This is truly humbling and empowering. It is humbling because I must take responsibility for the choices I make that affect my children in adverse ways. It is empowering because I can make choices that affect my children in wonderful, nurturing, healing ways.
We had an amazing week of VBS (plus home improvement, plus babysit for friends in need, plus garage sale) and everyone did remarkably well. Attitudes were positive. We tolerated much stress and much exposure throughout the week.
Towards the end of the week, one of our kids caught a cold and it is making it's way around. Currently, three of our kids are sick. Home renovations continue. I was tired after the busy week and didn't want to have to deal with "stuff" and I got a bit irritable and mean on Sunday and Monday. Lo and behold, KES began to itch in certain inconvenient places again and also her eczema returned so that she was beginning to create scabs in her forehead again. I changed my ways and I was as sweet as pie (squash pie sweetened with a bit of honey) and my little girl was as fine as could be today. She even had a little fruit today and everyday. We have not backed off on having some fruit or honey everyday. It is consistently true that when I have a bad attitude, which leads to a grumpy and miserable day, all of the kids have reactions, particularly the ones who get in my way. I am actually making my kids sick. My sin makes my kids sick. Now the cold is simply unfortunate. I'm talking about their reactions to food and the environment and how it is related to our thinking.
God's Word does tell us that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (can't remember the reference at the moment). When we were afraid of food, we seemed to react to just about everything.
Also, consider this...after reading through Matthew, Mark, and half of Luke these past few months I began to see that when Jesus healed someone, He almost always said "your faith has healed you." or something along those lines. In his own hometown it was noted that He could not do any miracles there, "except to lay His hands on a few and heal them and He marveled at their lack of faith." There is definitely a connection between what we believe and the results we receive.
In Psalm 103:2-3 it says, "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases."
There is a connection between being forgiven and being healed. We see this daily. When KES feels that she is forgiven and loved, then she does well. When I finally realized that I am truly free from sin and that "there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ," and when I realized that "it was for freedom that Christ has set us free" and that He does not want me to be burdened again by a yoke of slavery, then I stopped living a life full of guilt, shame, obligation, etc. Once I was free of the guilt, I began to heal at an astounding rate. I have tolerated everything I have tried (so far only full GAPS food other than communion) but we will continue to add in new food. I believe it will all go well. We have already added so many new foods. I can take communion!!!
If we are not completely healed in this life, I know without a doubt that we will be whole and perfect when Jesus comes again.
In the meantime, I try to be full of praise and thanksgiving for all of the little things (big things, too, of course) and to keep my thoughts on things that are good. God is God and He knows what He is talking about when He tells us in His Word to think about things that are good and lovely and right (Philippians 4:8). He also tells us not to be anxious about anything, but instead we are to talk to Him about everything. We are to be thankful and we are to ask Him for whatever we need (Philippians 4:6). Also, rejoice in the Lord, always! Paul says it again, "Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4-5) When we do these things, God gives us His peace (Philippians 4:7).
I am so full of joy for all that the Lord has done in our lives through this journey. I want to love the Lord with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, with all my strength and I want to love my neighbor as myself. The benefits of trusting God and obeying His Word are amazing! Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
I make my kids well by loving them the way that my Lord loves me.
July 19, 2011
July 16, 2011
* What an Amazing Week!
Can I write it all down in twenty minutes or less so I can get to bed by midnight?
This week was our Vacation Bible School week. I lead the music for VBS. I love it! I have the best volunteer job of all. I also take pictures of everything and my husband puts a slideshow together to show at the closing program. It is a lot of fun!
Last year we skipped VBS altogether. It was just too much to think about and too many dangers. Besides the kids rarely felt well and you never knew if it was going to be a bad week or a good week. Everything was always up in the air. We missed it, but it had to be so.
This year, we knew it would be a challenge, but we wanted to give it a try. I stepped out on faith that we could do it, with God's help, and I committed to lead the music. I had no idea how we would be able to do it. It didn't seem possible, but I just had to trust God to work out the details...and boy did He ever!
Not only did we manage to make it through a week of VBS, but we did so with grace. All praise to God, our Heavenly Father, for making it so. We made it out the door on time every morning with smiling faces and lots of excitement. Everyone took a bath in the morning before VBS and another one after VBS. Meals were simple and planned out to every detail. My husband and I did food prep over the weekend and a little every night. They drank water every morning. They took their gut bugs (probiotics), carrot juice, and fermented CLO upon waking and ate pizza eggs in the car on the way to church for breakfast. I made and delivered GAPS snacks to my children during snack time (mango, pear slices with nut butter, banana nut muffins with honey and a nut on top). Lunch was ground meat and onions, veggies, salad, broth, and sauerkraut everyday. Dinner was soup and salad everyday. We usually had a snack in the afternoon, too.
Not only did we manage to make it through a week of VBS with grace, but we also cleaned up the garage, cleared out the attic, insulated the entire attic with fluffy pink stuff, and organized and priced stuff for a garage sale, which I am having tomorrow to fund some renovations. All of this was supposed to happen next week after VBS was over, but my husband misunderstood my plan and I decided to go with it. He is going to build in our garage, add outlets, and insulate it to make a large playroom for the kids since the two small bedrooms are full of beds and clothes. I am so thankful that he is willing to take off of work and spend the time and money it takes to do this. The kids are so thankful to be getting a cool and bug free space of their own.
We had our closing program tonight, where I lead the kids in singing six of our VBS songs and gave a summary of all that we learned this week. After, we had an ice cream social for VBS participants and for our church. We got the kids to bed a bit late tonight so I plan to let them sleep in a bit tomorrow morning. Several of the kids are having reactions to ???, but all in all, it isn't so bad. They will recover. We all will.
Did I mention that I got to meet a whole bunch of really neat kids and did I mention how much fun it was to lead them in worship and to teach them about Jesus? What an amazing week!
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for working out all the details and for making this such an amazing week. Lord I really stepped out on faith, not knowing how in the world we could pull off a week of VBS, but we were able to do so much more than I ever dreamed we could do. It was all you! I am in awe of You! Amen.
This week was our Vacation Bible School week. I lead the music for VBS. I love it! I have the best volunteer job of all. I also take pictures of everything and my husband puts a slideshow together to show at the closing program. It is a lot of fun!
Last year we skipped VBS altogether. It was just too much to think about and too many dangers. Besides the kids rarely felt well and you never knew if it was going to be a bad week or a good week. Everything was always up in the air. We missed it, but it had to be so.
This year, we knew it would be a challenge, but we wanted to give it a try. I stepped out on faith that we could do it, with God's help, and I committed to lead the music. I had no idea how we would be able to do it. It didn't seem possible, but I just had to trust God to work out the details...and boy did He ever!
Not only did we manage to make it through a week of VBS, but we did so with grace. All praise to God, our Heavenly Father, for making it so. We made it out the door on time every morning with smiling faces and lots of excitement. Everyone took a bath in the morning before VBS and another one after VBS. Meals were simple and planned out to every detail. My husband and I did food prep over the weekend and a little every night. They drank water every morning. They took their gut bugs (probiotics), carrot juice, and fermented CLO upon waking and ate pizza eggs in the car on the way to church for breakfast. I made and delivered GAPS snacks to my children during snack time (mango, pear slices with nut butter, banana nut muffins with honey and a nut on top). Lunch was ground meat and onions, veggies, salad, broth, and sauerkraut everyday. Dinner was soup and salad everyday. We usually had a snack in the afternoon, too.
Not only did we manage to make it through a week of VBS with grace, but we also cleaned up the garage, cleared out the attic, insulated the entire attic with fluffy pink stuff, and organized and priced stuff for a garage sale, which I am having tomorrow to fund some renovations. All of this was supposed to happen next week after VBS was over, but my husband misunderstood my plan and I decided to go with it. He is going to build in our garage, add outlets, and insulate it to make a large playroom for the kids since the two small bedrooms are full of beds and clothes. I am so thankful that he is willing to take off of work and spend the time and money it takes to do this. The kids are so thankful to be getting a cool and bug free space of their own.
We had our closing program tonight, where I lead the kids in singing six of our VBS songs and gave a summary of all that we learned this week. After, we had an ice cream social for VBS participants and for our church. We got the kids to bed a bit late tonight so I plan to let them sleep in a bit tomorrow morning. Several of the kids are having reactions to ???, but all in all, it isn't so bad. They will recover. We all will.
Did I mention that I got to meet a whole bunch of really neat kids and did I mention how much fun it was to lead them in worship and to teach them about Jesus? What an amazing week!
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for working out all the details and for making this such an amazing week. Lord I really stepped out on faith, not knowing how in the world we could pull off a week of VBS, but we were able to do so much more than I ever dreamed we could do. It was all you! I am in awe of You! Amen.
July 6, 2011
* Love Heals
The healing continues. We are definitely seeing that feeling loved and accepted helps the healing process. Laughter truly is the best medicine.
We are all eating a nice variety of food each day. We love cooking and eating. Since everyone can now tolerate fruit and honey, our snacks and meals have gotten a bit more creative. We made chicken salad yesterday, and because everyone loved it so much we made it again today.
Recipe for dairy free chicken salad: chopped up chicken, chicken patè (in place of yogurt or mayo), chopped raw onion, chopped apple, chopped grapes, salt, and pepper.
God is healing us spiritually! He has freed us from fear, guilt, shame, anger, bitterness, etc. It tries to sneak in here and there, but we are quick to catch it and say, "NO! No more!!!" God is transforming us by the renewing of our minds and we are changing the way we talk and the way we think about things. As a result, we are tolerating everything better. Healing is easier, for sure, when your body is not constantly being pumped full of bad chemicals produced by bad thoughts. Dr. McBride mentions this on her website under the FAQ question under adrenals as quoted below:
"1. What recommendations are there for GAPS patients for boosting their adrenals?
Adrenals love fat and cholesterol. So, as far as the diet is concerned, eat lots of animal fats with every meal and cholesterol-rich foods, such as egg yolks, sour cream, butter and fatty fish. Another essential for the adrenals is sleep! Sleep is really not optional, so organise your life in such a way that you can have a nap every afternoon and a good long sleep at night. Another essential is to lower your stress, which is easier done than you may think. Stress is not the event itself; it is your attitude to this event. Research shows, that people react to stress very differently depending on their attitude to life. The one, who generally has a negative personality and tends to worry a lot, has all the stress hormones and destructive chemicals racing around their bodies. But the person, who has a philosophical and positive attitude to life, will have much less stress chemicals in their blood and will cope much better. It is the first type of people that “burn” their adrenals out. There are excellent books on this subject: you can start from Dale Carnegie’s book “How to stop worrying and start living”, for example."
I had a bad week, feeling irritable and angry, right after the homeschool conference. The children started reacting to the food again, or were they reacting to me?!? Rashes, eczema, and behaviors returned a bit. I immediately changed my thinking and began to act lovingly once again to my children and all of the reactions went away.
This week, my oldest started to sneak food (all GAPS legal and all well tolerated foods). He seemed to be reacting to something, but I could not guess what it could be. He reverted back to old rules. His memory became very poor. He started eating too much food at meals and would shovel it in and swallow without chewing (something he used to do all the time before GAPS). He made poor decisions. He didn't feel well and stopped getting up early in the morning and would move slowly and scuffle his feet while doing chores. I could not figure out why he was acting like this. Then...I discovered that someone had eaten half the bag of grapes in a matter of two days. Then I remembered that there didn't seem to be as many nuts as I was expecting when I put them in jars after dehydrating them. I asked him about these things and he confessed to eating them. I told him that I thought the guilt and the shame of stealing food and hiding it was probably what was making him sick. He agreed. I forgave him and even told him that it would be fine for him to take a nibble here and there throughout the day (keeping it to a minimum). Today was a great day!
I really do believe that fear, guilt, shame, anger, bitterness, and negative thoughts of any kind really do make us sick. Believing that I am truly forgiven by God and knowing that "there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ." is indeed THE reason that I can now eat food that I couldn't tolerate before. Jesus is in me and the fruit of the Spirit is now evident in my life. The fruit is showing in my kids, too.
Not only is God healing us physically and spiritually, but new life is popping up all around us. Did I mention that I am gardening and that I go out and tend my garden and yard every morning after my Bible study? Also, we are caring for and learning about fish and rats and turtles (our pets). I used to think of gardening and pets as too much work, but I am learning so many new and wonderful things from reading God's Word and from observing God's World. It is all very exciting and wonderful! I love it! I enjoy the work so much now.
We are also serving in the body of Christ by leading worship on Sunday morning (I am on the praise team), teaching Sunday School (my dear husband), babysitting the pastors kids from time to time as they make hospital visits and such (as a family), and watching other children when needs arise (as a family). Also, I will be leading music for VBS next week and taking photos for the slide show and my husband will put the slideshow together. I am not bragging! All of this is a joy and comes so easily (totally NOT out of obligation) because God has done a mighty work of regeneration in our hearts. "It is God who works in us to will and to act according to His good purposes." (Phillipians 2:13) It feels so wonderful to use the gifts that we have and to serve in ways that fit our circumstances right now. We are doing what we were created to do, "for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10)
In the book of John, it is repeated over and over again that a new command is given to Love one another. We are to love one another. We are to forgive, just as the Lord has forgiven us. We are to love the Lord with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our minds, and love our neighbors as ourselves.
Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. What are we to obey? The law of the Old Testament? No. The new commandment to love one another? Yes.
In our house, we are loving one another. Laughter fills the air. We are healing.
Love heals!
We are all eating a nice variety of food each day. We love cooking and eating. Since everyone can now tolerate fruit and honey, our snacks and meals have gotten a bit more creative. We made chicken salad yesterday, and because everyone loved it so much we made it again today.
Recipe for dairy free chicken salad: chopped up chicken, chicken patè (in place of yogurt or mayo), chopped raw onion, chopped apple, chopped grapes, salt, and pepper.
God is healing us spiritually! He has freed us from fear, guilt, shame, anger, bitterness, etc. It tries to sneak in here and there, but we are quick to catch it and say, "NO! No more!!!" God is transforming us by the renewing of our minds and we are changing the way we talk and the way we think about things. As a result, we are tolerating everything better. Healing is easier, for sure, when your body is not constantly being pumped full of bad chemicals produced by bad thoughts. Dr. McBride mentions this on her website under the FAQ question under adrenals as quoted below:
"1. What recommendations are there for GAPS patients for boosting their adrenals?
Adrenals love fat and cholesterol. So, as far as the diet is concerned, eat lots of animal fats with every meal and cholesterol-rich foods, such as egg yolks, sour cream, butter and fatty fish. Another essential for the adrenals is sleep! Sleep is really not optional, so organise your life in such a way that you can have a nap every afternoon and a good long sleep at night. Another essential is to lower your stress, which is easier done than you may think. Stress is not the event itself; it is your attitude to this event. Research shows, that people react to stress very differently depending on their attitude to life. The one, who generally has a negative personality and tends to worry a lot, has all the stress hormones and destructive chemicals racing around their bodies. But the person, who has a philosophical and positive attitude to life, will have much less stress chemicals in their blood and will cope much better. It is the first type of people that “burn” their adrenals out. There are excellent books on this subject: you can start from Dale Carnegie’s book “How to stop worrying and start living”, for example."
I had a bad week, feeling irritable and angry, right after the homeschool conference. The children started reacting to the food again, or were they reacting to me?!? Rashes, eczema, and behaviors returned a bit. I immediately changed my thinking and began to act lovingly once again to my children and all of the reactions went away.
This week, my oldest started to sneak food (all GAPS legal and all well tolerated foods). He seemed to be reacting to something, but I could not guess what it could be. He reverted back to old rules. His memory became very poor. He started eating too much food at meals and would shovel it in and swallow without chewing (something he used to do all the time before GAPS). He made poor decisions. He didn't feel well and stopped getting up early in the morning and would move slowly and scuffle his feet while doing chores. I could not figure out why he was acting like this. Then...I discovered that someone had eaten half the bag of grapes in a matter of two days. Then I remembered that there didn't seem to be as many nuts as I was expecting when I put them in jars after dehydrating them. I asked him about these things and he confessed to eating them. I told him that I thought the guilt and the shame of stealing food and hiding it was probably what was making him sick. He agreed. I forgave him and even told him that it would be fine for him to take a nibble here and there throughout the day (keeping it to a minimum). Today was a great day!
I really do believe that fear, guilt, shame, anger, bitterness, and negative thoughts of any kind really do make us sick. Believing that I am truly forgiven by God and knowing that "there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ." is indeed THE reason that I can now eat food that I couldn't tolerate before. Jesus is in me and the fruit of the Spirit is now evident in my life. The fruit is showing in my kids, too.
Not only is God healing us physically and spiritually, but new life is popping up all around us. Did I mention that I am gardening and that I go out and tend my garden and yard every morning after my Bible study? Also, we are caring for and learning about fish and rats and turtles (our pets). I used to think of gardening and pets as too much work, but I am learning so many new and wonderful things from reading God's Word and from observing God's World. It is all very exciting and wonderful! I love it! I enjoy the work so much now.
We are also serving in the body of Christ by leading worship on Sunday morning (I am on the praise team), teaching Sunday School (my dear husband), babysitting the pastors kids from time to time as they make hospital visits and such (as a family), and watching other children when needs arise (as a family). Also, I will be leading music for VBS next week and taking photos for the slide show and my husband will put the slideshow together. I am not bragging! All of this is a joy and comes so easily (totally NOT out of obligation) because God has done a mighty work of regeneration in our hearts. "It is God who works in us to will and to act according to His good purposes." (Phillipians 2:13) It feels so wonderful to use the gifts that we have and to serve in ways that fit our circumstances right now. We are doing what we were created to do, "for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10)
In the book of John, it is repeated over and over again that a new command is given to Love one another. We are to love one another. We are to forgive, just as the Lord has forgiven us. We are to love the Lord with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our minds, and love our neighbors as ourselves.
Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. What are we to obey? The law of the Old Testament? No. The new commandment to love one another? Yes.
In our house, we are loving one another. Laughter fills the air. We are healing.
Love heals!
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