Phew!

Well, our seven day, seven food fast is over! Before I share some of the amazing realizations that I came to let me just tell ya... it was downright heavenly to put some cream in my coffee this morning! Which just proves to me exactly how spoiled I really am.

It was really more of a challenge than I ever would have anticipated to eat just seven foods for a whole week. Especially for a girl like me who loves to cook and to eat! But boy does God teach us some amazing lessons when we begin to cut the excess and simplify our lives. Now, that doesn't mean that I am going to continue to just eat a few different foods. I'm pretty sure that's not the point of this at all. But, it really did teach me just how much excess we really have and how entitled we feel. It's humbling to realize that although it doesn't feel like it sometimes (thank you media, for your willingness to participate in making me think that I always need MORE) but we are so immensely blessed here in America! We have truly been given so much. And yet...

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; 

and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Luke 12:48b

Ouch. How often I forget that I don't need more, I need to GIVE more. It is so easy to be caught up in the idea that we need more and more in order to be happy. I know that I am so guilty of it. It is so humbling to consider the idea that the more blessings we are given, the more God will demand of us. And boy do I feel blessed! Which means that God will be asking me to account for what I have done with the blessings he has poured out on me. I really need to do some praying and keep cutting the excess!

On a somewhat unrelated note, last week we found out that my sweet hubby made the promotion list (so proud of this man of mine!), but more importantly we will be able to attend the resident ILE (don't ask me what it stands for, I just know that it's the school he has to go to when he promotes to Major) course! Which is awesome news for our family since it means that we will get to spend about a year at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Here's the catch; we will have to report there in either January or June of 2014. Which is exactly either 9 or 15 months from now. Eek! Yet another move in a short time. Of course, a huge perk is that Ben won't have to deploy during all of that time so I'm incredibly grateful for that. Twenty-eight months in Afghanistan (plus countless months apart for training, etc.) makes me grateful for every minute that we get to spend as a family. 

So, all of this to say that we are certain that God is not calling us to foster-adoption here in Arkansas. The timeline would be impossible at best. And although we know that our God is a God of miracles, we really feel that it is not in his will for us to pursue that option here. Because of the fact that we will only be in Kansas for around a year, it's pretty certain that we won't have the opportunity to foster-adopt there either. But we are keeping our eyes and ears open for any opportunities that may come our way. While we don't yet feel called to pursue international adoption, we certainly aren't going to close that door yet, and we know that if God has called us to adopt then he will provide a way. His ways are so much better than ours, and his timing is always perfect! In the meantime we are truly enjoying just spending time as a family again and having lots of fun. Ben works quite a few weekends at this new job, and will be doing quite a bit of traveling as well, but we are very intentionally guarding the time that we do have together. After the craziness of company command followed by a deployment we know just how important it is to have time together. And right now is the perfect time for it since we know that our time here is limited so neither of us are too interested in getting over involved. 

Finally, I want to ask you all for some prayers for a very dear friend of mine who is battling leukemia for the second time. She has a sweet, three year old daughter who has never known anything other than her mommy being sick and it breaks my heart. This week she was rushed back to the ER and diagnosed with meningitis which is scary even without the leukemia and chemo! Please, please be praying for healing for her and for strength for all of her family as well. They will certainly appreciate all of the prayers!!!

O Lord my God, I cried to You and You have healed me.

Psalm 30:2

 

An experiment in excess

So, once again I am using this blog for something other than it's intended purpose of chronicling our adoption story. Eh. I kinda figure since right now God is leading us to just BE STILL and wait on the adoption front, I may as well blog about what we do have going on. If you don't care, that's totally fine. And if you are still reading this, THANK YOU!

Last week a friend of mine invited me to join a book club. And not just any book club, this is the long distance book club {for awesome people}. Love it! How can you turn down an invitation like that?!? Anyway, I said yes right away, ordered my book, and now I'm beginning to wonder what I have gotten myself into this time. Heehee...

 So this book isn't just any old book. And this isn't any regular book club either. There are 36 (yes! 36!!!) amazing women from all walks of life that are in this thing together. The book that we are reading right now is 7 by Jen Hatmaker.

 

The idea is pretty simple - she examines seven areas where we tend to be excessive in an attempt to appreciate simplicity and grow in our faith. Sounds pretty harmless, right? Well, the first challenge involves food. Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to eat. Seriously. And that when it comes to food I really enjoy a good meal. But, for this week Ben and I have committed to eating just seven different foods.  Hunter gets a pass since it would be pretty horrible to make him participate in this fast, plus I don't want to deal with the whining. I'm pretty sure Ben and I will be whiny enough. 

Here's the list of foods that we decided on:

chicken

apples

broccoli

pasta

sweet potatoes

bread

eggs

Today is the first day of the "fast" and it hasn't been too bad. Yet. (Disclaimer: it's only 9 am) Along with those seven foods we are allowing small amounts of butter, salt and pepper. Oh, and coffee. Really, it would get pretty ugly around here if we didn't have any coffee. It's going to be a long week. But I am so anxious to see what God has in store for us as we struggle against the excess that we have come to accept as "normal."

One of the ladies in the group shared this and I thought it was pretty cool. Honestly, I'm not sure if this fast is  a fast of repentance for the fact that we are so blessed and need to pass on more blessings to others, cut the excess and be mindful that everything we have is God's and His alone. Or if it's a fast of worship, letting God know that we recognize His provision and His hand over our lives. Or if it's a fast of preparation - not sure what we are preparing for, but preparation is always good, right? Or maybe it's a fast of inquiry, wondering about what we are supposed to do next both concerning adoption or just in general. No matter what it ends up being, I'm excited to be in this awesome group and taking this journey.