food - DONE!

this past week was amazing!  i could choose any food i wanted - and believe me i ate a few too many sweets.  however, the foods i craved most:  spinach, chicken, berries, green smoothies.  i think i've been changed!

as the 30 days of food drew to a close i was a bit worried. from about days 7-30 i felt the best i had felt in years; physically and spiritually.  i didn't want to lose that.  God gently reminded me that He offers freedom, but also says that not everything is permissible.  so, now i need to spend some time pondering that.

what did i learn? 

*well, first of all a lot of the food i ate wasn't real.  this food was real and oh so tasty.  i was definitely ready for a variety of vegetables and have indulged in asparagus, squash, and zucchini since.  ahh....i hope my family is prepared for a real food diet!

*processed food gives me headaches - almost immediately

*i use food indulgences to cover up what i need to deal with

*submission is still hard for me

*i have a change in taste now

*God still speaks to me

what's next?  clothes!

i started yesterday.  i think doing this in february would be much easier.  but i settled on 9 pieces of clothing.  i will also allow myself to wear one or two outside/garden/house with no ac outfits.  like i said, it would have been easier in february!  and honestly, this was harder for me to think about than food!!  good grief....i am not sure i'm ready for what God might choose to reveal to me this month!

final week

so here i am settling in for my final week of 10 foods.  now, i need to confess that i spent 5 days last week in southern california:)  i gave myself a bit of freedom since i'd be eating every meal out!  i wasn't sure what to expect emotionally and physically with this "freedom!"  

the friend i traveled with had brought a couple of homemade muffins - whole wheat, cranberry and walnut.  pretty close to my 10! since we had left at a rather ungodly hour i was appreciative of her thoughtfulness and was also thrilled to see how close to my 10 those little tasty muffins were.  i snacked on almonds on our flight.  we landed and i was starved....heading to a trader joe's i enjoyed a salad with chicken on it -again, a few extras but pretty darn close to my 10.  dinner?  well, seafood was on the agenda.  i enjoyed every bit of my shrimp wrapped in bacon, and then i felt sick and bloated for a few hours.  bummer!

we had free breakfast - fully expecting processed things i was thrilled to see cook to order eggs, whole wheat toast, and hash browns!  can i get an amen??  then i had sweet potato fries and some chicken enchilada soup.  dinner, blackberries and a green naked smoothie.  i was so thrilled how God was honoring my hope to be somewhat faithful by providing choices.  thursday we had lunch with the conference we were at.  guess what it was - GRILLED CHEESE!! not only is that my favorite sandwich ever - it is so close to my 10 i did a happy dance and savored every bit of that delectable sandwich.  

for the remainder of the trip, i wasn't quite so true to my 10, but found little surprises waiting for me.  i love how God used this time to remind me it wasn't about the legalism.  it was about the journey of cutting out my "rights" and "entitlements."  it is so easy to think we deserve so much in our world.  you know those grilled cheese sandwiches?  they came from a food truck called grilled tease.  the lady started it with her young kids because her husband lost his job and then suffered from depression.  she could make grilled cheese.  she noticed a homeless man by her truck one day - he just happened to be an unemployed chef.  he is now her chef and on wednesday's they serve free sandwiches and give out a children's book on God's Big Story.  that story alone reminded me of the gifts of grace in our life.  a simple (well, they were rather gourmet) grilled cheese sandwich can change someones life!  i think it was simple reminder that God gives us food to sustain us, not everyone has enough to sustain them and well, i see food so abundantly that i no longer think about it's sustenance, only it's pleasure.

i pray that as i wind this week down i continue to seek God and honor Him in this.  He has blessed beyond measure.  and you know what, if you ask my friend, she will tell you my favorite meal was on our last night at a cool place called wahoo fish tacos.  i ordered brown rice with plain grilled chicken and savored each and every bite!!!!!!!

17 days in

amazing!  i'm 17 days into eating 10 items.  it has been crazy, hard, frustrating, amazing, simple, freeing, revealing...all of those things.  and i'm not yet done!

i intend to be real.  it has also been 13 days since i've blogged so it is high time to bring you into my little world of 10.  day 5 hit hard.  i mean tears hard.  my body hurt something crazy.  i mean muscles, joints, stomach.  everything.  i texted a dear friend and told her i was done.  she said i wasn't and to push through the detox my body was likely going through.  so i did.  and boy am i glad i pushed through those 3 days!  i think i knew God was telling me to push through when we had our life together group day 5.  we eat dinner together.  none of them knew of my crazy plan yet.  i had fixed pork roast because i had a large one to get rid of and they bring the sides.  i had leftover plain rice and grilled chicken in the fridge for me with some freshly shredded cheese (as a side note - why have i ever bought preshredded cheese!!?!?!!??).  anyways....fully prepared to be jealous over dinner our amazing cultural cook showed up with fried rice like he had said (has ingredients not on my 10!)  AND cheesy rice!!!  like a gift from God was that dish!!!

okay - so moving on, the next week wasn't too bad.  i still craved chocolate every day about 2 and 8 pm, but for the most part was loving my rice, potatoes, spinach, berries....i decided to try a green smoothie.  they are all the craze right now aren't they?  using my 10 i threw in spinach, almond milk, and berries.  bleh....had to choke it down.  texted college roomie...she sent me back her recipe.  tried it - bleh....then she sent me a text and said add peanut butter....gross, but why not,it IS on my 10!!  OH MY WORD!!!!!!!  i can't get enough of them!!!  yummers:)  thank you sweet Jesus!

dear hubby made me an egg with cheese on a whole wheat bagel thin.  OH MY WORD!  again, thank you Jesus!

while i've chatted on and on about the food, which has become rather tasty i might say, let me draw in to my heart.  

day 7 was a sunday.  we were singing in church.  nothing new....then the worship leader read psalm 139:13-16 about being fearfully and wonderfully made.  being knit together by God.  being known and created by God before anyone else knew.  then we sang about our wondeful maker.  God broke me right there....all of a sudden i was picturing a hungry child.  so often we see it as questioning why God would create them and make them hungry.  or we say we need to get birth control to these people.  but all of a sudden it struck me that a irresponsible man and woman didn't create that hungry child -God did.  God knows that child.  God knows that child's need!  AND God knows there are His people here on earth that can be His hands and feet to that child.  tears...many tears.  then i was thinking about girls in sex trade.  the exact same thoughts.....then the widows.....again, same perspective.  it was so cool to see God move my heart.  honestly, i think it was because i have been stripped away of some of my "freedoms."

then a few days later i was out taking a walk.  i had shared with a couple of friends prior to this whole adventure a specific area i was praying for and asked them to pray for me.  when i asked them to pray it was for God to change someone else.  why do we go there???  anyways, on that walk, which i took to avoid eating a big piece of chocolate, God completely opened my eyes to MY sin in that relationship.  i tried to argue back, but it didn't work.  i mean it was huge and humbling and awful and amazing.  i confessed to God.  i knew the prayers to change the person were out of line.  it was me that needed to change.  so after confessing to a friend, i went humbly to that relationship and asked forgiveness.  i was scared, very scared.  but it was amazing to talk it through and i feel like my eyes have been opened.  soooo cool!  

i can say, i have cheated a few times, kind of.  one day i tasted the homemade salsa i was making the family to make sure i didn't need to add anything else.  one taste and it was perfect, darn it.  no second taste.  one day i ate a raisin by mistake.  i savored it though:)  i had a rasberry chai made with almond milk because it had berries, tea, and almond milk.  may have been a bit loose for 10. 

i can't believe i am nearly done with this month.  it seemed to drag by at first...now i'm not sure i want it to end!!  okay, yes, i do a little.

i'm thankful for the many things God is teaching me.  i'm thankful for an amazing husband that keeps me going and lets me babble about it all.  i'm hoping the kids decide to stop telling me there is nothing in our home to eat and that they see how blessed they are.  i'm hoping God keeps teaching me.