Lent - 2019 Social Media Break for Lent

It’s Lent people. 

Well ok not yet, but starting Ash Wednesday, Lent will be in full effect and I'll be back at work so I'm posting this today on my day off for Mardi Gras. You guys I actually went to a parade this year … it was fun ….. the weather wasn't so great but the floats were fun …. 

Now I don’t consider myself a wholly religious person. Yes I go to church, yes I participate in various events (vacation bible school, Easter egg hunts, anything really dealing with the kiddos etc.) but this is a practice I've really gotten into for the last several years cause it allows me to shift my focus from me to the world around me. What is Lent you might be asking me . . . well not me cause I’m not there but likely the person you are with... I'll answer since that person seems preoccupied to do so ….. rude....  

Well according to dictionary.com it’s …. 

According to Wikipedia it’s ….

Lent is a solemn religious observance in the Christian Calendar that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks later, before Easter Sunday. The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer for Easter through prayer, doing penance, repentance of sins, almsgiving, and self-denial. In Lent, many Christians commit to fasting, as well as giving up certain luxuries in order to replicate the sacrifice of Jesus Christ's journey into the desert for 40 days. Many Christians also add a Lenten spiritual discipline, such as reading a daily devotional or praying through a Lenten calendar, to draw themselves near to God.

However, Lent isn't only about "giving up" things you could ADD prayer to your day, ADD reading the bible, Add Meditation about what your spiritual journey means to you. I also found this list of things you can "give up" that can have a positive impact on your life and those around you …. enjoy.

Golden used to do a 40-acts Lent event ….. a British movement that uses the 40 days of Lent to focus on the religious principle of giving to others from a Christian perspective. 40 days of giving back, doing good, and living generously. 

Basically it’s 40 random acts of kindness while expecting nothing in return. That by the way is the very definition of a Golden but with extra profanity and diet coke thrown in for flavor. I don’t know if Golden still does the 40acts but I’m sure she does something similar if not. She’s the most giving person that I know and I know like enough people to count them without having to use my toes too. 

As I have done the last few years, 2018, 2017, I’m shutting down my social media for 40 days to regroup, live in the moment, and step away from the negativity that social media has become. Granted it’s not as “BAD” as it has been for me lately cause after my first year doing this, I got rid of a good chunk of negativity on my feeds. As I have said before I’m a huge believer in a block button, in the unfollow button and in the hide button. I think sometimes people have views that don’t align with yours and that’s ok but I don’t need to see it.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not trying to shut down views that don’t align with mine. However what most on social media users fail to realize is that a CONVERSATION about different views is good, heck one of us might even learn something from that conversation. ATTACKING one another for your different views however is NOT. People are stupid brave behind a keyboard and it’s insane. I’ll never understand it. You know what I do when I see a post I don’t like, I keep scrolling. If it’s a post that’s just really unnecessarily awful or attacking I might report them to Twitter and block said person, but I don’t give it more thought than that. I especially block and report when I see someone pretending to be someone else. That’s just wrong on so many levels. Don’t try and contact me like you are Bryan White when I know the REAL Bryan White and you aint him! Trust me I've been to the man's house, I've played with his boys, he's awesome people and that guy aint him. Just saying. That’s oddly specific but a thing that happens more often than you’d guess. PS if the blue check aint there, it’s not him. Same could be said for nearly every other “celebrity” on earth but back to the task at hand.

This post is about Lent not the breakdown of social media and ways to make it better. Maybe that’s a post for another day. For Lent I have also decided to give up SODA in addition to Social Media this year. No I didn’t suddenly move North, let me explain. For those that know me …. Coke is my downfall. I LOVE a good COLD Coca Cola, a fresh coke is like my crack cocaine, a Cherry Pepsi is my meth. Last year I gave up Coke/Pepsi but allowed myself to drink “Sprite” so I’d still have that carbonated drink in my life. However, this year …. SODA in general is out. Nothing but water, sweet tea or juice for me for the next 40 days. Lord help the people I work with. 

So I’ll see you guys on the other side, cause as you know I get real involved with this blog when I can’t do much of anything else during Lent. It’s not social media if you aren’t interacting with people so hit me up in the comments and let's use this forum as it was intended ….  

Are you guys giving anything up or adding anything to your life during this Lent season?!

Marcy (@beaslma)

Giving Back and Learning from the Past

So Golden is kicking Lent’s butt and doing all kinds of awesome for other people. I’m crazy proud of her. She’s always been a super awesome person that does very thoughtful amazing things for other people. Like when we went to DragonCon she not only did her “Geek Drops” which were themed back of geeky fun for random people to find she also made a personalized bag for the people in our crew. Each bag had something that would make the DragonCon experience more fun. She loved watching us go through our bags and be all excited about this or that and truly had as much fun watching us as we did going through the bags. That’s the kind of person she is. She’d literally give you the shirt off her back, unless it’s her Goonies Never Die shirt cause well that’s just you being selfish trying to take her stuff at that point.
 

While I’m not actively participating in Lent on in 40 Acts I did spend my day helping out at the church for what we call Safe Haven. Basically several churches in our area take a Saturday and host a group of homeless ladies who can’t stay at the facility they sleep in during the day. For most of the week these ladies have jobs or other activities during the day but during the weekend many of them had no where to go and would end up just “hanging out” downtown. During this downtime some of them would get into trouble or encounter other problems. These ladies literally travel with everything they own so safety was definitely a problem for them as they wandered around downtown. So several churches in the area were contacted so that if each church took a Saturday once every 3 or 4 months then these ladies would have somewhere safe to go. Today was our day.

Many of these ladies just want a safe place to sleep, others want someone to talk to, and the rest are happy just to not be outside, especially when it’s cold or on the other side of that table crazy hot as summers in the South can sometimes be. They arrive around 7:30, and then have breakfast, a devotional, then we play bingo (where they win prizes (jewelry mostly)), visit the boutique (a room where they visit and pick clothing of their choice donated or bought by the congregation), then we have quiet time until lunch. This is usually my favorite time cause we get to sit around and really talk to the ladies and learn about them, their situation, and it always amazes me that they are really the happiest, smartest, and aware ladies you’ll ever meet.

After lunch they have a bible study led by one of the leaders of our church, sometimes our pastor, other times a Sunday school teacher. Then usually they join our choir director for some music, which seems to be their favorite part (except for the Bingo), then they watch a movie or two for the afternoon. Often times they will read instead of watching the movie, especially if it’s a movie they aren’t interested in.

They usually leave around 4:30 or 5 depending on when the bus comes and picks them up. These ladies give everyone a hug, and thank us for our time. It’s fascinating to me how upbeat and happy they are and how positive they are about life. Yes there are a couple that definitely don’t fit that description but the majority of them definitely do. It also fascinates me to realize that a lot of them are not much older than me, which also kind of freaks me out.

I’m glad the churches in our area do this and I’m even more grateful that I was asked to participate. It really makes you think that yeah it sucks that you don’t get to go to lunch some days, but at least you get a good dinner that night. It really puts your little problems in perspective but none of these ladies want your pitty they really want you to learn from their experiences. Lord knows I have been a good student.

Marcy

40 ACTS

Yesterday I reminded you that your Lent is Due! Today I wanted to share that while I'm observing Lent this year I'm also signed up to participate in the "40 Acts" movement.

40acts is a British movement and isn't as well known here in the states but with each passing year it becomes more popular. They use the 40 days of Lent to focus on the religious principle of giving to others from a Christian perspective. 40 days of giving back, doing good, and living generously.

 

Whether you are religious or not, the program adapts easily for people of all faiths to join in. I came across it last year but just observed, feeling that it was too late to join in. This year, I'm no longer just an observer but also an active participant.

I have adapted the original program to fit my desires. To me, giving isn't just a religious or Christian principal, but should be something that we all strive do. This is why I am doing 40acts, 40 days to focus on random acts of kindness and generosity while expecting nothing in return. Putting that posi juju out into the universe can only lead to good things. Maybe by doing one good thing for someone, it will lead to them passing the goodness along and they, in turn, will do good for someone else, who may do the same, ad infinitum. That has to have a major impact on the world around us.

It doesn't take much. You give as much as you can afford and this year 40 acts has amended itself to different levels in order to allow anybody and everybody to join in. You don't have to be wealthy to give of yourself. You can choose the easiest of the three daily options or you can take the spirit of generosity and make it work for you and your situation. Even something that may appear small to you, could be a huge blessing to someone else.

"Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

So join in this year. Even if you don't meet the challenge every day, think of how much good you can put out into the universe.

You can sign up on the website

http://www.40acts.org.uk
 
You can also participate on Twitter at @40acts as well as by using the hashtag #40acts

They also have a facebook page for those of you facebookers https://www.facebook.com/40acts


to learn more check out this video :

I will also be posting periodically on the #SayWhatMG blog and on my personal Twitter account @theonlygolden.

Let me know if you decide to take the challenge and join the movement. Making the world a better place is never easy but we have to start somewhere.

Good luck and posi juju to you all. 

Golden (@theonlygolden)