A couple of things, actually, but my number one thing right now is The Daniel Fast. It's something that I've thought about doing for a few weeks now, but I'm still unsure about it. I wish I knew why I am still hesitant about this - I know it would be good for me to do.
I've even had a hard time writing this blog, I mean, I started writing a week ago, but hadn't really gotten anywhere with it. I guess I'll kind of explain The Daniel Fast, because up until about 8 months ago, I hadn't ever heard of it. I apologize if this gets boring and stuff, some of this will be what I know about it and bits will be what I pull from other resources (aka the Internetz).
The Daniel Fast is based off of a few verses in the Bible. In the first chapter of Daniel he challenges the royal official to only eat fruits and vegetables and drink only water for 10 days - this was in place of the food the king had said they were to eat to become part of his service. Reading further, Daniel 10:3 reads as follows: I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
So basically, it's a vegan diet - but with more restrictions. Which is why I'm hesitating. I think I could go vegan, except for the whole... "no cheese" thing. And this definitely wouldn't be a permanent change. Bacon is too wonderful to give up. And coffee. Which, okay, fine, is my biggest hurdle. I can't not coffee... but that's part of the whole idea of a fast, right? The flip-side, though, to this partial fast, is that it would hopefully get me back "on track", so to speak, in my relationship with God. Nix & I have just been so busy with life, lately, we haven't been taking the time we should be - or want to be - taking to do a devotional together. We have talked about the fact that we need to a) merge our finances and b) work on our spiritual life together. Neither of which we have done.
I guess I'm hoping that the Daniel Fast would help jump start things for me. I know Nix wouldn't do it with me, which would be hard. I'm all for eating more fruits & veggies, though, yum. But... it's also basically "clean eating" - because processed foods and chemicals are a no-no. I've found some pretty awesome recipes, though, that I feel like we could incorporate into our "normal menu".
So, the other bonus to the Daniel Fast? It would mean I'd be eating crazy healthy and I know I'd drop pounds. But, that isn't the point of a fast - the point is the spiritual side. I keep thinking about it, and keep thinking it would be a good thing for me to do, but I keep hesitating because.. coffee. I mean, we just bought a little sign that we hung up in our kitchen that says, "Dear Coffee, I love you. That is all." So I'm struggling with that.
On a completely different note (well, okay, not completely different, but mostly so): Nix & I signed our covenant partnership papers last night after church! I'm really excited about this decision, and I know it will be good for us. But, you know you go to a small church when: others hear that you signed the agreement and no more than 15 minutes later they're asking if you'd be willing to serve. I'm thrilled, though, because I've felt a little... disconnected from this church. I know that this is what I need - and Nix seemed excited about the opportunity as well. Apparently I blew some people away when I showed up to help paint & clean the kids area a couple of weekends ago because we're still relatively "new" to the church, and hadn't, at that point, signed the partnership papers. I like helping out when I can, and painting walls, I can do. Besides, since I can't paint my own walls, I'd love to paint someone else's.
Anyway, I think that's about it. I'm not sure if/when I'll do the fast, especially now that we have a more solid idea of when we're going to be hosting our Lord of the Rings marathon day (Feb 8!). Though, I suppose if I were to start the fast like, tomorrow, the marathon day would be after the 21 days. (This is important because the LotR marathon is an all-day affair, and we'd have loads of tasty Middle-Earth type foods for sampling.) But then I don't have enough veggies on hand to start tomorrow... crap, I just keep coming up with crappy excuses, don't I? Guess I'll think over it again, and talk over it with Nix. See what he thinks.
When I tried going back to my previous diet, everything seemed super salty and heavy. I ended up eating a much healthier, vegetarian diet for the next few years. Then moved to France and all that was ruined!! haha
Anyway, sounds great for your physical and spiritual health!!
Okay, I've been doing more research for recipes, and yes. I could totally do this. I don't think I can start tomorrow, but I can definitely start working on cutting back how much I'm eating and the amount of sweets I'm consuming.