social medi...

          Today is Ash Wednesday and tomorrow I start my fasting for Lent! This year I am doing things a little differently. I am giving up desserts, candy, soda-- pretty much anything that has unhealthy sugar.            But this year I am adding a "doing" thing to my fast. Every other day of Lent, I will write a letter to someone who has impacted my life. I thought this was really neat because we never realize who really impacts us and who we impact ourselves until it is brought to our attention. I hope to be able to reach my goal of 20 letters for 20 people and hopefully even exceed my goal.            I am so excited to start Lent tomorrow! I hope you're participating, too! Click here to read last year's Lent blog. Click here to read last year's Lent results blog.

            If you read my last post, you would know that I did a social media fast for the last 7 days.  Click here to read that post.  I gave three reasons for my fasting-  Distraction, Trash, and Drama. So here is my update on how this past week went:                          The first few days  were a little difficult. I had spent so much time on social media before that I wasn't really sure what to do when I was bored and couldn't check it. I began finding other things to do such as planning new blog posts and reading the bible more. There were many times when I would think of something and in my head say "Man, I want to tweet that!" but I never once gave in to it.              As the week went on, the urge to log in to my social media got less intense. I've seen so many things happen this week that I normally wouldn't be...

          I have decided to fast from social media for a week. Starting at  midnight tonight, October 4, I will not use Twitter or Instagram until Sunday, October 13. Here are 3 reasons why I made this decision: 1. Distraction           One thing I've realized is that spending more time looking through my feed on Instagram and Twitter has given me less time to study the Bible and blog. Being too involved with social media can take away your focus from the more important things such as your family, friends, and faith. 2. Trash           Trash is a big part of social media. No, not trash like you throw in a trash can. Trash as in trashy words, trashy pictures, trashy attitudes. Constantly seeing and reading these types of posts actually impacts the type of lifestyle you live and the types of things you post on your accounts. 3. Drama           Drama. This one pr...