How To Know When Your Soul Is Hangry {Nourish Your Soul Day 2}

I get out of bed early five days a week. Because my oldest has to be ready for the bus before the crack of dawn. Or 7:12. Same thing.

It’s a new thing for me — this getting out of bed earlier than the last possible minute. I am no morning person.

But the last few days have been more difficult for some reason. Today especially. In fact, I made myself a deal this morning that I’d return to that beloved warm place between the mattress and the covers before lunchtime. That’s what finally got me up.

I am tired, and I need more rest before I interact with people, and my not-nice side shows up and ruins my persona. I have learned to listen to my body when it needs things like rest. Food. Water.

The truth is, I’m pretty good at recognizing the signs. My stomach growls. I yawn a lot. I get grumpy, thirsty, hangry. So when I feel it coming on, I know I need to take care of it before things get ugly. (Because they will get ugly — just ask my husband. Or my kids. Or my parents. Or anyone who has really ever interacted with me at such a time.)

It has taken more time, however, for me to recognize the symptoms of my soul’s nourishment needs. I wonder if it’s the same for you?

When my soul is hangry, I don’t like people. I lack the desire to be around, well, anyone, and I desperately seek alone time every minute of every day until I get it. And then all I can think about is when I can get it again.

When my soul is hangry, I tend to look to things like TV, Bejeweled Blitz, Diet Coke, shopping for nothing but a good deal, to satisfy me. Like sugary soul-snacks, somehow I forget what my soul really needs and try to fill it with things that make me happy for like two seconds before leaving me still wanting.

Maybe it looks different for you. I don’t know.

I do know, though, that if we don’t nourish our souls, we will end up like that dried up mum on my porch that can’t do anything but look horribly thirsty. It can’t be the beautiful God created it to be because it doesn’t have the nourishment it needs to do it.

Same goes for us.

That’s why we’re looking to nourish our souls this month. Because we want to be the beautiful that God designed us to be. And we can’t do that unless our souls get real food, real water and real rest — the forever kind that satisfies deeply and only come from God Himself — the One Who designed us for a purpose.

So — how do you know when your soul gets hungry?  What does it look like for you? Let’s talk about it in the comments. (You can click that word, and it will take you right there.) I’m curious to know how different it looks for each of us.