Breakfast

Day 2 of the January Photo a Day Challenge: Breakfast

Hungry, I come to You
For I know You satisfy
I am empty but I know
Your love does not run dry.
—Kathryn Scott 

Then Jesus declared,
“I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never go hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
—John 6:35

On Sunday we will be joining Seacoast Church and nearly 1,500 other churches around the world in a Daniel Fast. This is the 3rd year Nate and I have participated in the fast, and I can honestly say that our lives were radically changed as a result of each one we’ve participated in. (Maybe that’s why I’m holding on to my seat with white knuckles—I just KNOW that God is about to do something insane. AGAIN! I can feel it in my bones.)

The fast scares me half to death and makes me giddy all at the same time. It’s a crazy hard thing to change your eating habits for 21 days. And it’s a little terrifying to wonder what God has in store this time when He has so drastically altered our world two years in a row. And yet I have those pre-Christmas-morning butterflies of anticipation flitting around in my stomach. It’s a good thing we won’t be eating much during the fast because all of this emotion is definitely not good for digestion.

Our very first Daniel Fast body slammed us and then catapulted us head-first into an entirely different way of life. Over-dramatic? Mmmm…not really.

During our first fast in January 2010 we were praying for 3 things:
1. Going deeper in our ministry
2. Adding another Davis to the quiver
3. The safe return of a friend who had just been deployed to Afghanistan.

All 3 requests were answered, and each response changed our lives forever.

It was during the fast that Nate watched Food, Inc., which led him to watch even more documentaries on food, nutrition, health and wellness. This answered our first prayer request by opening up a whole new world of ministry for us and birthing a life-consuming passion for raising food with integrity. Two years later and we are full-time farming as a result of that one documentary Nate saw in January 2010.

Also during the fast, two little lines on a pregnancy test answered our second prayer request and forever changed our lives…because eight months later Caleb Miles Davis stole our hearts and introduced us to a new level of joy. We have been forever changed.

And the third prayer request was answered one very cold day in January when I got the devastating news that Noah Pier had stepped on a land mine in Afghanistan and would not be coming home safely afterall. The news came only 12 hours after the Holy Spirit woke me up from a dead sleep to pray for Noah’s safety. I learned from Noah’s mother that he actually died while I was praying for him. Take a moment and read that again. It still gives me chills.

It’s taken me two years to come to a place of peace as to why God woke me up to pray and yet still allowed Noah die. This confusing and heart-breaking tragedy sent me searching for answers that would quiet my questions enough to let me sleep again at night. Not pink-fuzzy cotton candy Vacation Bible School answers. Hard-as-nails answers. Because of Noah’s death, I know that God is good. All the time. I don’t just say that anymore. I actually believe it.

So here’s to the upcoming Daniel Fast! What have we learned here today? That when you position yourself to hear God speak, be prepared to have heaven and earth shake a little. God invented the saying, “Go big or go home.” May he demonstrate it in your life today.

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