Friday was the first of our 'Fasting Fridays' at our church. We're spending Fridays specifically praying for our campuses and encouraging people to fast on that day. I decided to fast after dinner on Thursday night until dinner on Friday night.

It's been interesting so far. This is the first time I have ever intentionally given up something in order to focus on God. And so far, it's been pretty easy. That is, until I got hungry.

Thursday night for dinner we had Fazzoli's for the first time, and it was pretty good for drive through Italian food. Samuel and Avery both loved it. I had the Rigatone with Sausage..yummy. And the breadsticks were pretty good, too. So after we got Samuel and Avery down for bed, I went to the pantry as I usually do for a snack before I headed downstairs to watch whatever sport was on and I remembered I was skipping that. Ok, no big deal. There were only minor tummy grumblings, so I ignored them.

Friday morning I got up and got Samuel and Avery breakfast before I headed to the hospital to pray with someone before they went into surgery. I have been getting into the habit of eating breakfast with my kids, so it was a little odd for me to skip breakfast. The kids didn't notice I didn't eat with them, so that made it a little easier to do.

The ride to the hospital was a little different. I had a lot on my mind that morning as I pulled out of the driveway, so I decided to keep the radio off and pray as I drove. I was expecting bells and whistles from God because I hadn't eaten in a couple hours, but nothing. I kept praying anyway. I talked to God about our campuses, my family, my own walk with Jesus. I never heard anything directly from God, but I honestly felt like I was heard, like God was listening. As I got to the hospital, I made my way to where Doug and his family were waiting. We all talked and then they started talking about food and the great places to eat in our area. Great. At this point I'm starting to get a little hungry. And they kept talking and talking about food. And I'm starting to hear my stomach growl. Nice. I bought an orange juice, but that didn't help.

So I get home and it's time for the kids to have lunch. This one is a lot harder, because I have had lunch with my kids almost everyday since we've been here. I had to fight the urge to pick a chip out of the bag or off their plate when they were done. So after that I went downstairs to pray from 12:15 to 12:35 along with the rest of the church...praying is really hard when your stomach won't shut up. It was really, really hard to focus, but I got through it.

Dinner was..shameful. We went to Texas Roadhouse, one of our favorite places to eat (the best one is in Kentucky) and I ate like a pig. Cactus blossom for two? Check! Ribs and steak? Check! Huge baked potato with lots of butter and sour cream? Check!

Somehow I don't think I really fasted.