Wow. 40 days is a long time when you’re in the middle of it. And really short when you’re passed it.

I really want to give a special shout out to all my incredible guest posters who held up my blog’s proverbial arms while I was away, and especially to my personal assistant, Debbie, who went from 0-100 on a WordPress learning curve. Hopefully you were encouraged and challenged by all they had to say. Feel free to browse back through their posts if you missed any.

So what did I learn from not blogging, Tweeting, FaceBooking, and [uh-hem] eating various foods for 40 days? Besides realizing I just used a few made up verbs in the previous sentence, all of which are–oddly enough–culturally acceptable, I learned more than I know. And more than I could put in a post. Unless transferring experiences in whole through the internet is possible.

Clarity. Extreme clarity, if you want a describer put in there. That would be the most profound word that comes to mind. I can think of no better word to describe my relationship with the Holy Spirit, my perception of circumstances, contexts, ministry insights (both personal and corporate), and relationships. It seems when all the other extraneous “stuff” gets removed, you’re left with less. Less stress, less distraction, less noise. To quote Kem Meyer‘s aptly put book title, “Less Clutter. Less Noise.”

The second word would be grace. I recognized a very palpable manifestation of grace upon my life, alerting me to just how much my body kicks, screams, and demands for what it wants, and just how much strength there is from the Lord to not only tolerate such behavior, but to put it in it’s place. (That little brat!). Likewise, struggles and temptations were minimized to their most negligible levels. Ever.

If I could derive an adequate resolution from this time, it would be to make the divine rhythms of withdrawing a lifestyle. Incorporating reoccurring seasons of fasting–both food and media–is not only good for all aspects of my health, but Biblical. And moreover, Christ-like. I feel I have new footing to teach from, and more experience with which to admonish myself in the pursuit of Christ-like maturity.

Thanks for all those who stood with me, prayed for me, and genuinely missed my absence from the interweb. ch: