Boundless #17.

Fasting is something I've done... but not a lot of it. And, I never knew in-depth information before I read this article.

I've done the whole give-something-up-for-Lent thing numerous times. Chocolate, pop, cussing, sweets, etc. This past lent I said no Facebook before breakfast or after dinner. Yes, I had to say before breakfast, it was sad. The before-breakfast part was more to break my addiction. The after-dinner part was to spend more time digging in the Word.

One week this summer, I gave up Facebook. I wanted a week away from distractions, just to kind if disconnect. It was good, refreshing. Too often in this world, especially in my life, we get way too "busy" and are always connected to our phone/e-mail/Facebook... sometimes I feel like I don't have the chance to "be still" before God.

Our challenge today was to fast from something (it had a few suggestions, and one was chewing gum... which I found very odd)... and I'm not sure what I'm going to give up yet. I could give up Facebook, but I'm going to be super busy all weekend ANYWAYS and won't be around a computer, so that's kind of cheating. My phone I need because I have several "plans" and I need to communicate. Maybe I'll just use my phone as little as possible? And try not to get on Facebook the little time I will have. Or, maybe I'll just do it next week, since this weekend is kind of chaotic.

The chaotic and noisiness of our lives reminds me of how some of my friends and I were talking about a nearby monastery last week. How different would it be to live in complete silence? To not be able to talk? Drives me nuts sitting in class for three hours having to be quiet for a majority of the time. But, the monks have solitude... peace... stillness. Sometimes life is so exhausting, I that's what I need. Be a monk for a week. (Okay, or not.)

Even if you're not doing this challenge, I encourage you to fast from or take a break from something in your life.... especially if it's something you think you can't live without, because it means you probably need to break away from it.