Lent is here and as it has always been, God has something like an assignment for me to do during the season.

During one of my prayertimes, I found myself asking God what He wants me to give up for Lent. Without so much discussions/exchanges of thoughts, I believed that I heard Him command me to give up (just for this season) my Yahoo Messenger. Yes, you read it right. My yahoo messenger!

You see, YM is my way of communicating to a lot of friends and to special people in my life. It has become a source of happiness and joy to me these past months. I found it actually very life-giving and a good way to start beautiful and meaningful relationships. However, sometimes constant chatting can lead you to get so attached either to chatting or the people you're chatting with. This is not surprising; these things do happen especially when you allow them to happen. Not that I am worried or anything but I want to do something like a reality check. And more importantly, my heart somehow desires to just be with God during this time.

Through this simple act of sacrifice, I hope to spend more time with God especially during lunchbreak-- to be able to attend the Holy Mass rather than chat with my friends. Also, I plan to focus and give time to people, those I am not in constant communication with lately. I'm talking about my friends or people in my life who are not in my YM contact list. I've lost contact with them simply because I get to talk with my YM pals most of the time.

This is to me a tough decision. I am a person who values relationships and so, I feel sad just with the thought of being cut off from these wonderful relationships for a while. But just like a plant pruned to produce more fruits in due season, so are my relationships. They need to be continuously cultivated through this brief time of separation so they would grow stronger and more fruitful in the years to come.

My heart needs to grow in total dependence on God and His words during this time. I trust that His grace is more than enough for me so I can faithfully carry out my decision so He could work His will in my life and in the lives of those around me.