i can't believe i've made it three whole weeks without posting about this...! (i know, it's been a month since my last post, but about 7 specifically) i am reading a book called 7: an experimental mutiny against excess by Jen Hatmaker with some friends. the basic premise of the book is that we live in a culture of excess, and that ridding ourselves of this addiction to excess in so many areas of life will allow life to be simpler, and allow God to be "bigger" in our "smaller" life. she quotes the catch phrase "simplified life, amplified God". the author of the book created for herself (and, sometimes, her family) a series of month-long "fasts" in an attempt to live simpler. she started with food, then clothes, possessions, media, etc. so this group of friends and i are reading a chapter a week, and doing our own (weeklong, much easier) versions of fasting in these areas.
so tomorrow finishes our third week, and i need to tell you all about it!
Week 1: food
this was definitely the hardest one (so far... i'm a little nervous about next week's media fast...) for me. partly because i'm super pregnant, and i tend to feel very "entitled" when i'm pregnant, to eat whatever i want, seeing that it is a short season of life. partly because i generally have no self-control. but i have been ready to eat healthier. and simpler. so, for a week, i ate nothing but apples, avocados, sweet potatoes, whole wheat or homemade bread, spinach, eggs, and chicken. boy, did i miss sugar! i knew i would, but how MUCH surprised me. i had no idea that i looked to a little sweetness here and there throughout my day to just cope emotionally, until i went without... which was a point of the fast, i guess (for me, at least), to allow me to see how i'm using these in unhealthy ways, when i could be going to God in the midst instead. it took a couple of days, and lots of encouragement from my co-readers, to push through the miserable part.
the first 2 days, i was super-irritable, depressed, even... just didn't want to deal with life... it came to a breaking point with this salad, of all things.
looks amazing, right? i had all 7 of the food items in this meal, and it should've been delicious. but my gag reflex is hyperactive when i'm pregnant, and can only take so much chicken and eggs... i gagged my way through this beauty, and was so discouraged i almost quit. but my "girls" didn't let me ;) also contributing were these perfect chocolate chip cookies i made for Jason's Bible study guys and couldn't even try a taste of the dough!!
torture! after i made it through that day, i actually began to enjoy eating simpler and healthier, and didn't miss the highly-processed-or-baked-and-must-include-at-least-flour-sugar-and-butter kind of stuff so much. i definitely began to understand reliance in a different way than i had before, and resonated deeply with song lyrics about being dependent on God. like this kari jobs one: "i believe you're my healer, i believe you are all i need. i believe you're my portion; i believe you're more than enough for me. Jesus, you're all i need." oh so true. and the food started tasting better, too...
part of the turning point for me was this smoothie (ha!) -
adapted from a few different internet sources, here is my final recipe:
1 granny smith apple, peeled and cored
1 ripe avocado
2 handfuls of spinach
2 handfuls of ice
a cup or two (consistency to your taste) of pressed apple juice (i used "simply apple", since it is pasteurized and i'm pregnant. we got a different organic kind later in the week that was NOT pasteurized, so i had to boil it before anytime i wanted to use it - doesn't work so well for a smoothie, but is EXCELLENT as hot apple cider :)
so yummy. never has a smoothie (especially a green one!) tasted so delicious.
the other turning point was successfully baking artisan bread from nothing more than flour, water, yeast, and salt. just feels so earthy and natural and the-way-it's-been-done-for-millennia! i love it!
fourth of july was the end of our fast, and we did feast...!
(thanks to jason's family, especially sister-in-law joanne :)
but found ourselves still so ready to eat healthy and natural! i have started buying organic/shopping at the local farmer's market for the first time, and looking at the ingredients on things... so, while the fast was an exercise in simplicity and looking to God, it has resulted in actually living the healthier food life we have long desired.
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