Daniel Fast Journal
my first Daniel Fast-journal
Entry 1 - February 3rd - 19 Days until Lent begins
*Before I begin this journey, I wanted to share what brought me here. If you choose to follow along, I hope this is an encouragement to you.
Also…I hope I don’t crash, burn and otherwise embarrass myself!
This idea of participating in Lent this year came to me several months ago. I had just quit my job to stay home and homeschool my kids. Though homeschooling was never on our radar, being a stay-at-home mom always was a dream of mine.
Before I go any further, you should know that my husband, Jared, and I have 5 children adopted from foster care several years ago as a sibling group. Currently, their ages are 8, 9, 12,13, and 14. It’s really a great story, read the whole thing here and if you are new,
Welcome!
So, I made the leap and quit my job at the end of the summer. We did all the research, made the schedules, and. bought the books. I felt pretty confident in my ability to teach our children but I also knew it would be hard. I shifted my focus to something I had hid from and pushed to the bottom of all of my lists for the past several years. Myself.
I hate the word, “self-care”. It’s too close to “selfish”.
But, in the process of failed adoptions and then this amazing gift of 5 children I had developed a pretty severe anxiety disorder. I would like to think I hid it pretty well in the outside world but I knew it bothered my husband and my kids. At my worst, I was always angry, had uncontrollable tremors, and I gained almost 100 pounds. Eventually, I did receive help in the form of a daily medication, but it was always my intention that this be a temporary fix. I hope, during this journey to share more about it.
I plan to keep these posts short, sharing how I’m feeling, how the journey is going, and a bit more about my story along the way. For now, I have officially began preparing and will begin my Daniel Fast on Lent, February 22nd. I bought a few supplies and this weekend, I’ll be testing recipes. And praying…a lot. ;)
So why share this journey with you?
I have a few reasons:
My calling in life is to be visible and vulnerable.
When I was researching “Daniel Fast”, all I found were recipes and “professionals”. There was no one who looked like me and was a beginner like me. While I found a ton of useful information, I still walked away terrified having not learned what to expect on this journey. I know I’m not the only one and I hope I can help others down the line.
God told me to.
I’m excited and scared.
But, now I’m committed. Be sure you are following us on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook and keep checking back here for more updates! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!
