Every year I give up something for Lent. I’m not Catholic, but I’ve found great value in the practice of cutting something out of my life or adding something into it for 40 days. Lent started on Febulary 10th, but I was on a plane home from Hawaii that day, and with the launch of Beating 50 Percent, and filming for Little People Big World, I’ve just now got around to writing this post! Please forgive my tardiness.
I’ve been practicing Lent since I was a freshman in high school. My best friend Ellen’s family practiced it, and that’s when I first found out what it even was. Since then, each year my best friend and I come together and observe the season of lent. We have often done similar things, and it’s great to know that she is holding me accountable, and I her.
If you don’t know what Lent is, Lent is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar of many Christian denominations that begins on Ash Wednesday and covers a period of approximately six weeks before Easter Sunday. This year Lent began on Wednesday February 10th, and will end on Thursday March 24. (sorry I initially had last year’s dates in here cause I copied this part from last years post, forgive me)
Over the years I’ve given up chocolate, eating after 9 p.m., social media, my hair curler/straightener, make-up, and buying clothes.
When I was in college, I decided to add something in place of the thing given up. The first time I did this I was a junior in college. I gave of make-up, and in addition added what I called, “prayer and praise.” Basically, I wrote one thank you note each day to someone that had impacted my life for better, and I committed to praying for that person throughout that day. It blessed me to speak words of encouragement and thanksgiving to my loved ones.
During my senior year in college, I took it one step further. I didn’t give anything up, but I added soemthing that I did everyday. I called it, “Lent Letter’s.” The idea was to send someone a prayer letter (yes a physical letter) every day for 40 days. Some of you may remember this, or maybe I even wrote you a letter because I posted to my IG stating that the first 40 people to e-mail me their mailing address would receive a prayer letter at some point during Lent! I was in shock as I read some of the addresses, Canada, New York, Alaska, Brazil… I listed out the first 40 names and addresses, and each day I would sit in silence waiting on the Lord to guide me in prayer for my friends, and the people I had never even met!
You can read about what gave up for lent in former years here:
2014 – Lent Letter’s: Prayer letters sent by mail to strangers/friends each day.
Over the past year, I have grown increasingly frustrated with the impossible expectations on women to beautify themselves, the obsession with outward appearance, and the wonders that social media has done for our self-esteem.
I’ve noticed it with my own Instagram account, and it has deeply saddened me. There have been times where I have posted a deep thought or perspective, an announcement, some really hard news, or a heart felt story to my Instagram, and people have commented:
“Where did you get your shirt?”
“What color lipstick are you wearing?!”
“I love your eye-make up!”
Don’t get me wrong, I am flattered, but on a deeper level, I am saddened.
I wonder, “Did they even hear what I was saying in my caption, or did they just totally disregard my words and only care about the physical appearance of my photo….”
My response: This year I am giving up make-up for Lent.
Yes, this is the second time I have given up make-up for Lent. So why am I doing it again? Because you just never seem to accept yourself “as-is.” Our culture encourages us to fall for the lies, and neglect the truths about ourselves. Learning to love yourself, and see yourself as Christ sees you, is a constant battle for pretty much every woman on the planet. And if you are the exception to that, well than bless your heart and teach us your ways!
When I asked God what I need to let go of for Lent this year, the answer was clear…. but I was resistant. I fought myself internally thinking, “….but it’s going to be so much harder now… in college it was cool to not wear make up because no one got ready for class… I woke up 10 min before class, and I pretty much lived in my running clothes cause I was either going to, or coming from, practice. Plus social media was not nearly the beast it is now…”
The stubbornness of my heart indicated that it was exactly what I needed to give up.
It will be hard… for me. I actually do love make-up. Doing my make-up is like an art for me, and I really enjoy it, so I will miss it….
Until March 24th, you are going to see freckle face, bare-eyed Auj.
Of course if I get a gargantuan zit on my forehead I am going to put a blot of cover-up on it, and I will also be wearing make-up on the days that we have to film interviews for TV. I say this so you don’t come after me when you see mascara in my snapchat here and there. But on the whole, the goal is to embrace how God created me, to spend less time and money on the superficial, and to encourage others to join me!
Maybe you’ve never given up something for Lent before, or maybe you forgot this year. It’s not too late! There are still 30 days left of Lent, and you know what they say… it takes 30 days to form a new habit. So to all my ladies out there, (which I am assuming is everyone who reads this besides my father, grandpa, and husband) let’s team up and form the habit of loving ourselves!
Be you, “as-is.”
#BeYouAsIs
My friend co-found this movement 30daysNoMakeup http://30daysnomakeup.com/. You might find some inspiration and also see how God loves you and uses you just as you are 🙂 I love the Lent season and this year I am joining in the Lament Experiment with the Practice http://www.practicetribe.com/sunday-reflections-january-31-2016-preparing-for-a-season-of-preparation/. Happy Lent!
Giving up something for lent is wonderful if it is what you feel like you want to do and it is for the right reasons and it sounds like for you it is. This is strictly my opinion but I would like to tell you that when you get comments about your hair, clothes, makeup and looks in general it doesn’t mean that people have not read your words and heard what you are saying. It simply means they wanted to compliment you and it was a place they could do it. It is meant as a compliment and you should embrace it for what it is. Also I think wearing makeup, cute clothes and doing your hair just shows that you take pride in yourself and that you make the most of what God has given you to work with. Yes the media does put a lot of attention on those things this is true. But the only thing that matters is how you feel about yourself and making the most of each day and presenting yourself to the world how you want to be viewed. Kind heart, compassionate and caring about others is your inner self and looking attractive is your outer self. You do both of these very well.
This is getting ridiculous
In the post above you said Lent this year is from Feb 18th to Apr 2nd, it is exactly Feb 10th to March 26th!
Never was a makeup girl myself, and it can be seen in my face daily, everyone always comments on it and never can get my age right! No makeup and lost of water!
Oops! Meant Lots of water!
I gave up makeup for the first month of the new year and it was so refreshing. Competing and comparing completely lost all power. It was so beautiful. Praying for you.
What specifically are you praying for ?
I agree …lots of water makes a huuuuuge difference in the appearance of your skin, I’m a true believer because I’ve experienced it myself! I love the ‘no makeup’ post …I agree with her. Unfortunately they’ll always be naysayers out there.
Beautiful post! I commend you for giving up makeup for lent. It’s very true that makeup can be fun & it isn’t a bad thing however not wearing it allows you as a person to accept yourself for the way God made you and it also allows for you to focus on the real you. There’s another blogger out there …Barefootblonde that did a #nomakeupMonday post and she said that her hubby told her to remember God made you beautiful without makeup and that she needed to remember that …I loved that! God bless you and don’t let anything or anyone negative get to you ever!
It’s really interesting to me that you aren’t fully committing to giving up the superficiality while you’re being interviewed as well. It says a lot about the importance you truly put on vanity in your heart.
Lent begins
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
and ends
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Fact checking is very important, especially for those who are considered teachers and leaders. This is a great example that we as christians truly don’t know everything and it is important to do your own research.
@himalone Yes that is correct and those are the dates I have listed above!
@emily! Thank you so much for your kind words!
I am no longer Catholic and never really observed lent. But similarly, I felt the same way as you just described in this post and I felt like I needed to stop because I was no longer comfortable to go out bare faced. Which bothered me because I never wore make up until last March. I knew I wouldn’t be able to wear make up when I would be in Peru, so I tried to stop beforehand to adjust. I haven’t worn makeup since I returned in late January. It’s great to get back to being comfortable in my own skin. Great post! 🙂
You look beautiful with or without makeup, Audrey. Another benefit to resting your skin is that it will be so much healthier! I go without makeup most days, but I do like to wear it for special events.
Audrey you are not giving up makeup for Lent. You don’t even have the dates correct. And if you are going to use make up during stated duration to cover up blemishes or to be in front of a camera then you aren’t giving it up for lent
@lolabI cannot unfortunately because I have to look the sam in interviews so that they can play them together in the same episode. I have to wear the same thing even.
@kitty947 I totally agree!
She stated that it technically started on the 10th but later said the 18th….just a small mistake.. is that really all you could take from this post? The lent dates? wow!
I think it’s important especially if you are going to make a post about it and publicize it. And no that’s not all that I think everyone who has commented has taken from the post. It’s clear that she’s still making Lent about her and not about glorifying God.
wow this truly breaks my heart. I’m sorry it comes across that way
It doesn’t come across that way at all Audrey! Some people just want to be negative. You are an inspiration to me! I love your blog! 🙂
I think that giving up make up is be-you-tiful! I am Catholic and I gave up Facebook. I had my husband change my password so i was not tempted to even “just take a peek” at what everyone was doing. Amazingly enough, I don’t miss it and I am sure that no one misses my posts either! I have to agree with you on the superficial world of social media. I do read your IG posts and although i rarely comment, I see others asking those questions and it made me sad too.
“Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” I know this scripture verse doesn’t specifically mean whatm trying to convey I think it work. Basically it’s so crazy to me how we as women, as Christians, heck as humans we do everything in our means to tear each other down without looking at our own actions first. Only you and God know your heart. You always come across as a genuine person and beautiful example of Christ. Prayers for you during this lententry season.
This was a beautiful post Audrey and I deeply appreciate your spirituality. I love the idea of fifteen minutes of quiet a day, just to listen for guidance and direction. I am going to try to be more diligent in this practice. Your blog is a beacon of Light.
It is about your heart. Ones journey to build a closer relationship with God is what doing Lent to me is about. I also am not Catholic, but participate in Lent, because I find it very cleansing before celebrating Jesus’s resurrection. Auj you have a beautiful heart. I am 44 and find you to be a great role model. I pray for you in your journey. God Bless you for putting good back into the World instead of negativity. If more were like you we would have peace.
I am Catholic and I am very happy to hear about people from other Christian denominations practice lent in preparation for Jesus’ resurrection. I commend you Audrey for being committed to do this yearly. In our Parish, after the Ash Wednesday mass we were given bottles to bring home. In these bottles we put money in exchange for something that we gave up every single day. For example I gave up lunch today so my lunch money goes to the bottle instead. When the bottles are filled we offer them to God after Easter Sunday mass. The poor/needy will benefit from the things that we gave up during Lent. As Catholics we also do not eat meat every Friday especially on Good Friday and Black Saturday. Thank you for loving Christ and striving to be like Him. You are a good role model God bless you. “In Omnibus Amare et Servire Domino” In everything LOVE and SERVE the LORD. Love from the Philippines.
Eventhough I’m not religious at all, you do inspire me with the things you do (religious inspired or not) Audrey. You do things that are really thought through and inspire me to do the same. Giving my life on earth more dept. Keep on doing the things that you do. Love from the Netherlands
I think it’s pretty clear that your instagram feed is a place where you conduct business. I mean, 99% of your pictures are of yourself and bear little to no apparent relevance to their captions until you scroll down and find the advertisement containing a link to buy your outfit, lipstick, or hair curler. BUT, I do think it’s pretty cool that you “sneak in” some scripture for your followers to read BEFORE they can find the link to your outfit. Honestly, it’s quite genius because anyone reading your captions looking for where you bought something in your picture is forced to read through scripture in order to find what they’re really looking for. Even if they don’t read all of it, you can only hope that the one or two words they did lay their eyes on draws them in to read the rest or at least come back to it later. As someone who participated in Young Life through high school as well, I totally recognize this tactic and it makes me smile because it’s what makes YL so refreshing compared to many other youth groups who come at kids full force loaded with scripture and God this and that.
Having said all this, I mainly want to point out that you’re targeting a group of girls who are primarily following you because they think you’re pretty and have great style. All they really want from you is inspiration for choosing an outfit or makeup look. This is the sad but real truth. This is great though because you’re attracting so many girls that coincidently really need Christ in their lives. Therefore, I really don’t think you should be bummed if you aren’t getting the kind of response you were hoping for from your followers. I would just keep praying that they’re getting your message and take comfort in the fact that you are getting God’s word out to these girls who are in need of it.
P.S. I hope you guys are loving Bend. I’m actually pretty jealous, because I’ve always had plans to move there since I was little. I’m from the coast, and though I love my salty air and thick green forests, I’ve always loved the seasons that Bend has along with the numerous options for outdoor activities. Enjoy!
I like not wearing makeup often, but my eyelashes are the same light strawberry color that my hair is naturally. You can’t see them! Not sure if you naturally have those eyelashes or if they’re enhanced in some way (which wouldn’t make sense because that would be hypocritical during makeup free lent), but I wish mine looked like that without mascara!