Hello all,
First of all, in no way do I want this to sound glorifying to myself. My decision to fast was not to loose weight or to make myself seem like a "better" Christian or any ridiculous thing like that. And the only reason I am blogging about it is to share my experiences and what I have learned about who food. So please take it for what it is and don't throw me a little party now that I am done.
Wow, where do I begin. So as you know I have only been eating beans, rice, potatoes, green beans, broccoli, bananas, oranges, coffee and milk for the past 20 days. Well actually it wasn't 20 consecutive days, I decided to eat over Easter weekend what my family was eating and then there was one other day where I ate "normal" food. But it was 20 complete days over the span of about 24 days.
The first week was definitely the hardest. About Day 3 I was not having a good day. And all I wanted to do was eat chocolate. Kind of funny, but seriously. As a woman, we always joke that chocolate makes us feel better and makes us feel comforted. But that was only a joke right? No it wasn't only a joke, at least not for me. For about an hour that day, I could only think about either eating chocolate or calling a long distance friend. But it probably literally took me a good 30 minutes to actually say "Oh yeah I should turn to God instead of these other things". I was disappointed in myself that I thought about chocolate before I thought about God. And that is when I started to actually see my dependence on food. I put it up on a pedestal in a place where it shouldn't belong.
And then I continued to fast...as days went on I started to get really sick of that stuff. Yeah it all that food doesn't sound bad, but when you eat it day in and day out, you really get sick of it. So after just a few days I had already started to hate my food. And then God taught me that I was being ridiculous. I cannot hate the food that is in front of me. It is nutritious, tastes decently good, and is filling. In no way do I have a right to hate my food. It is such a blessing that I even get food in the first place. There are so many people all over the world who don't get food regularly. They live their lives not knowing the next time they will be able to eat, but I do. Everyday around 9 am, 1 pm, and 6 pm. I am so incredibly blessed to never have to worry about it. So after hating my food for about 2 days, I decided that I needed to love it! I had to do a little pep talk to myself for a few days about how this food does actually taste pretty good and how it is satisfying. So, praise God, I started to enjoy it again.
I have learned so much but I feel like I need to take a little breather, so more to come later!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
The whole point of this blog is to inform you all what I am learning about as I venture into my year of learning about the world. I don't really feel like I have done a great job with that.
This past month I have been reading books about hunger, trying to feel what it is like to be hungry in some way, and letting God to continue building on this passion I have. So here are some thing that I think are important to share.
(I hate statistics, but I think these ones are powerful)
~Everyday almost 16,000 children die from hunger related causes- one child every 5 seconds.
~ 1.02 BILLION people across the world are hungry today
~Asia and the Pacific region is home to over half the worlds population and nearly 2/3 of the world's hungry people.
~ More than 60% of chronically hungry people are women (Chronically hungry meaning that they have been hungry for a majority of their life)
~ It is estimated that 684,000 child deaths world wide could be prevented by increasing access to Vitamin A and zinc
None of these statistics are okay. But they are real and don't really seem to be getting any better. But here are two more statements that are even more shocking to me...
~ "Oxford economist Donald Hay has pointed out that a mere 2 percent of the world's grain harvest would be enough, if shared, to erase the problem of hunger and malnutrition around the world." That is 2% people, 2%.
~ "In 1996, The World Health Organization reported than an annual increase in preventative care of 75 cents per person in the Third World could save 5 million lives every year. That would take less than $3 billion. Surely the people of the wealthier nations could find $3 billion to save 5 million people. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that people in the United States spend between $30 and $50 billion each year on diets and related expenditures to reduce their calorie intake."
WHAT....now that is crazy. If we in the US are spending so much on dieting (aka not eating as much food) yet we can't "afford" 1/10 of that on getting food to people who actually need it. What if we dieted in a way where we gave the food we weren't eating to those who need it. Or what if instead of buying diet books or diet videos we looked up everything online, or what if instead of buying a gym membership, we spend time exercising outdoors, and used the money that we would have spent and put it into the pockets of the 1.4 billion people in the world who live on less than $1.25 a day. Or even easier, what if we all pitched in our part of roughly 75 cents a year to feed those who cannot feed themselves. 75 cents a year. I know I could scrounge up a lot more than that and hardly notice that it would be gone.
So think about it...what are some things that you could do?
This past month I have been reading books about hunger, trying to feel what it is like to be hungry in some way, and letting God to continue building on this passion I have. So here are some thing that I think are important to share.
(I hate statistics, but I think these ones are powerful)
~Everyday almost 16,000 children die from hunger related causes- one child every 5 seconds.
~ 1.02 BILLION people across the world are hungry today
~Asia and the Pacific region is home to over half the worlds population and nearly 2/3 of the world's hungry people.
~ More than 60% of chronically hungry people are women (Chronically hungry meaning that they have been hungry for a majority of their life)
~ It is estimated that 684,000 child deaths world wide could be prevented by increasing access to Vitamin A and zinc
None of these statistics are okay. But they are real and don't really seem to be getting any better. But here are two more statements that are even more shocking to me...
~ "Oxford economist Donald Hay has pointed out that a mere 2 percent of the world's grain harvest would be enough, if shared, to erase the problem of hunger and malnutrition around the world." That is 2% people, 2%.
~ "In 1996, The World Health Organization reported than an annual increase in preventative care of 75 cents per person in the Third World could save 5 million lives every year. That would take less than $3 billion. Surely the people of the wealthier nations could find $3 billion to save 5 million people. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that people in the United States spend between $30 and $50 billion each year on diets and related expenditures to reduce their calorie intake."
WHAT....now that is crazy. If we in the US are spending so much on dieting (aka not eating as much food) yet we can't "afford" 1/10 of that on getting food to people who actually need it. What if we dieted in a way where we gave the food we weren't eating to those who need it. Or what if instead of buying diet books or diet videos we looked up everything online, or what if instead of buying a gym membership, we spend time exercising outdoors, and used the money that we would have spent and put it into the pockets of the 1.4 billion people in the world who live on less than $1.25 a day. Or even easier, what if we all pitched in our part of roughly 75 cents a year to feed those who cannot feed themselves. 75 cents a year. I know I could scrounge up a lot more than that and hardly notice that it would be gone.
So think about it...what are some things that you could do?
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