40 Day Fast - The Lessons

I have a feeling of overwhelming pride not in a bad way. I am just so happy to say I completed my 40 day fast. The first one in my whole life but guess what I did it. I have so many lessons to learn from this. 

Main question is did I achieve my goal? Well I am not sure what my goal was but I knew that I wanted to do one with no fuss or fanfare just get from one end to the other. I had a side goal of weight loss which was naughty but true. The first I did. I don't think my fast really affected anyone. Just me. Everyone else got to live uninterrupted by my fast in face very few people knew. Even when I thought it would be hard I did it. Disappointing however was I probably lost a few pounds. But since that shouldn't have been a goal oh well I shall survive. 

So what did I learn? 

1. I need to spend more time in prayer. I am terrible at sticking to it. I have now installed an app to help with this. I am going to try. 

2. I generally talk to myself and God. I have a mixed dialogue of telling myself and God lots of stuff all day. This is good but also needs to be focussed more. 

3. Bible reading with a family is hard! Getting up early means not being there when someone wakes. Going to bed later means not being there when someone goes to bed. Doing it during the day means finding space aside from the children and that means not being there for all the little things. Trying to incorporate them into the study means setting it at their level while rewarding means no depth for me which should be happening in personal time. Find time and stick to it consistently. It's what I tell those I teach an counsel and guess what that is what works. Make the sacrifice and sticking it. 

4. Drinking is important for a happy body and mind! The Lord didn't set our bodies up so that we could ignore how they function. Please please please drink more and more. 

5. Random food! I didn't realise how much stray food went into my mouth. I thought I didn't snack until I realised that I ate as I made food for the kids. Who knew random food arrived in my mouth so frequently. Hopefully 40 days has broken that habit. 

Would I do it again? Yes yes yes. I want to at least twice a year. It is so worthwhile! It is so important and rewarding and actually works on every level to remind us that our bodies are the temple of God look after them holistically. God wouldn't want it any other way.