I washed in the sink at the music school, drying off with paper towels.  I ate left overs from my job as a food demo guy at Sam’s Wholesale – later promoted to hotdog stand guy with even greater access to food destined for the trash can.  I filled up a water bottle everyday at school and again at work to stay hydrated.  I watched Forest Gump, Braveheart, Dead Poet’s Society and Independence Day in my 200 square foot “house” and that’s all.  I slept on the same sheets and wore the same clothes over and over again for weeks on end, hanging them on the porch overnight to blow the smells out from time to time.  I collected rain water in pots, pans and a garbage can and poured it into the toilet when I needed it to flush.

I did this for my wife.

I turned off my cable, my water, my gas and stopped buying groceries.  I smelled bad.  I was bored.  I wrote too many songs. I was thinner than ever.  But I saved up thousands of dollars for a ring and a honeymoon.  It took me just over a year.

For the next 39 days I’m giving up something I love (and even feel I need) so I can purchase a little darkness for my life in hopes that Easter will shine brighter by contrast when it arrives.  It’s a chance to identify with Suffering Servant, to remember His sacrifice.  It’s not something I’m told to do in the bible, not something I have to do, but something I did last year for the first time and found helpful in making the regrettably routine Easter more meaningful and participatory for me personally.

Giving up so much for Becky made us both appreciate that ring of hers and the promise it represents more than if mom and dad had just bought it for us instead.  The hope with Lent is, for me anyway, that the next weeks of small sacrifice and self-discipline will do the same for my appreciation of Christ’s gift to me.

Are you observing Lent?  What are you giving up?  Why?