We are still doing well. Our sound minds come from the Spirit of God. (2 Timothy 1:7)
Sweets are everywhere! I allow my children a reasonable ration of sweet treats each day. They are fine.
A reasonable ration would be a few pieces of candy, or a piece of cake, or a donut.
Plus, we are eating bread and butter almost daily, or white rice, sweet potatoes, etc.
Shopping, cooking, cleaning is less!!!
Beds are most often dry. Laundry is less!!!
Everyone sleep through the night!!!
I can now experiment with all kinds of ferments! WooHoo! I have my first batch of Beet Kvass fermenting right now. I think my husband has ordered the Wild Fermentation book for me. Since we can now have whey (and, well, anything), I can try many new ferments.
We have reduced the amount of Bio-Kult by nearly one half and will drop it completely when I get more ferments going and into our regular routine. We cut our dose of FCLO by about half. No more Natural Calm Magnesium. Cost is less!!!
We have stopped juicing regularly and do not have lemon water everyday. Food prep time is less!!!
My hubby and I have actually gone out on a date: ate at a restaurant and went Christmas shopping. What fun! Stress is Less!!!
We participated in a Christmas concert and dinner at church. Amazingly, all of our 5 children, ages 2-13, sat quietly on the front row for the duration of the concert. I was impressed. We ate what was served at the dinner, including something from the dessert table. Choosing was difficult, as there were so many choices and we limited ourselves to one. My children were curious why others filled their plates with 3-4 different desserts. Hmm. We could actually have true fellowship with others and talk about something other than food.
God is so good! Praise Jesus, because He is the One who healed us!
Everyone, all six of us, are having normal formed bowel movements every day.
Bloating is gone!!! I have received so many comments on my slender figure as of late. Nice!
No one has itchy skin!
Energy and attitudes are high! "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:31)
Eye contact is AWESOME!!! Love it!!!
The children play well together. They all play together. They LIKE playing with each other.
There is a lot of tickling, chasing, laughing, and playing happening at our house. There is peace at our house. "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Romans 14:17)
My daughter, KES, has only had one leg cramp once since we started eating off-GAPS. I prayed in Jesus' Name, and Jesus took the pain away. I kid you not! "Christ the Power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24)
My daughter, KRS, has only had one headache since we started eating off-GAPS. I prayed for her in Jesus' Name, and Jesus took the pain away completely. I kid you not! "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." (John 15:7)
Search it out! "Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33) Seek Him! He is the ONLY ONE who has all the answers. He is the ONLY ONE who can make you righteous. He is the ONLY ONE who can heal us.
He loves us and He wants to heal us. He sent His Son to die for us, so that we might be saved, and saved means so much more than an insurance policy to get into heaven. Saved means saved. Saved now. It means saved from sin and saved from the power of sin in our lives. It means saved from death, eternal life. It means healed. There's more. The Greek word "sozo" means: to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction. It is often translated as heal, save, cured, made well, preserved, recover, restore, etc.
He saved us from our slavery to sin and restored us to what we were always meant to be; sons, who were created in His image for His glory. He has clothed us in His righteousness. Wow!
"God is love." (1 John 4:8) "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18) Oh, YES!
Search it out! Seek Him! It's good. It's all good.
December 19, 2011
December 14, 2011
* The GAPS diet did NOT heal us
While I am thankful to God for leading us to the GAPS diet and I agree that it is a very healing diet, the GAPS diet did not heal us. God healed us. He did not heal us through the GAPS diet. He healed us by His Word. (Psalm 107:20)
God is love. Love heals. He IS the Great Physician.
I will try to explain what happened, but by no means do I have a formula for receiving healing. It is God who heals. There IS power in the blood and in the Name of Jesus!!!
I was so very depressed after more than one and a half years on the GAPS diet and seeing regressions, yet again. It felt like a prison. There was NO way out!!! A friend counseled me by listening to all that I had to say and by asking me one simple question. The question was, "What are you doing to seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness in your life?"
At first, I was a little bit annoyed because I really thought that I had been seeking God all these years. I couldn't get the question out of my head. I began to wonder what it really meant to seek Him. How does one go about seeking Him? I didn't know.
I came to realize that I knew a lot about God, but I didn't really know God. I read His Word. I listened to the sermons and tried to apply the teachings to my life. I memorized lots of scripture and tried to apply what I knew to my life, but I just could not do it consistently. I participated in Bible studies. I prayed all day everyday, but my prayers were primarily asking God to help me and to help others. I did praise God, I thanked Him, I confessed my sins, and I made my requests, but I was not seeking a relationship with God.
So I did the only thing I knew to do: I humbled myself as a little child and I asked my Heavenly Father to teach me. I figured that He is really the only One who has all the answers. In Jeremiah 33:3, God says, "Ask me, and I will show you great and unsearchable things that you have never known."
I was reading through the Bible so I began to talk to God and ask Him about passages of scripture that didn't make sense to me. Later, I would find the answer in another part of scripture, or in a Bible study, or a sermon. I began to notice that certain topics were very repetitious. I kept reading, "Your faith has healed you." I kept reading, "Love one another," "Love your neighbor as yourself," "As I have loved you, so you must love one another," "a new commandment I give you: Love one another," "The entire law is summed up in this one command: Love your neighbor as yourself," "but the fruit of the Spirit is love..." "These three remain: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love." "Nothing matters except faith expressing itself in love."
If anyone reads this and wants to know the references for any or all of these, I will gladly share. I just want to post this soon. I recommend reading all of Galatians, John 13-17, and all of 1 John.
I have found more, so much more, but it is best if one seeks the Lord for these things so I do not want to give it all away as it would not mean near as much to one who had not searched it out with the Lord. I have simply believed what God has written in His Word.
Note: Previously, I was not confident to read my Bible and try to understand it, because I had been told so many times that you have to understand the history and the context to understand the true meaning of the words. What a lie!!!! I was afraid, but 2 Timothy 1:7 says that "God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind."
I began to read the Word of God and I tried to understand it. I asked my "Abba" to help me understand it and I reasoned that if I guessed wrong (as my children often do) that He would be patient with me and would teach me all things as I become ready to learn it, just as I am patient with my kids and I teach them new things as they become developmentally ready to learn it. God is so good. He is teaching me.
I became convinced that love was more important than anything else I could do for my kids and one day I simply had faith that my daughter could eat honey and would not react. She did eat and she didn't react. I later gave some to CKS, and he did not react. They have been eating fruit and honey ever since. They only had reactions on bad days where love was not reigning in our house. I found that I could make my kids sick in an instant by criticizing them or yelling at them or shaming them in any way. I would love them back to health and, indeed, the reactions would go away. So I concluded that Love heals. However, we all still reacted to everything NOT on the GAPS diet.
I kept reading God's Word, seeking God, His Kingdom, and His Righteousness. He is amazing!!! I can't and won't tell you everything I have learned. I will, however, encourage everyone to "seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). Also, check out Matthew 7:7-8. Ask God and He will tell you everything you need to know. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). Don't just read His Word; talk to Him about it and believe what He tells you. It is amazing!!! HE is amazing!!!
I came to a point where I believed that it was indeed God's will to heal us. I prayed for complete healing everyday, believing that He would indeed heal us. I spoke the Word of the Lord (verses I have memorized) all day and talked to God as if He were my daddy in the room with me. At some point, I knew we had to step out in faith (prove our faith genuine) and expose ourselves to the foods/environments that we had been reacting to for so long. We bought some bread at the Farmer's Market and ate it with butter. We were fine. We kept eating bread and butter and added in other non-GAPS food. We were fine.
Note: When I began to eat bread and butter, about a week earlier, the kids had reactions akin to pre-GAPS or early GAPS. CKS regressed. KES became enraged and hateful. It was insane. I'm the one who ate the food and no one else knew of it. The children were still having "reactions" when I gave them the bread and butter, and I believed that they would be fine and would actually improve. They were and they did. Rashes were as bad as they have ever been, but they have been improving.
You see, it was God who healed us, not GAPS. We had been reacting to so many things just a few weeks earlier. Now we are fine. Praise the Name of Jesus!!! All glory to God!!!
We have enjoyed treats at Christmas parties. We had our own special day where we decorated the Christmas tree, watched the Nativity Story, drank hot chocolate, and ate candy canes. We shared a Thanksgiving meal with our family. We ate dinner at church with our church family. We can eat anything. My kids can play with play dough again!!! WooHoo!!! Healed!
The GAPS diet did NOT heal us! God did!!!
[As of 12/20/14, we have been off GAPS for more than three years and are enjoying freedom from the fear of food and toxins. You can be free, too! I want you to be free! Please go to http://gapsfamily.blogspot.com/2014/12/our-story.html to find links that will guide you through our story. Be encouraged!]
God is love. Love heals. He IS the Great Physician.
I will try to explain what happened, but by no means do I have a formula for receiving healing. It is God who heals. There IS power in the blood and in the Name of Jesus!!!
I was so very depressed after more than one and a half years on the GAPS diet and seeing regressions, yet again. It felt like a prison. There was NO way out!!! A friend counseled me by listening to all that I had to say and by asking me one simple question. The question was, "What are you doing to seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness in your life?"
At first, I was a little bit annoyed because I really thought that I had been seeking God all these years. I couldn't get the question out of my head. I began to wonder what it really meant to seek Him. How does one go about seeking Him? I didn't know.
I came to realize that I knew a lot about God, but I didn't really know God. I read His Word. I listened to the sermons and tried to apply the teachings to my life. I memorized lots of scripture and tried to apply what I knew to my life, but I just could not do it consistently. I participated in Bible studies. I prayed all day everyday, but my prayers were primarily asking God to help me and to help others. I did praise God, I thanked Him, I confessed my sins, and I made my requests, but I was not seeking a relationship with God.
So I did the only thing I knew to do: I humbled myself as a little child and I asked my Heavenly Father to teach me. I figured that He is really the only One who has all the answers. In Jeremiah 33:3, God says, "Ask me, and I will show you great and unsearchable things that you have never known."
I was reading through the Bible so I began to talk to God and ask Him about passages of scripture that didn't make sense to me. Later, I would find the answer in another part of scripture, or in a Bible study, or a sermon. I began to notice that certain topics were very repetitious. I kept reading, "Your faith has healed you." I kept reading, "Love one another," "Love your neighbor as yourself," "As I have loved you, so you must love one another," "a new commandment I give you: Love one another," "The entire law is summed up in this one command: Love your neighbor as yourself," "but the fruit of the Spirit is love..." "These three remain: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love." "Nothing matters except faith expressing itself in love."
If anyone reads this and wants to know the references for any or all of these, I will gladly share. I just want to post this soon. I recommend reading all of Galatians, John 13-17, and all of 1 John.
I have found more, so much more, but it is best if one seeks the Lord for these things so I do not want to give it all away as it would not mean near as much to one who had not searched it out with the Lord. I have simply believed what God has written in His Word.
Note: Previously, I was not confident to read my Bible and try to understand it, because I had been told so many times that you have to understand the history and the context to understand the true meaning of the words. What a lie!!!! I was afraid, but 2 Timothy 1:7 says that "God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind."
I began to read the Word of God and I tried to understand it. I asked my "Abba" to help me understand it and I reasoned that if I guessed wrong (as my children often do) that He would be patient with me and would teach me all things as I become ready to learn it, just as I am patient with my kids and I teach them new things as they become developmentally ready to learn it. God is so good. He is teaching me.
I became convinced that love was more important than anything else I could do for my kids and one day I simply had faith that my daughter could eat honey and would not react. She did eat and she didn't react. I later gave some to CKS, and he did not react. They have been eating fruit and honey ever since. They only had reactions on bad days where love was not reigning in our house. I found that I could make my kids sick in an instant by criticizing them or yelling at them or shaming them in any way. I would love them back to health and, indeed, the reactions would go away. So I concluded that Love heals. However, we all still reacted to everything NOT on the GAPS diet.
I kept reading God's Word, seeking God, His Kingdom, and His Righteousness. He is amazing!!! I can't and won't tell you everything I have learned. I will, however, encourage everyone to "seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). Also, check out Matthew 7:7-8. Ask God and He will tell you everything you need to know. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). Don't just read His Word; talk to Him about it and believe what He tells you. It is amazing!!! HE is amazing!!!
I came to a point where I believed that it was indeed God's will to heal us. I prayed for complete healing everyday, believing that He would indeed heal us. I spoke the Word of the Lord (verses I have memorized) all day and talked to God as if He were my daddy in the room with me. At some point, I knew we had to step out in faith (prove our faith genuine) and expose ourselves to the foods/environments that we had been reacting to for so long. We bought some bread at the Farmer's Market and ate it with butter. We were fine. We kept eating bread and butter and added in other non-GAPS food. We were fine.
Note: When I began to eat bread and butter, about a week earlier, the kids had reactions akin to pre-GAPS or early GAPS. CKS regressed. KES became enraged and hateful. It was insane. I'm the one who ate the food and no one else knew of it. The children were still having "reactions" when I gave them the bread and butter, and I believed that they would be fine and would actually improve. They were and they did. Rashes were as bad as they have ever been, but they have been improving.
You see, it was God who healed us, not GAPS. We had been reacting to so many things just a few weeks earlier. Now we are fine. Praise the Name of Jesus!!! All glory to God!!!
We have enjoyed treats at Christmas parties. We had our own special day where we decorated the Christmas tree, watched the Nativity Story, drank hot chocolate, and ate candy canes. We shared a Thanksgiving meal with our family. We ate dinner at church with our church family. We can eat anything. My kids can play with play dough again!!! WooHoo!!! Healed!
The GAPS diet did NOT heal us! God did!!!
[As of 12/20/14, we have been off GAPS for more than three years and are enjoying freedom from the fear of food and toxins. You can be free, too! I want you to be free! Please go to http://gapsfamily.blogspot.com/2014/12/our-story.html to find links that will guide you through our story. Be encouraged!]
December 6, 2011
* Healed is Healed!
All glory to God! We are healed! All six of us. Totally healed!
So I want to share what has happened, but I don't know where to start, so I will start with this:
Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness!
I was so depressed after the holidays last year because we had been on the GAPS diet for over a year and had followed it very closely, as much as we were able, but we were still very limited in what we could eat. Most all of our symptoms were under control and we had indeed added several food items back, but not that many. CKS and KES could still not tolerate any fruit or honey. After the holidays, everyone started to react to everything again. I contemplated starting over, yet again. My heart was screaming, "NOOOOO!!!" I broke down.
What I have learned from the GAPS diet is that we are truly fearfully and wonderfully made, and the only one who really knows what is going in inside of us is God, our Heavenly Father. Only God has the answers. Only God can heal us.
God says to get rid of all bitterness, anger, and rage. If He tells us to do it, then there must be a way. I had reasoned that diet helped me to live a more godly life, but I became a slave to the diet. I could only be godly if I stayed with the diet (kids, too). We would inevitably be exposed to some chemical or food without our knowledge or control and we would react and behave in unreasonable and ungodly ways. We began to fear and detest food. It was such a chore. Even going to church was difficult because the children would react to perfume or chemicals in the church building. I was angry. I would break down and cry. I would get so frustrated. I wanted to quit, but quitting was worse than staying on the diet. There was nowhere to go. We were trapped. There was no way out. (Psalm 107)
I began to communicate back and forth with a godly woman who had such compassion for us and for our situation. She listened to all I had to say about everything and she listened to all my questions. She did not answer any of my questions, but instead she asked me one simple question: What are you doing to seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness in your life?
I balked. "I pray. I read the Bible. I memorize scripture. I praise God for all the good things in my life. I talk to God all day everyday. Of course I am seeking God."
Then I realized that I was always seeking what God could do for me. I begged Him to help me. I begged Him to heal us. I begged Him to change me. It was all about me. I was not seeking His Kingdom and His Righteousness after all.
Now I had a real problem. I had no idea how to go about actually seeking God.
I still can't put my finger on how to do this. I think I asked God to show me and He did.
I found Jeremiah 33:3 and daily I asked God to show me great and unsearchable things that I have never known. He has! I keep asking for more!
James 1:5 says to ask God for wisdom and that He gives it generously to all without finding fault. I asked God to give me wisdom. He did and continues to do so.
Matthew 7:7 says to "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
I asked God to help me in my unbelief. I asked Him to increase my faith. He has!
Everything that I have asked for, He has given me!
There's so much more and I can not sum it up in one post. Over the past eight months, God has changed me completely! I am a new creation. I have been a "Christian" all my life, but I have not been living in victory. I still struggled. I still fell. How could I tell people about the Good News of the Gospel if I wasn't convinced in my own heart that it was really Good News? I couldn't. But now...
Now I know Him. He has pierced my ears! (Exodus 21:5-6) I am His, and He is mine! I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. It's true. I was made for this! I am not my own. I was bought with a price. Now I know Him, and I can tell you that He really does love us as much as He says He does!!!
I still haven't written about how it came to be that we are all healed, but really that is secondary anyway. It's all about God, not me. More to come...
Heal us, O Lord, and we will be healed. Save us and we will be saved, for You are the one we praise! This was my prayer for weeks after I came to understand that it was indeed in God's will to heal us. It comes from Jeremiah 17:14.
So I want to share what has happened, but I don't know where to start, so I will start with this:
Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness!
I was so depressed after the holidays last year because we had been on the GAPS diet for over a year and had followed it very closely, as much as we were able, but we were still very limited in what we could eat. Most all of our symptoms were under control and we had indeed added several food items back, but not that many. CKS and KES could still not tolerate any fruit or honey. After the holidays, everyone started to react to everything again. I contemplated starting over, yet again. My heart was screaming, "NOOOOO!!!" I broke down.
What I have learned from the GAPS diet is that we are truly fearfully and wonderfully made, and the only one who really knows what is going in inside of us is God, our Heavenly Father. Only God has the answers. Only God can heal us.
God says to get rid of all bitterness, anger, and rage. If He tells us to do it, then there must be a way. I had reasoned that diet helped me to live a more godly life, but I became a slave to the diet. I could only be godly if I stayed with the diet (kids, too). We would inevitably be exposed to some chemical or food without our knowledge or control and we would react and behave in unreasonable and ungodly ways. We began to fear and detest food. It was such a chore. Even going to church was difficult because the children would react to perfume or chemicals in the church building. I was angry. I would break down and cry. I would get so frustrated. I wanted to quit, but quitting was worse than staying on the diet. There was nowhere to go. We were trapped. There was no way out. (Psalm 107)
I began to communicate back and forth with a godly woman who had such compassion for us and for our situation. She listened to all I had to say about everything and she listened to all my questions. She did not answer any of my questions, but instead she asked me one simple question: What are you doing to seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness in your life?
I balked. "I pray. I read the Bible. I memorize scripture. I praise God for all the good things in my life. I talk to God all day everyday. Of course I am seeking God."
Then I realized that I was always seeking what God could do for me. I begged Him to help me. I begged Him to heal us. I begged Him to change me. It was all about me. I was not seeking His Kingdom and His Righteousness after all.
Now I had a real problem. I had no idea how to go about actually seeking God.
I still can't put my finger on how to do this. I think I asked God to show me and He did.
I found Jeremiah 33:3 and daily I asked God to show me great and unsearchable things that I have never known. He has! I keep asking for more!
James 1:5 says to ask God for wisdom and that He gives it generously to all without finding fault. I asked God to give me wisdom. He did and continues to do so.
Matthew 7:7 says to "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
I asked God to help me in my unbelief. I asked Him to increase my faith. He has!
Everything that I have asked for, He has given me!
There's so much more and I can not sum it up in one post. Over the past eight months, God has changed me completely! I am a new creation. I have been a "Christian" all my life, but I have not been living in victory. I still struggled. I still fell. How could I tell people about the Good News of the Gospel if I wasn't convinced in my own heart that it was really Good News? I couldn't. But now...
Now I know Him. He has pierced my ears! (Exodus 21:5-6) I am His, and He is mine! I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. It's true. I was made for this! I am not my own. I was bought with a price. Now I know Him, and I can tell you that He really does love us as much as He says He does!!!
I still haven't written about how it came to be that we are all healed, but really that is secondary anyway. It's all about God, not me. More to come...
Heal us, O Lord, and we will be healed. Save us and we will be saved, for You are the one we praise! This was my prayer for weeks after I came to understand that it was indeed in God's will to heal us. It comes from Jeremiah 17:14.
* Happy Thanksgiving!
Giving thanks to the One who gives all good things.
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! (Revelation 4:8)
You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created. (Revelation 4:11)
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing! (Revelation 5:12)
Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever! (Revelations 5:13)
Heavenly Father, You are indeed worthy of our praise. We are thankful to You for healing us of ALL of our intolerances. We are thankful to know that You have not given us a spirit of fear, but a Spirit of power, and of love, and of self-control. Because You live in us, we have the power to do what is right. You give us the power to love and the power to be self-controlled. Our sound minds, they come from You! We shared a Thanksgiving meal with our family and surprised everyone by sharing our food with them and by partaking of all the food prepared by them. What a joy to be able to do this. Oh, Lord, Your Word is so precious to me. Thank You for answering my prayers. I asked You for wisdom (James 1:5), and You gave me wisdom. Continue to increase my wisdom, Lord. I asked You to teach me great and unsearchable things that I have never known (Jeremiah 33:3), and You have shown me many great and unsearchable things that I have never known. Continue, Lord, to show me new things everyday. I praise You, for You are the One and Only True God, and You are worthy of our praise!!! Amen.
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! (Revelation 4:8)
You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created. (Revelation 4:11)
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing! (Revelation 5:12)
Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever! (Revelations 5:13)
Heavenly Father, You are indeed worthy of our praise. We are thankful to You for healing us of ALL of our intolerances. We are thankful to know that You have not given us a spirit of fear, but a Spirit of power, and of love, and of self-control. Because You live in us, we have the power to do what is right. You give us the power to love and the power to be self-controlled. Our sound minds, they come from You! We shared a Thanksgiving meal with our family and surprised everyone by sharing our food with them and by partaking of all the food prepared by them. What a joy to be able to do this. Oh, Lord, Your Word is so precious to me. Thank You for answering my prayers. I asked You for wisdom (James 1:5), and You gave me wisdom. Continue to increase my wisdom, Lord. I asked You to teach me great and unsearchable things that I have never known (Jeremiah 33:3), and You have shown me many great and unsearchable things that I have never known. Continue, Lord, to show me new things everyday. I praise You, for You are the One and Only True God, and You are worthy of our praise!!! Amen.
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