Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Sobering Up




Hi. My name is Gina. I am a dietcokeaholic.
I was first introduced to the drug diet colas in my teens. Yes, I admit I experimented with TAB.  Longing to keep my figure in check, I sipped on the bitter, saccharine flavor of a drink long forgotten by most. Peer pressure at its best. I was a pushover. It looked so appealing in its slender bottle, but it quickly fizzled out as a choice beverage.


Then came the college years. 1982. Diet Coke arrived on the scene.  My first hit drink of the liquid drug was at a Wendy's in Statesboro, Georgia. The juicy burger, the fries, and that amazing Diet Coke... Ahhhhh! It was a love at first sip. 


Except for a brief time where I had the urge to keep a stockpile on hand for some reason, I really only drank when I was stressed, wanted to reward myself, or ate a hamburger, a pizza, or Mexican food. Which was pretty much every day!


Since January though, I have been reevaluating my eating (and drinking) habits. In early February, I read an article about Blood:Water Mission which challenged me to give up all other beverages, besides water from February 17 - April 3, keep a tab of what I would have spent, and at the end of the 40 days, donate that money to Blood:Water Mission. 


Made me think....How much money I wasted daily on something that really wasn't even good for my body at all.
And I figured if I saved $2 a day just by forgoing my daily Diet coke (on ice), then I'd save $80 in 40 days. That would be enough to provide clean water for 80 people for an entire year! How cool is that?


So here I am...been drinking water ONLY for a week now. Seven days of sobriety. Honestly, I never realized how hooked I was til I decided to give up something so simple. 


Sobering.  

5 comments:

BlueEyedYonder said...

I have decided to give up Diet Coke too. Mainly because of the artificial sweetener in it. Trying to do things a little more au naturale. It's hard and I do miss it every now and then...especially with Mexican food!! Best of luck on your Coke Fast!

Hans Georg Lundahl said...

Was just reading about a sweetener on FB. Good thing to give up, I think.

altonwoods said...

"Hello Gina" I enjoyed your writing,hang in there! And remember, we can't fix what we don't acknowledge!...lol

Anonymous said...

How To Get Saved and Go To Heaven
If you died today, are you 100% sure you would go to Heaven ?

The Bible says in I John 5:13, that we can KNOW we are saved eternally and going to Heaven.

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." I John 5:13

1. First, you must realize that you are a sinner.

The Bible says in Romans 3:23, that everyone is a sinner.

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23

2. You must realize what yours sins earn you.

The Bible tells us the penalty for our sin in the first part of Romans 6:23

"For the wages of sin is death;" Romans 6:23a

Because we sin, we earn wages just like when we earn wages for working. Our wages for our sins is death. Because we sin, we deserve to die.

But that's not all, because we sin, we deserve to die a second death as well ...

"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." Revelation 20:14

Because of our sins, we also deserve to die the second death: to be cast into the Lake of Fire ( Hell ).

3. Jesus paid the price.

God wants us to go to Heaven, so He sent His only begotten Son to die for us on the cross, so we can go to Heaven !

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

4. What must I do to be saved ?

God only asks one thing of us to be saved.

"And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16:31

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Romans 10:9

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Romans 10:13

If you believe that Jesus died for you and rose again so that you can be saved, and you simply ask Jesus to save you, He will :)

I just wanted to make sure you knew 100% sure :D

God bless you and your family !

Alyssa Milton said...

Gina, thanks so much for the encouraging story! Know that all of us here at Blood:Water Mission are joining you in your journey!