On to a few musings about this years fast…. It had to be different.  I have been on an eating plan for seven months which is very high protein. That has worked so well for me that I really didn’t want to mess with that, until I am fully into the maintenance stage.  So, I prayed about how I could do another fast this year and still have it really matter. So, I decided on a couple of food items to abstain from.  Pop and sweets.  The rest of the items for this 21 day fast in January of 2013, had to be spiritual disciplines.  I felt like I really needed a lot of those anyway. There’s something about a fast, prayer fast, or just setting physical and spiritual disciplines in January which set the tone for the rest of the year.  You could do it anytime of the year, but doing it twice in January now, has helped me to push an imaginary “reset” button of sorts. Well, even though I had only refrained from pop and sweets, the evil one even tried hard to tug on me about those, so I guess they still had meaning.  I did make it though, although a couple of times, I thought the next day, “oh, I had a couple of pieces of candy last night”.  It was strange that I didn’t even think of it until the next day.  I unconsciously just ate those things a couple of times.  And when going to a restaurant, which is usually the only time I have pop much, I really wanted to have it!  I even tried to justify my choice of drink by saying, “oh it won’t matter this once, or my friend is going to think this is very strange”.  But I did make it through that one too.  I don’t know why the pop machines at Meijer’s suddenly sounded like they were calling loudly to me.  I normally don’t even buy one. I made some spiritual disciplines this time…praying before anything else first thing in the morning.  No facebook or intentional TV, writing a card or note to someone for 21 days in a row, listening to a Christian podcast or sermon once a day, and a few more. Again I committed to working hard on listening to the voice of God, like I did last year.  It is a wonderful time to journal a lot too, so you can look back on the entries later and see how God worked. You don’t fast to get something from the hand of God, but to seek His face and heart. It was again a very meaningful time this year.  I wrote down many things in my journal and am looking forward to intentionally paying attention to how God answers those prayers and things I heard Him say. I feel that 2012 was a year of a great amount of healing for me.  I think I hear the Lord saying that 2013 is going to be the year of COURAGE. Fighting fear with the strength that only the Holy Spirit can give.  My “verse of the year” started to rise to the surface of the waves. Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Now, about that goal to read the bible through in a year…  Is it the last day of January already??