Fast

So far, spring break has been a blessing. It's great to see the home church again, and I feel like there were more high schoolers this Sunday. Praise the Lord. God has also blessed me with a healthier relationship with my parents, and I feel like we're more willing to talk yet (I still haven't brought up my baptism. Pray for that--maybe? I feel it's at the point where I'm not supposed to delay and just obey).

Anyways, one of the things we talked about over dinner was food--that is, hunger. It's strange, isn't it? We all think we know what it means to be hungry, but what does it feel like to starve? Heck, even starving doesn't capture the nuance of our conversation. I'm talking not just starving, but perpetual starvation. None of us have really known the feeling of starvation combined with the uncertainty of food for today. It must seem really strange to us that half of the world lives on less than two dollars a day, and yet, we--the blessed ones, the Americans, the rich people--all too often consume food without giving it enough thought. It's weird how I can choose not to eat the meat my parents put on the table and to eat only the vegetables and fish for "health purposes." People who starve NEVER think like that! What kind of person scorns food when it's a God-given gift, be it fat or lean?

Myself aside, truly we are strange ones. We have this sense of security with food. Every day, we eat. That's taken for granted. Take a moment to examine why we pray before we eat. Why do we "say grace"? When was the last time you really considered the food set before you, snack or meal, as a gift from God? And beyond just food, just how many little blessings from God do we miss every day? Have we remembered to thank Him for our family, our church, our country, our friends, our school, our salvation? I'm pretty sure you could make a big list of things if you had the time. Why not?
And remember, "If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is 'thank you,' that would suffice."

Thank you, Jesus.