First Weekend of Election Fast 2012

Well, my father-in-law came to town this past weekend for Family Weekend at Harding.  We had a great time visiting and watching the football game Saturday night.  Go Bisons!  As is our common custom, family visits usually mean more dining out.  And for me, dining out usually means drinking lots of sweet tea.  Bring on the refills!  Not this time.  I surprised myself with how many times I would take a sip of my drink and still be shocked when it wasn't sweet tea.  I'd get involved in a conversation and take a quick swig fully expecting the sweet, smooth, and refreshing taste of tea only to be shocked and doubly disappointed by a sudden carbonation burn (Yes, sodas are my less desirable alternative).  What can I say?  Old habits die hard.

As fate would have it, not only was I not drinking sweet tea, I also had to endure everyone else around me who was drinking my beverage of choice.  My kids apparently inherited my love for sweet tea, too.  Those of you with young children have probably noticed that when you go out to eat as a family, if at all possible the wait staff will bring your children's drinks in disposable cups with lids.  Smart move for obvious reasons.  If your kids are anything like mine, they only manage to finish about half of it, though.  And if you're anything like me, you take the nearly-full disposable cups with you when you go (or at least consolidate a couple) rather than leave it to only be thrown out.  (By the way, this drives my husband crazy when I do this. haha)  So, it wasn't enough that I was tempted at the restaurant.  I had to bring the temptation home with me, too.  Well, ok.  I didn't have to.  But I did. ;D

Our small group meets on Sunday nights and we always eat together.  This past week our family was signed up to bring drinks and I planned to make (what else?) sweet tea.  I signed before I knew about the fast.  I went ahead and made a pitcher, even though I couldn't have any.  I didn't even taste-test it which left me with that feeling you get when you forget to put your watch on...ya know, like I had left the making of it incomplete or something was missing.  I had hoped that the entire pitcher would be consumed at the meeting so there wouldn't be any to bring home but no such luck.  Apparently, most people try to steer clear of (and steer their children clear of) caffeine after six o'clock in the evening.  Go figure?  lol ;)  So, we brought most of it home and my husband and kids will finish it eventually.

As you can see, this weekend kind of felt like a "baptism by fire" in regards to the whole fasting from sweet tea thing.  It was great, though, because it created so many reminders for me to pray for our leaders and our country.  I mean, I had sweet tea on the brain for the majority of the weekend which translated into praying for the majority of the weekend. :D  That is definitely a good thing!  How did you do this weekend?  Onward we go...37 more days!