Right before the Lenten season approached the calendar this year, I prayed to God to find the answer to what I should give up for Lent, since every year I try to give up something that has a lot of power and space in my life.

Not only is celebrating the Lenten season a great lesson in discipline and sacrifice, it also gives me a tiny, small glimpse of the great and powerful sacrifice that Christ gave to me..to all of us in His death and resurrection. Compared to what He gave up for me, giving up chocolate (many Lent seasons ago), caffeine (last year’s Lent season) or……Facebook, it’s all tiny in comparison to Him.

A lump formed in my throat at the thought.

Give up FACEBOOK for LENT? For SIX WEEKS?

Oh no, that was too great. I couldn’t do that. I need Facebook. I need to keep up with my friends, what’s going on in the world, what Snooki is up to…

(Ok, so I don’t actually follow or care what Snooki is up to, I’m just using that as an example.)

Facebook is how I stay plugged into the world. Into MY world. Giving that up would be like giving up breathing..ok maybe not QUITE but it sure felt that important.

I prayed about it and it was clear. It was time to walk away for six weeks. To unplug. To sacrifice a little bit. If I was honest with myself, Facebook had really taken too much space in my life.

So in February, I announced to my friends and family that I was unplugging for six weeks.

And I logged off.

And stillness found me in the silence.

It was so welcoming.

My life got quiet. The hustle and bustle, the trying to keep up and update and “friend” someone and click the like button on every cute thing my friends post and get updated on their latest happenings no longer took any space in my life. Sure I missed my friends. Sure I missed that connection.

But I welcomed the stillness in the silence.

My life got quickly uncluttered. I hadn’t realized how cluttered it actually had gotten. But when I unplugged, I plugged into stillness. Everything seemed clearer. Everything seemed simpler. Everything seemed refreshing.

I could feel it physically, I could feel it emotionally but I could really feel it spiritually. All of a sudden all the noise was gone and I could hear God clearer because of the stillness.

On Easter Sunday, I re-logged into Facebook. And I’m glad to be back with my friends chatting and liking and re-connecting but I also really loved the stillness and I find myself thinking of other times in the year where I can unplug and get quiet and unclutter my life a little bit.

God found me in the stillness. I welcomed it. I needed it. I was blessed by it.

And I look forward to finding more times like I did during the Lenten season.

When was the last time you un-plugged from Facebook and found the stillness in the silence? God is there waiting for you to get quiet. He has so much to say to you.

Go ahead, it’ll be hard but it’s so worth it because He’s waiting for you.