Ah fasting

Any ideas as to what I 've been thinking about? nuf sed

lent

Lent is a time of penitence and introspection . More or less it is a time where we let God do a deep cleaning within us. For forty days we fast, make confession and live simpler lives to prepare for the feast of the resurrection(Easter). But shouldn't we do this all the time? Yes, but we don't. At least most of us don't . A good amount of Christians don't recognize Lent. Many have no clue what it is. Others regard it as something the Catholics do and put in the pile of meaningless ritualistic practices. Sad really. Anything can be meaningless if done without sincerity and understanding. Lent has always been a time for me personally that God does some major work. Sometimes it is soooo hard to look deep into myself. It's scary in there. But I have learned to Hold Jesus' hand as I take that introspective walk inside myself. It's not as scary but the hard part is doing something about the crud I find in there. Again Jesus helps. His grace has become the air I breath mostly because of my Lenten experiences. I pray the same for you.

ESCEPOPO

You guys know that I like spicey food. But for the last year or so I 've been on a quest to find the best "ESCABECHE". Escabeche is pretty much any food item drowned in vinegar ,lemon juice or both. But for the purposes of this rant we will limit escabeche to mean chile peppers and other vegetables in vinegar and spices. I liken my quest to the one in that movie "Tampopo" which the characters were in search of the perfect bowl of ramen noodles.
Well after eating dozens of home made and store bought escabeche concoctions I have found the best . But that isn't enough for this humble servant of God . I must be able to imitate it. The restaurant that makes this close to divine mixture won't part with the recipe and I don't expect them to. So I go and visit this restaurant once a week to eat their authentic Mexican cuisine . You got it - I just happen to eat to pounds of the escabeche they have at the condiment station. I analyze every well chewed bite. And for over a year one thing eluded me. One spice that I couldn't identify by flavor. And they make it very hard to figure out what spices they use cuz some how they filter them out so there are no leaves or seeds to be seen. I think they are mean and do it on purpose so people can't copy their recipe. But yesterday as I finished my bean and guacamole burrito I helped myself to some free escabeche and after finishing the jalapeno I had discomfort in the gum above my left top canine. I pulled out the foreign object with my fingers. Never was I so pleased to have something caught between mt teeth . Yes! It was the elusive spice that up 'til this moment I couldn't put my finger on. GOD IS GOOD? Now I can reproduce the perfect escabeche.
Would you like to know what spice it is ? Please email your request to www.notachance.com

the root

I was recently confronted by two different people a day apart about the "root" of certain fears I have intermittently in my life. This made me mad. I could blow off the first one easy enough but the same question twice in less than 24 hours. Hmmmm, maybe it's God. Ya think? So I'm praying - nothing.Then later when I'm eating the Lord shows me the root of my fears. I saw myself as a boy(7 or 8 years old) running a 5O yard dash against this kid Mike Higashi. I was running as fast as I could but he was beating me easily. Then I felt my upper body move forward and my legs just couldn't get underneath my shoulders and I fell then rolled in a dusty cloud. My father was on the other side of the track with my little brother so he had his friend watching me. At the end of the race I was crying of course and my did dad's friend says "you're not hurt, you're bawlin' 'cause ya got beat - knock it off and let's go see your dad" It's true, I wasn't hurt really and getting beat felt bad but I was crying because I tried my hardest and I couldn't even stay on my feet.
I never knew how much that day changed me until today. Often I would hold back just a little so as not to do my best so if I failed I wouldn't have that feeling of having to spit dirt at the end of the race after falling. Somehow I got the message that trying my best would hurt me and wasn't worth the danger. At age 29 I struggled to give that up and I did for the most part. When I returned to University I went from previously being an C- student to an A student. But every once in a while I start to feel like my upper body is moving forward and my legs can't keep up. In other words I feel like I'm gonna take another dirt dive. I don't like that feeling . Lately I have been trying to live what I preach " Go Big or Go Home". Part of me wants to hold back just in case things don't work out, so as I can stay on my feet.
Not this time - If I eat dirt fine - but I will swallow it knowing that I did my very best for the King of Glory. Nothing less will do.