First, Middle, and Last

I have been blessed many times over through this first fasting period.  I’ve already mentioned a few in the previous blogs, but here’s a rundown of those I can remember.

·         I was prompted to pray for the ladies in the group: an honor for me.

·         I heard the Spirit’s voice, speaking to me clearly the entire week.

·         I was convicted of a big area of sin in my thought life, and given Scripture to combat it.

·         I was given a hunger to share my resources with the poor and seek opportunities to share my extra with others.

·         I was encouraged to start working out. I set up a routine to work out every Mon, Wed, and Fri.  Consequently, my church is launching a workout program on Sunday afternoons that my daughter and I plan to attend.

·         My husband made A’s on his three tests last week.  He’s usually a solid B’s kind of guy.

·         I am encouraged to fast more, and see the relevance in fasting and praying in tandem.

Before the fast, I was speaking with a lady that is a continual faster.  She shared with me that God always met her at different times in her fast.  Although, I decided to fast lunches for the week, my schedule for day 1 wasn’t conducive. We have life group on Sundays after church, and part of the group is sharing a meal together.  It’s a special time, and I didn’t want to inhibit the cohesiveness of the group.   Instead, I  broke bread with my brothers and sisters in Christ, and fasted the evening meal.  When I came home from our group meeting, I knew that fasting had begun, and I was kind of think/praying about what I should do. (like at that moment)  I felt like I should be productive, but I didn’t know with what.  I got up, put my shoes on, and had the idea to rake the leaves in the front yard, kind of all at the same time.  While raking leaves, I noticed there was a couple standing outside at my neighbor’s house.  Her house is for sell, and they were there with a realtor looking at it.  They said hi to me and I said hi back, and kept raking my leaves.  We are moving in a few months, so I didn’t really see the need to get all friendly with them, even if they were buying the house, we wouldn’t even get to know them very long before someone would be buying our house, and be their new neighbors.  So, even though the lady was still standing out in the front yard by herself, I didn’t initiate any conversation.  Until I started feeling convicted for my un-neighborly attitude. “Did you like the house?” I finally asked.  “No, it only has one bathroom, and we were looking to see if we could add on, but it is going to cost too much,” she answered.  I commiserated with her, and then she asks, “What is yours?”  Weird.  I answered her question, and then added that we were going to put our house on the market in April, if they hadn’t found a house by then, to come look us up.  She was really interested, and started asking me a slew of questions.  Finally, I asked if she wanted to just see my house.  Y’all. My house was a mess.  Not like filthy mess, but untidy mess, and I showed it anyway.  There was a time in my life, I wouldn’t let a good friend in my house without cleaning it for a whole day prior, much less a potential buyer! I’m a little over that now, but really sometimes I don’t even recognize myself.  The couple really liked the house.  Their realtor wanted us to call them back with a number.  What is even more funny,  just a few days before, I had told my husband that I didn’t want to put a For Sale sign in our yard, and my whole family took turns making fun of me for such a ridiculous idea.  Who’s laughing now?  Not me, and not them either!  After they left, I went back to raking leaves, and I started praying for discernment.  I don’t think these people are the ones that God has to buy our house.  I really don’t feel right taking a buyer from my neighbor.  That’s not following out Jesus’ command to love your neighbor.  But as I was praying if this was for encouragement, I received an overwhelming response.  It didn’t come in English words, but feelings.  It was like pink bows, and little girl smiles, and jazz hands.  It was if God way saying, “Yes, Yes, my child!  This is for you!  Did you like the gift as much as I liked giving it to you?”  I believe that this was God meeting me on the first day of my fast. 

One of my hopes during this fasting time was that God would give me wisdom on whether I should be content to stay at home, or if I should be looking for a job outside the home.  On day 4, (although it was early in the day, technically, it could have been 3.5) I was coming home from my walk, and I felt this overwhelming relief at being home right now.  I started thinking about all the things I would have missed if I was working, like field trips and track meets, being able to pick up my kids from school, and the list continued.  Then I realized that in the middle of my fast God had met me, with the answer for His will concerning me now.  He showed me the true desires of my heart.

So, I’m starting to figure out this pattern, God met me the first day, with something huge.  He met me mid-week with an answer for direction.  So, I’m getting excited about how He is going to meet me the last day.  The last day is Saturday, and we didn’t have much planned as a family.  Drew decided to go up to his school to work on his thesis paper, and I was able to get a lot cleaned around the house, and even tackle the mess in my bedroom left over from remodeling the bathroom.  When I walked in my room, the first thing I noticed was my husband had put all his dirty clothes in the laundry basket.  That happens like, never.  I knew.  I knew it was God meeting me on the last day, with a special gift that said, you are appreciated.