Feasting & Fasting - Days #4 - 5

Let me tell you the truth - I love to eat.  And I enjoy good food.  For the last three months I've been following a form of intermittent fasting where my hours of fasting to eating has been around 20:4.  So I usually make myself a light snack when I get home from school to break my fast, then eat super with the family... and sometimes dessert.  We typically follow a menu plan from a company called The Fresh 20 and it is healthy, nearly-gourmet style foods.  Since I typically only eat one substantial meal a day, I've turned a bit into a food snob.  If I'm going to eat, I want it to be good food, not junk.  I like it when my taste buds do a little dance in happiness.  And that first bite after fasting all day is a little piece of divinity in my mouth.

Now, enter Day #5 of nothing but liquids.  I enjoy fasting - I really do.  But today, my mouth is missing food.  The crunch of tortilla chips in homemade pico de gallo.  The texture of a well-cooked piece of beef or pork.  In a nutshell, my mouth wants entertainment.  So this is where I really have to examine my motives for eating.  I'm not hungry and I'm getting plenty of nutrition, so what am I craving when my mouth wants to crunch.  Where am I nourishing my soul from?  Food?  Or God?

In a nutshell, today's been a struggle.  I don't want soup. Or tea. Or juice. Or a smoothie.  But it's a good day to work on sacrificing my flesh.  This is the spiritual aspect of fasting and even though the body is adjusting, the mind and spirit struggle.  So pray for me in the struggles today!