I don't know why it is, but day 2 of a fast has always been more difficult for me than the first. Our community found that to be true yesterday. One of our friends who gave up candy had to remove a candy bowl from her classroom. I walked out of my lunch appointment (baked potato at McAlister's . . . again) and was already hungry. Another friend ate dinner at 5 and was ready for second dinner at 6. Like he's a hobbit or something. Still another friend was almost cursing her co-workers for how much they were eating in front of her.
But as some of us reflected on our feelings, we were struck by how good we have it. If we don't like what the dinner plan is, we can find something else in the pantry. If we don't like the fast-food joint of choice, we can go to another place, usually next door.
The girl that we met in our reading on day 2 (A Place at the Table, by Chris Seay) is from a family of six children in Haiti. Some days they don't have enough food for all of the kids to eat. Are you serious? When was the last time I didn't have enough food to eat? Never? And as a parent, how do you decide which kids eat and which kids don't? How broken is this world that we live in that some parents have to choose which kids get to eat and which don't while other parents stock their cabinets with enough food to help make their child obese? God, bring your kingdom! Please!
So how do we bring kingdom in the midst of this level of brokenness? It starts by a realization of how blessed we are. Every day I have enough food on my table to feed my family and then some. I have a job that allows me to not have to worry that my kids will have to go without. My daily choices are nearly endless -- meats and potatoes, fruits and veggies, starches and grains. I have more variety in which type of cheese I choose at the grocery store than most people have types of food that they get in a lifetime.
But the blessings of life become curses when we fail to realize that they come with responsibility. My hope for myself and my community is that during this season of Lent we will be shown how we as a blessed people can bring blessing to the people that we know and people that we will never meet. If ONLY this happens, it will be worth all of the hunger pangs that we will feel these 40 days.
Thank you for sharing this, Dave.
ReplyDeleteYesterday was HORRIBLE! Jim and I took turns talking each other out of throwing in the towel for most of the evening. Again, I spent most of the day focusing on ME!!! I was hungry, I didn't want to eat beans and rice again last night, I even tried the "I don't think I am getting enough nutrition" excuse. I was just a grumpy Gus all day long!
ReplyDeleteI must admit, each time I complained or even sulked in my mind, I thought about Ely, our little one who lives in Honduras. I wondered how often he was hungry and if he even knows what nutrition is. Does he get three meals a day or does he get beans and rice 1-2 times? How does he keep that beautiful smile on his face when he is so HUNGRY?
Because of this challenge, I too have talked to God more in the last few days than I have in quite some time. (He is probably wishing I would find a happy middle soon). I would have never done this on my own but with the support and encouragement of our friends and my new(ish) constant conversation with God, I believe with everything in me this will be life changing in some way.
Tonight, we will have 5 of our grandchildren spending the night. We will get to tell them why they will be eating beans and rice at our house every weekend. I am certain they will not fully understand and will be ready to go home but they will get a very small example of what it's like to have no choice, to be crazy happy that you aren't going hungry! What it's like for Ely EVERY DAY!
I hope, through this challenge, these children, who are so sweet and special to us, realize how blessed we all are. I hope, because of our friends who are willing to encourage us and hold our feet to the fire, we all realize how blessed we actually are!
Thanks to all who are thinking of and praying for this crazy little group of people!
Great to read your post. I too am working through A Place at the Table this Lent. It's really interesting and challenging to read others' experiences. thanks!
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