going fast.

This past week I crossed off “eat only fruits and veggies for a week” from my 101 list. In my mind, I was going to be eating a lot of really great, colorful salads and tons of bowls of fruit. LOL, no. I ate a lot of apples, carrots, pears and drank stupid amounts of coffee.

After a few days of trying to justify that BANANA bread counted as a fruit I realized that I WAS FASTING. Not on or with purpose, but fasting nonetheless. Once I realized that, I held my hands out to God and asked him to honor and teach me for the rest of the week.

Let me share what he taught me.

One of the reasons I decided it was time to do this at the very moment I did was because I have a rash on my leg. It’s really itchy and pretty ugly, and back in like April, Sarah Nottle told me that I should probably take gluten out of my diet. There are few people who I trust as much as Sarah, so I cold-turkeyed gluten. That lasted for three whole weeks, because then I went to Disneyland. When I returned, I had every intention of going back to a gluten-free diet, because in addition to my rash starting to clear up I felt better all around.

The problem was that sometimes it really sucks to take things away. I have been kind of hoping that I would stumble back into the discipline I had for almost a month. Weird, but living a discipline and restricted life doesn’t happen on its own.

This past week has wiped my slate clean, and suddenly all of the foods I once thought restrictive and limiting now sound like indulgences. Because yeah, maybe I won’t eat gluten… but I’ll eat more than bananas and green peppers.

A great way to appreciate the things that I don’t think are enough is to scale back to where those unenough things are a luxury. We are surrounded by so many options that we’re quick to be displeased and feel unsatisfied by any sort of restriction. Limiting our options shows us what we really need as opposed to what our gluttonous selves reaches out for with sticky fingers, wanting more more more.

I am so grateful for a God who gave up everything for me. Especially after this week.