This past weekend, my husband and I felt led to practice a “device fast” as part of our Sabbath rest. It was SOOOOoooooOOOOo wonderful, restful, refreshing not to use phone, ipads or laptops! I had no idea just how much stress I have allowed in my life that comes to me through email or other online means! I thought I would be fearful without tracking my food (which I do on my ipad). But I was at peace.

So, that experience has given me courage to leave the training wheels behind as I go to see my 26-year old daughter, Michaela, this week who lives near Chicago. I can’t wait to love all over her! To me, it would not be very loving of me to stop and track my food throughout the day while I am with her. I know that I am ok if I listen to my hunger and satisfied signals. It would make me crazy to pack my bathroom scale–no way! I am free from that sort of thing…so, God has given me great peace in leaving my training wheels behind. I am kind of looking forward to it, in fact.

How am I preparing for this excursion off my beautiful, remote, isolated island and out in to the big scary COVID-19 world?

Mind renewal is key. I shared about mind renewal in a previous post. It is the only way I can survive anything well. So, here are some truths I will take with me to wall paper my mind so that I will believe differently so I can act differently.

1. My enjoyment of my daughter and our time together is not dependent on eating with her outside of hunger and satisfaction.
2. Concern about coming into contact with COVID-19-carrying others can’t be offset by eating or drinking or anything else. Breathing in God’s peace is the only way to experience what I long for in those anxious moments.
3. I can keep waiting for 0, stopping eating when I don’t feel the discomfort of hunger any longer, renew my mind consistently, and when I return from the trip–even without the “training wheels” I have been using for the past 5 weeks–I will check on the scale and see progress.
4. The Lord waits to show me compassion. Turning to anything other than to Him is a counterfeit. He alone will give me what I need.
5. God is the Father of all comfort. He will give me the comfort I need for anything that disquiets my heart.
6. This rather unexpected trip is a divinely appointed “training opportunity” that I will pass with flying colors as I lean into the Lord!
7. I will not starve and waste away into nothingness if I do not have an opportunity to eat on my travel days. It will be ok. Really.

So, armed with these truths and more, discarding the training wheels I have been using, I will venture off to Chicago.