Time out, to look at Where we're at...how we're doing

     Here are some things I'm noticing about our life in the midst of 10for10for10:

1.  I spend more time in the kitchen, because I am making bread or peeling potatoes more than usual.  This doesn't seem like a big big deal.  I notice there are also more large bowls to wash, too.

2.  I'm spending time on the computer typing more than usual. 

3.  The family is snacking less than before.  The collective conscience has been awakened about taking undesignated food.

4.  I notice more of the small expenditures then EVER before, such as a splash of milk in tea, a blurp of oil in the pan, a cup of flour to thicken the gravy...all these things eventually do add up, but I've never counted them into the cost of a meal before, for sure.

5.  My stomach comes to the end of my meals, and then must wait for gratification until the next food time.  No more grazing. 

6.  We think more about Haiti.  Every time we feel hungry, we think of our friend, the Dr. who just came back from there, who told us that the patients at the hospital he visited get only one meal a day, and that meal comes whenever the World Vision truck arrives with rice and beans.  Even the staff only gets that one meal, unless they packed granola bars or other yummies from America in their suitcases and haven't had them stolen.
   
One meal a day!  And no hope of more than that for tomorrow, next week, or next year.  I am seeing us for the privileged people we are.  Even in the midst of this one dollar-a-day eating we are doing, we have variety, variety, variety.  I can choose food groups, I can be health-minded. 

We pray more for the people of Haiti.  We are more thankful people.  Our heightened awareness of food, this most basic of human needs, helps keep us close to God when we are careful to remember, "Give us this day our daily bread."
And that helps us focus on, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

7.  I have to be careful to listen to my family about their food needs.  Remembering that this is not actually a "diet," I have to make sure my husband and children feel supplied with enough to meet their needs every day.  10 weeks on a project is so long that really I must not make it miserable in any way.  Sustainable is the concept I am reaching for here.  That is precisely why I chose a long project.  (plus, it sounded catchy: 10for10for10)  Sustainable, cheap, healthy eating.  Really cheap.

8.  As I focus on my 10for10for10 project, I must keep from obsessing about it, and keep up with all the many other tasks of my life.  Especially relationships.  The family won't like my project if it takes me away from them.  (or if it makes it so they can never get a turn on the computer, either)

9.  I have to resist the urge to fudge or lie about how much of anything I am using.  I would be only damaging my own integrity, really, because nobody else actually cares if I go over my budget or not.  If I go over, why not admit it?  Cheating is a bad, insidious, ugly habit.  Even if the truth hurts, integrity does not.  So, I am preaching to myself, too. This project is just another chance to use it or lose it, as they say.