Silly me. I committed to a serious undertaking yesterday, putting you folks in charge of my life for the next 39 days!!! So far I’ve agreed to not drink alcohol (On a SATURDAY!!), to follow the speed limit, to not worry, to not intake any sugar TODAY, and a whole bunch of other hard to follow ones. ***Dramatic pose: back of my hand across my forehead with my eyes closed and neck exposed***

10:14 am. So, like I said, today is no sugar. This is a real challenge. I’ve been worried about it ever since I committed. But the sweet lady I’m fasting it for is so worth it. She’s an angel, I’m telling you. She’s been so helpful and sweet to me and I just pray that the Lord blesses her threefold. She has special prayers concerning her family, which I will not divulge, but I pray for God’s wisdom to be cast upon her sister. And I pray for guidance for her niece, who is facing an uphill battle. I pray that the parties involved can discern right from wrong and that they open their minds to understand and follow Your will. I pray for peace for my dear friend, and knowledge that she lays firmly in Your supportive hands, Lord. I pray for encouraging and exacting words to roll from her tongue and power to be steadfast in her decisions. Please clothe her in Your armor and prepare her for a resolution. Give her strength, Lord. Make her confident in all aspects of her life. She is beautiful inside and out. I also pray that she will soon find herself settled in a new house of worship. I pray that you will give her husband wisdom and that they will work together to find a comfortable and enriching church home, following you. Bless her abundantly, Lord, for she does Your work daily, and belief shines out of her eyes and through her brilliant smile.

Now. About this sugar. It’s hard to give up. I was so relieved to find there is no sugar in my wheat bread, Duke’s mayonnaise, or Food City brand bacon. So at least I could have a bacon tomato sandwich. I had already resigned myself to cantaloupe and hard boiled eggs for breakfast, so that was a real treat. Although I AM concerned about lunch. And supper. And obviously, ice cream is out. I already did without any coffee drinks for breakfast. So I’m pretty sleepy. I wonder how all the other Lent observers are doing with what they’re giving up. IT’S ONLY THE SECOND DAY.

Looking at lunch options, this is going to be super difficult. I was thinking I could do Popeye’s chicken. I always want their cole slaw, but it contains sugar. And what good is spicy chicken if you can’t wash it down with their sweet tea? So that’s out. Looks like I’ll be eating salad with some kind of vinaigrette dressing, or maybe a meat/ cracker/cheese tray.

Have I mentioned how much I love coffee-flavored sugar milk?

AND MOUNTAIN DEW????

It’s 11:36. I’m never gonna make it.

4:12 has found me fretting about supper. I finally ate at 1:30, some antipasto and grapes and melon. I had a little cheese and crackers- turns out you gotta be careful with crackers, Club crackers have a little sugar, as does Ranch dressing. I was going to go to Popeye’s for some chicken and cole slaw, but what good is spicy chicken if you can’t wash it down with sweet tea? So that will have to wait for another day. I don’t think I’m going to be able to snack on popcorn tonight, I’m reasonably sure Kettle Corn has artificial sugar added to enrich flavor.

Every time I think about what I can eat, or not eat, I remember why I’m doing this and stop and pray for my friend. I’ve thought of her often, and messaged her with an update a little bit ago. She told me my prayers were working, because she had gotten a text from a lady she had known since she was little that she has attended church with for decades. Her heart had been hurting because she had not heard from this individual since she left the church. More prayers for my sweet friend and her burdened heart.

It was slim pickin’s for supper, indeed. Chicken and stars have sugar. Chinese food is loaded. I was going to fix an omelet and hash browns but I’d forgot to bring home my tomatoes and salsa has sugar. I scoped out my kettle corn and noted it showed 0% sugar but listed a product called sucralose, which sounded suspiciously like sugar. Turns out it’s an artificial sugar, like Splenda or Sweet-n-low, which I loathe, so I opted out. It felt like cheating. I had some cantaloupe, corn chips, and questionable guacamole. I was still hungry so a little later I fixed up a baked potato with salt, pepper, butter, and cheese. Did you know that there is sugar in sour cream and bacon bits?!?! Sugar is in EVERYTHING.

Today was hard. However, it is certainly raising my awareness of those who can’t have certain things. And it caused me to spend more time in prayer for my dear sweet friend. And that’s what it is all about.