January 13, 2020 - DAY 1:
Fasting is a deliberate abstinence from physical gratification—usually going without food for a period of time—to achieve a greater spiritual goal. Fasting is intentionally denying the flesh in order to gain a response from the spirit. It means renouncing the natural in order to invoke the supernatural.
As a family, we decided to fast television & electronic devices (for entertainment). God really laid it on my heart that while we have restrictions in place for using devices for entertainment, it still was a crutch for us to "escape" from one another or blocking us from using our creative abilities but most importantly it was getting in the way of our relationship with God.
I'm going to use this blog to talk about how we used our time away from television, movies, video games & social media (for mom & dad). I'm going to document our prayers and any movement from The Holy Spirit.
Today was Jude's 5th birthday & a super hard day not to dive into the facebook world to post all the cute and funny things he has said today about his birthday:
- "Let the big boy do it"
- "I just can't believe I'm 5 today"
- "I don't feel any different than yesterday"
- "Do I look bigger, mommy?"
- "Can I pack my backpack for big school now?"
As most of you know, he has been obsessed with his birthday since he could speak and today is no different. He has such an absolute joy about him and I remember very clearly being concerned that he was just born grumpy. He came out mean-mugging and for the first couple of months, nothing seemed to make him happy.
Thank goodness that isn't who he is today. He is so eager to learn, be social, be loved & give love. He is always down for anything, especially when it includes his big brothers.
This morning, I had a staff meeting at church. Typically, Jude would take his device & a movie and veg out in the kid's room solo. He's never been a bother and always happy to entertain himself but I was worried that today without a movie or device that I would be interrupted repeatedly. As I was giving him the pep talk this morning about packing a lot of activities & toys for the day, he looks at me sincerely and as nice as he could told me "I don't like what you decided." I told him, that's exactly the point but that we would use our big boy brains to come up with stuff to do.
He did beautifully! Not one peep (except for requesting assistance in the restroom)!
Once our staff meeting was over, I treated him & myself to lunch where he told everyone who would listen that today was his birthday 😆.
After lunch, we delivered love boxes to a local OB-GYN & The Birthing Center at Fauquier Health. When we walked into the birthing center, Jude was curious "if this was a doctor's office" so I got to explain to him that 5 years ago that's where he was born! Very cool moment!
The big boys got off the bus & immediately started playing with the animals & riding their bikes. Not one mention of a television show or a grumble about finding something to do! I'm sure this is the honeymoon phase but for day 1, I'm considering this a win!
Romans 12:1-2
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
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