My Fast, My Freedom

Happy New Year!

The grace of God never ceases to amaze me.  God can take what we view as deprivation and provide us with blessing.  I have never been good at fasting - I have written about that before, I won't bore you with my previous angst.

The suggestion of my spiritual director at this point of my journey was to fast.  A fast I had never tried before, a new discipline.  We both assumed my fast would last about a month.  The end of my fast would be the day my Deployment Letter from the Bishop came in the mail. 

The specifics were fruit and veggies only - what God created and provided would sustain me.  After about two weeks I decided to add whole grains and legumes and nuts, telling myself God still created grains and beans and nuts!  It wasn't easy, but it wasn't hard.  Something in me had changed.  All I can attribute it to is God opened my heart and my mind and has been my strength.

I title this My Fast, My Freedom because leading up to this time in my life I have been a bit, how shall we say, obsessed with food.  I spent copious amounts of time and energy and money on food.  I had an unhealthy relationship with food, some might even use the word addiction.  I am not yet comfortable with that word in the use of my personal story, but I am letting it sit out there as a thought, not quite ready to throw it away, not quite ready to embrace it.

What I know is this - I was praying to God to free me from the shackles and burdens of thinking about food and feeling like crap, to put it bluntly.  I have so many other things on my plate that I didn't want to over dramatize the food portion anymore and I want the energy to do all the work I am called to do.  I want to minister, to pray, to worship, to love, to meet, to taste and see the goodness of life and witness the grace of God moving in the lives of others. 

Using this fast of mine God has freed me from my shackles and burdens and brought me blessing upon blessing.  What this fast did for me that I had never considered an option is cut me off cold turkey from refined and processed sugar (and lots of other ingredients I will get to in the future).  About 5 days into the fast I realized I felt amazing, this was not my normal response to a fast.  I had so much energy that I was getting up earlier than normal, after deep and wonderful nights of sleep, and I desired to workout or go for a walk.  I had so much physical energy that I didn't know what to do with myself.

There is so much more to this story and I want to share every minute detail with you.  The reason I chose today to begin writing (3 months into this fast - the fast we thought would last 1 month - God knew I would need extra time, I am a slow learner!) is two fold.  One - it is New Years Day and I know so, so many people who make the resolution to "lose weight" or "get healthy" or "eat better" or "workout more".  I want to share my new experiences with those making that resolution.  Two - for my birthday I got exactly what I wanted (thank you to my hubby and kids, mom and dad, grandpa and SIL and BIL and nephew - it takes a village to raise this girl!) a Vitamix!  What is a Vitamix you ask - it is the Mercedes of Blenders.  It was taking me forever to make smoothies and other recipes for myself and the family (who have taken a liking to some, not all, of my new food choices).  Today I have made 3 smoothies already and it took less than a minute for each!  Thanks be to God.

I promised a few friends of mine that since I did get the Vitamix I would share 1 new recipe each day of January.  I am still fasting - and I have started getting creative about what I eat - I have a lot of help and support and through this month I will be sharing all that with you.

I am having fun and praising God!  And when that happens all we want to do is share the Word and all that we are learning and experiencing.  Cheers to an amazing New Year, may it be one that brings you freedom, peace and joy and may all we do bring a smile to God's face!

Recipe 1

Dr. Oz's Breakfast Drink - taken from his 3 day detox cleanse

1 cup Water
1 TBSP Flax Seed
1 Cup Raspberries
1 Banana
1/4 cup Spinach
1 TBSP Almond Butter
2 tsp Lemon

Cheers to a healthy New Year!

 

Blessed Be!