February Recap and 21 Day Fast

Is it me or are these months flying by? February must’ve had somewhere to be!

Anyway, I realized it’s been quite some time since my last blog post. A year and a month to be exact, but let me tell you why.

2023 was TOUGH! I fought for every inch of my life last year. There’s too many events that occurred to list out in this, but in short with 3 kids, their illnesses, and the worst one of all… my personal thoughts, the year quite frankly ALMOST took me out!

But here I am! In 2024 and I told myself that I CAN NOT allow myself to go back to that place.

If you’re like me, then January was practically a trial run for the new year, so here we are in February and I can confidently say this month, I didn’t drown.

One day, I was randomly turning pages in my prayer journal thinking to myself that I needed to get back to it, and I came across a page “21 Day Fast- Book of John.” Now I’m not sure where or when I would have written that, but I knew there was a reason I saw it, so guess what I did… I did a 21 day fast and read the book of John.

First, I set some guidelines for myself regarding the fast.

Here’s the guidelines:

No fried foods
Only water (which means no wine or a good ol margarita)
No sweets (my literal weakness)
Get up at 5am (or just wake up earlier than usual) for quiet time

Great! Seems doable right? But the plot twist to this is, we ended up getting a new puppy for Valentines’ Day, so I was up around 5am anyway taking the puppy to the potty. Funny how that happened. But that’s another story for another post.

So here are 5 things I learned from the 21 Day Book of John Fast:

Discipline and consistency are two totally completely different things. You have to be disciplined in order to be consistent. I had to be disciplined enough to wake up earlier than everyone in my house, and because I was intentional about doing so, I became a consistent early riser (which by the way, I am not a morning person). And to be honest, I’m still working on being disciplined enough to make it a consistent habit.
It’s okay to rest and take a break. It doesn’t mean you’re not disciplined or consistent, it just means you need a break! During this fast, my allergies came and jumped me and I was down bad. So no, I didn’t get up at 5am to take the puppy to the potty, nor did I open my bible to the book of John that day, but guess what, I did the next day. You can take a break and gradually work your way back up to where you want. And that’s okay.
Waking up before your kids is SELF CARE! I used to agree with other moms, that I would rather sleep in with the kids and enjoy those snuggles (which is great and that’s needed too), but to wake up to a quiet and peaceful home is simply refreshing. Before I would wake up, I was immediately needed from someone and started pouring into everyone in my home before I even brushed my teeth! But now that I wake up earlier, I can actually sit and process my thoughts and I’m actually able to pour into myself and take care of my needs before anyone else! GAMECHANGER!
Journaling is good for your mental health. I read a chapter each day of the fast and once I finished the chapter, I would reflect and journal about the chapter and what I got out of it. I literally sat, listened, and let the Holy Spirit guide me. I also like to flip through the journal from time to time to reflect back on something I may have written. There’s also something so freeing about writing out your thoughts.
You were created for a divine purpose. I know it’s cliche right? But truly every single moment or event in your life is with purpose. You were created and placed right where you are in life for a reason. And the reason is so God can receive the glory! Jesus woke up everyday and set out to perform miracles. He knew what He was supposed to do and didn’t stop doing it, even on the Sabbath! Jesus didn’t die so that we could live aimlessly! We may not know the day or the hour that we will leave this world, but just as Jesus knew it was finished and His work was done, may we have that same confidence about the work we were instructed to do.