The Rainbow Connection

Did you ever play the game called Life? The one where you started out with you in  a car and along the way, your "life" was determined by the cards you were dealt. Your job, how many Kids you had, whether you were successful or not - All of those things rested in the hands of the dealer and the "luck of the draw". Too often I hear phrases such as "well, that's how the cards were dealt" or, "it's just not in the cards for me"  and I can't help but think how awful it is if people really think that their life is analogous to a game of cards.   Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.(Or make your paths straight)" I wrote another blog post dissecting this verse..you can read it here. But I think the most important part of that verse is "Trust in the Lord with all you heart...and he will make your paths straight."

I have seen the truth of this verse in my own life many, many times. The more I trust my ways to God and rely on Him and not my own understanding, He makes it clear to me that path I should go. One misconception about Christians is that we have a "perfect" life and that is not the case at all. We are all sinners - every last one of us. The difference between true followers of Jesus Christ and those who are lost, is that His followers have a relationship with Him and long to conform to His image. It is not enough to go to church, to know who God is, to acknowledge His existence, all the while not pursuing a relationship with Him. But I digress.

Unlike the game of Life, our paths are not determined by cards or luck. They are ultimately determined  by the choices we make. Whether to take this job or move to this city - these decisions impact and sometimes alter our course through life. And an interesting facet of these courses are the people we meet as we go along. Some are friends, some are acquaintances and it is these relationships that shape who we become as people. Have you ever met someone who had such a huge impact on you that you found it hard to forget them. I think we can all say we have had that experience, or as I like to call it "Rainbow Connection". (Rainbow Connection being a friend or aquaintance whom you believe God has purposfully placed in your life for a sepcific reason, a promise of His faithfulness) It has happened many times throughout the course of my life. Each stage of life I have had, has simply set me up for a better and greater chapter than the one before. And some of the doors have been opened and closed by the relationships that I have begun and also ended. Each and every one has served a purpose or is still serving a purpose. I don't know where it leads, but it is an amazing thing to watch. To think that a Job interview in 2009  (that I almost turned down), would lead to meeting my true spiritual sister as well as friends and acquaintances that would lead to a government internship. That internship, in turn led to meeting another dear friend (one to whom I feel great attachment because of some things she is going through). Through her, I would meet the man I am currently in a relationship with, a man I prayed for (with specifics) and God met every single one of my requests. Through this relationship and his loving me enough to have a heart to heart with me about what my pasisons are, I have realized that the last four years of working in an engineering environment was a means to an end, not my end...but God's end. I am not meant to be an engineer. Can I do it? Absolutely. But my calling is elsewhere and it involves the use of my hands. It has not yet been revealed to me how to use them in a specific manner, but I am on that path by now pursuing a degree in Kinesiology with supplemental focuses on massage therapy, Personal training, sports injuries and nutrition. The way God has used the experiences in my life, the lessons both good and bad, is truly amazing and astounding. How God can make a beautiful picture of what I thought was a horrid mess (my life) is beyond my comprehension. That fulfillment I longed for I have now found because I am living for God's Purpose, not my own. But that only happens when we are willing to trust our futures, our cares, our happiness into His hands. When we truly come to Him and say "Lord, I am yours, use me as you will" He does that and much more.

 If you are following the will of God, I truly believe that He brings across your path people who make a difference in your life as well as people in whose life you can make a difference. In Romans 9 it says "21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?". I realize this may sounds harsh and contrary to the belief that God is a fair God..but it also says in Ephesians 2: 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

And if I may highlight the word "workmanship" The following definition comes from gospel.com: Christians are God's workmanship--tools uniquely designed by God to fulfill a specific purpose. We can rejoice in the knowledge that we are wonderfully made for a reason, and that God continues to work with us throughout our lives. The Greek word for Workmanship is POIEMA. Does that sound familiar? We get the word Poem from Poiema. Poems are typically looked at as masterpieces or even some "works of art" . So you see, we are God's "works of art", created for His purpose and ultimately, His glory. It is not our good works that save us though. We are saved FOR good works, or "saved to serve". James 2: 18 "But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe-and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?... 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." Going back to what I said earlier - it is not enough to go to church and be a spiritual statue. It is not enough to say "Yes, I believe in God". We are called, we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, our souls and minds. And second to that we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Do you have a special purpose? Or are you for common use? I like to think that if God calls as we listen, we can find our special purpose to further His kingdom. For some it may be in ministry, others, maybe raising their kids in the home. We each have a job to do and the only way to find that job is to open your heart and your ears to the Spirit of God as He guides you down the path of Life He has for you.

Life, Love and the Pursuit of Health

I saw a naturopath over the weekend. The visit was enlightening and scary at the same time. Enlightening in that I'm not going crazy.  My symptoms are real. And there is something I can do about it.

It was scary in that there is so much that goes on within the body that we cannot see - but we can feel it. For example, I've begun a journey of quitting sugar. I've noticed that after I decrease my intake for a while, the minute I have something sugary, I get an instant headache. Or something with carbs - my athlete's foot will flare up. My body has a cycle of feeling "inflamed" and feeling normal. I've noticed this cycle and have, within the last few months/years have really begun to analyze what I eat. By process of elimination, I found that there are certain foods that I can and cannot tolerate. I don't live strictly by these lists but I try.

The naturopath I saw on Saturday confirmed these foods to avoid, among others - without me even telling her and I found that fascinating. The list includes Cow dairy, Goat dairy, apples, oregano, basil, coconut, tomatoes, coffee peppers and some other interesting items. The reason why I have to avoid these foods is because of a chemical imbalance caused by my liver and kidneys not functioning properly. Living a high stress lifestyle for so long, coupled with Lyme Disease 11 years ago, has caused this imbalance. To add to that, I have several heavy metals floating around in my body. High levels of chlorine - from lifeguarding and swimming for a combined 12-13 years. My pH is also off contributing to a constant swing of bacterial and fungal infections. All of these underlying things lead to fatigue, migraines, tinnitus and myriads of other symptoms. I saw so many doctors in 2012, probably more than I have ever seen in my lifetime combined. They all told me I was healthy - but no one explained my symptoms.

So I went on a personal self-diagnosis journey - one that I'm still on.

The first adjustment I tried to make (and am still trying to make) is getting more sleep. Sleep is essential for the body to function correctly. It's a natural "Recharge". The adrenal glands use the sleep time to repair and restore the body. The ideal time to go to bed and actually be asleep is between the hours of 9 and 11. If you are not asleep within this time frame, the adrenals are no able to fully do their job. Compound this over the long term and you have a mess. I realized that I functioned better, felt better (both physically and about myself) and my headaches weren't as frequent or as bad.

The second adjustment I have been making is what I eat. If it comes out of a box or a can, I generally don't eat it..and by this I mean processed foods. As far as processed foods go, we have no idea of the amount of chemicals, preservatives and additives that is used in processed foods. So Good-bye Stouffer's Lasagna and Mac and Cheese. It's been fun but I'd rather make it myself.

   Another food I cut out was dairy. I did this unintentionally at first. I'm not a big milk drinker and with cutting out cereal I had no reason to buy it. I also wasn't eating cheese because I just didn't think about it. The only thing I would eat dairy-wise was an occasional yogurt. One day at the store, I decided I wanted cereal and milk - why not deviate once in a while! And the result was an afternoon of stomach cramping and misery. I realized I had become lactose intolerant (something that runs in my family too). But in reality, most humans really can't process cow dairy. It's very difficult for our bodies to break down the enzymes. But we do it anyway!

   I cut out carbs (breads, pastas etc) because of the yeast factor. I realized that the list of things I could eat was slowly getting smaller and smaller.

I've tried many detoxes, different ways of eating, different supplements, but I never really pinpointed what was going on in my body. I've known something was off but I didn't know what.

The third adjustment has been to decrease the stress in my life - or as some call it, to live slow. I love the thought of living slow. Our society has commercialized the ideas of quick and easy. Weight loss, hair removal, fast food, results in the gym - it's all around us. We have forgotten what it's like to work hard and yet take pride in something. Living slow doesn't mean not living at all. It means slowing down and taking an opportunity to enjoy life, one minute at a time. I understand busy schedules - trust me I do! During my weekdays, I'm up at for a good 18-19 hours of the day between the gym, work and school. I have lived this kind of life for the last 5-6 years. I am now seeing the results of a high stress lifestyle and it is painful.

What has kept me going is my faith, which has been strengthened throughout this ordeal. Through all of this I reground myself in my Jesus and ultimately look to him for the path to healing.

Oddly enough, through these struggles, an email I sent out regarding my health issues back in February indirectly put me in touch with the wonderful man I am currently dating. God has richly blessed me with his love support and encouragement throughout our relationship. God is using him mightily in my life as I seek out God's purpose for me and the gifts he has given me. To put some things in perspective - if I had never been sick, I wouldn't have come crying to Jesus for help when I did. The process of strengthening my faith through God's grace stirred something in me and I had to share it with my family and friends. The e-mail I sent somehow made its way to his inbox and when he read my email he was touched by what he read. We accidently (or not so accidently in God's eyes) met a few months later with me having no idea that he had read that e-mail. We've been dating ever since and I tell this story because it has shown me that God can take ANY and EVERY seemingly bad situation and turn it around for good. But What I've also learned is that people misread Romans 8:28. They read "God works all things together for good"  and fail to remember the "to those who love God and are called according to HIS purpose". When we're living for God and His purpose, using the gifts that we've been given, He is able to take the good, the bad and the ugly and make something completely wonderful. Maybe you're suffering now - physically, emotionally, mentally - maybe at some point, God will bring someone else across your path who is struggling with the same things....giving you an opportunity to witness and minister to them.

Seeing the naturopath gave me hope. She has me on a supplement regimen that is slowly and gently detoxing my body. I have a list of foods to avoid, I have to use more natural cleaning products and perfume/dye free detergent. I've begun to eliminate those specific foods and I'm slow starting to feel the difference. My energy feels better, and my outlook is more positive. But ultimately, I'm reminded that as humans, we're fragile and if we don't start listening to our bodies and taking care of them, we will never reach the full potential that God has in store for us physically and emotionally. I'm blessed with relatively good health. Some other people I know who are also Christians are not and have struggled for years with physical ailments - but what they are blessed with is an incredible mental outlook and an incredible testimony. These people inspire me to continue to pursue my passion of health and fitness. So that, one day,I can help people whether nutritionally, mentally or just by telling my story. God brings special people into lives for a reason. I hope to be that special person for someone one day.

Pasta-less Lasagna

I've been craving lasagna for quite some time. I won't, however, break down and buy any sort of store made, uber processed lasagna because, well, I'm a food snob. Plus, I like to cook and make recipes from scratch. Google has seen many a random recipe search from my ever eager hands, ready to cook. I came across a delicious recipe for lasagna that did not involve noodles or pasta of any kind. Score! So I went to the store, bought the ingredients and made it. It. Was. Amazing. The recipe is posted below. As with most things I make, I don't measure - I guesstimate. I also add whatever sounds good. I'll show my additions as well as the original recipe. Be creative! Think outside the box :) 

Pastaless Zuchinni Lasagna

Ingredients:
2 zucchini, sliced long and thin
1 cup peppers, julienned (I learned something new too! this means cutting thinly sliced..look it up!)
½ cup onions, julienned
1 pint ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons parsley
2 teaspoons oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups Homemade Tomato sauce or 1 jar of favorite brand tomato sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

My additions:
1 egg
1 pound lean ground beef
Parmesan Cheese

Preparation:
1.Heat olive oil in a skillet and add peppers and onions.  Cook until tender.

2.Mix herbs, egg, Parmesan Cheese, salt and pepper in ricotta cheese in a small bowl. (I used whole milk ricotta and dry herbs..next time I'll use fresh herbs and see what amazing things happen with the taste!!)

 Where I deviated from the recipe was adding ground beef. I mixed it in with the pasta sauce (I used Prego) and it turned out fabulously! Simply brown the beef in a skillet and drain. Then add to the sauce and mix thoroughly.

3.In a glass-baking dish, place a ½ cup of tomato sauce in the bottom and spread evenly.
4.First layer - zucchini slices.
5.Second  layer - ricotta cheese mixture.
6.Third layer – tomato sauce.
7.Fourth layer -  pepper and onion mixture.
8.Fifth layer - ricotta cheese.
9.Sixth layer – zucchini slices.
10.Seventh layer – tomato sauce.
11.Continue an alternating layering pattern until all materials are used.

12 (again, my addition). Cover generously with Paremsan, Mozzerella, Provolone or whatever cheese you have nearby. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. I think because of all my extra additions it took a little longer than I anticipated. 

YUM YUM! Make sure you let it sit for at least 10-15 minutes so that it sets. It will be much easier to cut and serve.

It came out so well. You can alter your own version if you prefer, maybe adding more meat and/or sauce and less cheese or vice versa. As you can see, I didn't double the recipe and it still made enough for more than just me. But it give me yummy and delicious food for quite a while! Because there's meat and veggies it is very filling and nutritious too!. Let me know if you make it and what things you may or may not have done. 

Some things I might change up next time:

To make it vegetarian, I might add Cannelini or Garbanzo beans to the sauce instead of meat. 
I might add mushrooms to the peppers and onions for some added flavor. 
I might do half cottage cheese half ricotta cheese for different textures. 
Or, I could omit the cheese altogether to make it dairy free. 
I think I'll also make my own Tomato sauce next time to keep the amount of processed ingredients to a minimum. Look for that post coming soon!

I'd love to hear any other ideas suggestions!  Happy eating!

Where is your hope built?

"If any man, come after me, let him deny himself, pick up his cross and follow Me into life eternally. Deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow Jesus, He is the way truth and life"

The above song was a little ditty from some tapes my siblings and I used to listen to when we were kids. It was from Paslty the singing song book. Little catchy tunes that effectively transcribed the truths from the Bible. We had almost every tape memorized. For whatever reason, this particular one got stuck in my head today and I was suddenly struck by it's significance. Of course, Jesus isn't talking about a literal cross. Rather, he is talking about the burdens we bear in this human life. Even when we surrender our lives to him and the burden of sin falls off, we're still left with the burden of our humanity. We sin, we make mistakes - but the grace of God covers all of that as along as we realize what we've done and ask for forgiveness. So what does it mean to "pick up your cross"? Simply put, I think it means that as we follow Jesus, we're lugging along our whole kit and caboodle of faults, character flaws, you name it! But in the shadow of the cross, we can be reminded that all has been forgiven. Our sins are nailed to the cross, right where they should be, and that's where they'll stay after we depart this life. For now, we have to drag them around a bit and we're painfully reminded of them from time to time. But there's hope for us - a hope that is built on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

From 3 years ago..

I wrote this note almost 3 years ago and its truth is atill applicable today.

"I do a lot of thinking...My thought flow is about a million miles an hour. One of those thousands of thoughts keeps coming up in various situations. Whether I am talking to someone or it appears in my own life, I constantly see this lesson.

Each day I get caught up in the moment, the hour. I forget how precious life is and how it is not garunteed to us. I feel that I am like Martha, in the book of Luke. I am so worried about the hustle and bustle that I "do not have time" for anything else. Even sitting at the feet our Our Savior falls by the wayside.

Luke 10 says, "She [Martha] had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to halp me.' But the Lord answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many thing; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her"

What a blessing these verses are! This is Jesus Christ gently reminding Martha that while being industrious and a good housekeeper are wonderful things, they do not rank as high as sitting at His feet and listening to His words. Sometimes we go through life so fast that God has to throw a brick at us to get out attention. And sometimes those bricks HURT! In some cases, those bricks come in the form of cinder blocks =) The point is focus on what really matters. Material things come and go..flowers will fade and the grass will wither but the Word of God remains forever."

My Insane Monday

I started Insanity this week. Rather, I've joined someone else who is already doing it. In fact they enjoyed it so much the first go-round, they're doing it again. I got invited to join. So on Monday, I show up at 5:45 with my US grappling T-shirt on.. Yeah, I'm ready to go.  We're in a racquet ball room because there's really no other good space to do this work out in and the room is echo-y...and my shoes squeak if I drag my toes. No big deal - it's a workout...I'm excited to be doing anything at all. So the video starts and SOMEWHERE along the line, I missed the part where it said "Warm-up". So I'm pushing myself. I get like that sometimes.. if someone else is working out with me, it's like the competition switch gets flipped on. so I'm doing the knee raises, the side lunges, the jumps like there's no tomorrow. And I'm feeling good...getting tired, but good. After about three rounds of 5-6 exercises, the routine stops and we do some stretching. I've broken a sweat and my heart is racing. But I can't help but think in the back of my mind: "That was it??". We finish the stretching and I see Glen running to get a drink of water...and the video hasn't stopped. The realization sets in. That was ONLY the warm up.   OOPS. At this moment two things happened: My heart sank and my thighs said "oh crap". And "oh crap" was right. I have never had such an intense cardio workout. Though I can honestly say that Jiu Jitsu prepared me well for this workout... Needless to say I still pushed it through the next agonizing 30 minutes. But I finished it...and I felt like a champ. And the after workout shower has never felt so good. Bring it on Insanity!

Yes, I did just use a Spiderman analogy...

I recently saw Spiderman 3 for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I had no idea of the plot - only that Harry turns out to be Gobby Jr (as Tobey Maguire's character calls him) and that Spiderman faces a couple of other nemesis, including one that is a back suited version of himself. Upon watching the movie, I was almost disgusted when the black sticky thingy manifested itself onto Peter Parker's body, transforming him into a much darker character. It gave me the willies seeing the sticky mass  of goo flopping over the floor and up the bed and consuming Peter Parker.

It reminded me of the sin in our lives. How sin is malleable and can transform even the best person into the worst of people. Just as the "new' Peter Parker discovered, the longer he wore the suit, the harder it was to get rid of it. It started out small but eventually grew bigger and bigger to the point where it consumed him. He felt good, invincible. In a way, sin has the same effect. We don't really realize we're doing it until it confronts us in the face. And the longer we resist changing our behavior, the harder it becomes to rid ourselves of it. In the end of the movie it took a monumental effort for Peter Parker to get rid of the new skin. The sin didn't just go away. It found a new host. And this particular character had a lot of hate in his heart. The messy blob latched right on to that and the character became totally evil. He succumbed to the nature of the parasite that got him. Sin is the same way. If we have unresolved anger, bitterness, conflicts - you name it - in our lives, the sin latches on to it. It can make us completely unrecognizable.

That's where Christ comes in. We can't rid ourselves of the sin in our lives. Jesus died on the cross to enable us to have the free gift of salvation. But that does not mean we are perfect, or sinless or without blame. We have to work that much harder because we now recognize the hopeless situation we are in. That without that saving Grace we are forever stuck with that messy blob that sin creates. One way to combat this it to constantly stay in the Word. I have rediscovered this recently. It's not enough to read a couple verses a day - we have to immerse ourselves in it. If we cannot arm ourselves with the weapons He has provided, we are defenseless and it is easy to succumb to the temptations of sin in the world. It's amazing how quickly we can slip away when we let other things take priority to spending time in the Word.   We have to make God our #1. If He is not our main focus, if we are not living for him, then we are walking a fine line and that is a dangerous place to be. Make Christ your focus, spend time in the Word and He will make your path straight.   :)