For three years, I have started each new year with a Daniel Fast for 21 days. I give the first part of my year to God to set the tone for the year. This kind of fast involves giving up everything except plant based food and water. So, when I was asked to be a part of the Blood:Water campaign and drink only water for 40 days during the season of Lent, I agreed. I figured I could do that. After all, I had many fasts under my belt and I believed in bringing awareness to what Blood:Water is trying to do.
What I did not bank on was how all this intentional sacrifice is falling in line with the year of Restoration I am going through. Restoration is my word of the year and I sit now realizing this word involves a lot of waiting. Restoration does not instantly happen, at least not for me. In the midst of my waiting, I am seeing a major purging of things and people in my life. It can be lonely sometimes, but isn’t that what the Winter season is all about? We see nature stripped down and dormant, not realizing that something is brewing deep inside the Earth where no one can see it. Restoration is coming, but we don’t always see it, but we are called to believe in it.
The promise of Spring, change, restoration, and a new beginning all happens when we go through intentional sacrifice. When I joined the Blood:Water campaign, I did not realize it would align with what is going on in my life. I no longer question why things happen in my life. Instead, I believe that the purpose and my purpose will be revealed. When I fill up my water bottle and drink clean water from it everyday, I think about the people who would give anything to have the same clean water to drink. It is such a basic human need, yet there are so many people who do not have access to it.
We are halfway through the #40Days and you can still join me to bring awareness and support to a great cause. Everyone deserves clean water. Everyone.
