Becky Crenshaw

Today begins for me a journey.

A 40-Day journey that was birthed September 12th – the day we called a fast for Bethany.  My dear friend duking it out with an ongoing battle with Chrohn’s.

This particular fast, the Lord was very specific to pull out all the artificial’s from my diet.  All the caffeine.  All the dye.  All the filler. Anything artificial or man-made.  I guess the big buzz word now is “clean”… He called me to a day of clean-eating.

I told Jesus, “If you could have touched it, then so can I.”

So some of you may have a furrowed brow at this point, wondering why on earth I am wasting your time with this post.

Well.  Let me tell you what happened as a result…

Pulling out all the “filler” from my diet meant, no coffee.  (I know, right!)  No artificial sweetener.  No protein bars. No crystal light.  No fat-free dressing.  No Boca burgers.  No soy powder shakes.  No coke zero with a splash of cherry. None of it.  None.

Which wouldn’t be that big a deal for most people.  But my diet consisted of these things.  Daily.

I had never given much thought to what xanthan gum, potassium sorbate, calcium disodium or yellow #6 might be doing to my insides.  All these ingredients daily consumed in the foods I was ingesting.

So September 12th, I pulled them all out.  And let me tell you, my body just about stopped on me.  I was so exhausted.  At one point, I pulled in the garage after getting the boys from school, and dozed off for a second in the van! (note: it wasn’t running!)

After dinner, I told Brent I wanted to lie down, just for a minute.  And would you believe, I fell asleep at 6:15 and slept all night.

I felt as if I was detoxing from drugs.  My head hurt, my body ached.  I felt horrible.

Until the next day.  After sleeping a solid 12 hours, I woke a new woman.  I felt refreshed and healthier.  But more than anything, I was humbled.

I told Brent, “I never realized how much junk I pump in my body just to keep it going.”

I had become so accustomed to artificial things that when I pulled them out, my body was able to rest and recover.  

Since September the 12th, I have made gradual changes in my diet.  A gradual move towards “clean”.

Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.”  John 10:10

The bigger picture, however, is far greater than my diet.  This day of fasting led me to ask myself, “What junk am I pumping in my life that is robbing me of life more abundantly?”

How are we sweetening our lives with artificial things?  What preservatives are robbing our lives of optimal health in Christ?

The next 40 days begins a journey for me.  A journey to pull all the filler and eat clean.  I won’t go into all of the food stuff in detail, but this article sums up where the Lord is taking my diet.  Basically, if I can’t pronounce it, then I don’t eat it.

But even greater, I want to rid my life of the “filler”.  I am asking the Lord to help me scale away from all the additives and simplify my life.

A clean and more abundant life — Jesus.  My husband. My family. Our home.  Our work. Ministry. THE GOSPEL.

Day one.  Here it is.

Thank you for reading.  I am an accountability advocate.  This post is that for me.  Accountability to you that I am all in.

40 Days. No filler.

Simplify.

Simplify.

Simplify.

What is robbing you of the “more abundant life”?  Maybe this is your diet, or maybe it is greater.  What is the Holy Spirit stirring in your heart right now?  Feel free to join me on this journey…

Picture by Jen Dalton