my 10-day fast

for the past 10-days, i have had nothing but water, tea and 1/2 a fruit and veggie smoothie every other day as i have been fasting and praying for wyatt. yes. me. i ate no food for 10 days! me, who can't go for 30 minutes past lunch time without whining and complaining. seriously, God could not have shown me more clearly how much stronger he is in me than i am on my own!

i have recently been convicted to fast once a week for prayer over my family. i chose tuesdays because that is the day when we have the least commitments. i spent my first tuesday fasting and on wednesday, my brother brad posted a request to have all of wyatt's prayer warriors to join him in fasting for the 10 days between ford's and wyatt's birthdays.

10 days. of course i had a million reasons why it wasn't a good idea. what if i got dizzy while with the kids? would i be safe to drive a car? what would my fast look like? could i go with only water? would i give up? but i just kept thinking that this is what my brother wants. this is one of the only things i can do to help them. and they have endured WAY more than the inconvenience of being hungry for 10 days. i can do this.

but what i quickly learned was that "i" wasn't doing this, God was. over the 10 days, i made my family 3 meals and 2 snacks everyday (some of them were my favorite meals due to some poor meal planning on my part when i wasn't paying attention to when the fast would be starting) and i never tasted a thing. not only did i not eat anything, but i wasn't really hungry! i did have some smoothie every other day or so to help with my dizziness in the morning. i would have been fine if i could have moved slower, but that isn't really an option when you have active kids! my stomach only growled twice and it was on the last two days. i think day 9 was the hardest one for me. but it was in my mind giving in and not my body although i was getting a little weaker by the last few days - like matt didn't let me drive any more (although i really was fine).

it was a very emotional 10-days for me but what a blessing to be focused on prayer. God sustained me. i seriously did not think that it was even possible. it flew by too! i am committed to weekly fasting. oddly, by denying myself food for 10-days, i have been freed from my dependance on food. i spend a lot of my time, planning, purchasing and preparing food - it just goes with being at home all day and responsible for feeding my family. but i was always thinking of the next meal (what will it be? when will be eat? when will i start? in what order will i do each part?). i think that fasting each week will keep me focused on my priorities and less distracted by the day-to-day (meals, cleaning, etc.).

if you have never fasted, try it. skip lunch one day each week. you might be really surprised by what it does for you mentally. love.