IN THE WORDS OF JAMES BROWN ...

"I feel GOOD ... I knew that I would."

I never confided in anyone except Melissa, but over the last six months a fear began to take hold in my mind that I might be experiencing honest-to-goodness depression: I was tired ALL THE TIME. I just wanted to sleep. I would doze at my school desk after my lunch and then sleep away half of my prep period. Furthermore, I had to force myself to do things - even things that should have been very enjoyable. And I was gaining weight: about ten pounds over the course of six weeks. (Between Thanksgiving and Christmas ... so I was holding out hope that it was normal.) I felt BLAH emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Maybe I needed counseling. Or even medication.

Then Christmas break came and the only thing to excite me was the prospect of daily naps in my own bed. I can't pinpoint the genesis of my turning point except to say that Samuel (at 14) was impressing me with his willpower. He had given up extra sugar some time last spring after studying some of the effects in his health class with Mrs. Erika at Cowman. He no longer drank sodas of any kind and typically passed on candy. When I asked him how he managed to generate the willpower, especially around Christmas, he replied that he didn't need willpower. He had simply discovered that sugar made him feel bad. So he avoided it.

Thus, I decided that I should do a little experiment on my own body ... AFTER Christmas. (Sugar cookies are a particular weakness.)

So one day early in the new year, I gave up any sugar outside of fresh fruits. Colas, cakes, cookies, candy, and even granola bars were off limits each day from morning until after dinner.

I'm telling you, I could hardly believe how much better I felt. Instantaneously. No more nap times at school and my head felt clear again. With such dramatic results, I decided to spend a week avoiding sugar 24/7 and found I was no longer achy when I got out of bed in the morning. Now I am waking up before my 5:00 alarm even has the chance to sound - feeding the dogs, turning on the generator, starting the coffee, working out for a half hour, and still having time for prayer and Scripture before making breakfast.

Going forward, I plan to indulge my sweet tooth OCCASIONALLY on the weekends but continue to avoid processed sugar during the work week. And as Samuel testified, it isn't really requiring extra willpower because I can't imagine going backwards to how I felt before.

God willing, I will be updating the blog more often again now.

In other news, here are a couple of other big developments in our lives right now:

1) Ginger had her babies on January 2nd. SEVEN puppies. The whole family witnessed the miracle of birth - in all its grossness. Fortunately, Ginger has proven to be a good mother and all the puppies are flourishing. They double in size each day while we are at school. Their eyes are now open and they are starting to find their legs. Before long, their box won't contain them, but for now, they are more joy than work for us.

2) On a sadder note, all of Haiti is struggling under a fuel shortage - both gas and diesel are available only sporadically. Our local gas station looked like this all day:

If a gas station here DOES receive a shipment, the tightly packed lines of cars, motorcycles and pedestrians lugging red cans fan out a hundred feet in all directions from the pumps. I've done some reading on the circumstances behind the shortage and, like most things here, it's complicated. I suppose it could be fixed soon (band-aid style) or it could stretch on and reignite recent tensions.

We were able to secure two-weeks worth of diesel fuel yesterday for our generator at home, so we are no longer concerned about losing use of fans, fridges and freezers anytime soon, but Cowman's electricity comes from Radio 4VEH's generator next door and there's no guarantee it has fuel stockpiled to any degree. Nor is it clear how soon some parents might find it difficult to get their students to school each day. The local electric company, EDH, has been producing even less power than normal recently and will likely diminish their output even further. Cell service and internet providers are also dependent on diesel for generators to continue operation. And food prices are bound to go up since so much of what's available here locally is driven to Cap Haitien from the Dominican Republic.

In short, there's potential for a lot of inconvenience, fear and suffering. We appreciate so much the prayers lifted on behalf of our family, friends, the school and all of Haiti. 

3) This coming week is Finals Week for our high school students. We hope the fuel shortage won't add to the pressure of these end-of-semester tests. I am certain our three oldest, Caleb, Hannah, and Samuel, would appreciate your prayers for them and their classmates.

Coming up: Early in February our 6th grade through 12th grade students will be getting away from school for a four day spiritual retreat at a campground on the beach just north of Port-au-Prince. We are so excited about this opportunity and look forward to seeing what the Lord does in our lives during this time.


I will close with some pictures from my run yesterday morning. You can surely see why I want to maintain the energy necessary to get out and about in this gorgeous neighborhood: