I just made a realization today about how awesome the first commandment is. When God says "You shall have no other Gods before me," He is not being a proud, demanding, selfish jerk, He's showing us how much He loves us. Often, our relationship with God is compared to a marriage, other times it is referred to more like a parent/child relationship. Either way, loving a jealous God finally makes sense to me.
As a wife, I imagined how I might feel if a man, other than my husband, wanted me to be his wife. Now, at first it might be flattering knowing that my husband has such a great wife that someone else wants me, too. But what if my husband told this other guy, "Sure! We can share her! I'll have her on even days, and you can have her on odd days."?! I'm pretty sure I would be outraged and hurt. By handing me over to someone else, my husband would show me that I'm not worth as much to him as I may have thought. Most things, if you truly value them, you keep to your self, safe and protected.
As a daughter, I can imagine someone saying to my parents "She's such a great daughter! Can she be our daughter too?" Again, I'm sure I'd be flattered and pleased with myself at being such a wonderful daughter. But, if my parents were to give me up to some other person, I'd feel so much less special. I'd feel like they didn't love me enough to want to keep me as their own. I know I am special to them and they love me because they claim me as their child. They don't say that I'm theirs only when I'm doing something that they're proud of; I'm theirs even when I do things they are not proud of.
Luckily, God is the same way, but even better. He's loved us from the start, before we were even born, before our parents even thought us up! He loves us and claims us as His, regardless of the things we say or do. He loves us so much, that he wants to be our one and only Father (or husband, depending on which comparison you're going to run with).
The difference is, God is perfect, all-knowing and all-powerful, and everything that he allows to happen in our lives is for our own good. Our parents or our husband may do things or say things because they feel it is for our own good (or because they're so frustrated they don't know what else to do or say). God knows exactly what to do and when to do it, what to say and how to say it, so that you will eventually become closer to Him. How amazing is that?! Someone who could have anything He wants at any time, loves me (you) so much that He wants to be my (your) only desire! I love this song by Sidewalk Prophets that explains the purpose of the "things" we go through in life, so that we learn to focus on our God, our One True Desire.
AMEN!
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Evolution of my eating this year
Does anyone else feel like someone they love isn't open to the idea of healthy living? I have made it a high priority to research healthy lifestyles so I can prepare the most healthy meals and snacks for my family, and I get excited and share with anyone who will listen :-) Then, it can take the wind out of my sails when someone you want to see improve their health, purposely do the opposite of what you've been talking about.
I am not a nutritionist. I have a degree in psychology and education, not a degree anywhere related to health and wellness. I am self-educating by researching and consulting with people who DO have medical and nutritional degrees. When I learn something new, I want to apply it to our lives as soon as possible so I can slowly learn how to adjust our lifestyle. This way is best for me because I can be kind of a perfectionist to the point of quitting if I mess up. The "start it and continue to learn" method works for me because I'm OK with making mistakes as I'm learning more information about the lifestyle change.
The first adjustment I made to our diets was avoiding gluten. It took me months to feel familiar enough with places gluten hides to make confident purchases at the grocery store. At about the same time, I reduced the amount of dairy. We used vanilla almond or soy milk for cereal. (The girls called it ice cream milk because the vanilla flavoring reminded them of ice cream.) We still don't do much dairy, but we do have milk with the occasional bowl of cereal. My kids LOVE cheese and our ND said that our bodies process cheese more easily than cow milk because of the way it's processed. He suggested goat milk instead of cow milk. Apparently goat milk enzymes are more compatible with our bodies.
Then I looked into Paleo. Let me just say, that if you are a person who is conscious of the chemicals that are in boxed, canned and bagged foods, Paleo is an easy way to go. I was so stressed out while I was grocery shopping, checking labels for toxins and the 60 names for each toxin, and different names for gluten contents! For a while, I literally had a list of all the chemical names in my purse to check before putting something in my cart.
Then, when I decided Paleo was even better of an option than gluten-free, my stress moved from looking at the chemical contents in everything to the cost of everything. I no longer had to worry if I missed one of the ingredients, or if there was an ingredient name that wasn't on my list but also wasn't familiar to me. It was SO EASY! If I could buy it "as is" from an organic farmer or grow it myself, then it clearly didn't contain all those things I was looking for on boxed and canned foods. However, I was concerned about pricing. Organic fruits, organic vegetables and meat from animals that live as naturally as possible can be pretty expensive. But, what I noticed is that I wasn't spending money on gluten-free waffles, chips, and snacks; so, when the final bill came at the register, it wasn't any different than before.
Next I looked into the Alkaline diet. At that time, I had some skin issues and suspected candida albicans overgrowth was responsible. I tested my pH frequently and was always EXTREMELY acidic (prime breeding grounds for things like candida and disease). So I tried to merge the Alkaline diet into the Paleo as well as the Candida diet. Oh deary me! I probably could have done a 3 ring VennDiagram and would've only had broccoli and asparagus that was acceptable on all 3 diets. How frustrating!
Finally, I talked to my ND, got confirmation of my candida suspicions and asked for diet suggestions. Candida is a yeast/fungus that is naturally in our bodies, but when intestinal flora is out of whack can allow the candida to kind of take over. It feeds on access sugar, so people on the Candida Diet don't eat sugar and sometimes don't even eat fruit because of the high sugar content. When I expressed my frustration with my ND about finding a proper lifestyle, not just a diet, for our family, he suggested Trim Healthy Mamma. I put the book on my Christmas list and found a copy at the library to hold me over until Christmas! I have not read the 600+ page book, but from talking with our ND, it makes sense. Our body's reaction to foods depends on a lot of things, including what other things we eat with it. For example, he said that if you eat a meat and a starchy carb like potatoes, it causes a bigger spike in our blood sugar and stimulates our pancreas more than if the carb was eaten separately. This book is all about the glycemic index. If there's no excess sugar in my body, the candida has nothing to feed off from, right? Plus, it also seems to be 99% Paleo friendly, using organic, natural and preservative free foods.
SO... what I've decided is this: I'm going to try out the Trim Healthy Mamma lifestyle and keep you all posted :-) From what I have been reading on different blogs and on the THM website, my husband probably won't notice any difference in our diet! We'll be eating meats, fruits, veggies, eggs... all the stuff we were eating honoring the Paleo thought process, but the food items will be paired more intentionally. There are even some great recipes for sugar-free desserts and even CHOCOLATE!!! Now, I haven't had much of anything sweet since I found out about the candida. Let me tell you, if I can't have it, it's not coming in this house. If there is any kind of sweets in my house and I know I'm not supposed to have them, I eat them. Plain and simple. I have great self-control at the grocery store, so I don't buy sweets. If there are any sweets in my house, they were gifted to my husband or children, most likely by my in-laws or one of my grandmas. Point being, I'm looking forward to these new recipes that will satisfy my sweet tooth without feeding the candida.
I'll keep you posted and might even share some recipes :-)
I am not a nutritionist. I have a degree in psychology and education, not a degree anywhere related to health and wellness. I am self-educating by researching and consulting with people who DO have medical and nutritional degrees. When I learn something new, I want to apply it to our lives as soon as possible so I can slowly learn how to adjust our lifestyle. This way is best for me because I can be kind of a perfectionist to the point of quitting if I mess up. The "start it and continue to learn" method works for me because I'm OK with making mistakes as I'm learning more information about the lifestyle change.
The first adjustment I made to our diets was avoiding gluten. It took me months to feel familiar enough with places gluten hides to make confident purchases at the grocery store. At about the same time, I reduced the amount of dairy. We used vanilla almond or soy milk for cereal. (The girls called it ice cream milk because the vanilla flavoring reminded them of ice cream.) We still don't do much dairy, but we do have milk with the occasional bowl of cereal. My kids LOVE cheese and our ND said that our bodies process cheese more easily than cow milk because of the way it's processed. He suggested goat milk instead of cow milk. Apparently goat milk enzymes are more compatible with our bodies.
Then I looked into Paleo. Let me just say, that if you are a person who is conscious of the chemicals that are in boxed, canned and bagged foods, Paleo is an easy way to go. I was so stressed out while I was grocery shopping, checking labels for toxins and the 60 names for each toxin, and different names for gluten contents! For a while, I literally had a list of all the chemical names in my purse to check before putting something in my cart.
Then, when I decided Paleo was even better of an option than gluten-free, my stress moved from looking at the chemical contents in everything to the cost of everything. I no longer had to worry if I missed one of the ingredients, or if there was an ingredient name that wasn't on my list but also wasn't familiar to me. It was SO EASY! If I could buy it "as is" from an organic farmer or grow it myself, then it clearly didn't contain all those things I was looking for on boxed and canned foods. However, I was concerned about pricing. Organic fruits, organic vegetables and meat from animals that live as naturally as possible can be pretty expensive. But, what I noticed is that I wasn't spending money on gluten-free waffles, chips, and snacks; so, when the final bill came at the register, it wasn't any different than before.
Next I looked into the Alkaline diet. At that time, I had some skin issues and suspected candida albicans overgrowth was responsible. I tested my pH frequently and was always EXTREMELY acidic (prime breeding grounds for things like candida and disease). So I tried to merge the Alkaline diet into the Paleo as well as the Candida diet. Oh deary me! I probably could have done a 3 ring VennDiagram and would've only had broccoli and asparagus that was acceptable on all 3 diets. How frustrating!
Finally, I talked to my ND, got confirmation of my candida suspicions and asked for diet suggestions. Candida is a yeast/fungus that is naturally in our bodies, but when intestinal flora is out of whack can allow the candida to kind of take over. It feeds on access sugar, so people on the Candida Diet don't eat sugar and sometimes don't even eat fruit because of the high sugar content. When I expressed my frustration with my ND about finding a proper lifestyle, not just a diet, for our family, he suggested Trim Healthy Mamma. I put the book on my Christmas list and found a copy at the library to hold me over until Christmas! I have not read the 600+ page book, but from talking with our ND, it makes sense. Our body's reaction to foods depends on a lot of things, including what other things we eat with it. For example, he said that if you eat a meat and a starchy carb like potatoes, it causes a bigger spike in our blood sugar and stimulates our pancreas more than if the carb was eaten separately. This book is all about the glycemic index. If there's no excess sugar in my body, the candida has nothing to feed off from, right? Plus, it also seems to be 99% Paleo friendly, using organic, natural and preservative free foods.
SO... what I've decided is this: I'm going to try out the Trim Healthy Mamma lifestyle and keep you all posted :-) From what I have been reading on different blogs and on the THM website, my husband probably won't notice any difference in our diet! We'll be eating meats, fruits, veggies, eggs... all the stuff we were eating honoring the Paleo thought process, but the food items will be paired more intentionally. There are even some great recipes for sugar-free desserts and even CHOCOLATE!!! Now, I haven't had much of anything sweet since I found out about the candida. Let me tell you, if I can't have it, it's not coming in this house. If there is any kind of sweets in my house and I know I'm not supposed to have them, I eat them. Plain and simple. I have great self-control at the grocery store, so I don't buy sweets. If there are any sweets in my house, they were gifted to my husband or children, most likely by my in-laws or one of my grandmas. Point being, I'm looking forward to these new recipes that will satisfy my sweet tooth without feeding the candida.
I'll keep you posted and might even share some recipes :-)
Monday, November 17, 2014
ADD/ADHD and salicylates
WOW! I LOVE LEARNING ABOUT THE WAY OUR BODIES WORK!
Tonight I stumbled across something called a salicylate sensitivity. Some researchers believe that many people with ADD/ADHD have sensitivities to a naturally found chemical called salicylate. If you like chemistry, then this post is for you! Salicylates are specific type of phenol compound. For those who are like me and struggled through high school chemistry, it just means that they contain certain elements from that chart we had to memorize that are attached in a specific order or pattern. Anyway, these natural chemicals are often beneficial for our bodies as long as our bodies are processing them correctly. They are found in wonderfully nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables and nuts. BUT, if our bodies don't have the proper enzymes to process those foods, then those typically nutritious and helpful chemicals can cause our bodies to react negatively.
As I was reading this page, I thought "What a plethora of information! I need to share this!" Then I read, and reread a paragraph about the cause of this sensitivity. In the paragraph titled "Why Do People React To Them" the author states "In a normal body, one with the correct levels of sulfates and liver enzymes, phenols and salicylates are easily metabolized. The body utilizes what it needs from the chemicals and properly disposes of the rest through the bowels. In those whose levels are abnormal, or in the case of leaky gut syndrome, intolerance to this chemical family can occur rather quickly." (Italics/bold added for emphasis)The statement about correct levels of sulfates and liver enzymes got me thinking about how someone could fix that deficit. So, I did a little more research (because that's what I like to do!). Sulfates are a natural form of sulfur compound, which also can be found naturally in foods. Another way that you can get sulfur (which you need to make up a sulfate molecule) is taking a supplement.
My husband struggles with ADD, so I'm ordering a sulfur supplement to see if he notices a difference. I do know that when he was taking DMAE, he noticed a difference. So we'll do a comparison and keep you posted!
I also learned that sulfur deficiency can cause all kinds of sensitivities to foods such as tree nuts. If you have lots of allergy issues, adding a sulfur supplement might be something to consider.
The statement in the article about salicylates also mentioned levels of liver enzymes. Well guess what can cause a change in liver enzymes. Medicines such as Aleve and Tylenol! Incorrect levels of liver enzymes are a sign of metabolic dysfunction and liver inflammation. Other medications that can mess with your liver are some anti-biotics, some anti-fungals, some antidepressants and others.
Here are a few more pages you might be interested in if you're interested in the effects of sulfur, sulfates, salicylates, etc...
The difference between sulfa drugs, sulfate, sulfite, and sulfur.
The importance of sulfur compounds in our bodies.
The importance and use of MSM, a specific sulfur compound that is beneficial for the natural function of our bodies.
Tonight I stumbled across something called a salicylate sensitivity. Some researchers believe that many people with ADD/ADHD have sensitivities to a naturally found chemical called salicylate. If you like chemistry, then this post is for you! Salicylates are specific type of phenol compound. For those who are like me and struggled through high school chemistry, it just means that they contain certain elements from that chart we had to memorize that are attached in a specific order or pattern. Anyway, these natural chemicals are often beneficial for our bodies as long as our bodies are processing them correctly. They are found in wonderfully nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables and nuts. BUT, if our bodies don't have the proper enzymes to process those foods, then those typically nutritious and helpful chemicals can cause our bodies to react negatively.
As I was reading this page, I thought "What a plethora of information! I need to share this!" Then I read, and reread a paragraph about the cause of this sensitivity. In the paragraph titled "Why Do People React To Them" the author states "In a normal body, one with the correct levels of sulfates and liver enzymes, phenols and salicylates are easily metabolized. The body utilizes what it needs from the chemicals and properly disposes of the rest through the bowels. In those whose levels are abnormal, or in the case of leaky gut syndrome, intolerance to this chemical family can occur rather quickly." (Italics/bold added for emphasis)The statement about correct levels of sulfates and liver enzymes got me thinking about how someone could fix that deficit. So, I did a little more research (because that's what I like to do!). Sulfates are a natural form of sulfur compound, which also can be found naturally in foods. Another way that you can get sulfur (which you need to make up a sulfate molecule) is taking a supplement.
My husband struggles with ADD, so I'm ordering a sulfur supplement to see if he notices a difference. I do know that when he was taking DMAE, he noticed a difference. So we'll do a comparison and keep you posted!
I also learned that sulfur deficiency can cause all kinds of sensitivities to foods such as tree nuts. If you have lots of allergy issues, adding a sulfur supplement might be something to consider.
The statement in the article about salicylates also mentioned levels of liver enzymes. Well guess what can cause a change in liver enzymes. Medicines such as Aleve and Tylenol! Incorrect levels of liver enzymes are a sign of metabolic dysfunction and liver inflammation. Other medications that can mess with your liver are some anti-biotics, some anti-fungals, some antidepressants and others.
Here are a few more pages you might be interested in if you're interested in the effects of sulfur, sulfates, salicylates, etc...
The difference between sulfa drugs, sulfate, sulfite, and sulfur.
The importance of sulfur compounds in our bodies.
The importance and use of MSM, a specific sulfur compound that is beneficial for the natural function of our bodies.
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Homemade Almond Butter
My kids LOVE peanut butter, but store-bought peanut butter is full of preservatives and sugar. So, I decided to make my own. Then I thought that if I was going to spend the time making it, I should make it super healthy. Peanuts have been getting some "bad press" because of the fungus that is often found on them, which creates a toxin called Aflatoxin. We've been eating peanut butter in our family since my husband and I were married, and fed it to our children. As far as I can tell, we've had no issues with peanuts, but I had just purchased a bag of organic raw almonds...So, I made almond butter instead. Not only is it packed with nutrients, but it's delicious too! Since I was only experimenting, I used inexact measurements and made a small amount. This is what I did, which yielded about a cup of almond butter:
In my MagicBullet, I threw in 3 handfuls of almonds (here is some information on almonds), 2ish tablespoons of coconut oil (Here are some health benefits from coconut oil), and a few dashes of cinnamon (health benefits of cinnamon). After a minute it was completely pureed and perfect! The coconut oil made it a bit runny at first, but once it cooled back to room temperature, it got more solidified. If you wanted to add some sweetness to yours, you could add some honey, agave or stevia. Since I'm trying to avoid sugars, I opted to leave it as is. A drop of pure vanilla extract might be something yummy to add as well!
Our family is also limiting the amount of grain and yeast products we are eating, so we've had to get creative with meals and snacks. Many people typically think of things like sandwiches or soups for lunch because they're quick and easy. Most canned soups that I find have either some form of gluten, MSG or both. And breads, even gluten free breads, have yeast to help them rise. Thinking outside the box, we've decided to try romaine lettuce for sandwiches. My kids love it! They decided to try the new almond butter on their lettuce sandwiches. I couldn't make the sandwiches fast enough for the boys; and the girls, well, they eventually decided it was good enough to eat. To be fair, they were expecting something more like peanut butter. It just wasn't what they were expecting.
In my MagicBullet, I threw in 3 handfuls of almonds (here is some information on almonds), 2ish tablespoons of coconut oil (Here are some health benefits from coconut oil), and a few dashes of cinnamon (health benefits of cinnamon). After a minute it was completely pureed and perfect! The coconut oil made it a bit runny at first, but once it cooled back to room temperature, it got more solidified. If you wanted to add some sweetness to yours, you could add some honey, agave or stevia. Since I'm trying to avoid sugars, I opted to leave it as is. A drop of pure vanilla extract might be something yummy to add as well!
Our family is also limiting the amount of grain and yeast products we are eating, so we've had to get creative with meals and snacks. Many people typically think of things like sandwiches or soups for lunch because they're quick and easy. Most canned soups that I find have either some form of gluten, MSG or both. And breads, even gluten free breads, have yeast to help them rise. Thinking outside the box, we've decided to try romaine lettuce for sandwiches. My kids love it! They decided to try the new almond butter on their lettuce sandwiches. I couldn't make the sandwiches fast enough for the boys; and the girls, well, they eventually decided it was good enough to eat. To be fair, they were expecting something more like peanut butter. It just wasn't what they were expecting.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Paleo vs. Gluten Free
As I have mentioned in my very first post, this blog and my facebook page are ways to document my growth as a stay at home mom of 4. Now that I am not a full time teacher, I have time to think about and research healthy choices for my family. Today I did a little bit of research about the Paleo diet. Now that I am surrounding myself with people who are health conscious, I'm hearing more discussions about gluten, preservatives, Paleo, toxins, and all kinds of other healthy living issues. One thing that came up a while ago was that there are still a lot of yucky things in foods that are gluten-free.
In Stacey Kimbrell's class earlier this year, she listed all the different names for MSG and other toxic ingredients that we find in the foods on the shelves of our local grocery stores. Names like formaldehyde can also be renamed so they are less recognizable by the consumer. For example, MSG can also be called whey protein, brewers yeast, yeast extract, and even "natural flavor". This page lists the different ingredients that can break down into MSG when processed. This allows the food companies to use the MSG as a preservative without any red flags for most people. So, for a while I brought my list of chemical names, looked at box and bag labels, checking each of the words on the label that I couldn't pronounce to see which toxins were in the foods I wanted to buy. Then I had to make the decision of "do I need or want it bad enough that I will allow myself and my family to ingest toxin x"? Many times I purchased the product thinking that we wouldn't be eating that much of it, or it was essential for a recipe I was planning to make, or it was a convenience food. I found myself making decisions like this: My husband wanted chips to snack on, and I had a coupon for either Bugles or Green Giant Veggie chips. I immediately grabbed the veggie chips thinking they'd obviously be the more healthy choice. Just for kicks and giggles, I compared the nutrition information and ingredients on the Bugles and the veggie chips. Surprisingly, the veggie chips had the most "chemical" ingredients. I used my coupon and purchased the Bugles, even though the ingredients list contained some of those naughty, yucky, hard to pronounce words. At least they were gluten-free, right?
I can read labels on gluten-free crackers, chips, cereals, etc. and see all kinds of unnatural ingredients. It has only taken me a few months, but I have realized, the easiest way to avoid these poisons is to eat food that hasn't been processed. Hence my search of information on the Paleo Diet. I Googled "Paleo Grocery List" and I found these two helpful sites: paleoonabudget.com and paleogrubs.com. Both have at least 2 weeks worth of meal plans and links to some amazing recipes. One of the authors mentions a few times how easy it is to make Paleo meals because the ingredients are so simple. You don't have to have all kinds of canned soups, dressings, or flavor packets to make these meals. Just stock up on meats, veggies and fruits! Paleo Poor also gives a list of seasonal fruits and veggies, so you know which ones will be the best buy. Not only that, she also lists which are "clean", "dirty" or considered more nutritious than the others. So, if I'm on a budget (which I most definitely am), I can decide to get a clean fruit or veggie that is not organic, and spend my extra few cents on getting the organic fruits or veggies that are considered "dirty".
So, today was my first Paleo shopping trip. It was so easy! I found a few things that were manager specials because they were a little wilted. But if we eat them tomorrow, they'll be just fine. According to my seasonal list, I purchased fruits and veggies that are in season now (squash, apples, sweet potatoes), so I didn't have to pay the extra for them to get shipped from the other side of the world. I didn't have to stress about which big words I needed to look up on my danger list. Amazing!
In Stacey Kimbrell's class earlier this year, she listed all the different names for MSG and other toxic ingredients that we find in the foods on the shelves of our local grocery stores. Names like formaldehyde can also be renamed so they are less recognizable by the consumer. For example, MSG can also be called whey protein, brewers yeast, yeast extract, and even "natural flavor". This page lists the different ingredients that can break down into MSG when processed. This allows the food companies to use the MSG as a preservative without any red flags for most people. So, for a while I brought my list of chemical names, looked at box and bag labels, checking each of the words on the label that I couldn't pronounce to see which toxins were in the foods I wanted to buy. Then I had to make the decision of "do I need or want it bad enough that I will allow myself and my family to ingest toxin x"? Many times I purchased the product thinking that we wouldn't be eating that much of it, or it was essential for a recipe I was planning to make, or it was a convenience food. I found myself making decisions like this: My husband wanted chips to snack on, and I had a coupon for either Bugles or Green Giant Veggie chips. I immediately grabbed the veggie chips thinking they'd obviously be the more healthy choice. Just for kicks and giggles, I compared the nutrition information and ingredients on the Bugles and the veggie chips. Surprisingly, the veggie chips had the most "chemical" ingredients. I used my coupon and purchased the Bugles, even though the ingredients list contained some of those naughty, yucky, hard to pronounce words. At least they were gluten-free, right?
I can read labels on gluten-free crackers, chips, cereals, etc. and see all kinds of unnatural ingredients. It has only taken me a few months, but I have realized, the easiest way to avoid these poisons is to eat food that hasn't been processed. Hence my search of information on the Paleo Diet. I Googled "Paleo Grocery List" and I found these two helpful sites: paleoonabudget.com and paleogrubs.com. Both have at least 2 weeks worth of meal plans and links to some amazing recipes. One of the authors mentions a few times how easy it is to make Paleo meals because the ingredients are so simple. You don't have to have all kinds of canned soups, dressings, or flavor packets to make these meals. Just stock up on meats, veggies and fruits! Paleo Poor also gives a list of seasonal fruits and veggies, so you know which ones will be the best buy. Not only that, she also lists which are "clean", "dirty" or considered more nutritious than the others. So, if I'm on a budget (which I most definitely am), I can decide to get a clean fruit or veggie that is not organic, and spend my extra few cents on getting the organic fruits or veggies that are considered "dirty".
So, today was my first Paleo shopping trip. It was so easy! I found a few things that were manager specials because they were a little wilted. But if we eat them tomorrow, they'll be just fine. According to my seasonal list, I purchased fruits and veggies that are in season now (squash, apples, sweet potatoes), so I didn't have to pay the extra for them to get shipped from the other side of the world. I didn't have to stress about which big words I needed to look up on my danger list. Amazing!
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Rules for a reason
Isn't it amazing how our perspectives can change when you become a parent? As I was growing up, I associated rules with control, or lack there of. Most people who knew me growing up knew that I often had to turn down invitations because my mom said "no". Now that I have children, I understand her concerns and reasoning behind not allowing me to go to parties, stressing about grades, telling me what not to wear, etc. I saw it as having no control of my own life and her not wanting me to have any fun. She knew the possible consequences for those choices and viewed my restrictions as helping me avoid painful consequences. (If you're familiar with Love and Logic parenting/teaching, my mom would have been considered both a Drill Sergeant AND a Helicopter parent.)
The same holds true for the rules God gives us in the Bible. However, the difference between my well-meaning mom and God is He doesn't make them up in an attempt to control the outcomes of our lives, they are given to us because He knows the consequences of those actions and loves us enough to warn us. Lets take the 10 commandments, for example.
1. I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other Gods before me. What are the consequences of setting priorities or "gods" higher than our Lord God? What if you value money more than God? What if you value your self image more than God? The consequences are often continual dissatisfaction and eventually self destruction. When money is more important than God, you lose sight of the value of all the other things he has given you: health, family, friends, food, etc. When external image is more important to you than God, you are blinded to the natural beauty He has created in you and spend your time changing what He created. You were made in His image, you are beautiful.
2. Do not use the Lord's name in vain. To understand this, you must understand the word "vain" in this context. In this verse (Ex20:7) the Hebrew word or root for "vain" is "shav", meaning emptiness, vanity, deceit, lies, or falsehood. So, then, what would be consequences of using God's name with emptiness or falsehood, being deceptive? You will lose your integrity, and people will not trust you. How many issues in our world today are directly related to a lack of trust in people, businesses, communities or organizations?
3. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. This is important for a lot of reasons, I feel. If you take one day a week to focus on and study God's word, maybe you'd learn to listen to Him and hear what he's telling you. So often we get caught up in cleaning house, sports tournaments, or paperwork we need to get done for the boss back at the office, that we find ourselves too busy to listen to whatever God's trying to tell us. Also, studies show that people are much more effective and efficient at work when they've had some time to decompress. I know that when I was a public school teacher, I was much more energized and ready to face a classroom of needy children after one of our breaks. Life is physically and emotionally draining- allowing yourself one day with God, will refresh you for the days to come.
4. Honor your father and mother. This command is not just saying "always do what your parents tell you", per say. It's basically saying not to be an embarrassment to your parents. Act in a way which will make your parents proud. Why is this important? Personally speaking, I can remember a time in my life where I was "finding myself." I was pretty much doing the opposite of this commandment. Let me tell you, it was pretty stressful on me trying to cover up what I didn't want my parents to know and stressful on my relationship with my parents. If you don't have a good relationship with your parents, for whatever reason, you know how difficult and complicated it can make life. My husband and I have been married for 7 years and started dating 10 years ago. This past weekend, my mom found out for the first time that I had met my husband on the internet. It wasn't something I thought my parents would approve of, and therefore took a lot of fibs, stories and awkward conversations to keep them from finding out. Coincidentally, this fib was happening at the same time as the fore-mentioned "finding myself" period on the timeline of my life... so I had quite a few stories I had to keep straight when talking with my parents. Would my life have been less stressful if I'd stuck to doing the things that I could tell my parents about? You bet!
5. Do not kill. Interesting that this one is also a "law of the land"... For people who don't believe in God, where do they get the moral standing of killing is wrong? That's a whole different post in and of itself! Likewise, a whole blog post could be on the relationship between this commandment, abortions and birth control. Let's keep it simple and narrow it down to what we should all agree is murder... ending the life of a person. (Again, we'll leave the "when does life begin" argument for another time). What are the consequences of killing? You go to jail, and depending on which state you live in, you could be put to death "humanely". Chances are you'd also have some major psychological issues added on to whatever issues you had that caused you to commit murder in the first place. Not only are you affected, but the family and friends of the person that was killed would have a lot of emotional stress which can lead to financial stress.
6. Do not commit adultery. In Exodus, the command is simply "don't commit adultery". But what qualifies as adultery? The obvious answer is sleeping/sex with someone who is married or with someone other than your spouse if you are married. However, in Matthew 5:28, we are told that even having lustful thoughts about someone that is not our spouse is also considered adultery. So, that means if a "hot chick" or "hot guy" walks by and your mind says "wow, I wonder how he/she is in bed" you've committed adultery, even if you didn't actually sleep with them. Keeping a pure mind makes a wedded relationship run much more smoothly. Married couples already have other things to argue about: money, in-laws, parenting styles, etc. Unfortunately, the act of adultery has created a wedge in many marriages. Spouses become unable to trust each other; wondering if their husband or wife is really where they say they are or with who they say they're with. Divorce is usually the outcome of infidelity, and that creates a whole truckload of baggage, especially if there are children involved.
7. Do not steal. Another "law of the land" like commandment #5. Not only will you end up in jail (or at least a court record of some sort, depending on your age and the value of the stolen goods), you will end up not being trusted. I've also noticed that people are much more willing to help out someone in need with integrity, than someone who steals to get what they want.
8. Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. In Exodus, the word used for "neighbor" is "rea". When this word is used other places in the Bible, it is interchangeable with "friend, companion, fellow, another, husband, lover, mate, opponent and neighbor". "Testimony" and "witness" are also interchangeable here. In short, don't make up lies about people. Those people are all people, not just your friends or the people who live next to you. When you make up lies or spread gossip about people, others will not respect you, you will not be a trusted confidant, and you may end up with no friends. Some lies can actually ruin the lives of those about whom the lie was spoken.
9. Do not covet your neighbor's house, and 10. Do not covet your neighbor's wife, servants, ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. These two I'm putting together because of the same general theme... do not be jealous of things that other people have, and you don't. The old saying goes "The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence". I recently saw a quote on Oola's Facebook page that is related to this commandment: "Jealousy comes from counting others' blessings instead of your own." You will never be happy with what you have if you're constantly comparing yourself, your things, and your life to others. People who are not grateful for what they have often find themselves ruining relationships and even their health to get what someone else has. Setting goals is wonderful, but the motivation behind those goals needs to be genuine, not because "life will be better when I have (fill in the blank) like (fill in a name)".
There are many other "dos" and "don'ts" throughout the Bible, all of which have been given to us to prevent us from having to go through pain and heartache... drunkenness, homosexuality, foods to eat and foods to avoid, laziness, etc. Literally every aspect of our daily life can be guided by the "rules" God gave us in the Bible. From the moment we wake up to the time we drift off to sleep, our choices can either make life easier (by following "the rules") or create a struggle for ourselves and/or others (by not following "the rules"). Even the best of us struggle with one or two issues. Luckily, He loves us no matter how many rules we break or how messed up we've caused our lives to be!
The same holds true for the rules God gives us in the Bible. However, the difference between my well-meaning mom and God is He doesn't make them up in an attempt to control the outcomes of our lives, they are given to us because He knows the consequences of those actions and loves us enough to warn us. Lets take the 10 commandments, for example.
1. I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other Gods before me. What are the consequences of setting priorities or "gods" higher than our Lord God? What if you value money more than God? What if you value your self image more than God? The consequences are often continual dissatisfaction and eventually self destruction. When money is more important than God, you lose sight of the value of all the other things he has given you: health, family, friends, food, etc. When external image is more important to you than God, you are blinded to the natural beauty He has created in you and spend your time changing what He created. You were made in His image, you are beautiful.
2. Do not use the Lord's name in vain. To understand this, you must understand the word "vain" in this context. In this verse (Ex20:7) the Hebrew word or root for "vain" is "shav", meaning emptiness, vanity, deceit, lies, or falsehood. So, then, what would be consequences of using God's name with emptiness or falsehood, being deceptive? You will lose your integrity, and people will not trust you. How many issues in our world today are directly related to a lack of trust in people, businesses, communities or organizations?
3. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. This is important for a lot of reasons, I feel. If you take one day a week to focus on and study God's word, maybe you'd learn to listen to Him and hear what he's telling you. So often we get caught up in cleaning house, sports tournaments, or paperwork we need to get done for the boss back at the office, that we find ourselves too busy to listen to whatever God's trying to tell us. Also, studies show that people are much more effective and efficient at work when they've had some time to decompress. I know that when I was a public school teacher, I was much more energized and ready to face a classroom of needy children after one of our breaks. Life is physically and emotionally draining- allowing yourself one day with God, will refresh you for the days to come.
4. Honor your father and mother. This command is not just saying "always do what your parents tell you", per say. It's basically saying not to be an embarrassment to your parents. Act in a way which will make your parents proud. Why is this important? Personally speaking, I can remember a time in my life where I was "finding myself." I was pretty much doing the opposite of this commandment. Let me tell you, it was pretty stressful on me trying to cover up what I didn't want my parents to know and stressful on my relationship with my parents. If you don't have a good relationship with your parents, for whatever reason, you know how difficult and complicated it can make life. My husband and I have been married for 7 years and started dating 10 years ago. This past weekend, my mom found out for the first time that I had met my husband on the internet. It wasn't something I thought my parents would approve of, and therefore took a lot of fibs, stories and awkward conversations to keep them from finding out. Coincidentally, this fib was happening at the same time as the fore-mentioned "finding myself" period on the timeline of my life... so I had quite a few stories I had to keep straight when talking with my parents. Would my life have been less stressful if I'd stuck to doing the things that I could tell my parents about? You bet!
5. Do not kill. Interesting that this one is also a "law of the land"... For people who don't believe in God, where do they get the moral standing of killing is wrong? That's a whole different post in and of itself! Likewise, a whole blog post could be on the relationship between this commandment, abortions and birth control. Let's keep it simple and narrow it down to what we should all agree is murder... ending the life of a person. (Again, we'll leave the "when does life begin" argument for another time). What are the consequences of killing? You go to jail, and depending on which state you live in, you could be put to death "humanely". Chances are you'd also have some major psychological issues added on to whatever issues you had that caused you to commit murder in the first place. Not only are you affected, but the family and friends of the person that was killed would have a lot of emotional stress which can lead to financial stress.
6. Do not commit adultery. In Exodus, the command is simply "don't commit adultery". But what qualifies as adultery? The obvious answer is sleeping/sex with someone who is married or with someone other than your spouse if you are married. However, in Matthew 5:28, we are told that even having lustful thoughts about someone that is not our spouse is also considered adultery. So, that means if a "hot chick" or "hot guy" walks by and your mind says "wow, I wonder how he/she is in bed" you've committed adultery, even if you didn't actually sleep with them. Keeping a pure mind makes a wedded relationship run much more smoothly. Married couples already have other things to argue about: money, in-laws, parenting styles, etc. Unfortunately, the act of adultery has created a wedge in many marriages. Spouses become unable to trust each other; wondering if their husband or wife is really where they say they are or with who they say they're with. Divorce is usually the outcome of infidelity, and that creates a whole truckload of baggage, especially if there are children involved.
7. Do not steal. Another "law of the land" like commandment #5. Not only will you end up in jail (or at least a court record of some sort, depending on your age and the value of the stolen goods), you will end up not being trusted. I've also noticed that people are much more willing to help out someone in need with integrity, than someone who steals to get what they want.
8. Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. In Exodus, the word used for "neighbor" is "rea". When this word is used other places in the Bible, it is interchangeable with "friend, companion, fellow, another, husband, lover, mate, opponent and neighbor". "Testimony" and "witness" are also interchangeable here. In short, don't make up lies about people. Those people are all people, not just your friends or the people who live next to you. When you make up lies or spread gossip about people, others will not respect you, you will not be a trusted confidant, and you may end up with no friends. Some lies can actually ruin the lives of those about whom the lie was spoken.
9. Do not covet your neighbor's house, and 10. Do not covet your neighbor's wife, servants, ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. These two I'm putting together because of the same general theme... do not be jealous of things that other people have, and you don't. The old saying goes "The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence". I recently saw a quote on Oola's Facebook page that is related to this commandment: "Jealousy comes from counting others' blessings instead of your own." You will never be happy with what you have if you're constantly comparing yourself, your things, and your life to others. People who are not grateful for what they have often find themselves ruining relationships and even their health to get what someone else has. Setting goals is wonderful, but the motivation behind those goals needs to be genuine, not because "life will be better when I have (fill in the blank) like (fill in a name)".
There are many other "dos" and "don'ts" throughout the Bible, all of which have been given to us to prevent us from having to go through pain and heartache... drunkenness, homosexuality, foods to eat and foods to avoid, laziness, etc. Literally every aspect of our daily life can be guided by the "rules" God gave us in the Bible. From the moment we wake up to the time we drift off to sleep, our choices can either make life easier (by following "the rules") or create a struggle for ourselves and/or others (by not following "the rules"). Even the best of us struggle with one or two issues. Luckily, He loves us no matter how many rules we break or how messed up we've caused our lives to be!
Friday, June 13, 2014
Sun Screen on God's temple
1Corinthians verses 19 and 20 (NIV) 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
These verses have been kind of an obsession of mine at least for the last 8 months, if not longer. Maybe not the actual words of the verses, meaning I haven't been walking around saying them or quoting them to people. But the idea, or point of the verses, treating our bodies the best that we know how because they are a gift from God and house his Holy Spirit, has been a daily thought. That is why I'm loving my essential oils, gluten-free diet based mostly on fresh fruits, veggies and meats. (Organic, hormone and anti-biotic free meats are expensive, so I don't use them much when I cook.) I feel like when I'm eating "right", I'm also intentionally not destroying God's house.
Recently I went to an essential oils class at which we were shown how to make "summer essentials" such as bug spray, sunscreen, lip balm, etc. I assumed that since we were making it, it worked well enough to use. It may have worked for some people, but not for my kids. However, since my husband is very fair skinned (his skin is either white or red, nothing between), my oldest daughter's skin is also very fair. My second daughter has skin more like mine and doesn't burn quite as easily. After putting the homemade sunscreen on them, both of them got sun burned (my oldest more severely than the second). When I double checked the ingredients, the maximum SPF was probably about 15. This was the second time this summer they had been out in the sun for any length of time, and they were still a little pink from the first time when we used a spray on commercial sunscreen. Needless to say, they both needed more than just SPF 15. I asked a few of the essential oil "experts" in the area and was told that had we added carrot seed oil, myrrh oil, or helichrysum oil, the SPF would be at least twice that of the original recipe. So, I added a little myrrh essential oil to the original mix and it seemed to work much better. I forgot to put some on the low back of my middle daughter because she was wearing one of those swimsuits with the t-shirt type top, not thinking that the skin between her top and bottom would be exposed. Anyway, she got burnt in that spot where I forgot to put the improved formula, but the rest of her was fine. The fair-skinned oldest seemed to have gotten a little pink, but not nearly as badly burnt as with the original blend. My brother, a skeptic and science minded man, decided to do an experiment on himself. He put my "new and improved sunscreen" on one forearm and a conventional/commercial sunscreen on his other arm. After playing in the water and being in the sun for at least an hour, there was no noticeable difference between my formula and his. From what I have been told, helichrysum has the highest SPF of all known essential oils. I guess that will be my next purchase, although very expensive, to add in my oldest daughter's personal sunscreen.
Another local mom is making hers with zinc oxide. Since I'm not too familiar with zinc oxide, I decided to do a google search. Everything you find using google is true, right? HA! There were "natural recipes" for sunscreen using them, and pages with statements saying that it is dangerous. One page said that zinc oxide is safe because it doesn't penetrate the skin, however, if you're making something with it, you should wear a mask so you don't breathe the powder in. Hmmm... This is the safety data for zinc oxide. In at least 2 places it says that it is a mutagen to mammalian somatic cells. When I looked up somatic cells, I found that they are basically all the cells in our bodies except the reproductive cells (ova and sperm). Skin cells, internal organ cells, blood cells, bone cells, etc. are all considered somatic cells. So then, lets say that zinc oxide doesn't penetrate your skin, and sits on your skin... skin cells are still "mammalian somatic cells" and can be mutated from zinc oxide. There is a study mentioned in this article about zinc oxide going through chemical reactions and significantly deteriorating human cells when exposed to UV rays (what it's supposed to be protecting us from). Admittedly, it is still in the beginning stages of research, but with the information given here, it's not looking good.
My mindset is often the "all or nothing". If I can't do it 100% correct, I'd just rather not do it. Now, I'm going to make a statement that could be extremely frustrating and overwhelming for a perfectionist such as myself. When I decided that I was going to go chemical free, all natural, healthy everything for my family, my doctor kind of burst my bubble. This is the statement that almost sent me off the deep end: "There are chemicals everywhere; you breathe them in the air. They are unavoidable". BAH!!! Unavoidable?!! I almost gave up, threw my hands in the air, and decided to go back to buying cheap things with coupons even if they had all kinds of bad stuff in them, just because they were cheap. Then I met Stacey Kimbrell. She has written a book about the different chemicals with which we come in contact. She, too, admitted that there are just some things you can't avoid, so you just do your best to avoid what you can. Usually your body recognizes toxic chemicals and flushes them out as waste product. However, if your body is overwhelmed with toxins (like if you eat foods packed with preservatives every day for every meal) then some of those toxins stay in your body and can cause havoc. Basically, I felt like I was given permission to mess up once in a while or use something with toxins in it when in a pinch. If I usually eat "chemical free" foods and use personal products that don't contain any (or many) toxins, then when I do accidentally eat something containing MSG or formaldehyde, my body will be able to send it out with the rest of the waste.
With that said, I am still undecided about using zinc oxide in my next sunscreen concoction. If it keeps my kid sunburn-free, is it worth the risk of exposing her to the mutagenic properties? Will her body flush out the zinc oxide before it is able to cause issues in her cells? Or, should I continue to experiment on her with the best essential oils can offer? Either way she is being experimented on. I guess this will be one of my prayer concerns tonight. Praying that God direct me, show me some kind of information, as to what is best for my family as I continue trying to treat our bodies as the temple God has told us it is.
These verses have been kind of an obsession of mine at least for the last 8 months, if not longer. Maybe not the actual words of the verses, meaning I haven't been walking around saying them or quoting them to people. But the idea, or point of the verses, treating our bodies the best that we know how because they are a gift from God and house his Holy Spirit, has been a daily thought. That is why I'm loving my essential oils, gluten-free diet based mostly on fresh fruits, veggies and meats. (Organic, hormone and anti-biotic free meats are expensive, so I don't use them much when I cook.) I feel like when I'm eating "right", I'm also intentionally not destroying God's house.
Recently I went to an essential oils class at which we were shown how to make "summer essentials" such as bug spray, sunscreen, lip balm, etc. I assumed that since we were making it, it worked well enough to use. It may have worked for some people, but not for my kids. However, since my husband is very fair skinned (his skin is either white or red, nothing between), my oldest daughter's skin is also very fair. My second daughter has skin more like mine and doesn't burn quite as easily. After putting the homemade sunscreen on them, both of them got sun burned (my oldest more severely than the second). When I double checked the ingredients, the maximum SPF was probably about 15. This was the second time this summer they had been out in the sun for any length of time, and they were still a little pink from the first time when we used a spray on commercial sunscreen. Needless to say, they both needed more than just SPF 15. I asked a few of the essential oil "experts" in the area and was told that had we added carrot seed oil, myrrh oil, or helichrysum oil, the SPF would be at least twice that of the original recipe. So, I added a little myrrh essential oil to the original mix and it seemed to work much better. I forgot to put some on the low back of my middle daughter because she was wearing one of those swimsuits with the t-shirt type top, not thinking that the skin between her top and bottom would be exposed. Anyway, she got burnt in that spot where I forgot to put the improved formula, but the rest of her was fine. The fair-skinned oldest seemed to have gotten a little pink, but not nearly as badly burnt as with the original blend. My brother, a skeptic and science minded man, decided to do an experiment on himself. He put my "new and improved sunscreen" on one forearm and a conventional/commercial sunscreen on his other arm. After playing in the water and being in the sun for at least an hour, there was no noticeable difference between my formula and his. From what I have been told, helichrysum has the highest SPF of all known essential oils. I guess that will be my next purchase, although very expensive, to add in my oldest daughter's personal sunscreen.
Another local mom is making hers with zinc oxide. Since I'm not too familiar with zinc oxide, I decided to do a google search. Everything you find using google is true, right? HA! There were "natural recipes" for sunscreen using them, and pages with statements saying that it is dangerous. One page said that zinc oxide is safe because it doesn't penetrate the skin, however, if you're making something with it, you should wear a mask so you don't breathe the powder in. Hmmm... This is the safety data for zinc oxide. In at least 2 places it says that it is a mutagen to mammalian somatic cells. When I looked up somatic cells, I found that they are basically all the cells in our bodies except the reproductive cells (ova and sperm). Skin cells, internal organ cells, blood cells, bone cells, etc. are all considered somatic cells. So then, lets say that zinc oxide doesn't penetrate your skin, and sits on your skin... skin cells are still "mammalian somatic cells" and can be mutated from zinc oxide. There is a study mentioned in this article about zinc oxide going through chemical reactions and significantly deteriorating human cells when exposed to UV rays (what it's supposed to be protecting us from). Admittedly, it is still in the beginning stages of research, but with the information given here, it's not looking good.
My mindset is often the "all or nothing". If I can't do it 100% correct, I'd just rather not do it. Now, I'm going to make a statement that could be extremely frustrating and overwhelming for a perfectionist such as myself. When I decided that I was going to go chemical free, all natural, healthy everything for my family, my doctor kind of burst my bubble. This is the statement that almost sent me off the deep end: "There are chemicals everywhere; you breathe them in the air. They are unavoidable". BAH!!! Unavoidable?!! I almost gave up, threw my hands in the air, and decided to go back to buying cheap things with coupons even if they had all kinds of bad stuff in them, just because they were cheap. Then I met Stacey Kimbrell. She has written a book about the different chemicals with which we come in contact. She, too, admitted that there are just some things you can't avoid, so you just do your best to avoid what you can. Usually your body recognizes toxic chemicals and flushes them out as waste product. However, if your body is overwhelmed with toxins (like if you eat foods packed with preservatives every day for every meal) then some of those toxins stay in your body and can cause havoc. Basically, I felt like I was given permission to mess up once in a while or use something with toxins in it when in a pinch. If I usually eat "chemical free" foods and use personal products that don't contain any (or many) toxins, then when I do accidentally eat something containing MSG or formaldehyde, my body will be able to send it out with the rest of the waste.
With that said, I am still undecided about using zinc oxide in my next sunscreen concoction. If it keeps my kid sunburn-free, is it worth the risk of exposing her to the mutagenic properties? Will her body flush out the zinc oxide before it is able to cause issues in her cells? Or, should I continue to experiment on her with the best essential oils can offer? Either way she is being experimented on. I guess this will be one of my prayer concerns tonight. Praying that God direct me, show me some kind of information, as to what is best for my family as I continue trying to treat our bodies as the temple God has told us it is.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
the Mother's Day garden
Saturday we had Debbie, a friend of my grandma's, come to our home to help us start a garden. She brought her sod cutter, shovel, rake, edger and even a few seedlings to get us started. Debbie was here and already moving dirt before I even had the kids dressed. My intention was to have Debbie be the instructor or site manager while the girls and I did the work. Well, by the time I got out there with the girls, Debbie had already gotten the first row of "sod" removed and was turning the dirt. Her sod cutter wasn't terribly helpful since there wasn't much grass where she decided the best place for the garden was, just weeds. I felt kind of in her way trying to help remove the grass/weeds, so I ended up bringing wheelbarrow loads of mulch from a tree we had ground up last year and black dirt we had brought in. The mulch had already started the decaying process, so made for an excellent addition to the garden dirt.
While we were working in the dirt, I had mentioned to her that I had some dresses from my grandma that my great aunts had worn as children. I want to get formal pictures of my daughters wearing them, but they need a little TLC before they are photographed. Since Debbie is so knowledgeable in so many areas, I thought to ask her about them. She said I might take them to a dry cleaners, but if they are too frail, the dry cleaner might not even take them. Apparently she had some velvet curtains that were refused because the dry cleaner didn't want to be responsible for any damage that might be done due to their fragile fabric. Then she said, "The sun is great for things like growing plants, but bad for lots of other things, like curtains, furniture, etc." I chuckled and replied, "Kind of like children. They're not good for furniture, walls or carpets either." Being the wise woman that she is, she reminded me how precious children are too. "I have a daughter who has done many things, has a good paying job, and travels all over. She has no children. I would not trade her for her life. My mother-in-law had 13 children, an outhouse and no running water. She had to travel half a mile to get fresh water. I think it was that she liked to play that kept her sane. Without children, you have nothing really to look back on, no memories."
Debbie ended up staying and working in our garden until almost 2pm. I had brought the girls in the house for lunch and naps shortly after noon. When the girls were in their beds for a rest, I fed and rocked the twins. The whole time I was rocking, I was thinking about Debbie's love for my children, the patience she showed as the girls were getting in the way or grabbing the tools, and the wisdom she shared about the value of children.
In church that afternoon, the sermon was about how we can share our faith with others. It was suggested that we share our "coming to God" story; our life event that made us choose God regardless if we had grown up with religion or not. Well, my children are my faith story. My mother-in-law often reminds me of when I would talk about how frustrated I was that I couldn't conceive. Matt and I had been married for a couple years before we started trying to get pregnant. Then, when we started trying, it was month after month of disappointment. My mom had a hard time conceiving, so I assumed that I would also have that burden. My doctor confirmed that based on my cycle (or lack there of) and the multiple cysts I had on my ovaries, that I might end up having to use fertility drugs to aid in getting me pregnant. Both my husband and I grew up in Christian families. I'm grateful that our parents gave us a Christian foundation to fall back on. However, when I moved away to college, God was the last thing on my mind. Matt and I got married in my home church, but didn't really attend church often. After about a year of trying, I finally asked God. I begged and bargained. I remember praying, "Please, if you let me have a child, I will give it to You to use as Samson's mother gave him to you. They can be like little disciples, bringing others to You too." Then I began to feel more at peace with not having any children. I thought, if I'm not getting pregnant, I guess God's got other plans. Matt and I started looking into adoption or foster parenting. It was about then that I also felt the need to find a new "home church" where we lived, since we lived more than 2 hours away from where either of us grew up. I thought that if I were to get pregnant, we would need a place to get him or her baptized. So I set out on a mission to find a church that Matt and I could call home and raise our children. Then, in the beginning of the year, 4 years ago, I found out that I was finally pregnant. Since then, I have had 3 wonderful pregnancies and given birth to 4 wonderful children. They are the reason I try to better myself. I promised God, that if I could have children of my own, I would do my best to lead them to Him so that they could also lead others to Him. I have 4 little disciples now, and I am not the perfect disciple myself; so, I have lots of praying to do! God is good!
Here are some photos of my little blessings helping in our new garden and putting mulch in the wheel barrow:
While we were working in the dirt, I had mentioned to her that I had some dresses from my grandma that my great aunts had worn as children. I want to get formal pictures of my daughters wearing them, but they need a little TLC before they are photographed. Since Debbie is so knowledgeable in so many areas, I thought to ask her about them. She said I might take them to a dry cleaners, but if they are too frail, the dry cleaner might not even take them. Apparently she had some velvet curtains that were refused because the dry cleaner didn't want to be responsible for any damage that might be done due to their fragile fabric. Then she said, "The sun is great for things like growing plants, but bad for lots of other things, like curtains, furniture, etc." I chuckled and replied, "Kind of like children. They're not good for furniture, walls or carpets either." Being the wise woman that she is, she reminded me how precious children are too. "I have a daughter who has done many things, has a good paying job, and travels all over. She has no children. I would not trade her for her life. My mother-in-law had 13 children, an outhouse and no running water. She had to travel half a mile to get fresh water. I think it was that she liked to play that kept her sane. Without children, you have nothing really to look back on, no memories."
Debbie ended up staying and working in our garden until almost 2pm. I had brought the girls in the house for lunch and naps shortly after noon. When the girls were in their beds for a rest, I fed and rocked the twins. The whole time I was rocking, I was thinking about Debbie's love for my children, the patience she showed as the girls were getting in the way or grabbing the tools, and the wisdom she shared about the value of children.
In church that afternoon, the sermon was about how we can share our faith with others. It was suggested that we share our "coming to God" story; our life event that made us choose God regardless if we had grown up with religion or not. Well, my children are my faith story. My mother-in-law often reminds me of when I would talk about how frustrated I was that I couldn't conceive. Matt and I had been married for a couple years before we started trying to get pregnant. Then, when we started trying, it was month after month of disappointment. My mom had a hard time conceiving, so I assumed that I would also have that burden. My doctor confirmed that based on my cycle (or lack there of) and the multiple cysts I had on my ovaries, that I might end up having to use fertility drugs to aid in getting me pregnant. Both my husband and I grew up in Christian families. I'm grateful that our parents gave us a Christian foundation to fall back on. However, when I moved away to college, God was the last thing on my mind. Matt and I got married in my home church, but didn't really attend church often. After about a year of trying, I finally asked God. I begged and bargained. I remember praying, "Please, if you let me have a child, I will give it to You to use as Samson's mother gave him to you. They can be like little disciples, bringing others to You too." Then I began to feel more at peace with not having any children. I thought, if I'm not getting pregnant, I guess God's got other plans. Matt and I started looking into adoption or foster parenting. It was about then that I also felt the need to find a new "home church" where we lived, since we lived more than 2 hours away from where either of us grew up. I thought that if I were to get pregnant, we would need a place to get him or her baptized. So I set out on a mission to find a church that Matt and I could call home and raise our children. Then, in the beginning of the year, 4 years ago, I found out that I was finally pregnant. Since then, I have had 3 wonderful pregnancies and given birth to 4 wonderful children. They are the reason I try to better myself. I promised God, that if I could have children of my own, I would do my best to lead them to Him so that they could also lead others to Him. I have 4 little disciples now, and I am not the perfect disciple myself; so, I have lots of praying to do! God is good!
Here are some photos of my little blessings helping in our new garden and putting mulch in the wheel barrow:
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Healthy Living 1 Step at a Time contest
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Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Chicken Nuggets and Bean Soup
The girls (my 2 and 3 year olds) helped make chicken nuggets. We used this recipe and they turned out great! The outside was crispy and the inside was moist and juicy. We used Kix cereal instead of bread crumbs and rice flour as our "all purpose flour". I had enough of the coating/crumbs left that I added 2 more eggs and another cup or so of milk to make a thick batter. I also mixed in some garlic salt and dried basil. Then I put clumps of the batter on a cookie sheet and baked them. They made delicious biscuits! My daughters loved helping crush up the cereal for the coating. A gallon sized plastic storage bag worked well to contain the cereal as it was pounded and crushed. The plastic toy hammer the girls started with made it fun, but wasn't very effective. On the other hand, the rolling pin was very effective and the girls enjoyed using that as well. They seemed pretty proud to be able to tell Daddy that they helped make dinner. When I wasn't looking, though, my 3 year old took a chunk out of one of the uncooked chicken breast pieces. I freaked out when I'd realized what she'd done. I had her wash her hands and gargle mouthwash. Afterwards, she told me she didn't like the mouthwash and she won't eat chicken anymore unless it's cooked. I guess if she forgets how to make chicken nuggets, at least she'll remember they have to be cooked first!
Tonight we made black bean soup. My husband loves the black bean soup that one of our local businesses makes every Christmas to share with people in town. However, that only happens once a year. So I decided to try my hand at it. This is the recipe I used. At first it smelled as if I had added way too much garlic, but it ended up turning out great. I used chopped garlic from the jar, not fresh. I also was lazy and decided to throw the green pepper and the onion in the Magic Bullet. So instead of adding finely chopped green pepper and onion, I added a puree. Next time I will probably soak the beans for an extra few hours. I started soaking them in the afternoon yesterday and started cooking the soup around noon today. There were still a few beans that weren't soft all the way through and the soup didn't get as thick as I would've liked. When I served the soup, I realized that we had used the last of the sour cream when we'd grilled chicken and potatoes this weekend. However, I did have half a carton of plain yogurt. I've heard of people substituting yogurt for sour cream, so we gave it a shot. My husband was very doubtful that he'd like it, but he ended up loving it. Maybe there is still hope to converting him to a healthy eater!
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Kids Today
I don't think I mentioned it in earlier posts, so if you are following this blog and gradually getting to know me, you may be about to learn something new :-) I am a certified special education teacher (at least for now). My certification will expire in a couple months and I have not applied for a recertification simply because I do not want to spend money on something that I do not intend on needing in the near future. However, I still do occasionally substitute teach in a couple local school districts. I still love teaching and sharing information with kids, so substituting once or twice a month gives me that opportunity. This week I stood in for a high school teacher. I was just blown away by some of the conversations I heard and the words coming from the mouths of those young people. It broke my heart to hear them talk about their experiences with sex or parties or bullies. One young man told a young lady in the class about his "first time" and how he'd cried afterwards because he felt like a bad kid. This tells me that in his core he knows that sex should be reserved for your spouse. I pray that the experience he had gives him the will power to overcome the temptation, should the opportunity of sex ever present itself, and the wisdom to avoid situations that can lead to that temptation.
After overhearing that conversation, I of course, immediately thought of my own children. How am I going to emphasize to them how important it is to preserve your purity for your future spouse? God doesn't just tell us to preserve ourselves to make life difficult for us, He knows the heartache that often happens when sex happens out of wedlock and wants to protect us from that suffering. (Boy, I am so much more wise now than I was before having children of my own!) Isn't it amazing how your perspective changes when you have children of our own?!
One thing that the Praying Parent book taught me is that it's never too early to start praying for our children, even in areas of life that seem so distant. My oldest is only 3, but after hearing what I did in that high school classroom, you'd better bet your bottom dollar that I will be praying from now on that my children value themselves and their purity enough that they wait for their spouse.
Another thing I have done is noticed how many innuendos are said in front of our children. My husband and I are married, but we still "flirt". I have noticed that some of the comments we make, assuming our children don't know what we're talking about, are not appropriate. Although it can be taken as a complement when my husband says something about his physical attraction to me, I also don't want my children to think that my body is the only reason he loves me. When spending time with family or friends, if the television is on "for background sound" there is often attractive women and men in commercials. Many times, someone comments about how "hot" or physically attractive the actors are. What are my kids getting from those comments made to me by my husband or by others about the actors on TV? Are they hearing that our bodies are God's creation and to be shared only with our spouse?
My 3 year old is beginning to understand the concept of privacy. I have made clear to her that she needs to keep herself covered, especially when we have visitors. She still is dependent on adults to help her with toileting and bathing, so she doesn't quite grasp the idea of total privacy. And, she has spent so much time with my parents that I don't think she views them as "visitors". Now she will tell adults to keep the door closed while she goes potty and she will call them in when she needs them. This closing of the door began after she walked in the bathroom when my mom was on the toilet. Mom let her know that she is not welcome in the bathroom while she is using it, that she needs to knock to ask permission to enter and that she needs her privacy when using the bathroom. So, a big THANK YOU to my mom who (purposely, or not) modeled modesty and the importance of privacy for my child!
Tonight I will pray for God to open my eyes to more opportunities to model modesty now and in the future in a way that is relevant to my children in each stage of their lives.
After overhearing that conversation, I of course, immediately thought of my own children. How am I going to emphasize to them how important it is to preserve your purity for your future spouse? God doesn't just tell us to preserve ourselves to make life difficult for us, He knows the heartache that often happens when sex happens out of wedlock and wants to protect us from that suffering. (Boy, I am so much more wise now than I was before having children of my own!) Isn't it amazing how your perspective changes when you have children of our own?!
One thing that the Praying Parent book taught me is that it's never too early to start praying for our children, even in areas of life that seem so distant. My oldest is only 3, but after hearing what I did in that high school classroom, you'd better bet your bottom dollar that I will be praying from now on that my children value themselves and their purity enough that they wait for their spouse.
Another thing I have done is noticed how many innuendos are said in front of our children. My husband and I are married, but we still "flirt". I have noticed that some of the comments we make, assuming our children don't know what we're talking about, are not appropriate. Although it can be taken as a complement when my husband says something about his physical attraction to me, I also don't want my children to think that my body is the only reason he loves me. When spending time with family or friends, if the television is on "for background sound" there is often attractive women and men in commercials. Many times, someone comments about how "hot" or physically attractive the actors are. What are my kids getting from those comments made to me by my husband or by others about the actors on TV? Are they hearing that our bodies are God's creation and to be shared only with our spouse?
My 3 year old is beginning to understand the concept of privacy. I have made clear to her that she needs to keep herself covered, especially when we have visitors. She still is dependent on adults to help her with toileting and bathing, so she doesn't quite grasp the idea of total privacy. And, she has spent so much time with my parents that I don't think she views them as "visitors". Now she will tell adults to keep the door closed while she goes potty and she will call them in when she needs them. This closing of the door began after she walked in the bathroom when my mom was on the toilet. Mom let her know that she is not welcome in the bathroom while she is using it, that she needs to knock to ask permission to enter and that she needs her privacy when using the bathroom. So, a big THANK YOU to my mom who (purposely, or not) modeled modesty and the importance of privacy for my child!
Tonight I will pray for God to open my eyes to more opportunities to model modesty now and in the future in a way that is relevant to my children in each stage of their lives.
Prayers and diet
For a while this winter I decided to focus on my family's diet. I looked into gluten-free and Paleo. I felt that now that I am not working, I can truly focus on my family and the ways of "the capable wife" the Bible describes for us in Proverbs. When I read Proverbs 31 verses 27 an 30, I felt that they were where I was lacking the most. I have so many family members close by that help me just about every day with my children, and yet I was constantly feeling like my house was a mess, and nothing was getting done. Many people assured me that it is not expected of me to keep a clean, organized home with 4 children under the age of 4 years old. It may be impossible for me to keep an entirely organized home while preparing each meal, entertaining/teaching my children and finishing laundry on a daily basis. However, it seems to me that God is tugging at me, saying what I am currently doing is not my best work. Verse 27 says "She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness" (NASB). For whatever reason, I have felt like I'm taking advantage of the help available to me, rather than being proactive and figuring out how to manage things mostly on my own.
Also, in verse 30, God tells us moms that "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised". This verse made me think about all the time I was spending being idle and how much of that time could be used to learn more about God. How am I to know Him better without spending time with Him?
Anyway, back to the beginning of this post about our diet. Since I've given up Candy Crush and PapaPear, I have had more time to learn about gluten. I learned that there are multiple ways that gluten can be labeled on boxes (wheat flour, food starch, seasoning, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, natural flavors or ingredients). In talking to our doctor, even if you aren't sensitive to gluten, it still isn't good for you. He said if you take a bread, add water and feel it in your hand, it will feel slimy. That is what it does to your digestive tract. I talked to a friend about how and why her family eats primarily gluten free foods (I say primarily because they have a "cheat" day once a week). She said she noticed a huge change in her son's behavior when they took gluten out of their diet, even for just a weekend. This piqued my interest so I looked into diet and behavior. I came across information about diet and night terrors. Well, my oldest daughter has been having night terrors her whole life, it seems. She's only 3 years old, and I can remember going into her room before she could even talk to comfort her in the middle of a screaming fit when it seemed as though she were still sleeping. I never made a connection to what was causing these extreme nightmares that seemed to come once in a while and then go as quickly as they came. The last few weeks I decided to try harder to keep my children on a gluten free diet. I didn't make a big deal of it if they ate at someone's house or if someone brought over something not gluten free to share, but I didn't purchase things that contained gluten. Just fruits, veggies, and gluten free cereals for the most part. However, my husband is not on board with eating gluten free, so there continues to be things in our home that he wants that aren't gluten free. Last week, our oldest had a night terror. I hadn't noticed, but she hadn't had one in a while. I asked my husband what he had given the girls to eat that morning. He said "cereal". He had looked at his Honey Bunches of Oats box, didn't see the word gluten in the ingredients and figured it was OK to give them. Then, he had a can of soup that he had purchased, and shared it with them. One of the first ingredients was wheat flour. He was so freaked out by her night terror that night, that he has been "The Gluten Free Nazi" for his girls. Unfortunately he's still not onboard for himself, but that's a whole different post.
So, in a nutshell, I feel I am spending my time more wisely, focusing on more on being the mom/wife in Proverbs. I am continuing to educate myself about how our bodies work, what our bodies need to function properly, and how to use God's gifts in nature to feed and care for my family. In my previous book study I learned ways to pray for your children. I believe that by changing our diet and praying for good dreams, and for God to watch over my children, the night terrors have stopped. And, either I have just been in a better mood, or my child's behavior has improved during the day as well. God is good!
If you're interested in some gluten free recipes, natural remedies or options, as well as information on essential oils, you can follow my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/1stepatatimemomma It is where I post information as I learn it, to help me become more of a natural momma one step at a time (because all at once is too overwhelming for me!) :-)
Also, in verse 30, God tells us moms that "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised". This verse made me think about all the time I was spending being idle and how much of that time could be used to learn more about God. How am I to know Him better without spending time with Him?
Anyway, back to the beginning of this post about our diet. Since I've given up Candy Crush and PapaPear, I have had more time to learn about gluten. I learned that there are multiple ways that gluten can be labeled on boxes (wheat flour, food starch, seasoning, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, natural flavors or ingredients). In talking to our doctor, even if you aren't sensitive to gluten, it still isn't good for you. He said if you take a bread, add water and feel it in your hand, it will feel slimy. That is what it does to your digestive tract. I talked to a friend about how and why her family eats primarily gluten free foods (I say primarily because they have a "cheat" day once a week). She said she noticed a huge change in her son's behavior when they took gluten out of their diet, even for just a weekend. This piqued my interest so I looked into diet and behavior. I came across information about diet and night terrors. Well, my oldest daughter has been having night terrors her whole life, it seems. She's only 3 years old, and I can remember going into her room before she could even talk to comfort her in the middle of a screaming fit when it seemed as though she were still sleeping. I never made a connection to what was causing these extreme nightmares that seemed to come once in a while and then go as quickly as they came. The last few weeks I decided to try harder to keep my children on a gluten free diet. I didn't make a big deal of it if they ate at someone's house or if someone brought over something not gluten free to share, but I didn't purchase things that contained gluten. Just fruits, veggies, and gluten free cereals for the most part. However, my husband is not on board with eating gluten free, so there continues to be things in our home that he wants that aren't gluten free. Last week, our oldest had a night terror. I hadn't noticed, but she hadn't had one in a while. I asked my husband what he had given the girls to eat that morning. He said "cereal". He had looked at his Honey Bunches of Oats box, didn't see the word gluten in the ingredients and figured it was OK to give them. Then, he had a can of soup that he had purchased, and shared it with them. One of the first ingredients was wheat flour. He was so freaked out by her night terror that night, that he has been "The Gluten Free Nazi" for his girls. Unfortunately he's still not onboard for himself, but that's a whole different post.
So, in a nutshell, I feel I am spending my time more wisely, focusing on more on being the mom/wife in Proverbs. I am continuing to educate myself about how our bodies work, what our bodies need to function properly, and how to use God's gifts in nature to feed and care for my family. In my previous book study I learned ways to pray for your children. I believe that by changing our diet and praying for good dreams, and for God to watch over my children, the night terrors have stopped. And, either I have just been in a better mood, or my child's behavior has improved during the day as well. God is good!
If you're interested in some gluten free recipes, natural remedies or options, as well as information on essential oils, you can follow my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/1stepatatimemomma It is where I post information as I learn it, to help me become more of a natural momma one step at a time (because all at once is too overwhelming for me!) :-)
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Praying Parent
I started reading a book this week called The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian. My goal is to read one chapter each night. Tonight I prayed the most difficult prayer I have ever prayed. It was a prayer of release. I prayed the prayer 4 times; once for each of my children, releasing the care of them to God. At the end of each chapter, there is a prayer to pray regarding that chapter's topic and a few verses of scripture. Tonight's prayer brought me to tears. Who would've thought giving up control, which deep down I knew I didn't have anyway, to a loving, merciful and powerful God would be so hard. I'm hoping that these prayers that are scripted will teach me how to better pray for my children and other aspects of my life.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
My Job
Today I was again reminded of my job: stay at home wife and mom. Some days I just do what I have to do to get through the day. Other days I have a few minutes to analyze my purpose in my family. Call me old fashion, but I truly believe that it is my job as a mom and wife to make sure the home is a safe, secure place in this world. In Titus we are told "3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." To me, that means I need to be responsible for our home being well kept, my family fed healthy foods, a servant to my husband, and a good role model for my children. It seems these days that we are calling it ''sexist'' to say a woman should be responsible for maintaining the home, or should be a servant to her husband. However, I would argue that if you love your husband, serving him is a way of showing your love for him. A friend of mine posted on Facebook on Valentine's Day something to the effect of "if today is the only day that your significant other shows you how much you are loved, you might want to rethink your relationship." I feel it is my job to make sure his lunch is ready for work, there's a decent meal available when he comes home, he is greeted with a hug a kiss, and the home he comes to after work is not a chaotic mess. If you know me at all, you know that last one is a struggle for me. Now, I also believe that it is not OK for the husband to disrespect the space the woman has worked hard to maintain. I have tried to explain to my husband that leaving laundry on the floor instead of the hamper or not putting something away after it's been used is essentially sabotaging my efforts to have a clean, comfortable home for him. It's like me going to his office at the end of the day and taking out papers he had filed that day or erasing words from a document he worked on. After a while of repeatedly undoing what I've worked hard to do, it makes it really hard to want to keep trying.
Titus says it is my job to teach what is good. We all know that children learn by observation. You can ''teach'' a child all you want, but he/she will mimic what he/she sees. This is deeply convicting to me. I want to be the person I would like my kids to be some day. It is also important to surround them with others who have the same values and live by them. I need to be self-controlled, pure and kind... so these are the things I will pray for tonight.
Titus says it is my job to teach what is good. We all know that children learn by observation. You can ''teach'' a child all you want, but he/she will mimic what he/she sees. This is deeply convicting to me. I want to be the person I would like my kids to be some day. It is also important to surround them with others who have the same values and live by them. I need to be self-controlled, pure and kind... so these are the things I will pray for tonight.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
My intro
I am a mom of 4 in a small farming town. So small, in fact, that a week after I found out I was pregnant with twins, I was getting congratulatory cards from people I didn't even really know. You can also tell someone is a "transfer in" if they aren't related to someone with 1 of 4 last names that seem to populate this town. We have zero traffic lights and our hardware store is the closest thing we have to a grocery store because it also sells beer and snacks. However, we do have a church on every corner!
Being in a small town has its upsides and its downsides. As a kid, I couldn't get away with anything because whatever I did always somehow got back to my parents. I vowed to move out as soon as I was old enough. So I did. Then, when I was married and pregnant for my first child, we moved back so that my kids can't get away with anything. Now, my husband and I are blessed with a 3 year old, 2 year old, and twins that just turned 6 months. The community has helped us so much in the last 6+ months, bringing meals, watching the kids, helping around the house, etc.
This is the type of generous, loving community I want my children to experience growing up. They will probably want to move to a large city when they are teenagers, but eventually return when they're old enough to know better.
Until life gets a little less chaotic around here, I will probably not post on this blog unless a) everyone is sleeping or b) the twins are nursing while I manage to type. Eventually I plan to post daily; things I'm learning as a mom, wife, sister and product of this small farming community.
Being in a small town has its upsides and its downsides. As a kid, I couldn't get away with anything because whatever I did always somehow got back to my parents. I vowed to move out as soon as I was old enough. So I did. Then, when I was married and pregnant for my first child, we moved back so that my kids can't get away with anything. Now, my husband and I are blessed with a 3 year old, 2 year old, and twins that just turned 6 months. The community has helped us so much in the last 6+ months, bringing meals, watching the kids, helping around the house, etc.
This is the type of generous, loving community I want my children to experience growing up. They will probably want to move to a large city when they are teenagers, but eventually return when they're old enough to know better.
Until life gets a little less chaotic around here, I will probably not post on this blog unless a) everyone is sleeping or b) the twins are nursing while I manage to type. Eventually I plan to post daily; things I'm learning as a mom, wife, sister and product of this small farming community.
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