Chicken… Really???

What was I thinking?  I don’t know… maybe I wasn’t… I admit it… I get crazy ideas every now and then, and then I just go for it!  Once when I was in 5th grade, I decided around 10:30 pm that my room arrangement was all wrong.  On a school night, I decided to move all the furniture around in my room all by myself!  I was up ’til about 4:30 am… and my grandmother walked into a brand new room the next morning at 5:30 am.  Yup, she thought I was nuts!

I admit it… I’m scared to limit my food intake to seven items for the next month.  And those who know me probably would have thought I would pick crab, sushi, beef jerky, coffee, diet coke, noodles, and smarties!  Yup, I could probably do really well on these 7 things for 4 weeks!  But obviously, this journey isn’t about indulging in things i love.  It’s not about sacrificing everything I have either.  If you look at my list, I still have the potential to eat fairly well, and be full every meal. I’m just simplifying my life (which is what I’ve actually been trying to do for the past year–just never thought to do it this way).  As Jen Hatmaker says in the book, “7 will be an exercise in simplicity with one goal: to create space for God’s kingdom to break through.”  It’s a personal challenge, and seeing what God will do during my next 7 months of this journey.

I admit it…  this morning, my first thought was–why did i choose chicken???  I don’t even like chicken that much?  Why didn’t I choose spinach over lettuce so I could have it raw or sautéed?  You can’t sauté lettuce???  What was I thinking?  I retraced my steps of logical reasoning in choosing these items last night.  When I first started thinking about my seven food choices, I thought about Feed My Starving Children, an organization that I had volunteered with on few occasions.  They package food for those near death of starvation… and their food package includes powder form of chicken and soy, dehydrated veggies, and rice.  I knew that’s what I needed to get my balanced nutrients… so I decided to put down chicken, rice, and tofu.  And to be honest, of all meat choices, chicken really is my least favorite–but it’s probably the most consumed meat in third world countries (that’s my guess, I have no proof-so don’t quote me on that!) so that also helped me feel comfortable choosing chicken.  And the next three items, lettuce, zucchini, and avocado are just because I recently went to the market and bought a bunch of these items… and I didn’t want them to go to waste since I have to start this journey in a day!  So I really didn’t think that through all that much… but I realized that I probably needed fruit of some kind… and grapes are the easiest to wash and go… so grapes!

I admit it… I thought about changing the items today… before I start tomorrow!  But as I sat with my list… I decided that commitment is a commitment!  So as I indulge in my homemade pasta with grape tomatoes, mozzarella, & basil right now,  I’m excited for what God will teach me during this time… and while this might feel a bit devastating for someone who really loves the taste of different foods on my palate, let’s put things into perspective–i’m not starving myself… and few would kill to just have seven items to eat!