After 3 Weeks

I'm (almost) 3 weeks in to my vegan stint for Lent.   So far....

I just about had a minor meltdown in Whole Foods yesterday.  I was hungry, and tired, and very stressed about my paper that was due this morning (which, at the time, I hadn't even started).  I'd just gotten off work early and hadn't eaten anything all day, and I thought to myself I'd go grab some food across the street, and then sit at the little lunch place in Whole Foods and work on my essay before church.  But I got back to the make your own sandwich bar, which is right next to the stone oven that they make pizzas in, and I could smell the cheese... I love cheese.  Maybe more than milk.  I really really do.  And suddenly the thought of a grilled turkey-tomato-cheese-basil-spinach sandwich popped into my head, and I couldn't let it go.  I seriously entertained the thought of just putting cheese on my sandwich.  Nobody else was there - nobody would ever know.... It was the first time I'd seriously started having an internal battle over my cravings and my commitment.  

I've messed up a couple times.  But I'm learning how to let it go.  It's one of the reasons I think God has called me to do this. 

Aside from my momentary, passing desires (and so far they all are passing), I'm contemplating being vegan permanently.  Already, I feel healthier, and more responsible.  I don't feel guilty about buying food anymore, knowing what I know. 

I think it's easy to get caught up in all the things I can't eat anymore.  All the cheese and milk and cookies and muffins and eggs and hamburgers and jelly....  But there are still so many things I can eat.  And I still have a grocery store to go to where I can buy enough food to feed me.  I have a job and parents who support me enough that I can afford to buy food, period. 

So... that's pretty much where I'm at. So far, it's been easier to go vegan "cold turkey" (so-to-speak...) than i expected.   But a lifetime is a long time... so I think I've only scratched the surface.