Fasting - It's Not Just For Food Anymore

When you hear the word fasting, you automatically think of food, don't you?  Fasting goes back thousands of years as a way to show God you were serious about something.  We see examples of this all throughout the Bible.  For example, in Daniel 9:3, Daniel is preparing to pray a prayer of confession and petition. 

"So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes."  NIV

But in today's world with so many distractions, fasting other things besides food can be just as important in our journey to grow closer to God and know Him better. 

This morning, I am sitting in my local Chick-fil-A writing this because I have been a victim of distractions for too long.  God has called me to do certain things and the devil has used my weaknesses to distract me from my best.  Last week I was reading this passage in Daniel and in that moment God laid on my heart my need to fast - not food, but other things.  For me, it is television, social media and other things using my electronic devices.  Now, don't misunderstand - God wasn't asking me to get rid of these completely, but simply to fast during certain times and focus on Him.

As many of you know, I work from home and my house if full of distractions.  I would wake up in the morning, ready to attack the day and I would look back at the end of day and I hadn't accomplished anything.  Not even the simple stuff.  This has been going on way too long and God knew my heart.  He knew I really wanted to accomplish it, but the devil was messing with me and winning.  I would find myself watching television even though it was a show I had seen hundreds of times.  I would get caught up in my book and read all day long (fiction - fun not learning).  I would even set boundaries - just 2 games - and end up playing 10.  But not today!

I couldn't handle the distractions in my own strength; therefore, I removed them completely.  And what I have found in removing them is a lessening desire to do them. 

God showed me that fasting isn't just about food - it is about anything that gets in the way of spending time with Him and doing what He has called you to do.  Maybe you think my distractions are silly - I should be able to turn off the television and just do my work.  But we all have weaknesses.  We all have something that the devil uses to distract us from God.  I know someone who's distraction is housework.  She cleans her house obsessively over 8 hours a day.  I love a clean house and my house is clean, but the devil uses her perfection desire to take her away from her time with God. 

I challenge you today to look at your day and see what the devil might be using to take you away from God.  It can be something as simple as television, social media, your phone or tablet, but it also might be your kids, your spouse, your job, or even your clean house.  God isn't asking you to get rid of all of these things - however, He is asking you to put Him first and the rest will fall right into place.

Have a blessed day and an awesome week!  We love you!!

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The Day Before

I am so excited for this week!  My daughter is coming home from college and every moment spent with her is a blessing.  I consider myself one blessed lady.  Blessings that would take up hundreds of pages if I listed every one.  But I made a habit years ago of celebrating those blessings everyday of the year, not just the 4th Thursday of November.  This is one of the reasons I have no issue with listening to Christmas music now and singing at the top of my lungs.  Because I have made everyday Thanksgiving Day. 

Thanksgiving for many is about Black Friday shopping and all of the deals you find - I do love a good deal and usually that is what my blog post is about this week.  For many it is about seeing family that you haven't seen in a really long time.  And for some it means deer season is just a few days away.  All of those are great and all of those are fun, but I wanted to focus this week on helping you see the many blessings you may not know you have.  When asked "What are you most thankful for?", most answers are the same - family, specific people, animals, and food. 

But I want to take a journey with you to another part of your town, city, state where people actually have less than you.  Many of us talk about all the things we don't have and all the things we can't afford.  Many of us are stressing over finances right now because we have bought things without having the cash to back it up.  But I want you to please read the list below of just a few of the things I am thankful for everyday because I know that there are people on my street, in my town, and in my area who don't have what I am blessed to have.

• Food - there are children everyday whose only meal is at school.
• Clothes - there are women with just one pair of shoes and they have holes in them.
• Water - there are people who do not have running water right here in the U.S.
• Toilet - there are people who have to use outhouses and buckets even in 2016
• Heat - I remember when my grandmother would heat the living room only and when we went to bed, we used an electric blanket.  The whole house was never heated.  My husband deals with clients everyday who choose to use their ovens for heat because they do not have any.
• Jackets - many kids go to school with just the shirt on their back, many times a t-shirt in the middle of winter.
• Transportation - a pet peeve of mine is when people say they need a car to justify a huge car payment they can't make.  There are many people who would love just an old used car to get somewhere without having to walk.
• Bible - I have many Bibles all around my house including on my iPad and phone.  There are people who would love to have just one.
• Electronics - we all say that we "need" computers, internet, phones, TV's, tablets, etc.  These are actually the last things we need. 
• Washer/dryer - I am washing clothes right now in my heated house - doing 4 loads.  Do you remember the scene in "The Blind Side" where Mike would go to a laundromat at night, hand wash his "other" shirt, slip it into someone else's dryer and then spend the night there?  That is not fiction.
• Income - you may not like your job (and I hope you will pursue your passion), but be grateful you have some source of income.  Many people, more than we realize, are one check or emergency away from having nothing.

The biggest thing I realized years ago was that even at my bottom - in debt with 5 zeros and making $10,000/year, I still had way more than other people.  I want to ask you today - don't ever say you are broke.  Don't ever say you aren't blessed.  Don't just be thankful for family and people.  Take a look around, focus on things you never saw as blessings, and start being thankful for everything.  There are treasures in every trial.  There is something to be thankful for in every situation.  2 1/2 years ago, my dad had a massive heart attack and basically left us - until God stepped in and saved his life.  Not for one moment did I focus on the heart attack and what could have happened.  Until this day, I focus on every blessing that came out of that and make sure I tell God and my daddy everyday that I love them to the moon and back.  I don't know why daddy had to go through that, but I know that for me, only good will come from it. 

You are blessed.  You have someone who loves you - God and me.  You are an awesome person!  I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving and from my family to yours - thanks for everything!  We love you!!!