Giving and Giving up.

Today my devotional was about giving up something to gain something that is worth so much more., Once again it talked about Lent and how it is more about just giving up things it is about giving things. I know that some people try to incorporate something new into their lives and others give up things such as a favorite food or facebook. So step back and take a breath, here's what it had to say.
Today I received an e-mail from an old friend. She wrote, "The beginning of lent always make me think of you, and I hear you say that it isn't necessarily about giving up something; it is just as much about giving something. And then i think fondly of breakfast and the gathering and sharing that took place during my senior year". The memory makes me grin. That was the year a handful of girls from church decided we needed to meet weekly during Lent to encourage each other in our faith. Since everyone was already extremely busy with extra commitments, we decided to get up early and have breakfast together before class---even though some of us were definitely not morning people. It's no surprise that once Lent was over, the group decided to keep meeting through the end of the school year. Sure. Lent is about giving up things. And that year we gave up some sleep to meet for breakfast once a week. But Lent is also about giving things-Sarah Arthur

With my friends it is all about giving of ourselves and our time so that we can spend it with each other. My roommates and i try to have dinner together every Friday night, this is a time of fellowship for us we get to catch up on each others day and just be with each other. These are the times when I look around the room and just smile because God has placed such amazing, godly women in my life. they are truly beautiful people inside and out. When i read this devotional it reminded me of our Friday night dinners and how truly blessed i really am.
Colossians 3:5-10 says..
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices  and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.