The Daniel Plan

Ever since we got home from China, I've felt restless.  Spiritually restless.  The same feeling that I had before we went...the feeling that I thought was tied to the completion of our adoption.

I thought that this emotional journey to bring our daughter home would satisfy that inner voice saying "Do more....do more". 

I had hoped that once back, we would settle back into complacency comfort and feel like "Job Well Done."

Apparently not.

Dang it.

So before I hopped back on the adoption horse, I began researching something that I could do closer to home.  Something that would not only bring me closer to God and my faith, but would also be good for my family. 

With Lent looming before us, I used that as my spiritual deadline- trying to come up with a project that could coincide with this special season.

I read several excerpts from books written by those who promote fasting.  One caught my eye- this plan is a 40 day fast according to the lifestyle of those who lived back in the days of Jesus and his disciples. Minimal food choices, and only those from that locale.  That sounded intriguing, but then again, I have 5 kids to feed each day.  Would we fit into THAT kind of a plan.  Probably not. 

Then I read about Rick Warren's version of fasting called The Daniel Plan, and it intrigued me.

http://www.danielplan.com/

He put together a group of medical and nutritional professionals, (including Dr Oz, who I adore) along with spiritual leaders, to formulate The Daniel Plan, Glorifying God in the way we Eat, Think, and Move.

It does include some forms of fasting and denial, as in with sugar and caffeine (two of my favorite things!) and yet, is made up of healthy food choices that will help your body purge the toxins that we are inundated with daily, such as preservatives, artificial coloring, sweeteners, and all those funky "made in a laboratory" ingredients that are on most of the food labels these days.

It also includes a program to keep your body and mind in shape with physical and mental workouts.  Kind of like how our lives SHOULD be maintained, if it weren't so much easier to just grab some junkfood on the way to our couch to sit mindlessly in front of our tv.    (Ahhh, those were the days when we all thought Twinkies were a HEALTHY SNACK!  Fond memories....)

SO, we are on Day One of this plan, and the kids are already planning a mutiny because their favorite granola bars (of which they thought were healthy) AND their favorite flavored yogurt (Also, thought was healthy) are both on the NO EAT list because of the high fructose corn syrup in them.  They thought this was going to be a breeze, so they enlisted. 

Naive children :-)

However, as I sit with a caffeine headache pounding across my forehead, I'm wondering how I can be the resolute leader of this wayward pack of nutritional misfits when I know that a cold Diet Coke is sitting in my fridge as we speak!

I MUST DIG DEEP!!  I WILL MAKE YOU PROUD, RICK WARREN!