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My son and his broccoli. Testing adding images.

Yes, please!

Thank you, Jesus, for being you. Once Paul gave his life to you, he considered everything rubbish in comparison to knowing you.

Nothing else satisfies. We try so hard. We try to fix, to fill, to supply, to protect, store up, pay off, guard and lead and guide. These are all things that He longs to and is ready to do for us. We expend so much energy and He says, "Come to me." That's it. Just "Come to me."

And in the act of giving Him first priority, we find what we had been looking for all along...rest. Peace of mind. Release of burden. Surrender of thinking, striving, working a plan.

All of our own effort is so much less than what He has for us. He has himself for us. It is enough. He is greater than the greatest achievement, more lasting than the pay raise or bonus or closed deal. He endures. He fulfills deeply. The longing fades and disappears. There is TRUE REST.

Yes, Lord. I would like to sign up for that, please. Amen.

Clean Eating

Clean eating, clean eating, what does it mean?!? My health journey over the past 15 years has led to a major shift in my diet. It began with a desire to just feel better and get my energy back so that I could do the most basic of functioning and survival throughout the day. Little people were depending on me to take care of them and feed them and it was a struggle to do even that. Over the course of this journey, I have tried SO MANY natural remedies...too many to even count. If it promised some help and relief, I gave it a try. The best food change I made was to go on the GAPS Diet. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride is a brilliant physician who is both a Neurologist and Dietician. What a cool combination! The GAPS Diet stresses that things like depression, anxiety, autism, and ADD can be reversed through changing our diet! Say what?!?! I tried this diet with my sons and myself. We stuck to it very closely for two years and each of us saw various improvements in our health. I continue to follow this diet for the most part, but have made some slight modifications over the last couple of years. Overall, however, I am eating a clean diet.

This is what it looks like for me:

-Organic, grass-fed meats
-Organic, pastured chicken
-Wild Caught Fish
-Free-range Eggs (from chickens that are not fed soy)
-Vegetables
-Fruits
-Raw Honey
-Pure Maple Syrup
-Healthy Fats like Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Avocados and Real Butter (Yum!)
-Raw Dairy
-Nuts, seeds and raisins
-Almond Butter and Peanut Butter
-Non-pasteurized sauerkraut or other fermented foods high in probiotics

Foods that I have on occasion, but not frequently:

-Sweet potato
-Lentils (sprouted)
-Sprouted bread
-Rolled or Steel Cut oats


Foods that I avoid completely:

-Sugar
-Bread (unless sprouted)
-Rice
-Pasta
-Corn (including corn syrup and any corn product)
-Soy
-Vegetable Oil, Soybean Oil, Canola Oil, Peanut Oil, other Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids
-Gluten

Why am I here?

Today I am hanging here with my dog, Dory. Pandora is on in the background and some amazing worship songs I haven't heard in a while are taking me to a sweet place of worship. I mean, who doesn't have to stop what they are doing and spin and dance around their living room, singing out at the top of their lungs?!?!? Ok, I know not everyone does that. But that is definitely how I'm wired. I'm in the process of owning that piece of me instead of trying to run away from it or even just downplaying it. God created me to be a worshipper. I believe it is for a reason. When His people worship and pray, things in the spiritual realm change. I feel it. I can't put it on paper or see tangible victories. I cannot put it on a timesheet and get paid for it, but it is one of the most important things I do in a day. I am born to worship. That alone is enough. Yes, I said it. That alone is enough. When someone asks me what I do, I want to proclaim that I am first and foremost a worshipper.

What were you born to do? Are you living it out? Is it different than what you see most people doing? How do you deal with that? Do you run from it or run toward it? Is it something that is not deemed profitable or worthy of our time to many people? Do you advertise it or attempt to hide it? We are ALL created uniquely, one of a kind. So truly none of us is exactly like someone around us. We all have passions and desires that go against the tide of the mainstream. Are you allowing God to raise this up in you and let it flourish?

One of the beauties of how God created us is that when we take steps toward living out who He made us to be, we have the greatest contentment. Yes, I believe that our Father who loves us MORE THAN ANYONE ON THIS EARTH EVER CAN, gives us a deep sense of contentment when we are most who He created us to be. When we look internally and ask Him what we should be doing and how we should be living, we are happier than at any other time in life. It is not selfish to ask the question, "Why am I here?" "How did you make me unique?" "What passions did you place inside of me?" Our God loves to answer these questions. He puts little whispers in our ear, or a pull inside of our heart and our mind. When we are most fully alive, we find the greatest contentment. When we are most fully alive, God is glorified through us. We get to shine the light of Christ here in this world. How great and lasting of a call is that? Nothing I do on my own can ever compare.

Senior Year Stuff

We are almost 5 weeks down in the school year. That means my senior is over 1/10th of the way finished with his final year of high school. How is that even possible? This phase of life is…well…interesting. I feel as if I’ve taken on a part-time job and so has he. We’ve done 4 college visits up until this point. He has taken the SAT’s and is scheduled to take them a second time this fall. His high school has this wonderful future and career exploration process. It is called Project Dreams. Each year from freshman year through junior year, the students are required to do a job shadow in an area they are potentially interested in pursuing as a career. They spend at least 4 hours/day with someone in the field, observing what they do on an ordinary day. After each shadow, they evaluate their experience.

My son spent his first shadow in the kitchen at a local resort. He had the opportunity to chop foods and prepare some hors d'oeuvres under the supervision of a chef. He saw the pace of the kitchen and saw a more creative side to preparing ahead of time for an event, with less time pressure than some kitchens would have.

His second shadow was with the youth pastor at our church. That day, our youth pastor had to do some phone calls and planning for upcoming events. They also went out to lunch and discussed the requirements of the job, and the skill set that is most helpful for the position.

My son’s third and final shadow was with a 3rd grade teacher. By this time, he had narrowed down his career choices and felt pretty strongly that he wanted to teach elementary school. This experience was an enjoyable one for him. During the summer following this last job shadow (this past summer), John had the opportunity to work as a camp counselor at a local area township’s summer day camp program. He had the opportunity to counsel kindergarten students and then later 2nd grade students during his summer. Now that he is back in school, he is doing an internship each day at the elementary school, again with a 3rd grade class. He is getting the opportunity to do everything from cut and laminate, to read to students, to help with teaching lessons.

In addition to his internship, John goes to the high school for part of his day and then heads to the Vocational Technical School for their Culinary Program. This is his 3rd year in the program.

This Friday John will have the opportunity to share his experiences with a few teachers for a grade.

This, truly, is the best and most helpful assignment he has had in his school career. I'm definitely a fan!

Dwell

Today I'm taking stock of my life. I'm 45 years old. My husband is a Children's Pastor at an area church. We've been married for 23 years! We have two sons, ages 18 and 15. I blinked once, maybe twice. I'm really not sure how all of this happened. And I'm very unsure about what comes next. I'm so happy and relieved, actually, to have a God who sees around the bend when I cannot. He most certainly leads the way. I guess it's not so bad to not be a planner. It makes it slightly easier to surrender and to seek out God's plan and allow Him to take the lead. Truly, more than anything, I just want to dwell with Him. I long to be in His presence. It is my drug, my high, my thrill. After being in the Presence of the Almighty God, nothing else satisfies me. I love the peace He gives. I love how He takes all of my worries, uncertainties and fears and changes the filter on my lens. Suddenly, my cares change and I feel at rest with Him, no longer needing to look around. I stop trying to meet my needs myself. I cease striving. It is only when I worship Him and look fully at Him that this happens. It takes time. It requires quiet and a lack of interruption. Time here is better spent than time anywhere else. Time here matters and is actually time spent. I wonder how many minutes or hours of my life actually count in the grand scheme of things. Much of it has been wasted as I look elsewhere. "Store up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy, and where thieves cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be." Lord, turn my heart toward heaven today.

The school year has begun!

Welcome to Fall! OK, so it is not technically fall yet. However, our school year began on August 22 this year, so in that regard, our summer has come to an end. This year I have a high school freshman and a high school SENIOR! Wow! I'm not sure how that is even possible, but I'm holding on, because ready or not, here we go.

Here are a couple of things I have been learning and realizing lately:

1. There are quite a few hats I've been trying to wear lately. In the span of this current week, I have or will be wearing the hats of pet sitter, diet counselor, buyer, face painter and balloon twister. That does not include my volunteer roles. The more I am adding to my life and schedule, the more worn I am feeling. Everything feels as if I am giving it some energy, but not my best.

2. My oldest son is in the home stretch of high school! If he has about 12 weeks off during the summer, that means his school year is about 40 weeks long. We are almost finished with week 3. One of my goals is to chronicle his last year in my writing. I want him to be able to look back and see what life was like for him when he was a senior in high school. I want to write some of the stories that he may forget at some point. Also, I want to squeeze every bit of intentionality and purpose that we can out of this year.

3. Since having children, I have been putting myself aside and trying to survive. Someone needs fed so I feed them. Someone needs to go to an appointment or has an activity and needs to get there so I take them. There are needs in ministry at church so I step in. They may or may not be where I am most gifted (or at all gifted :) These are kind of basic and necessary tasks in life that I have been stepping into. I am so deeply and amazingly thankful for the years I have had raising my kids thus far. I'm also grateful for the opportunity to partner with Dave, my husband, in ministering to kids at church. In doing, doing, doing, somewhere along the way I began losing the awareness of what I like to do, was created to do, feel God is calling me to do and therefore want to do. I forget to act on having a choice in life. I forget to quiet myself and get before God and ask what He wants me to do. So I am currently attempting to find my voice again. One of the ways God allows me to process life is through writing. I've been downplaying the importance of writing in my life. I'm becoming more and more aware, however, that life has deeper meaning for me when I write about it. I view the purpose in it, I hear the lessons God may be wanting me to hear, I squeeze the treasure out of each day when I process it this way. I'm planning to add another hat to the list above...that of a writer. This hat I am choosing. I'm excited to see where it will lead. I hope to bring glory to God and to bring some smiles to my kids' faces, either now or in the future.

Let's Do This!