The Prodigal Son & Cheese Balls

I glance up from my computer and something across the room catches my eye. It's barrel-shaped, a clear plastic tub full of small orange objects. My brain immediately registers: CHEESE BALLS!! Like Pavlov's dogs when they hear that bell, I instantly begin to drool; I can almost taste the cheesy goodness...

And then I snap back to reality and see the barrel for what it really is: a container of cheese-flavored dog treats.

Gross.

This is just one moment of hunger-induced delusion I experienced during my first 3 weeks of the 7 experiment. Originally done by Jen Hatmaker (it's the subject of her book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess), 7 is about simplifying in 7 different areas of life: food, clothes, possessions, shopping, media, waste, and stress. I had seen the book mentioned a few places and was intrigued by the idea. So when my friend Emily suggested creating our own "tribe" to do the experiment together, I jumped at the opportunity. I knew that without accountability and encouragement, I'd never do it on my own.

The first month is food. Jen pared her food choices down to just 7 items. Some of her friends choose to eat like the poorest people in 7 impoverished countries. Our group discussed other ideas like limiting our weekly food budget to that of someone who receives food stamps. I decided to follow Jen's plan. For 3 weeks, I only ate eggs, chicken, kale, spinach, sweet potatoes, apples, and avocados; no spices beyond salt & pepper; nothing but olive oil; I also limited drinks to just water.

I'm not a coffee drinker like many of the other girls in our group, so I didn't have to deal with caffeine withdrawal. My addiction is sugar. I LOVE sugar in pretty much any form: cookies, cake, donuts, ice cream... pardon me a moment while I clean the drool off my keyboard. I'm pretty sure I went through sugar withdrawal during those first few days. I had to adjust my eating habits to make sure my blood sugar levels stayed stable. It sucked.

And then I had moments when I thought dog treats were cheese balls.

I thought was doing pretty well. It's pretty easy to make meals when you're limited to 7 items. I ate pretty much the same thing every day: egg & kale omelette and an apple for breakfast; chicken, kale, avocado salad for lunch, an apple snack; chicken and a sweet potato for dinner. It got boring. And when it got boring, I got cravings. And when I got cravings, I got hungry. Hungry enough to eat dog treats apparently.

I started thinking about the story of the Prodigal Son. He got to a point where he was hungry enough to eat pig slop. And he was probably legitimately hungry: out of money, far away from home, working for a pig farmer. I, on the other hand, am usually not legitimately hungry. Comparatively, I'm rich. And I have lots of food options. But when I get bored or depressed or bored, I feel the need to eat, so I trick myself into thinking I'm hungry. And then I eat whatever I can find. I can't be bothered to look for something healthy. I can't be bothered to wait a few minutes to see if my "hunger" or craving will subside. I want food and I want it now.

Him + nothing = EVERYTHING I NEED

And then I started thinking about my relationship with God. Every desire I have, every seeming "lack" can be satisfied by Him. And yet in the moment, I settle for whatever I can find that seems like it might do the trick. Like my snack choices, it's usually not a healthy choice. And it definitely doesn't satisfy the desire, which was probably just a craving for something I don't have (or can't have) and think I should have. Just like eating an apple will keep me fuller longer than eating a donut, going to God instead of... well... everything else... will keep me spiritually full. That's why we need to do things like fasting, so we can realize that God is enough and more than enough.

I'm back to eating more than just those 7 foods now. But I'm trying to be conscious of my food choices. I enjoyed going to the Farmer's Market each week - buying local produce and meeting the people who are growing my food - so I plan to continue doing that. I want to eat to live instead of living to eat (saw that on Pinterest the other day... no idea who said it but it's brilliant), to see my food as energy for enjoying life and not just something to do when I'm bored.

And I'm trying to spend more time with God, to fill up on Him instead of junk, to realize I need Him just as much as I need food. What better place to get energy for life than from the Creator of life Himself? I'm not very good at believing He is enough... yet. But I have a feeling that's going to change as I continue this journey of 7.