First Day of Ramadan

I called my Muslim friend yesterday to talk about the rules of Ramadan. I learned that I need to get up at 4am (before sun rise) to eat, fast through the day and eat again at sun down around 8pm. I also have to make sure that I pray 5 times a day and read the Quran in my case the bible in the evening or sometime in the day. These rules are similar to that of Christians; we are suppose to pray and read our bible on a daily bases, so I figured that is something I can do. I could not get up at 4am, so I missed eating before sun rise. I did not let that stop me though, I went on with the fast and I did it; I am so proud of my self. It was not easy; I was very hungry in course of the day but I hope things get a bit easy as time goes on.

Praying 5 times a day was a challenge; I prayed in the morning and by the time I realized it was almost 2:30pm and I had not prayed my second prayer. I became aware of it then, so I ended up getting all of my prayers in today, but it wasn't easy. I was also able to put in my bible reading today. I read Genesis chapter 1, Psalms chapter 1 and 2 and Matthew chapter 1. In each of these chapters that I read, I got something new from it. These were chapter I thought I have read before but I found something in each of the books that touched me.
In Genesis I read in chapter 1 verse 29-30 that "then God said, 'I give you every seed bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. "30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food . And it was so."

What I realized by reading this was God's plan for us was to eat vegetables and fruits not all the process foods that we've being eating. God created us and knows what it's best for our bodies, so why don't we follow his guide for us on food? This was a big eye opener for me today. Another eye opener was something I read in Psalms. 2:7-8; it reads " I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, 'You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession". God is our father and he wants us to ask of him; if only we will ask he will make things happen in our lives. I don't know about you but I have heard ministers talk about this; but reading it today it hit me in a different way.

In all I think I did good today, I can safely say that my first day of fasting (Ramadan) was a success. I look forward to tomorrow, I hope I will be able to get up at 4am for the morning meal; we shall see.

My Spiritual Journey

It's Tuesday evening August 10, 2010; the night before Ramadan begins. Each year, muslims spend the ninth month of the Islamic calendar observing a community wide fast. The annual fast of Ramadan is considered one of the five 'pillars' of Islam. Muslims who are physically able are required to fast each day of the entire month from sunrise to sunset. The evenings are spent enjoying family and community meals, engaging in prayer, spirtual reflection and reading from the Qu'ran.Muslims around the world anticipate the arrival of the holiest month of the year. During Ramadan as well as other times during the year, muslims are encouraged to read and reflect on God's guiduance.

This year the Ramadan begins tomorrow August 11, 2010 and ends on Sept. 9, 2010. I am a christian with a few muslim friends. I have decided to do the Ramadan with them this year. Because I am not a muslim and I don't know all the rules and regulations, I will be doing my a bit differently. I will be fasting, praying five times a day and reading the bible on a daily bases.
My goal is to go through the experience to see the effects and impact it will have on my life. It's this going to affect my life positively or negetively? How much will my relationship with God improve, will it bring me closer to God or not? It's all about having a closer relationship with the almighty. Due to my busy life, some times I don't do what I am suppose to do as a christain. I don't pray, as often as I am suppose to, neither do I read my bible. We get so busy sometimes that we forget about our relationship with God; I don't know about you but I know I do.

I wonder if our christain walk will be so much easy if we had strict rules that are enforced, that we all follow like the muslims do; praying and reading our bible a certain number of times a day for example. The challenge for me is, will I be able to follow through with this? Could christians like me who struggle with praying, reading the bible and doing all the things we are suppose to do be able to jaggle it all and not forget about their God? I guess we will see. I am still going to have a busy life, actually I am starting a new job on Monday August 16. Some people think I am crazy to be trying this at this time; they think the timing is not good for me. My questions to them is, when will it be the right time? Do we have to have a right time or a time that is good for us before we work on our relationship with God? We are suppose to seek him in good times as well as bad times; so I guess this is it. I will be sharing my thoughts, feelings and the bible verses I read with you on a daily bases. I don't know how this is all going to go, but I know I can do all things through christ; so I am going to go for it and start this journey.