Today's post will be more of a checking-in.
Regarding fasting:
I've been successful at abstaining from excessive internet use. I haven't been on Facebook, or YouTube, or ESPN.com, or any other news or sports websites. I also removed the games 2048 and the Bible Word Verse game (I'm not entirely sure what it's called, but that's close) from my phone about a week-and-a-half ago. The only times I've really gone on the internet besides email or any other websites that pertain to work or finances or other business-type tasks, it was really once to search song lyrics to sing to my girlfriend one evening while we were on Skype. I've also downloaded Covenant Eyes and have a close friend who receives reports from the software about my whereabouts on this computer. While I'm grateful for what it offers, it doesn't at this moment provide me with what I am really seeking in terms of internet accountability. He and I talked about this. My next task is to go back and see about either reconfiguring what I want Covenant Eyes to do, or to find another software that will help me, especially when I really, really want to go on to YouTube for escaping.
Last Tuesday I did fast from food all day. I modified this fast to only go from sunrise to sunset. (Originally it was going to be a 24-hour fast. I decided that that was too much.) The other modification was, because at this time a week ago I wasn't sure whether I was going to catch a cold from a friend of mine who was under the weather when we hung out a day or so before, I decided I would OK drinking tea in addition to water, but nothing else. My plan right now is to continue fasting on Tuesdays, since that is the one day I have most open to really dedicate to praying, reading the Bible, and doing devotionals.
Except for Tuesday I have had at least 1 cup of coffee every day. I'll admit I don't currently have any thoughts on whether I want to limit coffee more than that. Right now, I'll stick to my plan of no coffee on Tuesdays (along with everything else except tea and water).
I've also had no alcohol since Tuesday -- and most likely a couple days before that. I'll continue to stick to the plan I originally drew up.
Regarding praying:
The prayer part has been pretty steady. Since I downloaded and printed out the daily prayer calendar that my church put out there, I've been caught up, along with praying for the things on the list I've created for myself.
Regarding feasting:
I've been doing rather well regarding reading the Bible, doing devotionals, journaling, and praying. Even though the last few days (Friday and Sunday, as well as today) I haven't sat down to do the such, I've still been journaling almost every day, and praying. It it quite a task to shift my thoughts from obsessing about whatever topic I'm thinking about, toward thanking God and praying for what I happen to remember at that moment from the prayer lists. But I'm doing it.
Thanks to my ongoing lower back pain, I've had to rest a lot and sleep more than I otherwise would. Prior to the praying and fasting, one of my biggest resistances was going straight to bed (no matter how tired I was) after my evening Skype time with my girlfriend. Typically, I would stay on another hour at least watching YouTube, even if my eyes were on the verge of closing. The last few nights, partly because of the fast, but also partly because of my lower back pain (tightness, soreness, and occasional pain), I've been connecting with the urgency of sleeping as much as I can so that my back can have a chance at returning to optimal health again.
I've been daily drinking water and enjoying the sunshine. I've also been catching up on some of my own music-writing which has been on the shelf for awhile. (The challenge now has been to balance how much of music-composing is appropriate feasting, vs. indulging.) Finally, I have not listened to any sermons, nor read any of the books that are currently on my reading list.
Finally, I still don't yet have a plan on what to do for the first week of July, once this fast ends. I was talking about this with my friend who is supporting me via Covenant Eyes and with this fast overall. We were both in agreement that coming out of the fast is important, just as much as faithfully fasting and praying is in this time.