TABLE READ-Should You Fast During Perimenopause? (Ch. 6)

I've talked a lot about what the Bible and science has to say about fasting (see previous episodes linked below), but today we're going to go over my personal journey with fasting and a confession on how I've navigated through perimenopause and fasting. Spoiler alert: it's not been easy. 

DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional. Seek counsel from your own medical professional for your own fasting journey. This is not meant to be prescriptive. 

Around minute 27, I begin confessing where I've missed it and the conviction I'm dealing with now. It all began as I was editing the fasting chapter in my book on surrender, and I felt a strong conviction that I have gotten off track. I'll also share what my plan is moving forward. 

I'd love to hear all about your personal journey with fasting? Click "Send us fan mail" above, and tell me (or type to me) all about it.

Pull up a chair 🪑 

SHOW NOTES

Previous Mentor's Table episodes on fasting:

We Don't Talk About Fasting, No, No!

Why We Fast Part 1: The One Where I Get Really Excited

Why We Fast Part 2: The One Where I Can't Stop on Time

Will I Die If I Fast? And Other Questions You're Afraid to Ask

Fasting Resources to Get You Started: (may contain affiliate links)

BOOKS

God's Chosen Fast by Arthur Wallis. This tiny but mighty book is life-changing! As the subtitle states, it's "a spiritual and practical guide to fasting." That's it. Order it now. You won't regret it.

Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. “Fasting reveals the things that control us.”

Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer.

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

For those with an unhealthy relationship with food: 

"Luminary Interview: Dr. Alison Cook" Here's a great conversation with a licensed therapist and follower of Jesus who talks you through how to approach fasting.

The scientific podcast about fasting that was my personal catalyst to fast:

The Miracle Doctor: EVERYONE should start fasting right now! (New Science) Dr. Mindy Pelz. This is a resource I offer with disclaimers: Dr. Pelz comes from purely a scientific background. WARNING: This episode contains explicit language.

Binge the rest of the episodes in this series:

TABLE READ: Prologue & Introduction From My Book on Surrender

TABLE READ: Naming Control Blindspots (Ch. 1)

TABLE READ: What We're Getting Wrong About Surrender (Ch. 2)

TABLE READ: What If God Doesn't Explain WHY We're Suffering? (Ch. 3)

TABLE READ: An Invitation to Surrender When You're All Alone (Ch. 4)

TABLE READ: The #1 Reason Why Surrender Is Too Hard (Ch. 5)

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I'm gonna get real vulnerable with you today. Today we are talking about the spiritual discipline of fasting and how it relates to surrender, but more vulnerably, I'm gonna talk about my own personal journey with fasting. And there's a confession that is very vulnerable and honestly a little hard for me to share with you about my journey with fasting. If you have questions about fasting, you're interested in starting to integrate it in your life, or you have fallen off the wagon, as it were, of fasting and would like to get back on, this is the episode for you. So pull up a chair. Welcome back to the mentors table. This is a place for women who are desiring a spiritual mentor, and maybe it's hard to find one locally because there just aren't very many people to um go to for mentorship, or maybe it's a financial situation and it's hard to find somebody that you can afford to pay for mentoring. This is a place for you. We are going to gather around this virtual table, and in each episode, we're gonna have a solid biblically based teaching from me, the mentor joy, and uh we're gonna talk about spiritual and emotional health and give an uncomfortable focus on surrender. You guys, if you are listening to this and you are looking for other women who are going hard in their walk with God, and you want to find a community that uh sharpens one another, but also doesn't just listen to what the word says and actually obeys what it says, then you have found the right table. This is the place for you. Today we're going to be talking all about the spiritual discipline of fasting. If your temptation right now is to go ahead and just turn this podcast off and skip over to another one because you already understand what fasting is, or maybe you decide that that's too legalistic and you just don't have bandwidth in your time right now, or you don't really understand it and don't really want to because it sounds pretty horrible, please give me a chance. Let me tell you a little bit about my own fasting journey and the power that it has accessed in my life and why it's so important that I believe that everybody should be practicing fasting on a regular basis. But before I jump in with my own story, I want to take a minute as we always do and practice some silence and solitude. So if you guys could join with me in placing your feet flat on the floor, opening your hands, palms up toward heaven in a posture of surrender, closing your eyes, taking a deep breath in, and releasing it slowly. Let's just take this moment to release all the cares, all the to-do list items, all the scheduling, all the hurt and the pain and the grief, and the good stuff too.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

All of it to God, and allow him to come back in and take the place as number one in the throne of your heart. In Jesus' name. Amen. One more deep breath in and release it slowly.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

I want to take a moment and remind you that just because I am a mentor and coming to you with teachings from the Word of God does not mean that you are off the hook for A, listening to the Holy Spirit's guidance in your own life and B, studying these things out in your own quiet times. You are responsible for taking the things that you hear from me and setting them up next to the Word of God. I am human, and as much as I have studied and want to share with what I have learned with all of you, I also recognize that I miss it sometimes and I get it wrong. And there are things that I learn and I think are divinely inspired and then find out later, they are not. And so your responsibility as a listener here at this table is not just to be a consumer, but to take what you are given and measure it up against the word of God. We're gonna say some things today that are going to be uncomfortable to hear. And just because it's uncomfortable doesn't necessarily mean it's not from God, but it does mean you have a responsibility to figuring out is this from God or is it not? That's true of any podcast you listen to, any pastor who teaches you, any situation that you're in where you're receiving from somebody else. This is between you and God and the Holy Spirit guiding you to properly discern what is true and what is for you. Let's move on to talking about chapter six in my book. We talked last time about how chapter five was the beginning of the bridge between the first four chapters that talked about the why of surrender, why it's so necessary, what it looks like in our life, and switched over to the how. I really believe that what we talked about as far as remembering last week, meaning the spiritual discipline of remembering, is so crucial and important. And I highly recommend that if you haven't had a chance to listen to last time's episode, please go back and listen to that first because it is a very important principle that will, and who doesn't want this? It will fuel your hope. This is a time when we need hope more than ever before. If we are, you know, constantly just looking at the circumstances around us and the situations that are so difficult. Right now, I am surrounded by circumstances that are really hard to hold on to. I'll talk a little bit more about this in my personal update near the end, but I just helped move my 80-year-old aunt into an assisted living uh facility. I have another friend who just unexpectedly lost a relatively young family member. Um, I've heard stories of other people whose kids' friends have been involved in just a reckless car accident and taken at the age of 17. I am dealing with my own set of grief and also getting ready to launch a child to adulthood as well as moving out and going away to college. Uh there's financial stuff, you know, there's relational stuff, there's stuff with my responsibilities as a ministry leader, there's so much going on right now. So I understand that there is not a lot of places to look right now and find hope. And we need hope right now, but when we remember that that is the number one place that we can fill up our hope tank so that we have the hope to continue to walk in faith that if God has done it before, he's gonna do it again. Go back and listen to that episode. Today we're moving on to another vital spiritual practice that I really believe is something that we should all be uh practicing on a regular basis because of its value in building up our endurance. And again, if you're looking at the circumstances of the world right now, if you're looking at the circumstances in your own life right now, you understand that life isn't getting easier, it's getting harder. And so we need endurance now more than ever. The Bible talks about, and Jesus even said this before he left, that we would the things were gonna get harder and we would need to endure to the end. And we can't endure to the end if we haven't practiced, if we haven't built up our spiritual muscle memory. So I think that that's really important to keep in mind as we talk about fasting, because fasting is a difficult topic to talk about. We'll start with our disclaimer here. I know that many of you listening potentially have a difficult relationship with food, and we're going to talk about fasting in the biblical sense, as in water only, so not eating for an extended period of time. And I know that for some of you that is difficult, maybe impossible, or not healthy for you right now. And I'll talk a little bit in my own journey about how fasting has had to flex with some of the things going on in my own physical health journey. So I am not a doctor, I am not a medical professional. Please get a medical professional involved and talk and have discussions about where you could incorporate fasting in a way that is safe for you. And if that is not an option, like I talk about in my book, then lean into the other spiritual disciplines right now because I do believe healing is available for you and your relationship with food. And maybe right now the timing is to focus on some of the other spiritual disciplines like reading God's word and prayer and silence and solitude and Sabbath that would provide the means for that healing to happen so that you can also incorporate this discipline as well. Okay, let's talk a little bit about my own journey of fasting and incorporating it into my life. I am currently 47 years old, and the majority of my fasting journey and growth has happened in the last six to seven years. It has not been very long at all. I spent four decades of my life with a really basic understanding of fasting. In general, I was raised in a Christian home, and so we did talk about fasting. We saw that Jesus fasted, but we also kind of relegated fasting to the sidelines, and it was only like in extreme cases of I can't figure out what God is saying to me. I'll fast and that will unlock it for me. There is an element of truth in that, but I believe I was missing out on so much more because I did not understand the value of and the power inherent in a regular rhythm of fasting. It is not too legalistic. I think that is something that the enemy wants us to believe so that we will not access that power, especially healing power. Um, and then I also was under the impression that you're not supposed to talk about fasting ever to anyone. We're supposed to, you know, wash our face, slick back our hair with oil, and don't talk about it because that will nullify all of your efforts to fast. Talk about legalistic, right? Um, I go into the book about what what the scripture actually says about that and why that is not what Jesus' intentions were in those words, but we're not going to get into that now. It was probably it was just before COVID when I was starting to really begin to um understand that the spiritual disciplines and specifically my gateway into spiritual disciplines was Sabbath, was not just for special occasions or every once in a while, or people who are retired and have extra time on their hands, but spiritual discipline is meant to be a regular rhythm into our in our lives to develop spiritual muscle memory. And so I began about seven years ago, maybe eight, studying the ruthless elimination of hurry by John Mark Comer, which led me into Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, and really began to understand that there were a lot more precedents and really necessity for spiritual disciplines in my own life as a regular life rhythm than I had understood before. And that naturally, as I began to incorporate Sabbath into my life, we'll talk more about Sabbath next time. Um, that naturally led me to dig into some of the other spiritual disciplines, and one of them being fasting. And then I believe it was around the time of COVID, 2020, at some point, maybe 2021, I was on a camping trip on my own, getting things ready for the upcoming school year. I was still homeschooling at the time, and I was just setting aside a couple of days to just me and God to learn and to organize and to prepare for the year coming up. And I listened, I had downloaded because I was off the grid, and I listened downloaded and listened to a podcast about fasting from a completely scientific and medical standpoint. It had nothing to do with the spiritual components of fasting. And when I was listening to it, it was like God was opening the eyes of my understanding to make all sorts of connections between what the physical components of fasting were and how the Bible had already been telling us this all along. Isaiah 58 lays out very much in detail what fasting does for your body, and we somehow got that all mixed up in legalism and thought that that was just for like extreme cases. But I believe that it is the way that our bodies were designed and wired to operate optimally, it's the way that God designed us, and he knew that if we were practicing fasting, not only would there be spiritual benefits from it, but there would also be physical benefits, and I think that he made our body to be able to heal itself on some level. The design is there when we fast. Again, I get uh deep into the science of it in my book. I'm not gonna spend time on that today either. If you want, I'll link in the show notes some of my previous episodes about fasting that go into a little bit more of the science, but ultimately it'll be best to read it in my book as I'm getting it out as soon as I can, guys. I'm working on it. I really am. Anyways, so that really was the catalyst for me to start doing a regular weekly rhythm of fasting. And like I said before, the biblical definition of fasting is water only. I explained more about that in the book as well. We're just going to go off of that and move on instead of getting into the weeds of that. But again, you can uh hear that in my previous episodes that I'll link in the show notes. I began a weekly rhythm of fasting for approximately 24 hours. I would not eat dinner on one night and then breakfast and lunch the next day, and um, and then break the fast with dinner the next day. That would also mean that I was um able to eat on both days. I really recommend that anybody who is incorporating fasting into their life start slow with small steps. It's just like atomic habits. It's a habit that if you start small, you have you'll set yourself up for much greater success in the sense of making it a regular rhythm in your life or a habit in your life. Whereas if you go in too big and too hard, then you likely will not incorporate it into a regular rhythm. So starting small for me, actually, I believe I started even smaller than that. I just would fast breakfast or something. It's real easy to switch that to a 36-hour fast if you just miss breakfast, lunch, and dinner on one day because then you now have the hours from the night before that you slept that you weren't eating, and the hours from the night after dinner that you're not eating, and so it's actually hours-wise a much longer fast. So I did that sometimes. Um, I tried a three-day fast and and then I um tried for a seven-day fast and I was actually unsuccessful. And I think this is important to also note, this is not a perfect journey, and all along the way, one of the things to talk about in my book is to expect resistance because there were, I mean, just every I for me, I did this for years. For me, it didn't get any easier the day before my fast, regardless of how long or short or whatever, I was always trying to talk myself out of it. I was always my body was like resisting it and not wanting me to do it. So there is nothing glamorous or perfect about this journey. It was a constant struggle for me. And then when I did that seven-day fast, I got to day four and I actually got sick. And I'm not sure. I still have not heard um someone adequately explain scientifically what was going on in my body, but that was my sign I needed to break the fast um that I could not go on anymore. And that's okay too. You know, I actually was able, I believe it was day four, and that was the longest fast that I had done, and that actually did a lot of changes in my body that I that was noticeable immediately, and so I know that it works. Um, and so I I backed off of that and kind of went back and forth as I began to understand that a woman's body works differently than a man's body. I didn't begin to understand that in my 40s. I already knew that, just to be clear. But as I began to apply that to fasting, I recognized that most of my influences and teachings about fasting were coming from men. And so I was looking to women to understand a woman's body and her relationship to fasting. One of the things, this may be TMI for those of you listening, but for a woman, our bodies with estrogen and cortisol and all the things that go along with our um with our monthly cycle. I found that the week before I was to start my cycle was never a good idea for my body because it added too much cortisol in a time that my body was already super stressed and didn't have the estrogen to counter it. Now, that system resonated really well with my own body, but then I do have friends who found that that week actually worked out really good for them to be able to fast and they responded really well to it. So I don't think that there is a hard and fast rule that like this week is great and this week is not for everybody. I do think that there is a little bit of a process of learning how your body responds to it. And there are times that I I fasted and I felt really pretty good the whole time. I got used to that feeling of losing control and not having a full belly, and I was able to function fairly well. I I still could I knew I was fasting, like I could still feel the the hunger or the the difference in my head, like some sort it wasn't a full-on headache, but like there's just like a difference there. Um, you know, so I I recognized that there were some things that were different, but in general, there were days that I could fast and I felt very minimal responses from my body, and then there were other times that I fasted and it was horrible, and my body did not respond well. And I was so hangry and so miserable that I was not able to reap any benefits from it, and so I think that it's important to recognize that and and say, okay, there were clear times that I I felt like the Holy Spirit was saying, you do not need to fast today. And I did take it into legalism. And I was like, Nope, it's Thursday, and this is my day to fast. And so I feel fine. I'm okay. Like, I'm gonna go ahead and fast because I'll I can figure it out. I don't have much going on, so no one's gonna be able to see me. It'll be fine. Anyways, and um I would disobey and ignore the voice of the Lord telling me not to fast because I had gotten stuck into legalism and because I was seeking, you know, a high or uh some sort of kickback from my from my own pride that I could get out of fasting. And I went ahead and forged into it and always, always regretted it. It's never a good idea to ignore it, ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit, regardless of if it's something as quote unquote noble and spiritual as fasting. Always follow that leading first. Follow God and and obey Him. That is the primary thing. So while I was in this regular rhythm of once, sometimes twice a week, fasting for 24 hours, I began to notice some changes, especially spiritually. I was able to get into a prayer time that felt more prophetic. And I was able to connect with some friends on a deeper level than I had been able to before because I was intentionally reaching out ahead of time and asking, like, hey, I'm getting ready to fast. How can I be praying for you? And the um the things that they would share honestly back with me that I thought, man, if I weren't intentionally fasting, I would have never heard these stories from them and never known what's really going on in their life. And it was such an honor for them to trust me with that. And also I recognized the value of the intentionality of reaching out as well, you know. Um, so there were so many wonderful things that were happening that I recognized. And at the same time, it was still, like I said before, it never got more comfortable, it never got easier. I was still always dreading it. So there's definitely a give and a take all throughout my journey. Along the way, I also was able to really begin to understand literally on a cellular level, the importance of our physical bodies. And, you know, when we talk about anything spiritual and we're talking about our whole health or our whole person, spirituality, it includes not just the soul and the spirit, but it also includes our physical body. And I began to understand that on a deeper level because I was getting my physical body involved in this practice that constantly reminded me that I am not in control, that I need God, and when I feel comfortable, I'm gonna keep on going back to trying to control things myself and forget about my need for God. And so this practice constantly brings me back to that. And I recognize that my body has a huge part to play in fact in my spiritual life. And when I don't fast, I can quickly disconnect those two things. And so I found that to be super important. And again, I get into more details about that in my book as well. The next step in my fasting journey was that I began to invite more community and encouraged the friends that I was close with also to fast. We did a small group curriculum on fasting. My pastor invited me to teach at church one Sunday about fasting. There was a lot of different things that were um incorporating other people in and began to understand that fasting, while important on an individual basis, is also important on a community, in a community setting, and actually has more power and momentum with it than I could tap into when I was just fasting on my own. Again, this was part of my journey of really rewiring my brain and understanding that the teachings that I had before of like, don't talk about it, don't share it with other people, was so biblically off, and that I was able to tap into more power of fasting by bringing community into it. We actually have biblical precedents of people fasting as a community. You can't fast as a community if you're not talking about it and nobody knows that you're fasting. But whether it's the story of Esther and calling all the Jewish people to a f to fast for three days before she was going to go and confront the king about Haman's plan to basically commit genocide and kill all the Jews in their huge area that they lived in, or it's somebody like um the Ninevites that Jonah was called to go and um tell them to repent and the entire the entire nation children and animals fasted and participated as a community. So again, there's nothing wrong with fasting in community, as in as far as wrong I mean, like nothing that is biblically incorrect about fasting in in community. And again, go to my other podcast to hear a little bit more about that. And now comes a difficult part that is uh it feels hard for me to say because it feels really hypocritical. The truth is it's not hypocritical, it is a very real part, and I think that many of you listening may also be able to connect with this in a way that helps you understand how this all works in that this is not a legalistic thing. But when Perimenopause began to flare its lovely head, I actually began to notice more negative than positive effects of fasting. And again, I felt the Holy Spirit, and this is after we had trial and error this a few times, and I had ignored the Holy Spirit's voice. I felt the Holy Spirit saying, It's time to pause on fasting. You need to be focusing on some of the other spiritual disciplines. Right now, this is not the best thing for your body. And so, full confession, I have not fasted for months now, and I honestly don't remember the marker of when I stopped, but it's probably safe to say we're close to a year that I have not fasted at all. And again, this was in obedience to the spirit and recognizing what was going on in my own changing body, and that there this is not, you know, this is not salvation, it's not a component of salvation. My salvation is not dependent on whether or not I fast. This is not a marker for how much God loves me or how worthy I am. This is a discipline that's really for my benefit because it builds endurance and it promotes healing in my body that at that time um needed to be taken off the table while I focused on some other things. And so I am, like I said, probably about a year into not fasting with really good confirmation from my naturopath and others around me that this is the right time to take off. But this week I have been editing and finishing, polishing up my book, and I read the chapter on fasting, and I felt so much conviction that I feel that it's necessary to come to you and give you a confession of I think that the Holy Spirit has been nudging me back into fasting, and I've been ignoring it. And when I was reading through the chapter that I wrote about fasting, I recognized, oh, this is why. This is the danger. I felt like it was a little bit of a wake-up call for me. Like this is a danger in ignoring that voice to get back into fasting. Before I get into that, I do want to say that as I have continued to learn about fasting and learn about my body as a woman, I have also since then learned that fasting in the season of life that I am in right now, in the morning, is more detrimental to my body's health than in the evening. To always be able to leave a window open to be able to eat as soon as I wake up in the morning is the best thing for my body right now. But an evening fast, taking off dinner and having an early lunch and having the hours that I'm fasting be in the evening and during the night, is still a great way for my body to be able to practice fasting as well as work with the way that it's been designed and work in the best way during the season of my life. So as I get back into a rhythm of fasting, that will be my MO. And if you're in a similar season to me, hopefully that's a helpful practical step that can get you back on track. Okay, so the part that I was rereading through in my book that convicted me, I want to share that part of the chapter with you guys today. And it begins with talking about the dangers of a full stomach. There is in the Bible a very clear warning that a full stomach leads to all sorts of horrible things in your life. It leads to idolatry, it leads to allowing darkness in, it leads to taking control, and it is the number one, I believe, the number one component of not living a life of surrender because your stomach is full. Don't believe me? Well, let me read it for you. This is coming from Deuteronomy 32, verses 12 through 18 in the New Living Translation. This is Moses giving his farewell speech to the Israelites. They've spent their 40 years wandering in the wilderness, and Moses has been told you can't go into the promised land, and so he is sending the second generation that has been born and raised in the promised land or sorry, in the wilderness, into the promised land and giving his final speech of all the things that he's learned, his understanding from all and trying to set them up for their best life. And listen to what he says. The Lord alone guided them. They followed no foreign gods, he let them ride over the highlands and feast on the crops of the fields, he nourished them with honey from the rock and olive oil from the stony ground. He fed them yogurt from the herd and milk from the flock, together with the fat of lambs. He gave them choice rams from Bashan and goats, together with the choicest wheat. You drank the finest wine made from the juice of grapes. Now listen to this. But Israel soon became fat and unruly. The people grew heavy, plump, and stuffed. Then they abandoned the God who made them. They abandoned the God who made them. They made light of the rock of their salvation. They stirred up his jealousy by worshiping foreign gods. They provoked his fury with detestable deeds. These are all the results of a full stomach. Abandoning God, making light of their salvation, stirring up his jealousy, going to idolatry, provoking God with detestable deeds. I thought it's funny that Moses had to clarify in that. Sacrifices to gods they had not known before, to new gods only recently arrived, to gods their ancestors had never feared. You neglected the rock who had fathered you. You forgot the God who had given you birth. That is some serious, those are some serious consequences to having a constantly full belly. Now here's the part that I read from my book that convicted me this time around as I was reading it again. Arthur Wallace, in his tiny but mighty book on fasting, God's Chosen Fast, which I highly recommend, I'll link it in the show notes, responds to the argument that under the new covenant, followers of Jesus are simply to practice self-control and will no longer be misled by their full bellies. He says, quote, We are indeed to put on the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, but we are also to make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires, as found in Romans 13 14. It's essential that we know that our old self was crucified with him. That's from Romans 6.6, nearly two millenniums ago. But the nails of the cross do not absolve us from the need of disciplining the appetite. The New Testament epistles are careful to emphasize this latter aspect as well as the former. Shun youthful passions, Titus 2.12. Abstain from the passions of the flesh, first Peter 2.11, lest Satan tempt you through lack of self-control. First Corinthians 7, verse 5. That's the end of my quote from Arthur Wallace. I continue on in the book. Spiritual disciplines not only build spiritual muscle memory, but they discipline our flesh. A powerful component of our flesh is our appetite. An appetite well fed sees no need to turn to any other source than itself for comfort and guidance. I'll pause here to say what I'm not saying. I'm not saying God called us to live in hunger and poverty. I'm not saying that if your family has a steady income and can put nourishing food on the table three times a day, that you're serving a false God. I'm not saying that feasting is evil. There's actually plenty of times that Jesus feasted in addition to his times of fasting. What I am saying is to beware of a life where the scales are tipped to only feasting. While you may feel comfortable, you are opening the door to the illusion of controlling your own life and soundly closing the door to a life of surrender to God. There's a tension to manage between feasting and fasting, but both are necessary. That convicted me so much because I realized that I have tipped the scales toward feasting. Now, to clarify, there was a time and a season when God specifically directed me to stop fasting. There has been in the last few months God nudging me again to get back into fasting, and I have ignored him. And that is what I am talking about when I say that the scales have been tipped to feasting. There is an underlying desire for me to feel comfortable and in control. And in a time where, in the season of life, my body is constantly reminding me that I am not in control, I've been holding on to comfort. I've been going back and saying, no, no, no, it's okay. I'm not supposed to be fasting right now because I want to be more comfortable, not because God told me to. And I want to confess that conviction to you here that it is time for me to get back into a rhythm. And as I was reading through this chapter and going over all the, not only the health benefits, but the spiritual benefits to fasting, I felt a longing in my soul to get back to that level of intimacy with my Lord and Savior God. And I can't get there if I am constantly feeling comfortable by just feeding my flesh, feeding my belly, and allowing it to always feel comfortable where it is. And I want to encourage you with that confession to say, Hey, you're not alone. I get it, I promise you. And now is the time to listen to what God is leading you to do and begin obeying. Do not put it off any longer. If this message resonated with you, then I would encourage you and invite you to share it with somebody else too, because they might need to hear it as well. You can always direct anybody to joybod.com and find everything. The podcast, the show notes with the links, the part at the bottom where you can sign up for my monthly newsletter and stay in contact with me. Everything that you need is right there. Joyabod.com. That's J O Y A B as and Boy A D as and Dog.com. I really appreciate you joining me at the table this week, and I would love to hear from you what has your own fasting journey been like and what have you learned along the way. I think that your voice is really important, and I also believe that your testimony is really, really helpful for all of us to hear and be encouraged by, and just to be able to know we're not alone. So if you get a chance, go to joybod.com, click on the show notes, and uh send us fan mail, and that's the easiest way to share with us about how your fasting journey has gone and what you've learned along the way. A quick personal update. I have been very busy at the end of July getting some things taken care of, most notably spending some time with my aunt that I have not seen in quite some time. I was able to help move her into an assisted living facility. And wow, it was really special to have that time with her and also a really good reminder about how important community is and how important our health is. Last week we talked about remembering and how it's important to remember how God has been good to us, and there are things that many of you may look back on and not be able to recognize as something that God has given you. But when you are faced with a situation where somebody is struggling with their health and having to make a big physical move, it is a really poignant reminder that something as simple as waking up each morning with breath in your lungs in your own bed in an independent house is a huge blessing from God. Also, my daughter moves to college really soon, and I've been saying before that uh it doesn't feel real, and this week it feels real. It's finally starting to happen. I'm feeling all of the emotions. You know what really struck me, and really I think was the catalyst for starting to feel the emotions. I was picturing when my family moved me into college, and that moment when I was sitting on my bed in my dorm room, and they walked out, and that was it. Oh, I remember those emotions so vividly like it was yesterday. That is a difficult moment, a good moment because it is a catalyst for growth, it's a necessary moment for growing up and continuing on to the next season, but it's also painful. And I was reminded of that and thinking of my daughter in that same situation and thinking, man, there's nothing I can do to stop this from happening to her. But honestly, I don't want to because I want her to grow and I want her to become more independent, but also as a mom, you know, we always want to shield our kids from as much pain as possible, and I know it's gonna be painful. I also know she's going to recover really quickly, and she's going to love having her independence. But that is what started the emotions for me was knowing that this is one of a million different examples where I as a parent cannot shield her from the pain, and I don't want to fully, but I also do kind of want to, you know, it's a it's an exercise in surrender, isn't it? Knowing that God is in control, He's got her. This is a necessary pain point for growth, and also ouch, it's it's really hard. So that's my update for this time. I look forward to talking to you again in August, and we'll talk a little bit more about the next chapter of my book. Thanks again for joining me at the table for this little table talk for me, the mentor joy. Again, head to joybod.com for all the ways that you can connect with me. I would love to hear from you. Share this episode with a friend, and I'll see you next time.