Tuesday, September 6 was the last day Mark ate food...until today. He went 40 days drinking juice, water, broth and herbal tea. This man of mine who loves a good Texas Taco. Who drools over any kind of red meat. Who had soda every single day. Who drinks his coffee sweet! This man of mine who really loves his food went 40 days without it. A-maz-ing. To me anyways.
I'm not bragging on Mark - although I do think he's wonderfully awesome and I'm so stinking proud of him - I want to brag on God! He spoke to my husband and sustained him through meal after meal. He was enough for Mark and He has blessed Mark in ways that aren't measurable. He has led, spoken, encouraged, loved, poured himself out, and filled my husband daily for the past 6 weeks. His blessing - measured in just knowing Him - is overflowing in Mark's life! And I pray that He has gotten all the glory (and I know that Mark agrees). Without God this wouldn't have happened. Plain and simple.
It was no doubt a battle. The enemy fought hard to convince Mark that no one would know if he had a bite of the sandwich or the candy or whatever. He fought hard to convince Mark that 20 days was plenty of time for God to speak and that he didn't need to go the full 40 days. But my husband, with God's strength, fought back and won. He was obedient. And it was an amazing thing to watch. The kids cheered him on and were so proud of him. He sat with us at every meal. Went out to dinner with us a couple times when we were meeting friends. He was a warrior not just a trooper.
His first bite of food was dry toast. Not totally thrilling but we have to be careful to start out very slowly - much to Mark's chagrin. Too much too fast could cause him to get really sick. So it's toast today, maybe some salad tomorrow, then slowly add in fats, proteins, carbs...I wonder if this readjustment part will be harder than the actual fast! :)
I have to share before and after photos of this event though because it is quite a visual process. He didn't want to do pictures each week as he lost weight but the before and after are still pretty amazing. He lost just shy of 30#! The weight that he is at now was what he weighed in highschool. Seriously he hasn't seen those numbers in 20 years! It'll be interesting to see how much weight is gained back in the next week when there's actual food in his gut.
Mark Palmer - Thank you for being an example to your family. Thank you for seeking God's heart, for listening to Him and for obeying. You will never know on this earth how much you have impacted our children. Thank you for being you!
