I don’t know if it is the Vitamin D that is overflowing into this town from the lovely weather, but everyone I run into seems to be radiating with happiness today during my bike ride in the park. There were kids hanging from trees, dads playing with their sons, young lovers flying kites, little kids on bikes waving at me as I passed by and I even saw a couple on a tandem. I’m pretty sure I relived a scene out of Stars Hallow from an episode of the Gilmore Girls. All I was missing was a lady holding a bouquet of roses and children holding hands skipping into the sunset. So if I could describe day 1 of my 28 day vegan challenge, I guess it would be magical.
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Now I am not vegan, nor am I even vegetarian. In fact, I’m not a huge fan of animals. I’m happy for them to leave me alone. The last animal movie that moved me was Free Willy, but I think it was because I had a crush on the little boy, Jesse. Rest assured, I don’t believe in cruelty to animals, but like I told my roommate, you’ll never see me praying for an animal. I just am missing that kind of passion in my life. However, if there was a PETA for humans, I’d be all over that.
With that said, I somehow felt inspired to try something new, see something from a different perspective. I LOVE fresh perspective. I even went to the Veg-Fest and had a great time learning new things. I did make a confession to a lady there that I wasn't vegan. I think she could tell I was a poser. Perhaps she could still smell the pepperoni on my breath. So here I am writing while eating peanuts since I’m still trying to figure what I’m going to be eating for the next month.
The main reason I decided to do this was to have a more balanced diet. More simply put, I hate vegetables. But they are important because they contain so many nutrients that I’m lacking. I thought that if I commit to eating them for a period of time, I might find that I can learn to appreciate veggies instead of always filling plate with chicken and cheese.
If you have ever had a spiritual conversation with me, you probably know that I am an avid promoter of spiritual fasting. For starters, it’s Biblical. I believe and have found that a spiritual fast has multiple benefits. While there can be some health benefits to a fast, it also helps to recalibrate your appetite. And I don’t just mean for food. I mean for everything, your appetite for acquiring things, appetite for lust, appetite for laziness and then it rekindles an appetite for prayer, meditation and passion for reading Scripture.
I don’t ever tell anyone when I’m fasting, but I’ve been very open about this vegan challenge since it has been fun to talk about with people. I am also going to take advantage of it as a spiritual fast. I think that when we fast, we practice self control and learn to limit our cravings and desires. When we do that, God truly blesses us by filling us up with His presence. Then He slowly begins to help change those desires because we recognize our cravings are truly and only met by His goodness. This has always been my experience. And not only that, when I limit myself (now this will sound nutty to some of those reading this), but I hear the Holy Spirit speaking to me more clearly.
So just a couple hours before my magical bike ride, I did hear the Holy Spirit speaking to me. Again, this will sound funny, but when I was at Trader Joe’s today buying some almond milk, I passed by some bananas. I thought I want a banana before I go to REI to make my big backpacking purchase. But I felt prompted to buy 2. And I ate one.
Driving down I-96 after REI, I noticed a woman walking down the middle shoulder of the 4 lane highway. There was no time to think, but I heard that I need to stop. I made the split second decision to move from the far right lane all the way over to the left shoulder. I had passed her by quite a bit. So I took a little stroll to meet her. I took my hair out of my ponytail so she maybe could see from far off that I was a woman. Of course I was thinking, I hope she doesn’t stab me right here on 96. She had her head down and I think I startled her when I finally caught her glance. Meanwhile the cars were buzzing by not so far from us.
She was more frightened of me than I of her. She was not interested in me driving her to the other side of the freeway. She said she had been in her car since 10:30am on the shoulder. Her phone had died. It was now a little after 2 when she finally got out of her car to walk. Where? Just somewhere. Her plan was to watch for an opening and then run across. Two men had stopped before I did, but she was smart and did not go with them. Three cops had passed her. She said, “But to their credit, they were on the far right lane.”
I told her I would help her jump start her car and that’s when she perked up. She looked at me, calculating my motives and said, “What’s your name?”
We drove off thinking, how on earth will we jump start a car on the left shoulder of a very busy highway? Impossible! We pulled over to brainstorm for a moment. She commented that she was on her way to have lunch with her mom when her car died and she was so hungry. It was hot and she had been in her car for about 4 hours.
That’s why I bought 2 bananas.
I had no idea who to call for this particular circumstance, so obviously I called a woman, Renee! Mostly because her husband, Nate, seems to be in these situations often so maybe she would know: what would Nate do?
Fortunately my charger fit her cell phone and she was able to get her friend to come and jump start her car. So even though Renee’s advice for extra long cables was perfect, we headed back to the car. There was her friend on the right hand shoulder. I said, “No one needs to risk his life for a car. Let’s go get Renee’s long cables.” Yes, he intended to do a u-turn on 96. Oh boy! She told me he drives like a bat out of hell. And for this purpose I was hoping she was right. Thank God he was able to do it without getting destroyed. We parted ways with handshakes and hugs. I gave her my number in case she needed anything.
I don’t know why we find ourselves in these situations, but I know He’s always up to something good. So I will say this,
Thank you, Holy Spirit, for telling me to buy 2 bananas, one for me, one for her and urging me to stop at a moment’s notice.
Yes, God was speaking to me, but more importantly He wanted to speak to her by just simply providing some food, a ride to the other side and some cell phone service. I’m glad I heard Him. I pray she can hear and know Him too.
27 days to hear more clearly. And I couldn’t be happier for it!
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:13
“So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.” 1 Thessalonians 5:6
“But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” 1 Thessalonians 5:8
