Fasting: Lessons Learned

Last year my church decided to do a 40 day fast, breaking it up into 10 days at the beginning of each season. This year we're still doing 40 days, but this time two 20 day periods. Last year I tracked some thoughts that I was having during each 10 day fast and I thought I'd switch it up a little bit this time around. I've fasted a good amount of times at this point and wanted to share generally what I have learned about and from fasting (whether physical or spiritual).

1. I'm never really that excited about fasting. I wouldn't say I'm sad either but...I don't really know how to explain my feeling. The feeling that you get when you know you're going to face something really challenging that you would rather not do if you had a choice. I used to feel so guilty about this like I'm not a good Christian and I really don't love God if I feel this way. I've learned that that's not true and it's okay! I mean, who is ever excited to not eat (or eat very limited), to be weak and hungry all the time? Jesus wasn't exactly jumping for joy moments before He had to go to the cross (definitely not the same kind of sacrifice but you get my drift here). Even though I would rather eat all I want to eat, it's a sacrifice that I choose to make. I'm happy I make it and it's okay that I'm not 100% thrilled all the time.

2. Having friends and/or family members that are in agreement with you during a fast really helps! I do mini half day or one day fasts by myself all the time, especially if it's something that the Spirit leads me to do. I honestly don't know what I would do if had to do an extended fast by myself. I would get through but it would be harder. It's nice know that there are people right there with you who are craving food, lol. It's also fun to exchange ideas and recipes for individual fasts and to have someone cheering you on and pouring into you as you do the same for them.

3. My body is not going to die. Mentally for every fast I have this quick second where I have a "woe is me moment", wondering how I'm going to get through this. When I fast for an extended period of time I do the Daniel Fast. It surprises me each time as to how my body can function just as well, if not better than when I am eating regularly. I don't get the "itis" when I eat, I have energy, I wake up rested and any blemishes on my skin clear up. I'm actually eating the things that I am supposed to eat on a larger scale and I imagine my body loves me for it.

4. Fasting forces me to get creative. I mentioned this a bit at the end of point 2, but there are only so many fruits and veggies on this earth that you can eat before you start to get get bored. I personally am a fruit lover and can eat fruit for days. Veggies on the hand? Naaah. The only thing that I might eat are cucumbers and carrots. If I'm having a salad I need to drown it in dressing which pretty much defeats the purpose. I had to get creative with how I ate my fruits and veggies: mix and match, raw veggies, steamed veggies, sea salt, cinnamon etc. A friend of mine shared an amazing site with me regarding meals that you can make while on the Daniel Fast and I find it to be amazing : http://www.ultimatedanielfast.com/recipes/main-dishes/. It also has devotionals that you can follow. Since I didn't allow myself salad dressing this time around I discovered if you add a few sweet fruits to the salad the juice from that can mask the task of the rest of the veggies I add strawberries and grapes to mines. I also learned that this trick is the same with making smoothies and juicing. I'll usually make a fruit smoothie and add something like kale or spinach to it so that the fruit will mask the taste. I'll do the same with juicing. The other day I juiced kale, cucumbers, and spinach with sweet oranges and clementines to take the bad taste away. I use two site sites for juicing and smoothie ideas

1. http://www.jambajuice.com/menu-and-nutrition/menu

2. http://chaudsjuicetherapy.com/category/green-juices/

Quick note about Jamba juice. When I make my smoothies they honestly taste better than the ones that they make in store. I'm assuming because I use fresh fruits.
Below are samples of a couple things I whipped up to be creative

Clemetines, oranges, kale and cucumbers

 Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato soup

5. I don't need to eat all that I eat. My personal struggle is with portion control. When eating I'll get a large plate, fill it and eat until I'm stuffed. Ooooh and let it be something that I really like; being stuffed won't matter cuz I'll keep on going. My body doesn't need that, it's unhealthy and creates all this extra work for my digestive system not to mention it's a sin. Yes, a sin. Gluttony. Eating less and my stomach being satisfied with less teaches me that I really don't need to eat all that I eat. I need to do better with self control. It's a fruit of the spirit.

6. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. My flesh sucks! LOL. I said this earlier but I do need to practice self control. When I feel my body being weak, even though I desire to refrain from food I think of all the times in life when there is something sinful that I don't want to do but end up doing it anyway because I feel like my flesh takes over. During this moments (of feeling weak) I practiced just giving it to God; reading my Word, praying, ushering in God's presence with some praise and worship while sipping some water. Eventually my weakness goes away and strength comes back into my body. Next time when I feel like sin is tempting me and my flesh is about to take over I'll simply give it all to God instead of trying to handle it on my own. It's through His strength that I overcome, not mine.

7. Don't dive head first into regular eating after the fast is over. Think about it. Your body has been purging for a while and is no longer accustomed to regular food. Diving in will upset your body and it'll push the food right back out one way or the other (no need to get into details, lol). Slowly reintroduce your body to regular food one day at a time. Eventually your body will get the point.

8. Makes me realize what I take for granted. Fasting is a choice that I make to deny my body food or regular food. Sometimes when my body is feeling weak from hunger, I remember those who fast on a day to day basis and not by choice. There are people out there who are starving or don't know when's the next time they will eat. It inspires me to get up and do something about it while being appreciative of the blessings that I have.

9. Your sense of smell magnifies. Does this happen to anyone else?! I feel like when I'm fasting I can smell things (food) distinctively miles away!

10. Sometimes you have to tell people that you're fasting. There might not be any way to avoid it and that's okay. There is a verse in the Bible that says we are not to tell people that we are fasting. I usually don't but I used to take it so serious thinking I can't tell a soul because it's against the Bible. As I've journeyed and fasted a few times I've come to interpret that verse as not to announce it to the world, moan and grown so that everyone can see you and think of you as "oh so holy" because you're fasting. That takes the glory away from God and you're now making it about yourself. Though I am not of the world I am still in the world and people who are around me a lot are going to realize that I (the foodie) am not eating certain things. Usually when someone asks I will initially say that I am on a special diet regimen (which is true), but it someone asks why or there's no way that I can think of to avoid the question, I will tell them I'm fasting. What else am I supposed to do? Lie? LOL. You never know, it gives me the opportunity to open up about my faith and what I believe for someone who is interested in knowing.

10. Drink water! The signal that the body sends to the brain when it is hungry is the same signal that it sends when it is thirsty. It's important to stay hydrated and water will curve the hunger most times. Sometimes when I feel hungry I'll immediately eat a snack when in fact my body might just be thirsty. Going forward I will eliminate thirst before reaching for a snack.

There are so many other points that I could list but I think I'll stop here for now. My fast is officially over and I'm not working on slowly reintroducing food to my body while still keeping in mind what I've learned in this journey. Healthy living is a priority since my body is not mine and it only on loan to me. I'll take care of this temple.

Until next time,

Tasha

 Headed to a friend's birthday dinner

Contentment and Comparison: A message from God

I find it so amazing each time I hear God speaking to me so clearly when I ask to hear from Him. This is why it's so important after prayer, to free your mind of distracting thoughts and to really just sit in silence after you pray. Prayer is communication between you and God. When we're finished we're not supposed to get up and leave, but be still and wait to see if there is anything that He wants to say in return.

About a month an a half ago I was rushing off to a meeting and feeling bummed because I didn't have time to pray and have my quiet time prior to leaving the house in the evening. I knew the meeting would end late and I knew I'm not very receptive to hearing God when I'm tired (because I clearly would want to sleep). As I was driving the Lord placed a thought in my spirit "why don't we talk now?". That actually made perfect sense. Why not? I was in the car by myself, I could turn the music off and be in complete silence in the car and I was a 25 minute drive away from my destination so we'd have all that time together. It wasn't my ideal quiet space but it would work.  I started to talk to Him about a lot of things on my mind and I wanted to share what He told me since I think this can apply to anyone who reads this

You are not called to be like other Christians. You are are called to me like Me, Christ. Others talent may not be your talent. Others strengths may not be your strength, but at the same time their weaknesses are not your weakness. You are all a part of one body. Just because you are a different part of the body doesn't make you less than anyone else nor does it make you better than anyone else. The head cannot function without the foot, the hand cannot fully function without the fingers. You are important. You are uniquely made. You are a designer original. I created no one else like you. How awesome is that? Be yourself and embrace it!

A highway is made of many lanes, stay in yours. Stop comparing your life and success, or lack there of, with others. Everyone has a lane. I desire some people to be in the fast lane and some in the slow lane. I desire some people to get off at exit 5 and others to get off at exit 25, that's okay. Your blessing is for you and you alone. No one in the world can keep you from your blessing except yourself.  

It's okay if you're not married yet and it's okay if you don't have children yet. Stop allowing people to make you feel like you should not be content because you don't have those things yet. My child, be happy and content with who, what and where you are. You are exactly where I want you you to be.

Whew! A few things about this:

1) There were some parts of God's response to me that I didn't even verbally talk to Him about in that prayer but He responded anyway because He knew what was in my heart and what I struggle with. How amazing is it that? He gives you answers to things you don't even verbally ask for at time. So cool.

2) This happened in the beginning of December. The first paragraph in which He referenced one body many parts was actually going to be the theme of my church for 2014. Our theme this year in Symphony: many instruments, one orchestra -- many parts, one body. It's custom for my church to keep the theme a secret until watch night service (12/31) so I had no clue. Even thought they announced it at watch night I personally didn't know until I returned to the U.S. on 1/12/14. Talk about confirmation!

3) I learned that I can pray anywhere. This is something that I already knew but it was just a friendly reminder for me. Of course it would be a ideal for me to be in my house where I have my designated quiet space but it's important to not get caught up in the mechanics of everything. I have a relationship with Christ and if it turns out I can't be in my quiet space, a car or wherever I am is perfectly fine. As long as I talk to Him.

4) I also learned that God can talk to you anywhere at any time. Again, this is something that I already knew but was a great reminder. He relayed the first half of this message to me while I was still driving. When I got to my meeting, I parked, pull out my notebook and quickly wrote down what He said so that I wouldn't forget then went into my meeting to get trained. In the middle of the training as I was learning about leadership, I heard God say "I'm not finished yet". I was...surprised to say the least and thought this was the funniest thing ever. I actually giggled to myself. Here I was in this meeting and God shows up with complete disregard of what I'm learning and begins to speak again. I mean... He can do that though, haha. Needless to say I didn't hear the rest of the training because I was busy writing down the rest of what God wanted me to hear.

This message was definitely right on time for me. If any of you are struggling with experiencing true contentment in Christ and find yourself comparing your life to others...I hope this blesses you.

Until next time,

Tasha

Declutter

One of my New Years Resolution this year was to declutter. I have this tendency to say yes to everything or want to get involved in everything because I don't want to feel left out of get left behind. The problem occurs when getting involved in everything causes you to have responsibilities that occupy your every night of the week after work, on Saturdays and even after church on Sundays (my chosen day of rest, relaxation or fun).

I have been doing this to myself for years. I lost out on time to spend with my mom. During the warmer seasons we would come home from church, nap, wake up refreshed, eat dinner then go for a nice walk at Jamaica Pond and just talk. This was a great time for my mom and I to catch up and debrief about our week and talk about plans for the next week.  Weekends were also my chance to plan for the week, what needed to be done, prep food for the week, gym sessions for the week, iron for the week. This allowed my days to run smoothly and even allowed room for unexpected situations.

When I lost my weekends I lost the ability to plan so my eating became awful most of the time, always running to grab something from a fast food place. I had to take time every morning to figure out what I was wearing and iron which in turn caused me to run later. I was exhausted waking up every morning because I was consumed doing things after work every night so I rarely made time for quite time. I would pray say a quick prayer in the shower and I would read my Bible en route to work (I mean it's great that I still read it but it would have been ideal for me to be able to read and meditate on the Word to get more out of it). I felt out of touch with my mom and I missed her even though we live in the same house because I was always on the run.

I don't know if my life as it was sounds like what yours is like on a daily basis but I encourage you to join me in doing some decluttering. What is it that God wants you to do in life an on a day to day basis? A lot of us, like me, end up getting involved in things that might be great but God didn't tell you to do that. Did you ask Him? I want everything I do to glorify His name and draw me closer to Him, not farther way because I'm to tired to pray or read His Word because I'm doing all these other things.

Here are a few pointers:

1) Prayerfully do an inventory of everything that you are currently doing or involved in and evaluate if it's something you really need to be doing or something God really wants you to do. If it's not or if it's just a space filler kindly remove yourself and free up some time.

       **Note: sometimes there are things that we are supposed to be doing that we aren't because we

           don't have the time as a direct result of us already doing something that is taking up our time

           that we don't need to be doing. Whew! That was a mouthful In those cases get rid of the

           unnecessary task and add the necessary task. This may not free up your time but it allows

          your time to be better spent   

 
 2) Organize. Once you have a good handle on the different tasks in life do a quick triage (I clearly watch too much Grey's Anatomy) of what's most important and and what steps need to be done in order to get those tasks done. I like to call these "action items" Sometimes we spend too much time on tasks that are not as important as others and the more important tasks don't get done as a result.

3) Schedule. I love schedules! This may sound boring or stupid but you'd be surprised how much you can get done by just creating a schedule for yourself and sticking to it! When we don't schedule we move along our days and weeks as if we have all the time in the world and time tends to slip away from us to the point where we start to race to do what needs to be done. You can either create schedule's for yourself on a daily basis or a weekly basis. I prefer weekly schedules as they give me more wiggle room. I schedule things such as quite time and "me" time and I even leave room for unexpected situations. This allows me to stay on task and have extremely productive days and weeks.

Now the point here is to DECLUTTER, not ELIMINATE everything. There are things that God is calling you to do or want to use you in certain ways.  Don't go quitting your job now (unless God tells you which is an entirely different blog), or start to sit round doing nothing.

I'm excited for this journey that I am about to start. I've already let go of something that took a lot of hours of my week ( I blogged about the decision process in my blog from last week "Stepping Out in Faith") and I'm already working on removing some non necessary things.

Have fun decluttering!

                                                            Hanging with a friend in New York

xo
Tasha

Stepping Out in Faith

For  the past 2 months I have been praying intentionally to God about a decision that I had to make. I was partaking in a part time gig that could eventually give me the opportunity to have things like financial freedom, owning my own time, retiring when I want to at any age etc. I had been embarking in this journey for about 3 years though but to be honest I was really only putting in the effort for a little bit over one year. I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated and unhappy with my lack of results. There were certain things that I wanted to see happen that weren't happening seemingly no matter what I did. I wanted God to tell me what to do.

So I prayed and prayed and prayed. I waited, I looked for signs from God but it seemed like He wasn't saying anything to me. What did that mean? Does God's silence mean that I should figure it out for myself? Did it mean "I'm not saying anything because I want you to continue pushing?", or did it mean "Go ahead and get out!"? I was frustrated on top of already being frustrated.

I went to home (Jamaica) for three weeks to see family and have some R&R. Back home things are more silent for the most part and seemingly more "simple" than the U.S. In this simplicity I realized I smiled in a way  that I haven't smiled in a long time, there was a joy in my heart that I could not explain. I enjoyed having to throw things on the outside line to dry instead of putting it in a dryer. Having to heat food on the stove because we don't have a microwave. Going to the market to buy fruit and food, only having access to two channels because we don't have cable, going outside on my favorite stairs to sit and stare at the island for hours.

 Partial view of my backyard.

I enjoyed family, sitting around the dinner table and telling stories, lounging in the living room chairs telling each other jokes, just enjoying one another. Everything that brought such joy to my life didn't include anything "fancy" at all. Just time to be with them. That's when it came to me. I've been searching so long for answers when what I really needed to do is bring it back to the basics. What do I really want at the basic level? I know what I want in the future, I know what my future dreams and aspirations are, but what is the basic thing that I want out of life? I want to be HAPPY.

Hanging with my cousins

Doesn't sound like much and I didn't know how important it was to me but it is...at the most basic level. When I thought of where I was, what I was doing, my life on a day to day basis, I wasn't truly happy, I was miserable. Every single day I had to do something or go somewhere I would dread it so much. That's no way for anyone to live. I remember as a teen trying to think about what I wanted to be when I grew,  the only thing I knew is that I didn't want to do anything where I would be unhappy. And there I was...unhappy. I know sometimes we have to put ourselves in less that comfortable situations to make dreams come true and to be successful in some areas but I don't think (as it pertains to my life) that, that automatically means that you have to be unhappy while in that "uncomfortable" stage in life. Life is too short to be unhappy. My best friend died shortly after she turned 23. I'm sure she thought she had her entire life ahead of her and it was tragically cut short. I could be gone tomorrow, life is not guaranteed. I want to make sure that I live everyday of my life being happy.

After realizing this I decided to let go of my part time gig. I'm not sure if God actually spoke through this experience or not but I definitely had an "aha" moment while I was home. Maybe this was his way of speaking to me, I don't know. What I do know is that not every opportunity (no matter what it promises) is for everyone, and that's okay. If it is for you, run and pursue it with all you have. I would only hope my former team members so do that. However, don't speak negatively about those it's not for. It doesn't speak to their ability to dream, work ethic or successful future, they might be successful in other areas that are a better fit for them. If it's not for you, cool, but don't speak negatively of those that it is for. Let them be an support them! Too often we tear people that are trying to go somewhere down.

This was not for me, I'm okay with accepting that. A little nervous because I still have goals and dreams and I won't get to them with only one revenue of income but I also feel peaceful because my God is a God of breaking down the impossible. I'll make it some other way and this time I'll be happy!

Do what makes you happy and make sure you are on board with God's plan for your life. He is the only one that determines your success or failure.

Cheers to stepping out in faith!

Strolling in NYC

XO Tasha

Goodbye 2013, hello 2014

It’s currently 10:30pm on December 31^st 2013. I decided to write this blog now in anticipation of posting for the new year. I am incredibly blessed and happy right now because I’m in my home country, Jamaica. I got to come here for 3 weeks (I’m currently on my 2^nd week) to be with family for Christmas and New Years. I wanted to keep up with the traditions I seem to have created for myself for the past 2 years and review what I my goals for 2013 and make goals for 2014.

2013 goals:

1. I want to read the entire Bible again. This time 4 times by the end of 2013.

Can you believe I did it? I’m one determined cookie. I signed up for the Youversion Bible plan  “Read the Bible in 90 days” and started it over each time it ended. I read the Bible in different versions each time 1) King James Version 2) New International Version 3) English Standard Version and 4) Message Version. For someone as busy as myself I would not recommend doing this. It’s committing to 1 hour of straight Bible reading because of the short period of time you have to get the entire Bible in. It was really hard and stressful for me, but as I said, I’m a determine cookie. I’m excited! I've now read the entire Bible for a total of 5 times in 5 different version (2012 I read the entire Bible in 1 year).

2. Eat better overall and incorporate a steady work out routine into my life.
Honestly, this is a constant struggle for me. I have a few weeks when I do really good and then I have periods where I just fall off so hard. For the most part I did pretty well this year. My car accident threw me off my schedule since October but I plan on getting right back in the gym when I return to the States. The trick really is to prepare ahead of time. I was always so busy all the time that I never had time to prepare. That will be one of my new resolutions.

3. Finish my masters degree

Aaah I remember this time last year I was so excited with the thought of finishing. This is also an accomplished goal. I officially finished classes in June of this year and my degree conferral was in September this year. Thank God! #TeamMastersDegree

4. Continue to seek God for my purpose in life

I would mark this as ongoing. It takes daily devotion and constant communication with God and it never really stops. I believe that He is leading me to where I need to be.

Goals for 2014

1) Declutter: I tend to want to jump in and get involved in everything and end up overwhelming myself and being busy all the time. I don’t like that. It gives me very little down time, I have little time for myself and my family, I’m always tired and never seem to have time to stop and smell the roses. Life is too short to not smell the roses. I need to figure out what I want in life and how that lines up with what God wants for me and get rid of some things so that I can have more time to just…be

2)Read the entire Bible again: Haha it will never end. Seeing that the 4 times a year plan was so intense I think I’ll do 2 times this year. I’ll enroll in the 180 day reading plan this time around. One version will be in the Amplified version and I think I might revisit the Message version again

3) Finish Bible X: I talked about this Bible reading plan in a previous blog “So You Wanna Study the

Bible”. I think I got half way through then stopped being consistent. I want to finish that this year and I have 

plenty of time to do so

4) Get better with finances: I create budget after budget and never stick to it, I never know where my 

money goes and I always seem to be…broke. I want to officially get out of that habit in 2014. I want to

purchase a house someday, be able to pay off student loans and be able to put emergency money away for a

rainy day. The goal is to create a budget, stick to it and start getting rid of these debts.

5) Workout and eat healthy: As I declutter I will have more time to plan and I should be able to stick to a 

healthier regimen and workout routine. This year is my year. The goal is not to be skinny but to be healthy.

I'm so blessed to be able to see another year. I think sometimes we don't stop to realize just how blessed we

are. There are those that never lived to see this year or loved ones that never lived to see this year. I'm

looking forward to 2014. I know there may be struggles, drama, obstacles but there will also be happiness, 

excitement and breakthroughs bigger than I can ever imagine. 

Thank you for following me throughout 2013 and I hope you continue to follow me as I journey through

2014.

xo

Tasha