Scratchin' an Itchin'

Like everything else in my scattered brain, the itch to blog comes and goes in waves.  For the last few days, I have been thinking in blog posts...  If you are now or ever have been a blogger, you know what I mean.  Thoughts about your day go through your mind in your favorite font, accompanied by photos and thoughts about your blog friends who will read it.  Since this particular itch has lasted more than a couple of days, I finally decided to scratch it!

One of the many things I have wanted to share lately is a bit of disturbing information that was passed along to me by a friend via facebook.  You know how we all jokingly refer to chocolate as a "sinful" treat?  As it turns out, that may not be too far off the mark.  I was appalled to learn that the cocoa beans which make nearly all the chocolate we eat are picked by slave labor in West Africa, much of it child slave labor.  I will not go into all the gory details here, but please, please go to this link to read more.

Now, you should know that I am a severe chocoholic.  I was glad to find out that most organic chocolate is not tainted, and there is Fair Trade chocolate out there as well.  I have to admit though, that I am having a hard time setting my own boundaries in this issue.  As I pulled away from Starbucks yesterday sipping on my toffee mocha, I realized that I don't know where Starbucks gets their chocolate.  Then there are the things I buy for my kids, like chocolate chip granola bars or snack cakes with chocolate.  Where do I draw the line?  If I go with my real convictions on this, my family will certainly live a much healthier lifestyle.  I like to think my kids will be okay with it, since I have already begun to explain the situation to them, and we have added these poor kids to our daily prayer time.  Of course I am beginning to have my doubts, since on the way home from our Fall Festival last night, Grayson was munching on a Hershey bar and said, " Mmm...  I know this was made using child slaves, but it just tastes SO GOOD!"  Not my proudest parenting moment, I gotta tell ya.

Please join me in praying for these poor children, and letting the companies who use them know that this is NOT okay.