January 15, 2014

Day three comes with a hankering for a bagel.

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It’s day three of the 10-day Daniel fast I’m on. In case you don’t know what that is, it’s a fast based on scripture where Daniel eats only choice foods (see below for more information). In this case I can eat fruits and vegetables and food from plants and seeds. No meat, dairy, sugar, yeast (read bread), caffeine, alcohol, tea, etc.

So far it’s been okay but there have been times when only a prayer asking for help will keep me rooted. And that’s the entire point after all. When you sacrifice, you turn to God and get closer to Him and meditate more on what He wants for you.

Here are some of the highlights of my last couple of days.

  • Three reaches into the refrigerator at 8 a.m. for my normal caffeine induced pick-me-up, a diet coke. With a quick snap-back reflex of the arm and a big sigh, I filled up a glass of water to re-hydrate and prayed to God to please keep me awake on my drive in to work.
  • Four or five serious but quick chocolate cravings. As I walk through my office, the remnants of the vendor gifts waft deliciously at me and tease me.
  • Eight ounces of peanuts consumed. A staple that keeps me sane.
  • Soy yogurt for breakfast this morning. The color and consistency are enough to turn you off but as a substitute it’s okay and the taste is alright but not really something I’ll stick with.
  • A body that is so racked with fatigue and cannot be uplifted with any additive, had to fall to sleep last night at 6:30 p.m. I awoke to the one cat who constantly runs away from me begging for some petting. He must have missed me chasing him and wondered what was wrong.

Tonight I must go back to the stove to cook up something edible that will last a few days so I don’t get stuck with nothing to eat and a craving that will send me to Chik-fil-A.

In case you are interested in the background of Daniel and the fast, here is an excerpt from this web site:  http://www.gotquestions.org/Daniel-fast.html

The concept of a Daniel fast comes from Daniel 1:8-14, “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, ‘I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.’

Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, ‘Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.’ So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.”

The background of the Daniel fast is that Daniel and his three friends had been deported to Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians conquered Judah (2 Kings 24:13-14). Daniel and his three friends were put into the Babylonian court servant “training program.” Part of the program was learning Babylonian customs, beliefs, laws, and practices. The eating habits of the Babylonians were not in complete agreement with the Mosaic Law. As a result, Daniel asked if he and his three friends could be excused from eating the meat (which was likely sacrificed to Babylonian false gods and idols).

 

January 11, 2014

Jiggling the handle.

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There is a theme to this week here at the Crowe house. Plumbing. Mechanical, physical, and spiritual. I’m practicing that thing the experts say to do—try committing to 15 minutes a day in order to get something done. Well I’ve decided to work on a schedule of 15 minutes of exercise, 15 minutes of bible reading, and 15 minutes of working on other projects I have going on around the house. And now I’m going to segue into the plumbing theme…(too much of a stretch?).

My new friend Julio, a competent, friendly and honest man is at this moment fixing all the leaky old pipes in my house and putting in a new faucet on my big bathtub. You may be saying, so what? Well, smartypants,  a) the tub is why I bought the house and b) do you know how hard it is to find a good, honest plumber who doesn’t charge you an arm and a leg?

I like Julio. It’s a bit strange that he hugs me (we don’t really know each other), but I think he’s a Godly man and he’s got a great smile and a cheerful spirit. But as much as I like him, I can’t wait for him to be done so I can work on the physical plumbing. That 15 minutes a day exercise has put the muscles in my neck and back in a spasm of mighty pain, so I want to heal a bit with some warm water and bubbles.

This weekend I’m also preparing for 10 days of cleaning the spiritual and physical pipes by means of a Daniel Fast. I did it last year and our pastor is encouraging us to do it again as a way to begin the new year firmly grounded with the will of God in our plans. I talked about promises in my last post and before I make any serious ones, I’m going to focus on God and hope that I can calm my mind enough to see His will for me. A good way to do that is through this fast.

So Monday begins the 10 day journey of eating only things from plants and seeds. Veggies, fruits, nuts, whole wheat and only water to drink. Nothing processed, no yeast, no caffeine or tea or dairy or meat. All the things I love and struggle with. I’m going to miss my bread, cheese, and wine—I’ll admit that because anyone who knows me knows I’ll be hankering for those temporary thrills. But, without sacrifice you can’t see the majesty of what God can do in your life.

I want to finish this off with some witty, final metaphor that will explain the title but I think we all have had to deal with that pesky toilet handle problem. Just one of life’s fun quirks that shows us things aren’t always perfect but they can still work.

…A now a minion version of how yummy (not) a fast can be.

 

January 6, 2014

I promise to…

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On Sunday I came back home from church feeling inspired, anxious, ready to begin anew, excited and a wee bit scared. Why? Because my pastor gave this really motivational sermon on, well, a whole bunch of stuff. As my campus pastor said, you can get kind of tired after listening to pastor Mark because he has so much energy and drive and it’s hard to keep up. He is encouraging us to pray and start the new year with a plan.

So, with my mind reeling—where to start? I need to:

  • Start writing again—the book I started that will not be published but maybe read by three or four of my closest friends, my blog, a gratitude journal, a prayer journal…
  • Get exercising again so I can get physically fit and get in shape (this is particularly hard for me).
  • Be productive with my time (stop watching so much TV and do one and two above).
  • Get my charity web site and blog finished and published.
  • Create a life list of the things I want to do in the coming years and actually start doing them. To be fair I have been getting through that list slowly with my travels.

These are the big things—but you know all the little things we do everyday that get in the way—cleaning, fixing, blah, blah, blah. I hate those things.

So again, where to start? I decided not to get bogged down in the thinking of it too much and just do a couple of things to get it rolling. So I walked the Grendel dog and worked on designing a new web site for the charity I created. And in the hours since the sermon, I spoke to my niece who knew about the gratitude journal (turns out that’s an excellent tool to keep anxiety down and to keep your spiritual life heightened) and have seen a number of messages about writing, communicating, and getting things done.

One such message I learned today as I was writing copy for a client. A guy name Alex Sheen will be speaking at my client’s conference about the importance of keeping promises. The more I read about it, the more I wanted to cry and then join in on his vision. His non profit is called Because I Said I Would. He started it after his Dad died in 2012. I thought about my brother Greg and the charity I’m creating to honor him. Like Sheen, I want to honor what my loved one stood for. His organization is dedicated to bettering humanity through the power of a promise. He encourages positive change and acts of kindness and doesn’t just talk about it, he actually participates in fund raising and awareness campaigns and events for those who need help.

Sheen wrote 52 promises in 2013 and tackled one each week. Some of his fans have committed to huge promises. But Sheen says the promises don’t have to be big things. They can be things you need to get to and all together they represent things left undone. So it feels good to have them completed and off your plate. I like this idea.

Pastor Mark said one thing I really took to heart—it’s better to have 80% of a plan that’s 100% implemented right then  100% of a plan that’s only implemented 80% of the way. So, a few tweaks to get some of my plans to 80% and then we’re off!

I’ve started with one simple thing today. Writing this blog post. My next promise? Hmmm, I need to keep this, so I’m going to:

1. Finish my charity web site and publish it before the summer.
2. By the end of February, give away the proceeds from the past year from the charity fund I created  to at least three charities.
3. Write at least one blog post per month in this blog and one in the charity blog.
4. Complete a life list and post it.

Here are some things on my REALLY TRY to do list:
Spend 15 minutes a day on the physical, 15 on the spiritual, and 15 on the projects (charity, travel, etc.). And always keep an eye out to be there for those I love and listen to them with all my heart.I’ll still have time to catch Downton Abby and will be healthier and happier in 2014!

What promises are you going to make in 2014?

 

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