Lent Day 1: Growing Pains

Although I love Lent’s emphasis on prayer and almsgiving, I have a problem with fasting. Mostly that fasting for me is harder than most people. And it’s not just because I snack a lot. It’s because I have food allergies.

Most people would think that I would use food allergies as an excuse to opt out of the “one large meal and two smaller meals” clause that comes with fasting. But what can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment. I don’t like getting “special treatment” or opting out of something because of my allergies. Besides that, I can still eat tuna and cod.

What makes fasting hard for me is that it forces me to think outside of the box and makes me all-too-aware of my growling stomach at 3PM. And yeah, as a chronic snacker, fasting is hard. Ultimately, I choose to fast today because want to prove to myself and to God that I can fast. I managed to cook up some tuna steaks and onions for breakfast. I plan on drinking juice, water, and tea throughout the day whenever I feel like snacking.

So now onto my photo of the day.

I decided to take part in Catholic Sista’s Lenten Instagram Photo-a-Day Journey since Busted Halo’s challenge goes against my Lenten resolution. However, I highly encourage that you participate in either one or both. I also want to promote Busted Halo’s Fast Pray Give calendar which provides a lot of mini-challenges for those who are too intimidated to do a big thing for 40 days.

Today’s prompt in the CSLentIPJ is “symbol.” I decided to take a picture of the bamboo plant that my father gave me for Valentine’s Day. I hated how small it was, but he said that he got that small plant for a reason. He wanted me to take care of it and watch it grow alongside me. So this bamboo plant is a symbol of how I start Lent: small and dealing with growing pains.