For Trek we have had different challenges every month for our spiritual and physical preparation. For May we were supposed to have "3 Days of Sacrifice." We were asked to give up something that we really liked for 3 days. Some examples they gave were Facebook, sugar, texting, etc. I was thinking about Facebook, but I'm not super addicted to it -- there have been times when I went three days without getting on Facebook and didn't think anything about it.
I decided I would not watch any TV or movies for 3 days, and Steve decided to do the same. When I tell people that they look at me weird like, "that's really a sacrifice? I barely even watch TV." I know -- well, Steve and I watch it a lot. It's sad. But I'm not in school and we don't have kids, so many of our evenings are spent watching TV shows, movies, or Netflix together. I look at it as some quality time together, so I don't see it as bad or anything. We are doing something we like together. We also usually have a movie on when doing other things, like puzzles, playing games, homework, cleaning, etc. The TV is on a lot in our house.
I was going to "cheat" and do this 3 Day Sacrifice during the week so we could just be at work and not have to think about it. Then I decided that would not be a true sacrifice since we wouldn't be at home with it tempting us. Or something like that ... it made sense to me. We started it Friday morning and did not watch TV or movies until Monday.
Steve was joking on Friday night and asked me, "But when we get home from church on Sunday, what are we supposed to do all afternoon??" I answered, "I guess we'll have to rough it, just like the pioneers!!" I also feel kind of silly when talking about how this 3 Day Sacrifice is supposed to show us how it felt for the pioneers when giving up something they loved or needed to journey across the country. We all know that 3 days are a tiny speck compared to what the pioneers had to actually give up for their beliefs.
Despite how silly it felt sometimes to think how small that time period was, and how silly it is to give up TV, I learned some things. They weren't really tangible lessons that I could list, but I felt the spirit because I was doing something to prepare me for Trek. We spent more time talking, we learned a new card game, we put puzzles together, we actually cleaned the entiiiiire kitchen, and got other home things finished. See the things we accomplish when we turn off the TV??
We might even try electronic-free weekends every once in a while. Even though we still had our phones available and we played video games, we still interacted more and it felt like we spent more time together. It was a great time to re-focus and think about Trek and what type of things I have learned that I can share with my family when we are there. Even though I'm still not excited to go camping and not shower, I am glad I'll have this experience. I know it will be good.
Trek is in a month. Holy crud!!
