40 days of fasting

This Saturday our church had a womens retreat. It was fabulous and here at our church which was really nice not having to travel to it (already off topic, sorry). The speaker was Melissa Tamplin (hope I spelled her name right). She was an amazing speaker. Her story included her being adopted, her adopted parents adopting a brother for her when she was 8, her father is an alcoholic, but a good man, her mother was an amazing women, her adopted brother and his friend were high on drugs and murdered her mother and are both now in jail (the friend actually killed himself in jail), and the story goes on. She spoke about her journey with ups and downs and how she tried to turn away from God, but He just kept being present in her life. Her story is truly remarkable and I would love to retell it, but that's not why I'm blogging at the moment. Melissa said that her counselor told her she needed to fast for 40 days. Her counselor explained that she just needed to fast in the sense of taking 1 hour a day to spend time reflecting on herself, etc. Melissa said that she didn't know what to do with her hour, so she journaled, listened to christian music, etc. and at the end of her 40 days, she had dealt with some of her issues and was a lot happier in life.

So, I was thinking tonight while I was in the shower (I do all my best thinking and planning in the shower) that I would fast for 40 days. I am going to do what Melissa did and do whatever I feel led to do in that time (not sure how long I will spend yet). I plan to start off my journaling and then hopefully do a daily devotional and who knows what I will end up doing. I have wanted to do a daily devotional/quiet time for years and have just never done one. I think I overwhelm myself with what to do and how long to spend doing it, etc. With this fasting, I know I only have to do it for 40 days and I can spend however long I want doing whatever I want. My goal is to just slow down and spend some time with myself and God. My excuse has always been that I don't have time to do a daily devotional/quiet time because I'm too busy with work, kids, and the list goes on. I want to stop giving excuses and actually do something I have wanted to do for years. There is no time like the present! Carpe Diem!