Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by  prayer and… with fasting…
Daniel 9:3

that laying out of the mess and asking Him to clean.

Really?

Asking my Lord to help me clean.

Asking the King of kings to sweep out the corners and muck out the stalls.

Beautiful and Wretched.

I weep in the wonder:
How He could come HERE, to us, weak and sin-ridden

and scour our hearts and minds and turn us to Him by His
Grace.

And so I focus on Him, by abstaining from
the meats
the sweets
the wheats

Staying
Crisp on He who gives me life:

The God of the Universe who chooses to live in this body.
Who makes His words known to this heart.
Who blesses this life with babies and husband and home.

Humbled.

Who gently, quietly, succinctly said to me on a Sunday, as I swirled with busy:

Fast for 5 days.

And I, without hesitation, for one of the first times without,
checking the schedule,
asking more questions,
coming up with excuses,

putting off my Father,

without the dawdling,

said OK.
Just like that, because He is the One who has me, beginning to end,
And He wants me to live by Him, to seek Him, and so He spoke…

And I felt eager.
Filled.

Day three of the five He asked of me.

I’m hungry.

(Indulge me for a moment…)
You know how sometimes the fruits and the vegetables need that anchor of pasta and bread and meat.
You know how finishing off a meal with a cookie is completing and satisfying.
You know how of all weeks, your coworkers make your favorites: homemade salsa and pumpkin cookies and lemon bars and put them out in the teacher’s room and say, Brooke! I know you love lemon!
Brooke! That’s the salsa recipe I gave you!
Brooke! Have you tried the pumpkin cookies?

(Oh, the comforts of this life that become normal and consuming.)

I AM HUNGRY.

But, you know, my friends, what for, Praise God:

I am hungry.
For the way He speaks into my life and leads me to Him.
For all that He has for me that day I walk into Glory and see Him….
For the moments when He teaches me to be disciplined and give away this world so that I can hear Him:
Only Him.

And so,
I am feeding myself this week by His Word,
crunching on my fruits and vegetables,
praying to Him instead, when I would normally reach for a sweet snack,

When I crave the bread, the silly slice with the peanut butter for breakfast,

I am choosing to crave more of Him,
And lay abandoned to Him the

Questions
Transitions
Wonderings
Wanderings…

I’m hungry today…
But I’m praying that through my day, I’m hungry for His word and His hand…
… shrouding my thoughts
… protecting my heart
… guiding my decisions

covering me.
Praying that you feel His love, mighty and gentle, on your life today! I pray that you crave Him.