Monday, August 08, 2011

Daniel Fast, Part 2

I started the Daniel Fast again today. I was thinking about starting anyway, and then there was an insert in our church bulletin about an organized fast this week, so I took it as the gentle push to go ahead. I'm thinking about doing 30 days instead of 21, for no real reason, except that I didn't really feel ready to be finished last time. I'm pretty excited about it, and Sonny was VERY willing to do it again. Also, I don't feel like 21 days would be a big sacrifice since I still eat Daniel Fast acceptable meals several days a week. I don't think I will have the sugar crash that I had the first time. I'm still sugar free or low sugar most days, but the sugar is slowly creeping back into my life.

Because I don't anticipate the horrible sugar withdrawals and because meal planning won't take as much effort since this is a second go-around, I do plan on focusing a lot more on the spiritual aspect of the fast. I'm not looking for this to be a diet, although I would be lying if I said one of my initial motivators was the bathing suit I will wear daily for a week in September. I don't know yet what this focus will look like, but I know that it needs to be more than just a short daily Bible reading and "standard" prayer time. I'm reading The Daniel Fast by Susan Gregory in hopes of gaining some ideas about what I need to be doing. Thanks to the church bulletin I mentioned, I do have some extra prayer ideas. I have issues mantaining focus. I'm always sure that "prone to wander" line was meant for me. Right now, I've let Kindergarten, a messy house, family illness, and busyness steal that focus. Seeking definitely requires focus, and this is the month that I get that back.

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