Trial and Triumph- Lenten Style

So far, this Lent has actually been going pretty well. And by pretty, I don't mean all sugar and rainbows, and by well I mean the-best-Lent-that-I-have-had-yet-in-my-short-time-on-Earth.

Day One of Lent, my promises consisted of giving up all sweets and writing in my journal. A week or so in, things were going well except I was complaining more about sweets than school (which you know is a big deal). My mom and I had a chat, and she told me how she heard numerous homilies about how giving up sweets won't necessarily get you closer to God. And as I thought about it, I was like..."yes, that makes sense, because I have been more focused on how miserable I am than how to get closer to God." Don't get me wrong, there may be people out there who use that torture as a sacrifice to God, and they feel like it is helping them with their relationship. If that is you, kudos, and keep going!

So now I am really focusing on my journal, and it is a-mazing. I may actually do a "journal tour" so you all can see the messy spiritual-ness of my diary.

I have never really been a journal person though. I am someone who if I have a routine, I need to stick with it and have a schedule, otherwise it will fall apart. So the idea of journaling every day about randomness made no sense to me, until I saw some journal-spiration on Pinterest.

The cool calligraphy and pictures, and just overall organized chaos of the simple journal really intrigued me. And I realized it's kind of like writing a mini-blog post every day.. minus the readers and it's not all advice. So I set out on a quest to find the perfect journal. I didn't want it to be cheap, I wanted a quality diary that would make me feel good to write in. I wanted it to be ringed so I could turn the pages easier. I wanted a quote to be on it, I wanted it to be in a certain color.

I want
I want
I want.

After a week or so of searching, I realized that once again, I was caught up in the "making it perfect"

than focusing on God. So I went to Walmart, got a small, simple 5-Star book and started using it.

The things you learn from overachieving- God doesn't want perfect. He wants you no matter what shape, color or form you come in. So my writing may not lie in a 20 dollar Kate Spade journal, it lies humbly in some college-ruled lines, but God doesn't care.

And to tell you the truth- I love it because I can make it my own! I have already put my own quotes in there, I even made a college of Papa Francis (boredom=Papa Francis, don't ask :D) and I love it more and more each day, and I actually look forward to writing in it!

Here's to one Lenten post, look forward to many more in the near future. :)

All through Christ,

Maddie