We WANT to Honor God

We WANT to honor God

Christians in general want to honor God, their Creator. And by Christians, I mean followers of Christ. There are many who claim to be Christian who show no sign of being Christ-like. So, let’s start over…

Followers of Christ want to honor their God.

We prepare a tithe – a monetary offering – to give to our God, usually placing it in the offering plate of our place of worship.

We daily set aside time to spend with our God, reading his Word and praying. As we mature spiritually, we learn to understand the need for sharing intimate time with our God.

We honor our God by being willing to set aside what we’re doing to help someone in need.

We honor our God with our words, keeping them kind rather than harsh. We don’t curse. We don’t humiliate. We strive to build up, not tear down.

We know how to extend grace (oft times we need God’s power to do so).

But do we honor God with our food choices? At least in this country, that seems very difficult – if not impossible – to do.

So many of us struggle with our health: autoimmune diseases, intestinal disorders, cancers, depression, neurological (ADHD and OCD), emphysema and other skin disorders. Serious health issues are common place. A stash of prescription medicines in the home is common place, and expected. Medical tests are common place and expected, sometimes forced. Damaging flu vaccines are pushed on us, forced on medical staff, and atrociously proclaimed as safe and helpful.

Let me add here that I’m not preaching at others, I’m also talking to myself. I’ve been looking at how I honor God – or not – with food choices.

Yes, there are things I can’t eat. Wheat and most milk products cause problems, and if I avoid them I can stay away from doctors. Since that’s become a die-hard goal of mine, I’m willing. But there are other choices I – at home at least – choose to stay away from. You’ve heard about the damaging effects of high fructose corn syrup, aspartame (diet pop, etc.), MSG, and by now you may even have heard reports on the damaging effects of soy (unfermented soy) which is included on many an ingredient list in your kitchen and is in almost all dressings and mayonnaises. We limit our sugars and grains, but going completely carb-free isn’t the wisest choice for health.

I like to look at things logically. God gave us a vast amount of food choices, and it seems logical to me that he means for us to enjoy them, and use them wisely.

There are other things we’ve learned lately as a culture. An improper balance of omega-3 and omega-6 causes inflammation and illness. An improper balance of alkalizing foods and non-alkalizing foods causes inflammation and illness.

So logically I want to increase omega-3s and alkalizing foods in my diet. Or another way to work at it, to eat more anti-inflammatory foods.

If I could convince the people I care about to change just TWO things in their diets, it would be to:

1) learn what healing fats are and use them properly,

2) somehow get yourself unaddicted to the diet drinks!!!! (And sweet drinks in general.)

(Ask God; he has the power to get you there, especially if you’re genuinely wanting to honor him with your food choices.)

So, honoring God. How do we honor God with our food choices?

Way too often we go at food with a devil-may-care attitude.

“This may kill me, but it tastes so good, so – I don’t care!”

Is that honoring God? Are we honoring God when our poor health keeps us bound in some form or another – sometimes literally – so that we are limited in how much of ourselves we can offer him? When we’re constantly scheduling medical appointments, we limit our calendars for being free to serve him.

I want to try to write a prayer…

So here goes…

Oh Father, you are God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. You have made us in your image and you desire to spend time with us, you long for our worship. There are so many ways to worship you, Lord. Honoring you with our choices is a form of worship. Enable us and empower us to honor you – to worship you – with our food choices. There are so many false messages about what is good for us. Open the eyes of your people to see the truth, to care about how we treat our bodies and our minds. I love you, Lord, and I worship you with my words; I lift my hands to you in song and praise, worshiping you. Help me, empower me, to worship you with my food choices.

Worship

I will often focus on attributes of God as a form of prayerful meditation.
Here are a few:

Omniscient ● Omnipotent ● Omnipresent ● Holy ● Sovereign

● Merciful ● Righteous ● Forgiving Love ● My Authority

~ ~ ~

For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.  

–1 John 5:4

~ ~ ~

For further study:

This fat can be life-changing for those who struggle with health, IF you can get past your culturally cultivated fear of saturated fat:

http://180degreehealth.com/2007/10/spotlight-on-coconut-oil

http://180degreehealth.com/2010/11/refined-coconut-oil

I personally use the expeller-pressed coconut oil – in cooking, and also as a nightly supplement for digestive health.

Follow-up to Our Three-Week Diet - or - Kids’ Eating Habits Can Change

My last blog told about our three-week weight-loss diet we were starting. It didn’t go as great as we would have liked. Gene lost 10 pounds, I lost just five. But we came out of it with some changes. We liked having our meals laid out week by week, it made grocery shopping so much simpler, and we both knew by looking at the week’s list what to prepare for any given meal. It’s not easy each week to take time to sit down and plan, but eventually when we have about four weeks planned that we enjoy, we’ll just repeat them. We’d only done one week so far, then my husband got a tooth infection and needed a root canal. No planning happened then. And then we had vacation. Now it’s time to spend time laying out a few weeks of menu-planning.

Another thing the diet did for us…

That diet included a lot of avocados – a very nutritious fruit. We want to keep that up. And on that same note, I want to incorporate chia seeds into meals. I have no trouble just taking a handful of seeds and swallowing them with water (like itty bitty pills). But Gene won’t do that, so I’ll need to look at my meals once they’re laid out and see where I can toss them in. (Why chia seeds? They’re an omega-3 food, and ever since I started using them as a supplement over a year ago, I ceased having eczema-like patches on my hands.)

We want to continue the raw fruits and vegetables. Even medical experts will tell you that if you want to avoid cancer, eat vegetables. I know a couple of people (I know there are many more) who just don’t like vegetables. One is my daughter. We didn’t have a lot of money when she was young, so sadly we didn’t have veggies at our table often. Plus I didn’t know how crucial it was so I don’t know if we would have had them anyway.

The veggies I ate as a child were corn and green beans. Growing up I much preferred the meat and potatoes, and the pizza and chips, and the PB&J and chocolate milk.

So my great apologies to my children!!

My advice to new parents: teach your children a different normal than what you grew up with. If it’s normal, that’s the heritage they’ll love.

Let me tell you a story…

When my second grandchild was born, he had serious digestive and *neurological issues. My daughter decided to take the very hard road and learn the difficult lessons of healing with food. By the time her third child was born, she was ready to put all three of them on what’s called the GAPS Diet. It was torture, for her and the grandparents. To get children to eat veggies when they’re not used to eating veggies, it sometimes seems as though you’re starving them. But in hindsight it was good for all of them. For healing, yes. But now they ALL eat raw veggies, and yes, they eat culturally normal food now – pizza, donuts, candy. But they’ll eat veggies too. My oldest grandchild, who in some regards had the most difficult journey of giving up those sweets and pops he had been enjoying, now loves “crunchy” vegetables. (And by hard journey, I mean I witnessed his anger through it. He wanted his sweets! Desperately!) When he’s at Grandma’s, and I list an upcoming meal, and if veggies are on the list, he’s all over it! The last time he said that relatively new cultural line, “You had me at veggies.” Kids’ eating habits CAN change. So can adults’.

*I’d like to mention here at the end in case someone happens upon this story who has a child with the same issues.

The neurological issue my second grandchild dealt with was speech apraxia. He couldn’t make consonant sounds. He’d look at you and “talk” about something very important to him, but nothing came. It was all vowel-like sounds – he’d hold his mouth open and never close it as he formed (or didn’t form) words. He didn’t seem to even notice the sounds that were missing – he was young, but he sometimes seemed frustrated that we didn’t understand him. The diagnosis of speech apraxia made so much sense. A few days after starting the GAPS diet, the proper sounds began to come through. It took time and work, but you should see him now. I just gaze in wonder at him and his beautiful nature and personality. There are so many horror stories of children with speech apraxia, and other neurological issues, whose parents never hear that healing the gut is so powerful for physical and neurological healing. And even if they hear it, it doesn’t make sense to them. How can diet affect the mind?

Next blog: “Honoring God”

Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones. (Proverbs 3:7-8)

Losing Unwanted Pounds...I Hope

This is my husband making breakfast. My Nigerian apron adds a nice touch.

We’re on Day 3 of what’s called the Beyond Diet Edge 21 day program. Theoretically we can lose 21 pounds in 21 days. So far so good; I’m down three pounds! Wanna know what I love about this weight loss program? Everything is spelled out! I don’t have to think about meals or menus or the best way to exercise. It’s A-B-C ready – all organized in a ring binder. The meals are simple and quick to prepare. I feel so organized.

When we shopped for our first week, the cart kept filling up with produce. That sounds nice as far as nutrition goes, but it was the highest bill we’ve had in a while. Since the program is set for one, and some meals seem to be made for more than one, I’m hoping that some of this food is going to last into the second week.

Each day we’re supposed to eat five times. It can be a bit difficult, especially on Sundays. That’s today. My preacher husband didn't think he should step down from the pulpit to go grab his mid-morning snack. And leaving the sanctuary just for a snack didn’t seem like a very good idea for his wife to do, either. J

Also, since it’s Sunday, we didn’t get to exercise, but we should have time this evening.

Here’s a sample of a day’s menu/plan:

Week 1 / Day 1

MEALS

7-8am: Breakfast Bake

10-11am: 1 oz Raw Almonds, Small Apple

1-2pm: Simple Side Salad with Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing topped with 4 oz of Cooked Chicken/Turkey/Fish
4-5pm: 1 cup Kale Chips with 2 Hard Boiled Eggs
7-8pm: Veggie Stew

EXERCISE

Perform Warm-up first

A - Squat Push Press

A - Table Top

A - Bridge - Back on Ball

A - Push Up

A - Floor Dips or

A - Chair Dips

A - Side Crunch

A - Wall T's

A - Swiss Ball W's

A - Cobra on Swiss Ball

A - Planks

If you could have seen us trying these new (for us) exercises, I'm guessing you would have had a good laugh. Especially when we tried to balance on the gigantic exercise ball - a first for us. Let's hope it gets easier.

______________________________________________________

But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will 

rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with 

joy like calves let out to pasture. (Malachi 4:2)

Depression

I love to eat

Many people think I’ve given up eating good food to be healthy. That’s far from the truth. It’s a matter of learning about food and types of foods and going against the cultural teachings on fats and salts and sugars.

We had one child on medication for depression for several years, and another one talking about going to a doctor for similar concerns. Then the knowledge of food began to come upon our family. The one child was able to get off the medicine, the other one never had to start.  The healing journey has been life-changing for all of us and it has filtered into their own families. It’s a legacy I’m proud of and very thankful for.

Enjoy eating? Of course! I would venture to say that I will enjoy tasty food longer than a person I know who is unwilling to look at food as the answer. The pills he/she is taking will cause damage, which will lead he/she to the doctor with more problems, which will result in more medications for other problems, which will cause more problems…you get the idea. I’ve noticed that multiple medications tend to take away the taste buds.

A new way to practice medicine

I have recently noticed a new term as I surf the cyber world: functional medicine. It’s so encouraging to see such a natural way of healing entering into the medical world.

“Functional medicine addresses the underlying causes of disease, using a systems-oriented approach and engaging both patient and practitioner in a therapeutic partnership. It is an evolution in the practice of medicine that better addresses the healthcare needs of the 21st century.”  [www.functionalmedicine.org] (They have a page on their site where you can search for a practitioner in your area.)

If you know anyone on antidepressants, I really hope you’ll check out this link:

http://michaelruscio.blogspot.com/2012/10/is-depression-causing-damage-to-your.html

And here’s another link. A doctor’s “functional medicine” blog: http://drtracymcalvanah.blogspot.com/2011/10/depression-linked-with-bad-digestion.html

In a nutshell

If you struggle from depression, you likely need more omega 3s in your diet, and good healing fats – plenty of them. Coconut oil, palm oil/shortening, meat fats. I also use butter. Supermarket butter is not a healing fat, but the grass-fed variety is quite expensive, so I settle for butter purchased from a Milk Producers Association in Michigan. I want to start making my own.  

The dangerous fats are the processed oils in the supermarket. They’re rancid before they ever get to the store. The manufactures do a good job of hiding the rancid odors. Canola oil is a prime example of bad oil marketed as good. [http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/the-great-con-ola]

One more link:

http://www.empoweredsustenance.com/four-traditional-fats-you-need-in-your-kitchen/

Mental health

I hope you can find your way to mental health. I hope you WANT to find your way to mental health. I spent years in a mental fog, living mostly in a state of melancholy. I treasure my good mental health now; it’s usually the first thing I list when I’m asked to write down what I’m most thankful for.

Nip it in the Bud - Right Away

Would you believe me if I told you that I have a very cheap, very easy way, to ward off a cold? It has worked 100% of the time for a few years now, for me and my husband, when we catch the cold in time.

I know…there are products marketed for that, some with good natural ingredients. But this is dirt cheap, and if you’ve never heard of it, will make absolutely no sense.

The only time it failed was one Wednesday last winter. I had just gotten to work and noticed that I was in the process of catching a cold. I thought, “RATS! I should run home and nip this in the bud.” But I chose to wait it out and take care of it in the evening. Twelve hours later I did my little treatment, and proceeded to suffer from a cold for a full seven days.

That was hopefully the last time.

So in my experience, it will not HEAL a cold, but based on my experiences, it most definitely will ward off a cold.

As I have struggled to increase my immunity, I would way-too-often feel the onset of a cold, so I would use this stuff often. It’s harmless, so I wasn’t worried about it. And it faithfully kept all cold activity at bay.

I’m now at a good place. I haven’t felt a cold coming on in some time, but I still use it occasionally, especially if I know I’ve been with someone who is sick.

Some websites will say it wards off colds AND flus.

I learned about it a number of years ago when I was suffering from a three-week stent of some pretty severe diarrhea. I’d reached a point of desperation and did some serious searching on the internet. I found this unusual information and started to implement it. It didn’t seem to help then, but whatever I had was full blown. For that problem, I found relief when I limited my food to homemade broth and bananas.

But the information I learned led me to prepare for the next time I felt a cold or flu coming on.

This is a far cry from my earlier days – childhood/young adult. Back then, when I’d catch something it would inevitably turn into an infection,

                                       which led me to a doctor,

                                                                   which led me to antibiotics.

Knowledge is power, and I now know how to manage colds and flus, or rather how to prevent them – which is better yet. My office and my home are equipped with this very simple arsenal of…

hydrogen peroxide.

Initially I was dripping it in my ear with a dropper. But if you have any damage at all on your eardrum it can feel painful. Besides it’s inconvenient.

Not only do I like cheap, I like simple.

As you can see in the photo, I saturate a cotton swab, insert it in the ear (PLEASE BE CAREFUL NOT TO INSERT TOO FAR!). I do both ears (never double dip), pitch the cotton swab, and go on my way. I usually feel the need to administer this for two or three days, once in the morning and once in the evening.

Is it nuts, wacko? Maybe. But it’s harmless and works like magic. I’m including a few links with additional information if you don’t want to take my word for it. And you never should. I have no initials after my name, I just do my own learning.

Be forewarned, that bacteria builds up in your ears, and peroxide fights bacteria. So the first time you use it, you may hear and feel the snap, crackle sounds that will likely go on. The first time I did it was quite wild. Now I barely notice it.

I’m convinced it’s safe for babies and children. My now-grown son wouldn’t have had all those bronchial infections if I’d known then what I know now.

Ready to try something different that’s not toxic to the system?

Peroxide Links:

http://www.naturalnews.com/025125_hydrogen_peroxide_flu.html

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/03/13/hydrogen-peroxide-part-one.aspx

http://www.purestcolloids.com/no-cold.php

http://otcguide.blogspot.com/2012/08/hydrogen-peroxide-to-fight-colds-and-flu.html

My Menu, My Guideline

I think I’ve finally found something that may work for me, for a while anyway. Putting together that one-week menu (the previous blog) has kept me away from dessert foods all week. So I prepared for another week. 

For me this is SO cool! 

What works is I can schedule in some grains and the occasional dessert (and then look forward to it!), rather than as before, I would realize in hind-site that, ‘hey, we’re eating way too many grains and sugars and getting bigger guts.’

Due to some crazy moments on some days, we didn’t get to follow the first menu perfectly, but just like a budget, it’s a good guideline to work with even if you can’t stick with it exactly.

In case you’re interested here’s my next week’s menu, and if our Sunday guests visit this blog, you may want to scroll down to the bottom for the menu:

MONDAY

Breakfast – waffles, eggs and bacon (add chia in some form, maybe with a little blueberry dish on the side)

Lunch – hamburger, sweet potatoes and asparagus

Dinner – chicken breast & salad (Romaine, radish, jicama, avocado, cheese, seeds/nuts)

Evening Snack – fruit/yogurt

TUESDAY

Breakfast – oatmeal, chia seeds, and fruit

Lunch – salad (bok choy, cucumber, red pepper, greens, chia, cheese)

Dinner – fish, red potatoes, red pepper, cucumber

Evening Snack – fruit/yogurt

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast – skillet fry (eggs, bacon, onion, mushrooms, cheese)

Lunch – sirloin, cabbage, cauliflower, quinoa stir fry

Dinner – salmon, carrots/peas with butter, peach soup

Evening Snack – apples/peanut butter

THURSDAY

Breakfast – Omelets and cheese

Lunch – chicken and lentils with biscuits

Dinner – lamb and brown rice curry

Evening Snack – cheese/nuts

FRIDAY

Breakfast – smoothies (add chia seeds and egg yolks)

Lunch – salad (greens, cucumbers, cashews)

Dinner – chicken thighs and California blend

We’re having company for Sunday lunch and several in the group eat low carb. So I’ve decided to make:

-a roast or sirloin steaks)
-with mushroom sauce (on the side in case low-carb crew doesn’t want the arrowroot starch I use for thickening)
-mashed potatoes (for the carb eaters)
-mashed cauliflower
-a veggie tray of cucumber slices, red pepper slices and carrot sticks
-with artichoke/spinach dip
-gluten free angel food cake
-with chocolate/raw honey/butter sauce (for the carb eaters of course) (By Sunday I will have stayed away from desserts for two weeks…I’m really looking forward to that dessert. I hope there aren’t any leftovers.)

Now that this is posted online, it's highly likely the very things I will be serving.  :)

(Note to self: If you post it, you’ll likely do it.)

Happy, healthy eating to you!

Cindy

 _________________________________________________

O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you restored my health. (Psalm 30:2)

Practice What You Preach!

INTRODUCTION 

I haven’t blogged in a while, so if we haven't yet met, and you’re interested, there’s more about me at the end this post.

Hello again! My name is Cindy and this is my second go-around of blogging. I’m not likely to get a large following. I’m in it for my own accountability. If I “state” it, I’m likely to do it. I posted on Facebook last month that I would only eat one plate of food at our Thanksgiving dinner and have only one piece of pie for dessert. I’d never accomplished that before, but stating it online for some reason gave me the ability to follow my self-made holiday rules. Since that seemed to work for me, I decided that posting blogs online might enable me to:

PRACTICE WHAT I PREACH!

I’m often telling people who struggle, as I watch them eat, that what they’re eating is highly inflammatory, hoping they’ll look at the part they play in their own health problems.

Well, now I’m having some health problems.

For the past few months I’ve been struggling with allergies – nasal issues. Very recently it progressed into a sinus infection. I avoid doctors, tests, drugs and treatments, so I came up with a plan. First, I began using specific food items as daily supplements:

Coconut oil (2 Tbsp., 2x day) (very healing product).

Apple cider vinegar water, and lemon slices in water (to get my alkaline levels up).

Raw garlic (natural antibiotic), but I only use it at bedtime so as not offend anyone (except my husband, each evening he tells me I smell).

And after a couple of days of the above, the pain subsided. I’m still struggling with the allergies, but I’m feeling encouraged.

NOW ABOUT OUR MEALS.

My husband and I have gotten kind of ridiculous with eating more and more sweet things. I’ve made too many angel food cakes and peanut butter cookies lately, and after every meal we say, “Want some dessert?” And we have consistently been saying “yes” to ourselves. Well, if I’m going to take care of my own health, I need to:

STOP THE NONSENSE!

It occurred to me recently that by adopting a well-known philosophy just might be what I need to help myself:

IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU PLAN TO FAIL.

We’ve tried different diets in the past, usually for weight loss, but I get frustrated in the busy-ness of life. Mainly because there’s no game plan. We come home after work, wonder what to eat, and more often than not, resort to “habitual” meals like nachos or something that includes the old stand-by – bread of some sort (gluten free for me, of course).

So, a couple of weeks ago I sat down with “The Master’s Diet” by Jordan S. Rubin (an incredible story of one man’s illness and healing that I assume includes a plan for healing based on biblical teachings – I haven’t finished his story yet, I just skipped to a menu plan) and a couple of Suzanne Somers’ books and wrote down a week’s menu. The first five days are from Rubin’s book.

We started this yesterday:

MY INTENTIONAL ONE-WEEK MENU WITH NO DESSERTS

Monday

Breakfast – skillet breakfast (egg, butternut squash, spinach, onion, cheese), tea or milk

Lunch – tuna salad (tuna, homemade mayo, flaxseed meal, onion, red pepper, celery) with carrots & celery

Dinner – marinated steak & green salad

Evening Snack – strawberries & homemade yogurt

Tuesday

Breakfast – veggie frittata (broccoli flowerets, yellow pepper, onion, butter/red palm oil, eggs, yogurt, lemon zest (Gene didn’t care for the zest), Monterey Jack cheese

Lunch – coconut milk soup (fish & leftover turkey, coconut milk, chicken broth, jalapeño, ginger, lime juice)

Dinner – salmon with pecan pesto, green salad, cultured veggies (I forgot to plan ahead, so they won’t be cultured L)

Evening Snack – carrot, celery, raw almond butter

Wednesday

Breakfast – onion/red pepper/feta cheese omelet, seasoned avocado slices

Lunch – oriental red meat salad

Dinner – coconut milk soup, broiled halibut, green salad

Evening Snack – yogurt, raw honey, vanilla, blueberries

Thursday

Breakfast – fast (if we don’t feel up to fasting, we may have an egg/cheese omelet)

Lunch – fast (or broth/soup)

Dinner – cultured veggies/sauerkraut, green salad, tuna steaks

Evening Snack – none

Friday

Breakfast – artichoke frittata (eggs, onion, marinated artichoke hearts, parmesan)

Lunch – lettuce wraps (mayo, cucumber, walnuts, chicken, cheese), tortilla chips/homemade salsa

Dinner – braised salmon, baked red potatoes, strawberries/yogurt

We’re into Tuesday’s plan now. Gene was gone over lunch, so he’ll probably eat whatever is served where he’s at, but as in the past when we’ve been intentional, he’ll probably skip the dessert.

ABOUT ME

I’m in my fifties. Almost 13 years ago I discovered I needed to go gluten free. Maybe I have Celiac Disease, maybe I have something similar. All I know is that when I went gluten free my world changed. The most significant change was when a mental fog lifted one Sunday morning while I was standing in church. Talk about a life-changing moment!

And I wasn’t just gluten free then. There weren’t all these GF convenient foods in the supermarket, so I was mostly grain-free as I figured out my new normal. And I’m thankful for that. A lot of healing happens when you go grain-free and even more so when you go sugar-free – and I DON’T MEAN using diet products like diet pop, etc. By sugar-free, I mean taking sugar/sweets out of the diet.

I’ve done a lot of healing over the years, especially the first ten years. I learn as I go. There’s so much information on the web, it’s just a matter of weeding through and finding what’s true and helpful. Because, believe-you-me (I know, it’s a silly saying) there’s a ton of contradictory info out there!!! And a lot more lies in the name of making money!

I have a husband who is a minister of a Mennonite church. I’m his secretary. We have two married children, and three oh-so-delightful grandchildren.

My husband is an incredible life partner. He takes his biblical role seriously – that one that says, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church.”

And a little side note: my current favorite book is “The Power of Blessing” by Kerry Kirkwood.

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Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.   —2 Chronicles 7:14