Happy day

I had my first cup of coffee in nearly three weeks this morning. And it was so good. Truthfully, the detox we have been doing was not that bad. (Maybe I say that now because it's over? Who knows...) It was annoying not to be able to eat dinner when I wanted, and to have to make all of my own food. But I was rarely hungry, and I have not felt so good in many, many months. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to take themselves out of the maybe not-so-healthy routine of eating that we find ourselves in (ahem, Taco Bell - you know who you are), to listen to their bodies and think about where food comes from and why we eat it.

I thought a lot about my friend David, who is voluntarily going on a raw diet to combat the cancer wrapping itself around his brain, and writes about how he had to confront his emotional attachment to food, and find where his true source of comfort comes from. And I thought a lot about people who just don't have much food, and eat whatever they can get, whenever they can get it. It's pretty crazy when you think about the amount and types of food that we have at our fingertips - and how much we often throw away.

All that to say, I had french fries last night, and I baked a chocolate cake this morning for a birthday party tonight. And I will appreciate every bite.

Three more things:

1) The Livesay Blog - an amazing blog about service and faith from a Minnesota family doing work for Christ in Haiti. I started at the beginning, but their perspective about what's going on right now is powerful.


2) Valley of Vision: a gift from my friend Logan, also happens to be one of my boyfriend's favorites. It's an old book of Puritan prayers, and while it's a little King James sometimes, the prayers are beautiful, and convicting. Check it out.

3) My nephew who just learned to walk. Also lovingly referred to as "Frankenstein".

deep breath

This has been a wild week. Erica (my roommate) and I started a detox/cleanse called "Clean" which requires a major change to our diet, schedule and time commitments. Today is Day 6 (out of 21), and I'm happy to say I'm feeling good, but it's not been easy. We are making everything we eat which, unfortunately, is so foreign to us. Smoothies for breakfast and dinner are good (but not as satisfying as solid food), and then lunch is usually chicken or fish with veggies and brown rice/quinoa.

The last day of the cleanse is Erica's birthday party (can't wait!) but it might be more of a cannonball than an ease back into real food. We'll see how it goes. But I do feel good - more alert and less tired during the day. And I might be losing a couple pounds, which I can't complain about. I'll give my full review and/or recommendation at the end of the month.

In other news:

This is my friend Sarah with her little friend Augustine in Haiti at Christmas. (I went with Sarah to Haiti a few years ago and wrote about it briefly here.)




Augustine lives at the orphanage where I volunteered, and was once very close to death. She's now a happy little girl, as you can see. :)

Obviously, you all know what happened there this week, and although I am shaken by it and scared, I trust that God is there and he will redeem it, even as he suffers with us. My friend John gave me a book this winter and shared one of his favorite lines: "Jesus gives God a face, and that face is streaked with tears."

Sarah has been frantically working to get information about the orphanage and the babies, and found out yesterday that only one baby died because his oxygen was cut off. All the Sisters and the rest of the babies were spared. Even the orphanage is still standing. Something to be thankful for in the midst of this sadness.

But this is especially difficult because I've seen the poverty and corruption of Haiti. It's frustrating to see a place where devastation is so long-standing and ingrained. How does one even begin to rebuild? They are starting from ground zero on nearly everything - political, social, economic, basic human rights infrastructures. It's daunting.

So, I ask for prayers. For the people of Haiti, those who are responding right now and those who will continue to help. And today, especially, for the children.

this is actually going to be on mtv

I didn't think I would ever want to watch a show on MTV ever again. Then my friend David posted this on Twitter, and who knows, I might tune in:

The Buried Life

Happy 2010!