I was asked if I had noticed any difference in the events of the past week that may have been affected by the time I spent fasting. At first, I had a difficult time recalling any major events; there was nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing out of the ordinary? Wait a minute…last week was full of out of the ordinary!
There were airplanes, fireworks, festivals, police, hospital, news reports, social workers and lawyers (details to follow). Apparently, the craziness of life was not removed by fasting. So what was different? Was there any sign that spending time fasting had made any effect on the week? YES – I was affected!! I lived through airplanes, fireworks, festivals, police, hospital, news reports, social workers and lawyers – and by the beginning of the following week, I felt as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Fasting is about me. It’s about stopping and forcing myself to be quiet. It’s about eliminating the ordinary activity of eating to allow myself to be prepared to deal with the un-ordinary events in life. I’m sold! Feasting and Fasting are both important. Feasting comes in celebration. Fasting gives us something to celebrate.
The Events of the week:
Did you hear about the mom in Colorado who claimed Chili’s served alcohol to her three children? That’s my daughter-in-law, the same one that was arrested for domestic violence in January and lost custody of her children. Following the not-guilty verdict, she was awarded overnight visits. July 4th was her second overnight and on the third overnight, she put the children in front of the TV cameras. The following day her visits were reduced to 2 hour supervised visits. Yes, there was anxiety, but along side of it was deep sense of knowing that all would be well.
I was on a plane at 6:30 am July 5th, making my way to Wisconsin for the first event Silver Thread Publishing was to participate in. A year ago I was struggling with such fear and anxiety that I had to force myself to leave the house. My plane rides that day were effortless.
As we arrived at our event, the booth was not laid out as we had planned, the second booth could not be set up till the next morning and we were still unsure how transactions would be made. Four twelve-hour days followed; two performances on stage and thousands of people making their way past our booth. A few moments of frustration, but nothing that couldn’t be overcome.
The week was full of out of the ordinary events. Big events! Events that could have sent me in a tailspin…but they didn’t. I wasn’t protected from the events; everything didn’t fall into place perfectly. However, I was different. I have changed. I was filled with peace. I didn’t anticipate what was going to go wrong, I was anticipating what was going to go right! I was eager to see what was going to happen next!
Love the positive here. God is indeed faithful.
Your last post was so inspiring that I decided to fast. Then came the matter of deciding how long should it be, what if my husband wants dinner or even lunch, and the many other ideas that can pop into one’s head. The length seemed important. At first, the minimum of one day seemed absolutely important. But then, I remembered something I read about prayer recently. If one makes the commitment shorter, for example 5 minutes every morning and every night, it is easier to develop the discipline over time. So, I am fasting breakfast today.