10.16.2012

Day Nine: Sustain

sus*tain strengthen or support physically or mentally
What sustains you?  What strengthens you physically?  What supports you mentally?  I have to say that people in my life do this for me.  For sure, my faith in the Lord sustains me on a minute by minute basis some days.  I would say that the roof over my head supports me, job security, a full pantry.....FOOD!

When I was talking with my BSF leader over the phone and telling her about my crazy adventure this month and she made the comment that people in other countries eat to be sustained.  And well....that stuck with me.  And it started my mind rolling in all the reasons why I eat.  I sure don't eat to be sustained......let's face it.....I have plenty of other things in my life that sustain me and all the food I could need.  Skipping a meal wouldn't be the end of the world.  But why do I eat?  I eat because I am bored.  I eat because I am happy.  I eat because I am sad.  I eat because I want to eat....I had a craving.  I eat because it is in front of me.  But have I ever seen that as luxury?  Have I ever looked at that as something not everyone gets to do?  In 2011 a study was done that showed 870 million people do not have enough food to eat.  And 60% of them were women!  This group of people eat to be sustained.  They don't eat when they are bored......they eat to be strengthened and supported physically and mentally because who knows when their next meal will come around.  I have never eaten under these circumstances!  Praise the Lord for that!  But the problem to me?  I have never really realized this was a problem.  I didn't realize it was an American problem for sure.  But when you hear 16.7 million children in the US are "food insecure" you think, I have been missing something.  This is not a third world country problem.  And wouldn't you know, some of these kids are in my school district!  

As Dave and I reduce our options I am seeing food in a whole new perspective.  Food for me doesn't get to be attached with my emotion at the time or a craving I have.  I eat because I am hungry and ready for the next meal.  I have to take the time to prepare the meal.  Dave has to really pack his lunch for work with great thought because his options are super limited.....he can't go to the cafe and get something.  We have not gone very many minutes in our day without thinking about "7" and food.  It is like zero-ing in on something that was so secure for me and now feels a little insecure.  A little stretching.  A little sacrificial.  

So as our dehydrator is making us some dried apples and bananas, I will tell you I miss my food security.  I miss my comfort.  I miss chips and cheese, chips and salsa, a McFlurry with a large fry, cheese, sauces, spices, coffee......miss them like you wouldn't believe!  But I also love that I am now more aware then I was 9 days ago, and that is why we are on this journey.  I love that by this reduction Dave is able to have more awareness himself.  If reducing means more awareness, more humbleness, more closeness to the ones that Jesus loved the most.....the insecure, then I say keep this up, Lord!  So call us crazy for this or maybe a little extreme......but this insecurity of time from last month and now food this month has caused me to love Jesus more, know Him more, cry out to Him more, see Him working more, pray with my husband more, be more attentive to people in my life, be more attentive to the world around me, love my girls more fully.  So I will take 7 months of this because I am starting to like this insecure thing.

Think about it for you.  What makes you feel secure?  What sustains you?  What strengthens you throughout the day?  It is amazing how one apple and some sweet time with Jesus can sustain me longer, increase my patience, and deepen my joy more than I ever thought.  

Oddly enough, today is World Food Day!  Haha!  Below is a video (where I got my above facts), made by Convoy of Hope.  Dave and I volunteered at their event here in KC this summer.  We were able to share the hope of Jesus with so many people right before they received BAGS for groceries!  

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