Fasting

As many of you already know from Facebook, Julie and I are doing a weeklong fast. Let me explain to those of you who haven't been on Facebook recently what I am talking about and what exactly we are doing.

First of all, what is fasting? A couple years ago I was really sick and wasn't able to fast every first Sunday of the month, and I felt terrible about it. So I asked one of the church leaders about what I should do, because I felt so guilty, and they said that fasting isn't just about not eating and not drinking, it's about sacrifice. It's about giving up something that's important to you for a little while, so you can dedicate that time to God. This really comforted me.

So a couple days ago I was praying and suddenly felt a desire to fast, but I also felt that I needed to do a lot more than just fast normally; I felt like I needed to make a bigger sacrifice. I confess that simple fasts are easy for me because I'm not good at eating and drinking regularly anyway--I can go for days without really eating. So I never feel like fasting is that big of a sacrifice, which is why I wanted whatever I was going to do to last for a little while. And that's also why I came up with this plan, which Julie also agreed to do.

I decided that for seven days we would do all the things we are usually too lazy to do, and leave out all the things that we do all the time as hobbies that we enjoy.

Here are a few things from our list:

Read scriptures every day. (It's Wednesday today and I confess I haven't read anything yet. :( But I will do my best to get back to it--the excuse is I was busy, but the truth is the reason I came up with this whole idea is because I am always too busy.)

Don't drink Coke all week. (You'll never believe that I really haven't drunk Coke all week, except for last night when we were out with a few friends, and since there was nothing else we could order I did get some Coke, but I didn't drink more than half a glass because I felt guilty.)

Don't go to bed until the kitchen is clean and the dishes are done. (Besides tonight, we've done it every day so far.)

These are just a few things from the long list of what we will do or won't do this week. For example, if I want to play on my phone or my iPad, I have to read something instead. If I want to browse the internet or Facebook or Twitter or something, I have to write on my blog.
I feel like I've made a lot of progress this week, and I'm grateful for the opportunity. It's too bad I didn't try it before. I'm grateful I can make sacrifices in the interest of a beautiful goal, and that I feel that God is beside me every step of the way, and that he sees that even though some of these things aren't hard for others, they are big sacrifices for me, and I offer them to him.

I want to ask you to join us. Even though there are only a few days left, there's still time. I promise you will have a great experience! I don't think I've felt the Spirit this strongly in years. :)