you can check in here if you want. Today was awesome considering I’m getting sick. I have to admit my ego does not want to show you guys that I’m sick. That’s very immature I know lol. The call went great. When you guys speak up, other men begin to open up. Let’s keep this going. I have 2 new ideas I want to incorporate into the challenge. A third would be @Kellen Dorsch idea on having a minimum. A non negotiable management realistic goal that you have to hit. This means not checking off the entire list but having boxes that HAVE to get checked. Here’s the 2 ideas: 1. When you mess up on this challenge. You have to at least tell a friend you trust and respect. Tell the group is even better. You can message me privately if that’s all you can do. No judgement. 2. Years ago when @Brok Weaver did the Daniel fast, which is what this challenge is loosely based on, he said you can not tell anyone. That’s why this group is so important. It’s a safe sacred. Place where we can discuss this without ego. I think the lesson is to try and discern whether or not you are telling someone to help them or help yourself. That make sense ? Check in or comment below

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.1.1.NIV In the beginning God. Perhaps the most powerful statement in the entire Bible is written in the first line. Truly think about it. Meditate and pray on it. In the beginning there was God, and nothing else. God then willed everything you see, everything you can touch, feel, and experience, into existence. He said let there be light and there was. Then he created man. However, when God created man, he personally formed him, in his image. And then into that lifeless creation he breathed the breath of life into his lungs. Then upon looking at his creation, that he shared his very spirit with, he gave him dominion over everything else he had created. God created man in such a way that he could walk along side us. He could understand us and us him. God is Love and only through his love for us can we have, experience, and give that love back to him. Think about the love that you are capable of and the lengths that you would go through for that love. That love is but a single breath from God. Think of how much more love he who willed the universe into existence, has for you, than you have for the things of this world.

First day back to work from vacation. Getting my car fixed did not go as painlessly as planned. Ended up having to get someone to pick me up and go pick the car up after hours. Took some time out of my day that I had carved out for other things. Pros read my Bible diet on track No social media No energy drinks No needless spending Up at 5am Screen time down 13% Cons Little to no physical activity outside of work Not coming anywhere near drinking enough water Feel like I can do way more physically and mentally, just not doing it/talking myself out of it/struggling to find the “right” time.

woke up at 4 this morning, read my Bible and posted a morning prayer to the group. Went to church and then went to the shooting range afterwards. Went to get my oil changed and got some upsetting news that I needed some work done to my car. I am fortunate and blessed enough that my wife offered to take the day off to take my car to the shop tomorrow so that I did not have to. Fasted until 3pm and then I ate some cheese, a steak, and some green beans. No social media, no Amazon and eBay app on my phone, have definitely been the hardest part so far, but these are my rest days. I suspect keeping a routine of staying physically active and holding myself to it starting tomorrow will be my hard. As @Alan Belcher said in his post today, you have to find your own personal hard and it will likely look different for most of us. But if your challenge isn’t very challenging you likely need to set the goals higher, push for a better more impactful outcome for yourself.

“In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me? I am under vows to you, my God; I will present my thank offerings to you. For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭56‬:‭10‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.56.10-13.NIV For full context of this Psalm read 1 Samuel. David captured by his enemies, in extreme danger in a foreign land, David both professed his fear to the Lord while simultaneously praising him. David prays for justice and deliverance in true faith, as if he knows that what he has prayed for has already be granted by the Lord. Fun fact for those that may not know, the act of praying in true faith is something that you likely already do without truly knowing. This is why you end your prayers in “amen”. Amen is Hebrew for “so be it”, “it is true”, or “I agree”. So as you are making your daily prayers this morning, as you give God your thanks and praise and then ask the Lord your God for his deliverance and mercy for whatever you may be asking it for, speak your “amen” in the name of the Lord and then live as if it were already so. Stop taking your pain back, your anxiety, your worries, your forgiveness, your deliverance. When you feel those thoughts creeping back in remember you gave them to the Lord and keep pushing forward. Don’t pick that cross back up. Have a great day Gentlemen!