T Minus 4 Hours and Counting

06 Sunday Jan 2013

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Okay, so if you have read my prior posts, then you know January 6th is D Day…Daniel Fast Day that is! Read the first few posts if you want to know more about the fast itself…basically is is vegan but also no sugar, coffee, alcohol, or processed stuff. Now if you are already vegan, I guess this may not be much of a fast or sacrifice for you! However, for the rest of us, eating in this manner might be a challenge. My co-worker told me I was a bit crazy and he couldn’t give up his animal products for 1week, let alone 3!

Well, I’ve cooked up huge crockpot of rice, crockpot of black beans, stocked the fridge with fruits and veggies, and “weird milks” as Matt calls them ( uh, that would be hemp milk, flax milk, almond milk, and quinoa milk- yes apparently you can make milk out of pretty much any plant or nut). So, the food is ready, but are we ready? Remember a fast is all about the food, and nothing about the food. From what I’ve read a true biblical fast is to be giving up food. Not that it’s a bad idea to practice self-control in other areas such as tv, shopping, internet, etc., but a true fast should be abstaining from food or types of food and drink.

However, it can also be easy to make it just about the food or focus too much on the recipes and food preparation. I love cooking healthy and reading cookbooks on vegan, raw, and gluten free cooking, so I can tend to get wrapped up in the food portion. This is a spiritual exercise most of all, not a diet plan. This should also come with daily prayer, devotions, and coming closer to hearing God. I have a focus on some financial obstacles that I keep struggling with for this fast. Not that I go out on $500 Nordstrom shopping trips every other week, but if I’m at Target and see a cute shirt or earrings, I’ll often just buy it. I’ve done a budget about every 6 months and contemplated the envelope system, but have yet to stick with it for more than about a month.

So, I’m hoping to have breakthrough in this area by fasting. So, I should get the credit cards out of my wallet, use cash or debit, and actually try to abide by the budget I’ve so carefully entered in Mint for the 5th time. Maybe I’ll hear from God where He actually would like me spending His money. Maybe to The Exodus Road to help free trafficked 8 years olds in SE Asia forced to have sex with adult men, or to Casa de Fe in Equador, an orphanage that takes in disabled kids abandoned in the city or jungle. I’m sure that would be more where God would have me put my resources rather than TJ Maxx.

Well, still time to join in the fun! Read the archived posts from December for more info. I’m off to have my last glass of wine…

May Your Cup Overfloweth

02 Wednesday Jan 2013

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So last night we rang in the New Year at home with our little family of 3! We watched football and Enchanted (the one with Patrick Dempsey). We had Trader Joes Sun Dried Torta with Gluten Free bread and Peppermint macarons. Hannah has a great French accent when she says macaron…it is not the American macaroon but the French one, made with almond flour (not the gooey coconut things).

Anyway, somewhere this year in one of the parenting books I read something about the lost practice of blessing our children. I honestly can’t remember the book and I can’t remember the exact little ceremony they described, but I remembered the concept. I remembered I really wanted to start this tradition. So we sat Hannah down with a fancy Czech crystal wine glass sitting on top of a plate. We had some kind of sparkly pink cider and began pouring it in her glass until it started overflowing the sides (thus the plate under). As we did this we prayed that God would overflow her cup with blessings this year. Nothing fancy and no big words, just basically a one sentence blessing. She was so excited to do this and was really excited that we would actually pour the juice over the top of the cup. Guess we don’t encourage her doing that too often.

After we filled hers, she wanted to fill ours too, but she definitely wanted Matt’s just brimming to the top but not spilling over. I guess blessings brimming to the top are pretty okay too. Then we all drank our sparky pink cider and Hannah said “I drank all my blessings”. So in 2013 may your cup overfloweth with blessings and may you remember to drink all those blessings!

Overindulged?

28 Friday Dec 2012

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So 10 days til Daniel Fast time. I’m actually pretty excited. Why on Earth would someone be excited to give up their coffee, sweets, meat, bread, chips, pancakes, pasta, fish, chicken, cheese..oh, and wine. Whoa, I’d better stop before I talk myself out of it. That is a lot of stuff to quit eating.

However, especially with the holidays, most of us, me included, have imbibed in a bit too much of the aforementioned things. We likely have indulged in a lot of cookies, turkey, ham, rolls, chocolate, and perhaps a holiday cocktail or two…or three. We have shopped to excess and will have the credit card bills to prove it in January. Likely, we have not practiced much self-denial over the last few months. Likely our flesh is used to being fed pretty well over the season. So, yes I am excited to give up some things, deny that voice in my head that tells me to eat, and buy, and do whatever I want to do. I think it will bring me closer to what God wants me to do, which is always a better option. After all, who has the better track record?

If you are interested in joining in the Daniel Fast there are two great resources…”The Ultimate Guide To the Daniel Fast” by Kristen Feola and also “The Daniel Fast” by Susan Gregory. Both have great recipes using the things you can actually eat and also 21 days of devotionals. Susan Gregory also has a website http://www.daniel-fast.com. So pull out that heavily used credit card and buy one more thing before the year end. You might not regret this purchase come January!

Daniel Fast Anyone?

26 Wednesday Dec 2012

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Anyone ever done a Daniel Fast? Ever heard of one? Matt and I did it a little over a year ago. Based on the Book of Daniel (the book of the bible that is). Daniel was a member of high ranking Jewish family captured by the Babylonians a really long time ago, like pre-Jesus time, and brought to serve King Nebuchadnezzar. So King Neb wanted all the Jews to start eating his royal, fattening, unhealthy food and drink that was forbidden to them. Daniel and several of his buddies refused and asked the guard over them if they could only eat vegetables and water. The guard wasn’t too happy to grant this because he could have also gotten in trouble, like a lot of trouble, or possibly killed. However, Daniel asked it they could just try it for 10 days and then the guard could check them out to see if they were all scrawny or sick looking. The guard agreed.

Now the biblical word was “pulse”. Which technically wasn’t just vegetables, but anything from seed, including legumes and fruit. And ONLY water for drinking…pretty sure that means no coffee (not even decaf!). So after the 10 days of eating this way they actually had better health than the people eating Neb’s food. The King was quite fascinated with this and found them smarter and more wise than the other folks.

The Daniel Fast is based on this principle. If you haven’t ever fasted for spiritual purposes it can give you closer relationship with God, breakthrough in areas you’ve been stuck in, more awareness of the Holy Spirit, increase focus and self-control and many other benefits. Denying your flesh isn’t something most of us as Americans are used to doing for the most part.

So to kick this year off I’m planning on a Daniel Fast starting Sunday January 6th. Typically, this is a 21 day fast. Anyone with me? If not, I’m still doing it. Just don’t invite me to dinner…

7 days to 2013!

24 Monday Dec 2012

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Hmmm…2013 is approaching…7 days to be exact. I’m kind of a blog addict and I have so many on my favorites bar I can barely keep track of them. I have some changes I want to make this year; spiritual, physical, organizational, parental, and financial changes are a few I think of off hand. Basically, I’m starting this blog to organize myself, keep accountable, and document progress. If anyone else finds it interesting along the way…GREAT!

God has great plans for us in all realms of our life. He does care about our physical body, our finances, our relationship with Him, the raising up of our kids, our prayer life, our involvement with the poor and oppressed, and clutter in our homes ( and therefore usually our minds). This year I’m going to commit to making changes in these areas and to listen to God’s will. I nearly didn’t want to use the word “commit” because that would really…um…commit me to doing so. Maybe ‘try’ would be a better choice, but I think I’ll stick with commit.