Lessons Learned in Lent

 

This year was the first time in several years that I’ve participated in a Lenten fast. I have done so a handful of times over the years, when I felt the Lord urging me to step away from something specific for the 40-day period. (One year it was music in my car!)

                This year I chose to fast from processed sugar/dessert, and as I approach the end of Lent, I wanted to reflect on what has happened in my heart during that time.

                Here’s the bottom line: I love sugar. I love dessert. I always have, and my guess is I always will. I would prefer to skip the meal and eat extra dessert, every single time. It is not uncommon for me to start thinking about the next meal’s dessert as soon as I finish the current meal’s dessert. I love cookies, cake, brownies, ice cream…you name it.

                When I lost weight about a year and a half ago, the plan I followed had a zero-sugar policy, so I went without sugar for all the weeks I was in weight-loss mode. It was hard to be without it during Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s! It was also hard to explain to people why I couldn’t enjoy even a bite of a treat during that time.

                When I started maintaining and eating in a more daily way, I reintroduced dessert, carefully and occasionally. But like any habit, I started enjoying it more and more, and while I hadn’t gone overboard or spun out of control with it, I realized I was leaning on it too much.

                So I told the Lord I would give it up for this time as a reminder that I’m not enslaved to sugar.

                Twice during Lent, I did partake in sugar. The first time was just a couple of days into it, when I came down with the flu and everything on the entire earth sounded terrible except Coke. (I didn’t even want coffee -eeek!) I asked Ryan to bring me one, and I drank less than a quarter of it. It kept me going for that day and when I felt up to other food and drinks, I moved on.

                The second time was just a few days ago when I simply caved. I’m not proud of it. But I did it.

                Lent isn’t about dieting, and that wasn’t why I abstained from sugar. I fasted from it to remind myself to depend on the Lord, and with the exception of those two choices, I did spend a lot of time remembering my desires and weakness and leaning on the Lord.

                Ryan has asked me what I’m going to do when Easter comes. I have a cookie waving at me from the top of the freezer every time I open it, so I think I’ll enjoy that little treat on Sunday. But what I did learn from this season is that I can survive without depending on sweets every moment of the day, and I need to employ it more often.

                I also learned that I enjoy fruit and natural sugars – like honey – and while moderation matters there too, I can enjoy the sweets I love without consuming empty and/or worthless calories in the name of sweets.

                This was a jump start to a learning curve that will continue after Easter and into the days (and lifetime) to come.