As the so-called “Luck of the Irish” would have it, I would pick this week to limit myself even further for Lent. With St. Patrick’s Day today, and my Irish family (Sullivan? Irish? Who’d have thought?!?) pulling out the stops to celebrate, it’s the not so perfect time to have imposed some extra restrictions on my already pretty restricting Lenten decision. Nonetheless, challenge though it was to my Lenten mantra of “no snacks, soda, or sweets” (before you ask, soda bread doesn’t count– we’re just talking liquid soda here!) I think I did pretty well. I say “was,” by the way, because with my little brother and sister still in school, we celebrated St. Pat’s lastnight so the festivities wouldn’t get in the way of their homework and sleep schedule and such, so for us, the party is pretty much all said and done by now.
Anyway, I managed to not eat too much (though I must admit I was pretty full by the end of things), which is certainly a personal victory. However, I also experienced somewhat of a defeat at the hands of St. Patrick’s Day, as I ended up with quite a bit of dessert– nothing over the top, but a cookie and cake and a little green milkshake. I think I need to gather my thoughts on how dessert fits into my Lenten promise… perhaps I’ll think it over in the next couple of days and figure out just how much in error I was (or wasn’t) by partaking in those treats. For the moment, though, between it being a holiday and a Sunday, I’m not feeling too bad about my potential misstep.
How have you been keeping up with your Lenten promises? Have any missteps of your own? Is St. Patrick’s Day going to pose an extra challenge for your sacrifice? Let us know in the comments!
