Are you really hungry? No seriously...

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." ~Jesus

I'm fasting today. It really stinks. I'm hungry... only taking a few sips of water. No juice or anything. It's only for twenty-our hours. But--wow...my head hurts. I can't concentrate, and I'm grouchy. Even doing simple household chores is really tough. It's hard—so try to imagine tens of thousands of children starving to death today. I'm foregoing food for one single day. Imagine how they feel! At least I know that if it gets too hard I can walk into my kitchen and eat to my belly's content. In fact, I have two-and-a-half hours to go, and food is practically all I can think about.

In our country we do NOT eat when we are hungry. We eat when we are supposed to. We eat when we're bored. We eat socially. We eat because our moms tell us to clean our plates. If we ate only when we were truly hungry and just enough to fill our nutritional needs none of us would be fat, and we'd have plenty to share.

Today I fast not for research, but in order to fast and pray. At one point Jesus explained to his disciples that certain prayers needed fasting to go along with them. So today there is a pressing need in a friend's life. She is dying and since Jesus said, "But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matthew 17:21). I thought I would heed His words. Jesus never wasted a single word, and He meant what He said. Once Jesus even fasted for forty days. I don't think I could do that. Unless the power of the Holy Spirit enabled me I am far too weak to fast forty days let alone three!

Since I can't write anymore today with this fogginess, because of a lack of food, I will pray instead. Pray for the truly hungry. Pray that God would lead me with this book. I am writing it out of obedience. I'm just an average Mom with an above-average number of kids. I stopped working as a trainer at Planet Fitness recently because I had no time with my family. Really—what is important in life? Other people, the love of God and loving them both back with all we have.

(At the first editing of this book my friend is healed! She and her husband went on to adopt many children too!)

Break it Down For Me, Would Ya?

People are starving to death worldwide. Every five seconds a child dies of hunger and hunger-related illnesses. The numbers are staggering, but even a conservative estimate brings it to about 30,000 deaths A DAY. (With economic conditions worsening the number of deaths will grow higher.)

Americans are obese. A whopping 63% of its citizens are overweight. As they grow older they take on the body shape of a lumpy potato. Fat people die earlier than thin people.

Fast food is not your friend. It is unhealthy and offers little if any nutritional value. They just want your money and care not at all about the health and well-being of you or your children. The dollar meals are there to suck you in so you'll buy other stuff. Soda rots the teeth; it contains empty calories. Its phosphoric acid decalcifies the bones, actually making holes in them, and it is a complete waste of money.

{Please don't talk to me about the problems of food distribution. There are plenty of great organizations who will get the food to the hungry. World Vision and Compassion International are just two of the good ones. I'm not telling you where to send your money; I'm just pointing out that food distribution issues shouldn't stop you from helping. The organizations I've mentioned as well as others have built bridges and friendships in other countries just for the honor of helping those in need. Finally if your objection is that you want to help people in your own country then please do. There are many United States citizens who also go hungry every day. Go to http://www.frac.org/html/hunger_in_the_U.S./hunger_index.html
For more information or do a search of your own at www.google.com and type in hunger in the U.S.A.}

As you waste food people in other countries (and some in the U.S.) are wasting away to nothing--skin and bones! And yet Americans throw out enough food to feed the country of Haiti and then some. Stop buying what you don't need. Stop eating once you are full. Do you want to add to the misery of others or help them?

Homework: Let yourself feel hungry.
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