Remember a few weeks ago when I did a detox diet with my friend Cindy? Well...I originally did it so that she wouldn't be alone in her efforts, but I ended up learning a lot in the process and making a subtle lifestyle change. While it's been really hard to do everything I learned, I've done a pretty good job at making healthier eating choices, drinking proper amounts of water, and limiting my soft drink and junk food intake--including fast food. I had even cut out french fries except for once a week at the bowling alley (they're the best!)...until this week.
Let me review my exact food/drink intake for the week. Brace yourself. This could be painful:
Sunday: Pumpkin/Flaxseed cereal; Taco Bell (burrito, double decker taco, Mountain Dew); Arbys (roast beef sandwich, curly fries, Dr. Pepper)
Monday: Animal crackers and water; Arbys (roast beef sandwich, curly fries, diet Pepsi); Rainbow Chinese (chicken and steamed vegetables) and water
Tuesday: Biscuit, eggs, water; Granola bar; Jersey Mikes (tuna sub and diet Pepsi); Pei Wei (ginger chicken and broccoli with brown rice and water; Chunky Monkey blended coffee.
Wednesday: Chick-Fil-A (chicken biscuit and diet Dr. Pepper); Panera (1/2 chicken salad sandwich and mac and cheese); Mi Casita (chips, salsa, burrito, rice, beans, quacamole, and sour cream and water)
Thursday: Bojangles (chicken biscuit, fries, diet Pepsi); Taco Bell (burrito, taco, Baja Blast Mountain Dew); Iced Coffee; Senior Adult Luncheon Left-Overs (chicken salad, potato salad, ham and cheese crackers, deviled egg, strawberry shortcake, tea); Baja Blast Mountain Dew leftovers.
I write out my exact food and drink intake to demonstrate just how poorly I've eaten this week. And why have I eaten so poorly? Because I've been back and forth to the hospital, waiting in the hospital, taking care of Bullet, and doing what I could to add some friend time to this week of my dad's knee surgery.
And, well, fast food is convenient and fast. And sitting at the hospital didn't make me think, "drink water." So I have eaten horribly and am now fairly dehydrated. As such, my stomach aches, my head hurts, and I feel flat out heavy and sluggish. Because I feel sluggish, I feel the need to keep drinking caffeine even though I know that caffeine makes my stomach ache. It's a bad cycle, huh?
And it's a cycle that doesn't do much to help me live into the fullness of who God created me to be.
Have I dutifully and faithfully done my part in taking care of my dad (and mom)? Yes. Have I had the strength to act as a physical anchor to help my dad get up? Yes. Have I worked hard to act as a non-anxious presence? Yes. Have I said my prayers? Yes. But am I currently the best minister that I could be? No. And why? Because I just feel blah.
I think that, as ministers (and daughters and friends and Christ-followers), it is our responsibility--and call--to do our best to take care of ourselves--mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically--so that we can then give our best selves--our whole selves--to God and others.
Yet I must confess: I'm not doing a very job with the physical part this week.
What about you?
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