Today Is: 25 in Change: Day 4

"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

 "The Lord calls us not only to leave the status quo, but also to take that calling seriously by following him." --David McCasland

Day 4 I find myself on a crowded flight out to Boston, MA for a special trip to visit my newest and most favorite nephew (my sister keeps reminding me, he's my only nephew... technicalities I say) As I pack my bags, I also grudgingly pack my rice and beans, prepping for morning and afternoon meals. After I have made it through security and settled in at my gate, I begin to dig into my morning feast. One bite and I'm not only totally unsatisfied but I find myself resisting with everything that I have... Resisting this meal, resisting this change, resisting this feeling of anger. In my state of resistance I close the lid, slide the meal back into my bag, and turn my mind to other issues closing off my hungry state. It isn't until we are midway through the flight that I am reminded of this challenge. I awake from my slumber to see the man across the aisle enjoying a sandwich, while those in front of me discuss chips or chocolate. My sudden gut reaction is, I'm so hungry, and then it turns to anger, which might have stemmed from jealousy. These past four days have not only messed with my stomach but also with my mind; terribly in some ways, but others are good. This challenge has made me so much more aware of the gifts that we are given by the choices we have to food, portions, and choice in general. As I listen to people discussing food like it's a right, I become aware of how I have treated food like this as well. Eating what I want, when I want it. After I arrive at my sisters house, she cooks me the best meal of rice and beans that I have had yet, and she even shares in this meal with me. (If she didn't have to feed her newborn son, she would be partaking in this challenge while I was out here) I know that the rice cooker helped the delightfulness of this meal but sharing in this with my dear sister also made the meal the best I've had yet. Being out in Boston seemed to be just what I needed to help keep my mind off of the hunger pains; that was until the family and I went out to dinner last night to a deliciously looking and smelling Italian restaurant. As we sat down to dinner, I was overwhelmed with guilt and sadness... Guilt that I was not ordering, guilt that my family felt guilty eating in front of me, and saddened that I could not partake in any of the fantastic food that lay before me. Our waiter playfully kept questioning why I was not eating anything, and my Dad told him about 25 in Change. "Wow! That's so admirable" he said in his Italian accent. "If you make it through the 25 days, you come back here and I'll pay for your meal" he said. He later when on to tell us that he has two young children of his own and he cannot imagine... He was so supportive of the cause and reminded me, yet once again, why I am fighting for this cause. For all those children all over the world who are fighting for the live's as they fight world hunger! As we were leaving the restaurant he said, 'So I'll see you back here in 25 days?' 'You'll see me back and you'll owe me dinner,' I responded, 'I am going to make it through the 25 days for the children, for the cause, and for the 24 other advocates who fight alongside me!'

Want to get involved? www.25inchange.org

"My mission is to inspire and be inspired. Inspiration is the word of my mission... On my best days, inspiration expresses itself through all my choices." -- Mary Anne Radmacher Live Boldly