Hi friends.

I appreciate you all taking the time to come by. This post will be a little lengthy but I had to share my heart on this matter.

As you all know I take a leave from social media every year for lent. I need to remind myself to enjoy the moments without the need to document it. Every year my husband enjoys it because less mindless strolling and surfing means more cuddles and kisses.

Is it just me or does anyone else find themselves waking up, going straight for the phone and start the “mindless stroll” with the need to constantly refresh?

I work up like this, I went to bed like this. (Definitely not something that I was proud of. I don’t want my children to remember me with a phone attached to my hand. More of this later…)

I was reading on one of my favorite Christian mommy blogs, about “reverse lenting“. This means that you not only give up something for 40 days but you decide to take something on. Back to how I want to be remembered by my children… I want my girls to know without a doubt that I loved the Lord with all my heart. What better way for them to see my love for God than to see me read and study the Word?

I wanted to study the Word of God in a way that would make me fall in love all over again. I do not know how I came across the idea of Bible Journaling but from the moment I saw it, I fell in love. I love to doodle, color, and create. Someone said that people can worship in more than one way. What better way than with art! Wow! Reading his Word, creates a fire in me, and in turn I can place that on paper.

One of my soul friends, Steph W. had mentioned that she keeps a journal of each of her children and will write love letters to them. I thought, how beautiful! I incorporated her wonderful idea in the Bible that I started doodling in to produce a love letter to my girls in the presence of THE GREATEST LOVE LETTER ever written! I dedicated the Bible to my daughters:

“My darlings, the greatest lesson in love comes from your Creator. As you read the beautiful promises of our loving Father, remember that He loves you.. Be kind, courageous, strong, hopeful, and righteous. If we do life according to his Word, we will always be together. Enjoy these passages, take in life. And be on the look out for my tid-bits, just things I have learned along the way. Seek Him with all your heart, and there we will all be. Forever Yours, Mom.”

PRAYING WITHOUT CEASING.

I never knew what it meant to pray without ceasing. I typically prayed before meals or when someone asked for a specific prayer. My beautiful friend Cescily stores prayers for her son. He prays that he finds a righteous wife, that he becomes an excellent father, that he can withstand peer pressure, etc. If there’s a worry, she has a prayer for it. Following her example, I chose to pray…non-stop.

One day in the shower, I dropped to my knees and really called out to God. Before I am to His feet with prayer requests, I really had to humble myself to just lay at His feet. I have learned to just be still, in the quiet, and just take in His presence.

My prayers, once timid and fragile, are now bold and life-giving!

I have asked for the spirit to fill me with patience, humility, joy, wisdom, comfort. I have learned to not pray for my circumstances to change, but for my heart to change. To understand. To hope. To feel.

When you pray for all that, things happen. Change happens. You become filled.

I have embraced being spirit-lead. That’s another blog post. Another lesson learned: He left the Spirit for me. I must make myself aware to the guidance of the spirit, for it is always with me.

What I learned by being off social media:

• As you all know social media gives a sense of relevance. You matter, people care. You would think I have tons of friends based upon how many people comment or like my posts. Social media (or the devil, yet another topic) somehow tricked me into thinking that the relationships I have maintained, were VALID. To my surprise, when you take away that outlet, you are left alone. People have become so dependent on the news feeds and timeline that there is no real effort.

IT IS A PRIVILEGE TO BE APART OF SOMEONE’S LIFE.

• I quickly realized that I am at fault. It is my fault for making it so easy to be apart of my little family’s life. That is not the way it should be. I have replaced life-giving friendships for a simple “like”. The devil would want nothing more than to keep you separated from people who guide you and love you in the manner God intended. WOW!

It is no surprise that once I stay away from updating, that I felt lonely. It was hurtful to see the reality of the absence of REAL RELATIONSHIPS.

• The devil could have used those feelings of loneliness and sadness to pull me away from God. To show me that these 40 days were pure silliness. But because I was in the Word, praying, seeking, and searching… God showed me, in what I thought was loneliness, that I AM NOT ALONE.

Shout out to Pastor Rick from New Life Church. He once said that in order for you to hear the Word of God, you have to come close enough to hear His whisper. He pulled me away from the distractions to bring me back to Him! In the mist of my sadness He became my comfort, my joy, my friend. I experienced everything I had been reading/studying about!

My 40 days taught me that we cannot simply remove a sin, a bad habit, or negativity. We must replace and replenish it with something good. Fill you heart with His everlasting love and let it pour out of you.

Always,

Rosa

*The Bible I use for journaling is the NIV Note-Takers Bible. The pen is a Micron 005 that does not bleed through. The color pencils are Crayola Twistables in the 30 pack.*