What are you giving up?

Lent and Easter are my favorite times of the year. It is such a time of reflection and rebirth I love it. but being Catholic ALWAYS brings up one question once Lent starts "What are you giving up?"

This is so annoying to me, but it's not people's fault they just don't know. I want to clear up a few things. First is we do NOT have to give something up. Lent is a time of fasting, reflection and almsgiving so basically we are called to sacrifice. This would mean giving something up if you would say in your mind "I can't live without ___________. If you do not put God in that blank then maybe you could sacrifice for forty days by not having or doing that thing. This is not intended to benefit you- what I mean by this is saying "I am going to give up chocolate so I can lose weight." No, this is not why you should give something up. It is meant to be challenging and difficult, but nothing can be as difficult as being in a desert for 40 days being tempted by the devil or dieing on a cross for mankind.

The second thing is you can also DO something to benefit others or your relationship with Christ. This is also encouraged and acceptable during lent. I found the following and thought it was a PERFECT description of what lent should be:
WHAT TO GIVE UP . . .

Give up complaining. . . . . . . .focus on gratitude.
Give up pessimism. . . . . . . . . become an optimist.
Give up harsh judgments . . .think kindly thoughts.
Give up worry. . . . . . . . . . . . . trust Divine Providence.
Give up discouragement. . . . .be full of hope.
Give up bitterness. . . . . . . . . . turn to forgiveness.
Give up hatred. . . . . . . . . . . . . return good for evil.
Give up negativism . . . . . . . . .be positive.
Give up anger. . . . . . . . . . . . . .be more patient.
Give up pettiness. . . . . . . . . . .become mature.
Give up gloom. . . . . . . . . . . . . .enjoy the beauty that is all around you.
Give up jealousy. . . . . . . . . . . .pray for trust.
Give up gossiping. . . . . . . . . . .control your tongue.
Give up sin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . turn to virtue.
Give up giving up. . . . . . . . . . . hang in there!

This is what it is all about people. This is what God is calling us to do. God doesn't care what religion you are- He is calling us all to do these things we are ALL His children.

I thank God everyday for the opportunites He gives me to reflect, love, practice and give up all the things that are hazardous to my relationship with Him.

Couponing

Yes I am a dork I know this. This is not something you need say behind my back I am fully aware that the things I enjoy and get satisfaction out of are not ordinary. I love running long distances for starters who really likes doing this?, organizing, finding deals, saving money, cleaning and oh yes cutting & using coupons.

So one of my favorite things to do is get as many coupons as I can to save money on the ever climbing grocery bill. I do this in several ways and Chip asks me how many coupons I print out a day- I am not sure of the answer, but what I am sure of is that I get things we use for a fraction of the price. It really doesn't take that much time either I know it can feel overwhelming, but once you look at the receipt- complete bliss and satisfaction I promise!

So I have some FREE coupons to give out if anyone is interested. They are for FREE 4 pack Hiland yogurts and I have some for a FREE Yophoria Smoothie Yogurt- let me know if you are interested. I buy the paper every Sunday, I belong to our local Coupon Queen (918couponqueen.com) where she tells me about every deal there is, I subscribe to All You & Family Circle magazines tons of coupons. I belong to websites such as: coupon mom, smart source, red plum, target and I write in to my favorite brands tell them how much I love their products and they always send me coupons in the mail!!

I also plan my meals I belong to a plan that emails me every week with seven meals plus side dishes and a grocery list- LOVE this and it's only $1.25 a week!! You can't beat that. We do the family Point System one because I love Weight Watchers and eating healthy and this allows us to on a budget. The meals are YUMMY too!!! If you are interested please use the link on here so I can get credit :).



Anyways, not that any of you wanted these tips BUT I love to find new and easy ways to save money and thought maybe someone else out there would too.

Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions (I am not a pro but would love to help you) and also if you want some of the FREE coupons!!