Day 2 Almost Done

This morning I was awoken at 5:51 am to the sound of my son playing with his Barney doll over the monitor. 14 minutes later he was in my room saying, "hi mama, EEAATT!!!!" That made it difficult for Joe and I to put God first and have our quiet time. Any parent of a 2 year old knows that there is nothing quiet with them awake! But, we tag teamed feeding him breakfast and managed to get it done.

Day 2 of Daniel Fast is now almost done. For breakfast, another smoothie. Today's included banana, strawberries, a splash of soy milk and a splash of 100% grape juice. It kept me a little more full today. For snacks I had an apple, a mini pepper, and two tablespoons of peanut butter. Today was the first time in my life I have ever eaten peanut butter by itself! Lunch was leftover Chunky Potato Soup and it was pretty filling. As far as the fast goes, that has been the most filling thing so far. On the menu for dinner tonight is Greek salad minus the feta cheese with a homemade vinaigrette dressing. I'm very excited! The things that have been tempting me today are birthday cake offered by one of my students', gum, and the popcorn Connor is currently munching on while I sit here with nothing but a computer! In the reading plan for the fast, Day 2 has called for some sort of sacrifice, above and beyond the fast that we are doing. I read about the cost David gave to build the temple (1 Chron 21:18-27) and he didn't want to do it if it didn't cost him something so that it would have more meaning. However, I am stumped. I can't sacrifice any food because I am already doing the fast. I can't sacrifice TV because nothing good is on and that wouldn't cost me anything. I am in the middle of my online course for my Master's, so I can't sacrifice the Internet...plus I don't know if I could actually do that one! No ideas at the moment, so I will add that to my prayer list.

On another note, last night Joe finally got up at 9:30 (he had a caffeine headache) and this morning told me the house looked awesome and he could tell I had cleaned and picked up a bit! I know the house isn't perfect, but compared to how it was in November and all the 27 years before that, it is miraculous!

The only other thing I have worked on today is being more patient with my sixth graders. There is one in particular that I have just tried to ignore his goading and the other students are now asking him to be quiet...and it's working! He is annoying them more than he is annoying me! I think I would like to build a relationship with this student and maybe use it as a turning point, but he despises me so much, I think I need to wait it out a little bit.

Lord, help me to love my students as you do and see them through your eyes. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to sacrifice my comfort in order to grow closer to you. Be with Connor and help him grow in to the little boy you want him to be. Help Joe and I to be the parents you have called us to be. Amen.