The world is still hungry

This article was a good reminder to my pregnant, nauseous, sprained-ankle self (pathetic but true) - the U.S. may be out of its recession, but one-sixth of the world is still habitually hungry:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090916/wl_nm/us_food_wfp.

Life Keeps A-Rollin'

Sounds like a title to a Lynyrd Skynyrd song, right? But that's the only way to describe how I've been feeling about OYWO these past weeks! Before I began, I had thought through many of the ramifications of no coke, coffee or chocolate for a year: a summer without Slurpees, a fall without mochas, a Christmas without 7-layer or rum-ball cookies...
But for whatever reason, I hadn't thought of being pregnant. Yes, there is a baby in my belly now; and Lord willing, will be born around the beginning of February! This is not a complete surprise, we had planned on having more kids. But the surprise is how I COMPLETELY DID NOT CONSIDER being preggers without a little caffienated goodness to ease my queasy stomach. It just hadn't crossed my mind. That was probably for the best, though, since I admit there were more than a few times when I've thought "I'm pregnant - I can't possibly keep this up now!"
Now, if you've never been pregnant, or been around someone who's pregnant, or if you are a "pregnancy purist" who only eats organic carrots and homemade yogurt while with-child, you might not understand my panic. But if you are like most NORMAL pregnant women (or you've known one), you realize that growing another human being in your body warrants a piece of chocolate or sip of coffee every now and then! 200 mg (yes, now it's 100 mg) of caffeine a day is considered safe during pregnancy. FYI, 100 mg of caffeine = 2 and 1/5 cans of coke a day...
So, I'm not quitting and I'm just gonna roll with it. :) It is nice not having to count my milligrams, or worry if I've gone over the limit! I'm also hoping this caffeine-free baby will be one of those who just falls asleep in my arms as I hum, or on the rug while playing with blocks (wasn't that lucky with our first two). Just don't remind me about those first couple months of baby's life, where "a good night's sleep" doesn't exist - remember, this goes all the way until April!

On a more serious note...

...check out the recent post by Morgan, a young woman who visited a Compassion project in the Dominican Republic. The post describes her trip to a trash dump, and the people (kids included) who make their living there: http://morgan-givetolive.blogspot.com/2009/07/choice-is-ours.html.

Dear Blog,

I haven't forgotten you!!! It may seem like it, but I remember you each day. I have been wondering, though - will I forget the taste of Coke? Like Gollum, "forgetting the taste of bread", with the difference being my prrrrecious Coke becoming less consuming, instead of more?

Would I even want to forget the taste? Should I? I know you'll tell me I'm crazy, but the memories of Coke are all I have! Not to mention imagining black coffee with a pinch of sugar in the morning...just thinking about it helps settle my nauseous stomach! (more on that another day).

Well, I hope you're hanging in there, I know the blogosphere can be rough. Is Google being good to you? Has Blogger stopped messing around with your comment sign-in?? He'd better, or he won't know what hit him once I get to his IP address!

Take care, and I promise I'll be better at keeping in touch.

Friends Forever,

Jenny :)

Chocolate in the blood

While I've discovered that my first caffienated love is Coke, chocolate is a solid second. My son proved to me today that, yes, we both have a genetic predisposition towards chocolate ("my genes made me do it!"). He made sure that we dug to the bottom of the Munchkin box (leftovers from my husband's band kids' pre-parade-breakfast, we don't ever buy that junk ;) ) and retrieved for him "the black ones". That's right, my son chooses chocolate over powdered sugar and jelly-filled Munchkins - what kid does that??

This reminds me of the time my Aunt Lin took me, my sister and my cousin to see the Nutcracker when we were little girls. During intermission, like any normal kids, my sister and cousin picked out gummy bears for a snack. Did I want to miss with that fruit-flavored nonsense? Heck no. I, like my aunt, made the much more refined (well, actually weird for an eight-year-old) choice: Andes candies. Chocolate-mint goodness.

I'm telling you, it's not my fault, it's in my genes!!!

Church

Let me start by saying that in my past ten years of following Christ, I've never really been one of those people who "just loves going to church!" I'm not very social in the a.m. (especially on a weekend!), I'm super picky about music, I don't like to throw around the "Christianese" lingo...

But though I have a few legitimate and many more illegitimate concerns about how and why the churches I've attended do what they do, I know meeting with other believers on a regular basis is important.

So, that being said, you can trust me when I say that the way Compassion works through local churches is very cool. And this is not coming from some starry-eyed-preacher's-daughter! What they do makes sense, and it works. Instead of just swooping in with the screech of an American eagle, Compassion empowers the local church to serve the children in their area.

Most of the child-sponsorship funds are funnelled through the churches, who purchase food and supplies from the people in their area. Compassion also makes sure the churches receive training and other resources for working with the kids. And they are held accountable for their end of the partnership. (An interesting article on this can be found at http://blog.compassion.com/10-questions-with-jeimy-reyes/.)

Have you read the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis? It's written as a set of letters between a

high-ranking devil, Screwtape and his student, Wormwood. Screwtape is discussing Wormwood's progress on his "patient", a man who became a Christian. Screwtape basically tells the junior devil to not worry too much about the man going to church, since he will be distracted by his neighbors there that "sing out of tune, or have boots that squeak, or double-chins, or odd clothes" and that he will "quite easily believe that their religion must therefore be somehow ridiculous." Come on, if you've ever been to church, you've thought things like that, haven't you? I know I have.

But the best part, at least of that letter, is to hear Screwtape describe what the Church is really like. And he's not describing a building, but the body of Christ, all who believe in and follow Jesus: "... the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans." Well Screwtape, not today. We both know that the little congregation in Honduras, or Ethiopia, or down the street, is part of something much larger, more powerful and more meaningful than what it seems. And the lives of children around the world are eternally better because of this thing called the Church.

(You can find the book online at: http://books.google.com/books?id=HpydZ7Xl1xwC&lpg=PA81&ots=hJkV_hn42G&dq=screwtape%20letters%20church&pg=PP1)

Finally - it's here!!!

Yes, I have finally finished the "official" OYWO website: www.oneyearwithout.wordpress.com. It's been a long time coming, but I was able to do it for free, and it is worth the effort. And y'all are very special, because you chose to get in on the "ground-floor" by supporting my year without Coke! Just think, if this were the stock market, you'd be on your way to becoming millionaires! :)