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.