One of my favorite shows growing up was The Wonder Years. I don’t think I fully understood everything that was happening, but I saw a lot of myself in Paul Pfeiffer and wanted to marry Winnie Cooper. I really enjoyed the theme song for The Wonder Years, which was Joe Cocker’s “A Little Help From My Friends”. As a young child I appreciated the line in the song that said, “I get by with a little help from my friends,” but completely missed the line “I get high with a little help from my friends.”
I don’t condone getting high, but I definitely condone getting by with a little help from our friends.
Another week of Lent has come and gone and Carl’s Jr.’s Charbroiled Atlantic Cod Fish Sandwich is still going strong. Hopefully that’s not the only thing going strong. Hopefully whatever commitment you made for Lent is still going strong, whether that was to give something up or add something to your life.
As I’ve previously written about, I have given up sleeping in. As a youth pastor it’s almost expected for me to sleep until 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning. While that kind of sleep schedule would afford me more time to play video games late into the night, it would adversely affect my productivity. I gave up sleeping in because I wanted to spend more time with God and to be more productive in my day. I have seen success with both of those goals but, this week, I also got a surprise benefit.
I was meeting with a friend who wanted to reignite his devotional life. Based upon my own personal experience with waking up earlier, I was able to offer some practical advice. My devotional life had been inconsistent at best but committing to waking up earlier has definitely given me more time to spend with Jesus. Instead waking up late and running out of the house, waking up early has allowed me to sit quietly with Jesus while enjoying a cup of coffee. It’s like I’m having coffee with Jesus, without the baristas and teenagers ordering Frappuccinos. I’m grateful that my experience with Lent was able to help one of my friends.
Another of my friends, Jon, also shared some more thoughts about his experience with Lent through his vlog. Check it out below and be sure to follow Jon on Twitter and YouTube if you enjoy his videos.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB1vWsCL4yI&w=560&h=315]
What have you learned from Lent this week?
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