Do everything without complaining...

Here we are, a week and a half into the Lenten season. It's likely that I've rambled on before about my discovery of Lent while in grad school. I'd heard of it before, but I knew it then as a Catholic thing, and that was back in my "Catholics-aren't-real-Christians" day (which I'm pretty ashamed of now, by the way). It was in grad school that I really began to understand Lent as an opportunity, wide-open for anyone who's life has been re-defined by Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

It's an opportunity to practice our own voluntary sacrifice. Now don't take this the wrong way, but we're pretty terrible sacrificers, as a general rule, so practice seems like a good idea to me. I also like the way a Lenten fast helps to prepare me for Easter. It slows me down so that I can't just flash past Resurrection Sunday with a little heartache from missing family and a ridiculous amount of chocolate.

This year I decided to give up complaining for Lent. If you're familiar with Lent, you're probably smirking about this fast. I can't blame you. Lent is supposed to be about giving up something that isn't bad; not giving up a sin. However, I checked with God and He seems good with me giving up sin, regardless of what the calendar says. So complaining it is.

I've been inspired by the super-simple verse in Philippians 2:14, "Do everything without complaining or arguing." I'm real good at complaining. I mean, stellar. I can do it in many ways. As a joke. With sarcasm. In a whiny voice. Passive-aggressively. I can even complain without words. In short, I got skeels. And these skeels are why I need to work on this.

Currently I'm still trying to get the outward part right. Complaining out loud hurts me AND others. Complaining in my heart hurts mostly me. So I'm working on the out-loud part first, and then I'm going focus on the heart part. And no, I don't plan to go back to complaining on Easter. :)