God Came Near

I'm reading a book that I read years ago, more than once, but it just moves me each time... It's called "God Came Near", and it's by an author named Max Lucado. He is a pastor, but his books read like stories, just pulling you in and wrapping themselves around you. As I read through this time, I'm kind of going to use this blog as my journal, sharing highlights and such...

Just a taste tonight...

"Has it been a while since you have seen him? If your prayers seem stale, it probably has. If your faith seems to be trembling, perhaps your vision of him has blurred. If you can't find the power to face your problems, perhaps it is time to face him.

One warning. Something happens to a person who has witnessed His Majesty. He becomes addicted. One glimpse of the King and you are consumed with a desire to see more of him and say more about him. Pew-warming is no longer an option. Junk religion will no longer suffice. Sensation-seeking is needless. Once you have seen his face you will forever long to see it again."

This is obviously the beginning, or near it... The book is just all about showing us God, letting us see Him well, just really see Him. Good stuff. You ready?

Mind-Body Connection

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, The Bible

We attended a homeschool convention last weekend (I know, a wild group!!) and heard and excellent speaker on a topic I hadn't really put tons of thought into before. The title of her workshop was called "The Biology of Learning and Behavior." You know, I have a degree in Psychology, and one in education as well. I've been a Christian for years, reading my Bible lots (sometimes more faithfully than others) for many of them, but I had a "lightbulb" moment when I heard her speaking.

Much of what I'm going to summarize here is on this speaker's website, http://www.diannecraft.org , but I still want to throw out what I brought away from the talks I heard.

Dianne wove together well the different parts of these bodies that we've been given, the different parts of us, spiritual, emotional, mental, physical, and then broke it down even farther into chemical. I like her approach, because she didn't seek to excuse problems in learning, or in behavior, which is a pet peeve of mine: "I can't help behaving this way, _____ made me do it!!" She rather sought for an explanation so that parents can more intelligently, and more thoroughly, help their kiddos to become all of who God made them to be.

"Children act how they feel." Sydney Walker in The Hyperactivity Hoax

Many quotes and statistics dotted the workshop, and I just walked away feeling like I was a lot more equipped to take care of myself better, and also to train my kiddos to do the same.

One of the key pieces that we learned about was "upset gut", or digestive system, and how so many behavioral, learning, and physical issues are tied into an unhealthy gut. Another quote: "Over 95% of the calming neurotransmitter, Serotonin, is made in the Gut," Michael Gershon in The Second Brain. Some behavioral symptoms of an unhealthy gut: mood swings, spaciness, anger/irritability, inconsistent performance, depression, memory problems, inappropriate behavior, talking loudly, Sensory Integration issues, inattention, and Asperger and Austistic-like behaviors. Some physical symptoms: canker sores, stomach-aches, leg pains, sugar cravings, food and other allergies, enuresis, nervousness, sleep problems, cradle cap, lactose intolerance, thrush and athlete's foot, immune system disorders, and impulsivity. A histamine release is also triggered, which is a neurotoxin to our bodies, causing excess mucus, exis acid, stomaches, dark circls, cnifflin, snoring, excema, and asthma and bronchitis. Wow!

Serotonin is in the health news a lot. We know that it is the happy neurotransmitter in our bodies, relaxing us, helping us feel better, helping us handle stress better, focusing us, but it also reduces impulsivity, promotes good sleep, and actually acts as an antidepressant. Sooooo, if we have an unhealthy gut and that's where most of our Serotonin is made, that's not a good thing. Our body is not working in the way that God created it to. Scripture tells us to take care of the bodies that we've been given. So how do we fix this?
It really isn't too complicated - yeah!!

One of the big reasons for an upset gut is that the bacteria and yeasts in our gut, things that are supposed to be there, are just out of balance. Our culture is a sugar laden culture, and sugar grows yeast, lots and lots of yeast. Many of us have way too much yeast growing in us because we feed them way too often. The yeast can actually get a little overexcited and start making little holes in our gut wall. Things that we are eating that were never intended to enter our bloodstream, things that were intended to pass on through the body, are leaking through and causing all sorts of problems. We need to get rid of some of those naughty little yeasties and get balanced.

Three steps and that's it to get your gut balanced and clear the way for your body to work in the wonderful way that it was designed:

Take acidophilus (available at health food stores and online) 3 times a day for 3 months. This "plants" good bacteria in your gut. Capsules can be opened and mixed into food for kiddos.
After a week of the above, take grapefruit seed extract tablets 3 times a day for 3 months, if over 6, or 1/2 tab 3 times a day if younger. This is an antifungal, which will help weed out the "bad guys" in your gut. Garlic is also an antifungal.
Reduce sugar and empty carbs. Change breakfast menu to include more things like eggs and sandwiches, less empty carbs (cereals). Change snacks to more healthful ones, and add more raw food to your diet. Drink more water.
That's it. We are jumping in and giving this a try, so I'll let you know how it progresses. I've heard lots of success stories, and I figure that it can't hurt. God created our bodies to be his temple, He says. It's probably about time that I clean it up....

Diggin' holes

My girls have been digging a hole in our yard. They rush out to work on it as soon as their chores and school are done, and they spend as much time as I'll let them digging, scooping, and smoothing. There is no logical reason for this hole. We are not planting anything there - the garden is a few feet to the left. We are not putting anything in the hole. It serves no purpose that I can determine. But they love this hole. It keeps them busy, and they'd much rather work on it than anything that I would like for them to do. I don't understand it!!

How many "holes" do I have in my life? Things I've invested time and energy into that really have no meaning and no purpose? Nothing wrong with them, but why do they capture my attention?

It's so easy to see it from the outside looking in, isn't it? Harder to see the silliness in yourself....

Forgetful

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have an awful memory, for some things at least. And forgetting can get you in big trouble. There are things that you just NEED to remember. Not remembering them can have BAD consequences.

Today we celebrate Memorial Day, a day that was set aside in 1868 to honor those who died in the Civil War, as well as others who gave their lives to keep our country free. Do we really remember them though? Do we remember their sacrifice? Do we remember the cause they sacrificed for? What are the consequences of us not remembering well?

How's my heart?

Ok, so I definitely believe that God is perfectly able to do things in my life in a certain way to grab my attention, but still I am caught off guard when He so obviously seeks to grab my attention. Yesterday I had an interaction with someone that totally convicted me of the fact that I've been calloused towards her, that I haven't really been looking at her through God's eyes, as He sees her, but rather through my very cloudy, self seeking eyes. Yesterday I caught a glimpse of the real person inside of the tough face that everyone sees. I saw a broken hurting child that God made.

Now, people that know me think that I'm a pretty nice person. I mean, I'm a good, homeschooling, foster care providing, Christian, stay at home mom. You know what though? My heart is getting hard. I'm allowing parts of it to stay soft, but only the parts I want to be. The rest has been getting thick and calloused and ugly.

So, then I open up the Daily Bread little book today, not having done that for a long time, and guess what the title for May 23 is? "Heart Disease" The author references Zechariah 7:8-14, where the children of Israel are asking God if He wants them to do the traditional mourning and fasting, and God says, basically, you know what? Whatever you've been doing lately, you've been doing for yourself, so skip it. What I really desire, says God, is for you to have a soft heart. "Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other." So God tells them exactly what He wants, and they "refuse to pay attention... stopping up their ears." Yikes. Sounds a little too familiar to me!!! How many times have I felt prodded by God and plugged my ears?!? Ok, here's the scary part - so God says "When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen." Do I want that? Yikes!

Please God, help the lesson to stick this time. Please make my heart tender; make it like yours.

Steven Curtis Chapman family tragedy

I don't know if you've ever heard of Steven Curtis Chapman, but he is a Christian musician who has lived life in the spotlight with his family, and they have done it well. He has released more albums than you can count easily, won tons of awards, stayed committed to his wife and family, and just honored the God he sings about. He and his wife have become outspoken advocates of adoption in recent years, and actually were a large motivating force behind my husband and I choosing to foster and possibly adopt. The Chapmans have three biological children and then adopted three more. They also started a foundation, Shaohannah's Hope, that helps enable others to adopt.

www.stevencurtischapman.com

Yesterday, May 21st, the Chapmans suffered a huge personal tragedy. One of their teenage sons was backing an SUV down the driveway and accidently struck and killed their youngest daughter, Maria, a 5 year old that the family had adopted from China as a baby. Wow.

If you pray, pray now for this family, for the brother who was driving, for all of them. Maria is fine. She is now in the arms of her heavenly Father, but the rest of the family has some grieving and some healing to do. Lift them up with your family as you sit down to eat your meals today, as you tuck your little ones in tonight. Lift them up...

Inside

I've heard this portion of Scripture so many times, but it was sweet encouragement again to me today.
Doing Bible lessons with the kiddos today and we read 1 Samuel 216:1-13, where Samuel goes to Jesse to look for the king to be among his sons. He starts with the oldest, tallest, handsomest one, of course, and God says no. He works his way down through all of the many brothers, no, no, no... Finally Samuel asks Jesse, in essence, "Is this all you've got?" Jesse says, kind of off hand, "Well, I've got this younger one, but I just kind of left him out in the field to take care of the sheep. I don't think you'd want him." Nice vote of confidence, Dad!! Of course it turns out that David, the youngest, the smallest, the least likely, is exactly who God has chosen.
God chooses the unlikely. God uses the unusable. That's great encouragement for a tired out, unlikely, unusable mom like me!