one day without shoes

i received a pair of toms shoes for christmas and i really like them. i keep checking their site just to browse the shoes and hope to get another pair sometime. the reason i like them is because they are a business like many other businesses, but they are very vocal about their humanitarian efforts. i know they are not a Christian organization but they are nevertheless doing good things. kids need shoes and every year TOMS hosts a day without shoes to raise awareness of what it would be like to live without shoes. the day is april 8th which is a thursday and i encourage you to go all, part, or even five minutes without shoes. i am thinking about "hosting" a walk that day, but not sure. would that be something you would be interested in, even if it was mostly just people we know? leave a comment and let me know if you are going without shoes that day. click on the post title for more info.

• In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to school, clean water and to seek medical help.
• Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.
• Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.
• In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.
• Podoconiosis is 100% preventable with basic foot hygiene and wearing shoes.

"For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, 'You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.'"

deuteronomy 15.11 esv

eat or drink?

lately i have been cooking dinner four nights a week (sometimes friday too.) it has been good to be consistent and i am learning a lot more about cooking and enjoying it a bit more too. the recipes i have been using are more "complex" than what i cooked even last year. so the other night pete says, "i think i want something normal to eat for dinner soon" that was quickly followed by, "but thank you for making dinner all the time." anyway, he just wanted some spaghetti with meat sauce. so tonight i made noodles (not spaghetti, we were out) and sauce with meat and parmesan cheese. it was pretty good and it only took about 20 minutes so it was nice.

pete and i also decided that we need to eat better. if i go to the gym everyday but eat crappy the rest of the time then my efforts will be in vain and pete feels like crap when he eats crap. so we made new "rules." we are starting out small. 1. make healthy choices most of the time 2. one sweet type thing a day - we eat a lot of sugar i think. so those are the rules and that got me thinking of what i eat that is sweet. usually i will have about one or two candy bar treats a week (i buy them on my weekly grocery trip, not good.) but the rest of the time i drink my sugar. either in soda, usually on weekends, or fancy coffee drinks. so i have limited myself to one soda and one coffee latte type drink a week - also to use skim and sugar free when i can. hopefully that will help in my quest to lose 5 more pounds by june and help us set good examples once jane starts eating the same food as us.

so my question for you, do you eat or drink your calories when you indulge?