Feb 17, 2010
Lent: A Time to Worship and to Set Boundaries
When trying to figure out what I should give up for Lent, I’ve decided to make a list of what I can’t live without and to pick one item from that list. However, this season I ran into an interesting twist.
I began to think of what I’m longing for—what I lack and desire but have not been able to find.
My list of things I can’t live without would include my computer, the internet, social media, coffee, nice pens, nice journals, etc. However, I realized that this Lent I needed to create some boundaries in order to cultivate space where certain things could happen that have not been happening lately.
I think my professional life has some decent boundaries in and of itself, but the problem is that my professional life has crept into my personal time. Since I’m working on writing and speaking full time, it’s very hard to know when to stop—and I rarely stop once evening comes.
My wife always looks at me in shock on the few occasions when I sit on the couch reading a book. That is not good.
I need to stop more. I need to create some boundaries from the internet and my work. I need sacred space.
While I admire those who are giving up social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter for Lent, my larger problem is when I fritter my time away on social media, blogs, and web stuff in the evening when I should relax, pray, read, or let a rabbit climb all over me. I don’t feel like these things invade my professional life too much, but they are a problem at home.
So this Lent I’m creating two boundaries.
The first is a space of roughly 20 minutes each day for worship. This means worship music, prayer, or whatever. Some of this needs to be time specifically set apart for worship without any other distractions, but I’m also planning to focus on playing worship music while working throughout the day.
The other is a 6 PM internet cut off time. After 6 PM I am not allowed online, save for the few occasions when I’ll have to check my e-mail for something important. Even then, I’ll only use my wife’s computer where I don’t have any social media or blog settings saved—and it’s frittering my time away on social media and blogs that I’m far more worried about.
It’s already been wonderful. I fought off the urge last night to go online, even if Lent hadn’t begun, and enjoyed reading and journaling for a few hours. One rabbit hopped onto my lap and furiously licked my jeans and the pillow next to me.
I have a feeling that Lent is going to be wonderful for my soul… and my rabbits.
I’ve made a point to do that same with the internet at different times. It can take over your life.
I have a friend who sets aside time every morning for ‘quiet time’ to start her day, and I’m making the effort to do the same…it’s easy to bypass that personal worship time in the chaos of our busy days.
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Rabbits! What great Easter preparation!
Your 6:00 p.m. cutoff reminds me of Randy Frazee’s book _Making Room for Life_, where he suggests following a similar schedule (with similar benefits to what you described, though he never mentioned rabbits
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Ed, I feel like you’ve been peeking into my life as you examine your own! I can relate to everything you’ve said here (just replace the rabbits with a dog). The work-from-home lifestyle can be both wonderful and stifling. I think examining that dynamic and making some changes is a perfect way to observe Lent.
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Thanks every for the comments. I’m glad to hear I’m not alone in navigating this whole time management thing. It’s hard to hit the stop button when there’s always one more thing to do.
One thing I’m finding a few days in is that I’m much more efficient during the day because I now have a real deadline to make. I suddenly can’t fritter away a half hour reading articles and watching videos on facebook! This may need to be a permanent change…
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One must enter in a solitary place, and there pray, worship, and praise King Jesus Christ in the beauty of holiness. Rejoice, and God be magnified.
Kind Regards,
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