The desert is dry...

Today is day 4...so checking in...The first two days were not fun giving up caffeine. Bad headaches. But it's been worth it! God has been opening my eyes to some pretty awesome things through some different means...

We watched The Help today. I know that things in the 60's were harry racially. But the realness of it was truly saddening. The courage that the maids had to show to tell their stories was enlightening.

Everyday we are put into situations that demand courage to deal with them. They become so hard, sometimes life threatening.

Four days ago, I made a decision to get the courage to change myself, and renew my relationship with God. It takes a lot of courage in my perspective, to go on a 40 day walk, to renew a relationship, to give up something that I rely on everyday to make it through.

And it feels good. It does feel freeing...

Courage...it's quenching my thirst while in the desert.

Thank you God!

I have always been fascinated by some of the mystical and traditional things that some religious faiths practice. Lent being one of them. The tradition of observing Jesus' 40 days in the Wilderness/ Desert is very appropriate if you ask me. I guess I never really took the time to understand it until now. But sacrificing something, giving up something that you rely on, or use on a regular basis for 40 days should be easy compared to Christ fasting with no food or water for 40 days...right? To face 40 days of temptation to eat food, or rely on that thing to get you by, or allowing Satan to tempt you and bring you down ...

Now, I am not Catholic, and I have never practiced Lent in any form what so ever, but this year, I have decided to "Take a long walk in the desert." Now, I am not fasting for 40 days; being that Jesus was supernatural I believe he might be the only person that ever walked this earth and lived. I am not going to not eat meat on Fridays...however, I am going to give up something that I rely on everyday to get me through. Caffeine. That's right. No Amps. No Monster Drinks. No chocolate. No Soda, unless of course it's caffeine free.

Not only have I decided to make a sacrifice to give caffeine, I am going to be taking a 40 day walk where I am going to be working on my prayer life, my "walk" with Christ each and every day. To coincide with this, I am going to blog each day. Not necessarily so that everyone can read about my "plight" but so that I can share in my awareness.

Tomorrow is the first day of Lent. Today, I have gone the entire day with out drinking any soda, so that I could get over those awesome withdrawal headaches...however tomorrow, starting at midnight, I will fast the entire day. I am not telling you or anyone reading because I want your empathy or admiration, but because I think it is the best way for me to shock my body and more importantly my brain and heart, ie my soul.

What I mean by that, when I get hungry, instead of looking for a candy bar, I want to look towards God and ask him to feed me spiritually. Now, I have asked to be kept accountable. Unfortunately the people who I thought would step up to keep me on track, haven't. But those that have, I am very much appreciative. For those who will be following me, please feel free to check in. Maybe we can do this together? By all means, ask me how I am doing.

Some of you may say this is stupid, well, maybe it is, but if it fulfills the purpose, that's all that matters. God himself will be the judge of that.

So, my 40 days starts soon. I do ask that if you are reading, and plan on following, please pray for me. Pray that I will stay strong. More importantly, pray that I find my passion again for Christ. Pray that I will be fed spiritually, and that my walk won't keep me parched but my thirst will be quenched. That on the other side I will be renewed.

My first step...

The reality of it all is I want to laugh and live life everyday. I want to be mesmorized. I want to laugh and be entertained.
I like reading and watching movies about vampires and werewolves. Ghosts and myths about the Masons is what I'm into. I love studying about symbols. Where they came from and what they mean.
I believe in a higher power that lived over 2000 years ago that I am only able to read about. This guy performed several miracles.Pulled demons from those who were possessed. Died and rose from the dead.
As "Christians " we believe in Angels and Demons. Beings we cant see that we believe intercede on our behalf. These creatures that can walk among us without us ever knowing. Again if we can believe in what we do not see why not other mythical things?
After all its one person's story against someone else's.
Believe what you want. I know what my reality is...

Everyday we make choices. We make our choices based on what we were taught as children, the influences around us, and truths we believe in.

When do we re-evaluate those decisions? Why do we sometimes go against our best judgement and do the wrong thing?

Why can't we trust our gut?

We are presented with choices every moment of every day. What to say, what to wear, what to think, what to believe, what to watch, where to go, who to be, who to follow, where to work, what to care about.

There is a force that we all plug into, a belief system that we follow that brings us to where we are at this very moment.

Some call it the "Force", some call it Mother Earth, the Holy Spirit...but we are tied together, believe it or not.

Some believe in the positive nature of things, some not so much.

Every day we have the option to chose between good and bad, positive or negative. My challenge to myself and to anyone reading this is:

Take everyday and make it positive. You control this.

Yes the world may be harsh, may come at you with all kinds of hate, but show the world the love it needs to see. Make the right choice!

I dare you!