Risk

1. The game called Risk and I are not on good terms. (another story for another time)
2. Sometimes, I despise even the ones I love.

Now that you know those things, I will tell you the story of an interesting event.

Thursday night, I again attended a church group with friends. After church, sometimes, we go to the information desk to look at the "Risk" cards. Red and yellow, on the front, these cards bear a motto.

"Be Changed, Bring Change"

Red cards have more difficult tasks than yellow. My friend went to grab one, and wasn't too fond of  repeating. Instead of sliding it to the bottom of the stack, she offers it to me.

"Here, you have it."
"No, I already haven't done the one I grabbed last week!"
"Oh, you can have two!" And to my dismay, she snuck it under my purse strap.
I read it.

"Pick one day this week to engage in a 'word fast'.
Tame you tongue in such a way that your words are few, very few.
On average we speak about 16,000 words per day.
Shoot for 1/10th of that."

"A word fast?! I really love to talk, but I guess I can do it." I grimaced at my luck.

Later, another friend came over. His friend pulled out a card, but one dropped close to my feet.
He picked it up, and then decided that I should have this one. "Here, it was obviously meant for you!"
"No, I already have one from tonight!"
"Well, you can have two."
"No, I already have two! One from last week and one from the previous week!"
"Oh, come on, you can do it!"
I grudgingly took it, "Okay." And then I read it.

For those who can't read it:
"Consider doing a 72-hour fast from food.
Spend that time in prayer and praising God."

"Aahhhh!!!" I so did NOT want to do this one. "This one looks so hard! You guys are trying to kill me!"
"I've fasted before. It's not too bad after the first day." My friends tried to convince me to take the risk.
"Yeah, you could probably do a juice fast, where you just drink juice."
"Wait, read the card again. It says 'consider'."
"Oh my gosh, you're right!" My way out had arrived!!!
"But just think of how good you'll feel afterwards, having fasted."
"Yeah, after I eat everything in the dining center."
"You could start small, just do one day of fasting."
"Yeah, I think I could go two days. Okay, I'll do it. But I'm so drinking juice. I don't think I could just not eat or drink anything."

I have now planned to fast Monday and Tuesday, and depending on how I feel, Wednesday.
My speech fast will happen Monday for sure. (and maybe tuesday)
On Friday, I will do my original card.

Sorry for the blurriness:
"Do as many push-ups and sit ups
as you possibly can in one sitting.
Feel the burn!"

After all this is over, I will love my friends. :)

Challenge yourselves this upcoming week!