7: Coffee and Cheesecake for Breakfast

TODAY IS MAY 1ST - why all caps? - because I got to DRINK COFFEE for the first time in 30 days!  My eating challenge is done.  Bring on month 3!

I decided to celebrate the big day in style and made cheesecake yesterday so I could eat it for breakfast.  Not just any cheesecake, but my signature raspberry cheesecake made with raspberries I picked myself.  In fact I was probably picking those raspberries the day I got the call about our referral.  No joke!  I was in the raspberry patch when I got the call from Cyndi about a little boy.  It was on Father's Day.  You can read the entry here. I remember it like it was yesterday :-) 

So what was my first taste of coffee like after 30 days?  I am pretty sure the heavens parted and angels sang Hallelujah!!  It was that wonderful.  :-)  The wonderful like quadrupled a million more times due to the fact that I was up and down all night long taking care of sick kiddos.  So coffee/cheesecake breakfast began at 5 a.m. 

My hilarious friend Christie (who had to put up with my random coffee addiction confessions) wrote this message on my facebook wall and I read it this morning:
   Dear Tessy,
I have missed you so. It's been too long since I've been on your lips. I hope you find me as enjoyable as you remember. Please don't ever push me away again.
   Love,
  Coffee

This is what I wrote her, uh I mean coffee back:
  Dear Coffee,
I am so glad we are back together again. The sound of you percolating this morning brought passion to my day. As the smell of you started to filter through the kitchen I inhaled deeply as memories of our time together flashed across my mind and it made me smile. I know our time apart was difficult but the saying proves true that absence does make the heart grow fonder. You have never tasted so good upon my lips.
  Love,
  Tessy

Needless to say, my husband got jealous over my returned love note commenting that I never think of him that way.  

And before you think I have problems let me share a small paragraph Jen wrote in the book about her coffee temptations:
   I escaped narrowly by chewing gum like a quitting smoker. I should tell you that every time I’ve been in Sprouts, I’ve put my nose directly on the glass cases of bulk coffee beans and inhaled like a deranged weirdo. I mean, deeply inhaled. For at least ten seconds. Nose to the glass. The only possible way I could act more disturbing is if I ground up some beans, made a line with a razor blade, and snorted it in the middle of aisle 9.  -- Hatmaker, Jen (2011-12-19). 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess (p. 34). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.   

Sorry to throw you under the bus there Jen, but I had to make myself feel better after my husband basically accused me of cheating on him with coffee.  :-)  So for anyone thinking about embarking on this little experiment -- Just don't smell the coffee, don't do it.  It will absolutely not help.  Don't snort it either!!   

Ok quick commercial and FYI: I have been working on my blog a bit here and there... and I have added a page where you can e-mail me if you have any questions/comments or just want to say Hey!  I also added a fundraising page.  I have been getting a lot of e-mails lately concerning this so I tried to compile some of my responses into this page.  I also hope to start doing a Fundraising Feature every once in awhile on Friday from some guest writers -- so stay tuned for that!!  Ok, back to regularly scheduled program.

The project to go along with this month was to raise awareness about National Malaria Day and get 25 people to donate $10 to buy a mosquito net at Nothing But Nets.  I do believe we ended up with 26 nets pledged to be purchased!  Thank you to each of you who helped with project.  

This challenge was h.a.r.d.  In my previous post I wrote about my countless temptations and how flesh-like I felt.  I realized a lot about my eating habits.  I realized that I have a strong resistance to self denial.  I have also come out with a new thankfulness for the food/drink items I do enjoy.  I learned and experienced fasting in a way I never have before.  In this last week I made a discovery.  I realized that my new comfort food was prayer.  Instead of throwing some popcorn in the microwave to later dip in some seasoned velveeta cheese sauce I was sitting with Jesus, asking him questions listening, searching Him out.  Instead of sitting on the couch and getting lost in a TV show with a bag of Twizzlers I was writing in my journal, getting lost in worship music as "thankfulness" overflowed my heart.  

Somewhere in this past month and through this process I regained my JOY.  I have been pretty transparent on here about my struggles since returning from Africa.  It is hard to put into words but through this past month and the eating challenge I gained a new perspective.  Jenn said it well - 

     "As I reduce, He is enough. As I simplify, He is enough."

Somewhere in there the fog lifted and I realized that no matter where I am at now and no matter where He leads me in the future -- He is enough & He will be enough.  Period.

Month 3 has begun - Possessions -- Get rid of 7 items each day!!  I think I can do it.  I'll check in soon.