After the Fast

For the few of you who read about what's going on in McGreevey life, I hope you have missed us! For those of you who haven't realized we've been gone for a while...that hurts! :)

Each January and August, our church prays and fasts for 21 days as many churches do across the world. This is our second time to join the 21 days and though we struggle through some days, we are blessed when the time is completed. For 21 days, I gave up media, including tv, facebook, and blogging. These three things take up so much of my time, and I knew it would really force me to focus on my relationship with God if I gave them up. Michael gave up beer and added more focus to reading the Word...probably because I wouldn't let him watch tv! Ha! During the last 7 days, we did the Daniel fast together, which is a food fast based on the book of Daniel. As Daniel did to gain spiritual and physical strength, people who partake in the Daniel Fast abstain from meat, dairy, caffeine, sweeteners including honey, alcohol, leavened bread, and processed foods.

This was such a humbling experience for me because I realized how much I need to grow and how weak I am when it comes to giving up the pleasures in life. Though God's grace has poured out more than ever before, there are still areas in my life that keep bugging me, and this time helped me focus on these areas. I know that my heart is not always in the right place I guess you can say.

During the 21 days, I set out a prayer focus for 2012 to try and overcome some of the reoccuring issues I deal with. This year, my greatest prayer is to become more content. No matter what my circumstances are, who society says I should be, what happened in my past, and how much the people around me have, I have to grow to believe that God's timing is perfect and He has made me who I am and has placed me where I am for a reason. I struggle with contentment every day, and I can trap myself into believing I'm not good enough so easily that it's almost an art form. A lot of my past struggles with anxiety stem from this personality trait.

I am also praying to develop a grateful heart. I guess these two are one in the same because you can't really be content if you aren't grateful. I am grateful for many things in my life, don't get me wrong, but I honestly don't believe I have a truly grateful heart. I certainly don't wake up every day and thank God for the simple things; instead, I take a lot of my life for granted. Part of it is human nature, but I do want to be more intentional in this area of my life. I pray that I will be grateful for the present and learn to find at least one thing to be grateful for each day.

I am glad I took some time away to refocus, and I am grateful for the opportunity to share this time with Michael. Michael is one of the most content and grateful people I know, which is why God put us together. He shows me every day how to live better.

I hope that each of you are having a wonderful start to 2012, and I pray that God touches your life in a way unlike never before!