March 30, 2013 - My Personal Intercessor

Good morning to my healthy friends, I didn't blog yesterday as I had prayer at church early and then we ended with prayer last night. GREAT day! Praying with my church fam on the bottom and top end of the day brought such a smile to my face. I pray you are comforted and rejoicing this day as you remember God's amazing plan and display of love for you. Nothing can compare. I cannot even begin to wrap my small brain around this kind of sacrifice for someone so undeserving as myself. I had a melt down yesterday and then while reading in Luke this morning, a deeper revelation came that reinforced the concept that EVEN in "melt down phase" God still thinks I'm a GREAT kid. WOW! This week we have been concentrating on the final journey of Jesus. As we complete this week, let's focus on LIFE following death - resurrection #5. We celebrate the resurrection for many reasons, only one of which is the hope each of us has that we will someday conquer the final enemy, death. We spoke in our last blog of the fear of death and hopefully you gained a different perspective on that journey. Today, let's open our heart to the vision of seeing Jesus seated at the right had of Father God constantly praying for each of us. That is ONE of the benefits on Jesus' death. While He no longer walks the Earth, there is no one I would rather know is praying for me than God's own son. How about you? Before I left for Thailand, I gathered a team of people that committed to pray for me during the 2 week journey. At times when I was confronted or discouraged, my heart remembered people were praying. While they committed to pray for me for 2 weeks, Jesus has committed to pray for us 24/7 for an entire lifetime. Anybody got tears in your eyes? Do you have a friend like that? I have many beautiful friends, but I don't know of one who never stops praying and believing for the best for me. (now I am tearing!) Jesus never grows tired of calling our name and speaking life. He never grows weary of our shenanigans. He never grows weary of our asking for His help on our health journey. NEVER. He has God's heart for each of us and constantly makes intercession on our behalf. That's one of the benefits of Jesus' life after death to the believer. I don't where you are on your health journey today or your life's journey. But remember...every journey has a beginning and an end. It's the middle that's the tough part and we have the King of Kings committed to being our personal intercessor during the tough part. Thank you Jesus that you care and you pray. For those who didn't receive the blogs this week, you can find them (or share them) at www.kathyshcgfamily.blogspot.com Happy Easter my friends, PK (off to bake my sugar free carrot cake. YUM!)

March 28, 2013 - Close The Door

I had a great time last night meeting a new group of sisters as I ministered to a group in McDonough on The Journey to Freedom. I LOVE seeing the family of God connect with the truth of God's Word. I love getting to teach about my Father, God, and add new people to my God-family. I LOVE IT! Anyway - we've done 3 resurrection points this week leading to Easter and today is point #4 - Close one door and open another. I know that for many of us - MANY - death is really something we often fear. It's not that I am scared as much as I don't know what to expect from death. There are not a lot of instructions on the journey. (please, no disrespect intended) I have been in the room with several people as they entered heaven and I have to say, in every case, it's been extremely peaceful. So why are most people so distraught when they think of death? For me saying goodbye to my family - for a season - is my number 1 reason. But for many, it's the fear of the unknown. Let's remember for those who are Christians, we have no reason to fear the unknown. Heaven is not unknown to us, as the Bible paints a beautiful picture. But when we think of death, for our health journey, maybe you're having a difficult time connecting the two. But watch this. When I absolutely determined I would be healthy, "if it killed me," it certainly did! On that Tuesday night when I closed my eyes, I knew that Wednesday morning I would start a journey and NEVER open some doors again. I remember looking at the ceiling and feeling a pain in my chest that my comfort foods were going to die and I could never access their friendship again. This may seem silly to you but my heart was sad that I would never eat another doughnut. UGH! I felt a deep WOW come to my chest knowing I would never eat another candy bar. I know you're laughing, but this it the reality. Death to my "friendly foods" meant they would never be available again. In that moment, I remember Pastor Rick teaching us that "sometimes death is nothing more than closing one door and opening another and if we can visualize the picture we can confront fear." I laid that night with P Rick's words in my heart and visually saw myself close the door to my obese body and open a door to health. There was sadness at the acceptance in my heart that I would NEVER, EVER eat another doughnut. But I knew if would close the door to obesity and open the door to health, in my mind and in my heart, I could confront the fear of failing AGAIN and re-enetering the obesity cycle. And I smiled. So resurrection week #4 - close the door (death) to unhealthy patterns and foods which lead to death and open the door to health. Death doesn't have to be scary. Jesus' death closed the door to the bondage of hell and opened the door to eternal life with God for us. Saying yes to the death of your comfort foods and unhealthy responses to all foods will open the door to a beautiful and healthy you. That warrants a smile today. Yes? Loving you from Atlanta, PK

March 27, 2013 - The Jeering Easter Eggs

Okay - so #1 on Monday was endure and #2 yesterday was submitting to God's best plan. Today, let's briefly discuss the actual journey to the cross #3. After Jesus determines that God's will is best served in submission and again He remembers the joy set before him, the actual walk to the cross commences. It's bad enough that Jesus has experienced watching others be crucified, but even his journey to the cross was marked with horrific suffering. He was beaten, bruised, lashed, his beard plucked from his face, set with a crown of thorns - all horrific. But then there's the crowd. People who are supposed to know YOU. People who have watched, as well as received, the miracles standing in the crowd. People who could have offered their voices in "thank you for giving me LIFE, Jesus," were calling another man's name. I don't know about you but sometimes the words hurled are more destructive than the sword. But our savior, full of compassion, seeing our faces, made the journey without once calling the legion of angels. He made the most difficult journey without biting and making the crowd endure His suffering. I know our health journey is not nearly as painful, but there have been times where my attitude toward my family or others can get twisted by the hunger and deprivation that accompanies me occasionally. Even though I plan, occasionally the thought of one more piece of fruit doesn't appeal to me. Sometimes I can feel as though I am being cheated and my attitude may seep through, especially if I have gained a pound or two. At that point, I have to remind myself: my health, my choice, my life, great decision, this moment will pass, I am not the culmination of my feelings, there is always an apple and I WILL REJOICE as I eat it. I really have fought for the truth that health is a journey with mountains (great weigh-in days and healthy blood reports) AND valleys (days where tiredness causes me to be a whiny girl or too many nuts causes my feet to swell). Journeys start and they stop. Jesus knew he would be in heaven soon, seated at the right hand of the Father, ever praying that we would endure, submit, and stay on the journey. Our journey began on this side of eternity, but will end someday in heaven as Jesus' did. It's the middle part - the day to day journey - that is marked with suffering. But let's remember, this journey will end and all suffering with it. Let's be honest though, we want the journey, as difficult as it can be sometimes, to be marked with years of life and great health. Yes? Then, let's fight for that. As you journey today past the Easter eggs and marshmallow chicks who are jeering and fight against the reasoning that declares, "I'll eat big on Sunday and start again Monday," remember - this life is only a small segment of eternity. The journey may seem long and difficult but it's really not. Tough - yes, sometimes. Let's control our attitudes, emotions, and excuses and remember it's just a short journey. YEA! PK

March 26, 2013 - Say Yes To The Plan

Good morning, Yesterday we spoke of endurance (Resurrection week #1). We talked from the scripture that says, "for the JOY set before Him, Jesus endured the cross." We praise God for His endurance and see where our own endurance can bless someone else and offer them hope. And that brings us joy. Right? Today, let's speak of submission to God's plan (Resurrection week #2). In the garden, the Bible recounts a very honest conversation between Jesus and God. Maybe you, like me, have had that same discussion ONE MILLION times. Yes, I have. Jesus had seen men be crucified; he's not walking into this with no experience. He absolutely knew the cost of following God's plan, but is there another way? When He finally came to the end of the question cycle, He looked forward in time and saw you and I whole and submitted to the master plan. Without Jesus' journey and sacrifice, we had no hope. Our health journey is not often easy. Being hungry, denying our flesh, fighting for our health at parties when no one cares, falling down, being confronted with options that are "so much easier," can all make the journey intolerable at times. However, our health is not up for debate. I wish it were. And, our health is more priceless that we realize until we reach a certain age and begin to really count the cost of poor health. (and there's a lot of cost on this side) I am convinced that deciding to be healthy is not the issue - we've all done that a million times. I'm convinced that there is that moment for each of us where the game of life is so intense and we are so broken that the final decision to submit to God's best plan to maintain His "bodly" temple requires a final journey from the maybe list to the I have no choice now list. At that point, our submission to God's plan needs to be "not my will but yours be done," and we never look back. That date occurred for me on January 24, 2011. I finally came to the place in my heart where death to my flesh and my old excuses must take place. I know this doesn't begin to compare to the garden experience with Jesus and yet it does in a small way for me. When I decided to be healthy, I had to realize that I would never eat a candy bar or a doughnut again. Ever! There were certain things that had to die in order for me to live. AND I wanted to live to see my grand babies grow. I also wanted a great quality of life. Candy bars and poor eating choices had pronounced death. But that day, in that "garden experience," I knew that God would meet me if I was really ready to submit to his plan and never, never embrace my old journey again. And He did. Are there some of you who need a garden experience? It's not fun and it requires the ultimate submission - death to the flesh - but I'm telling you that experience gave me life! A lot of you go in and out of pockets of health, and I understand. My prayer is that you stop the discussion phase with your flesh and have that real garden experience. This is a GREAT week to say goodbye to certain things forever. On the other side of total submission (with no escape and try-again routes) there is LIFE. I know this well. Come on, walk that hill to the garden and prepare to submit to total health. Make your list of things that must die, lay them down, find a strong accountability partner who won't give in when you need a candy fix, start reading and eating healthy everyday whether you feel like it or not, and start living as a healthy, free person. God's plan is best and gives us our best chance of long, healthy years to serve Him. Praying for you, PK

March 25, 2013 - Enduring the Cross

When I returned from Thailand, I was grieved by people being forced into sexual slavery with no hope of freedom and an inability to make decisions for themselves. The faces that I passed daily shouted hopelessness, as if they bore a sign upon their chest. Even though I smiled as I passed people - few returned the gesture. It has been difficult to deal with the emotions of not rescuing the masses. I had to lean upon the truth that God is the rescuer - He is the way maker - I cannot be consumed with anxiety that I have to solve this issue TODAY. No, No. I am the Lord's servant and am available as He needs me. I am asking for my next assignment and until then I fight in prayer. But still, those faces.........I have always loved to watch people's faces. To me our faces display what our souls are experiencing. Some days our freedom is easier to depict. However, there are days when masking our feelings seems appropriate and yet while we may smile, our eyes often tell a different tale. Don't they? I have been reading this morning about Jesus preparing for His final week upon the earth and while He was a man acquainted with sorrow, He was also a man who was filled with JOY in the core of His being. The Bible says, "for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross." Hebrews 12:2 Have we really considered what JOY that would be? I feel it's the JOY of knowing He came to purchase our freedom and His mission would soon be completed and would accomplish it's desired goal. I feel when Jesus thought of enduring this week, our names were in His core and when He saw us FREE, joy welled inside of him. His sacrifice would not be in vain. Kathy, Paulette, Shelly, Cheryl, Tina - the remaining 100 of us - FREE! That brings tears to my eyes. Sometimes being free is a double-sided coin though. While I am now free from the torment of 50 years of unhealthy living, I am NOT free to return to my past eating habits. RIGHT? While that brings me great joy deep in my core, sometimes when everyone else is eating as they wish and smacking food in my face, I wonder, "am I really free?" The answer - YES! Our healthy journey will always be challenged as Jesus challenged His mission even hours before enduring the cross. But His resolve to do the will of the Father and the JOY of seeing us free gave him the courage to endure. Look at your week, with a BIG Easter dinner close at hand, and realize your choices to eat healthy are based in freedom and those same freedom choices will give us a long and healthy journey. So while we may endure storms and trials that are difficult and challenging, we know that our healthy eating choices will give us the energy and courage to endure. And then remember, your sacrifice to eat healthy and continue on the healthy journey (even with its difficulties) could be giving your family and friends the hope and courage they need to fight for their health. Jesus endured for our freedom - let's endure to maintain our freedom and help others experience freedom. Plan well this week! Watch the chocolate Easter bunnies and jelly beans. Choose the food of the bunnies (carrots) and the beans minus the jelly. This is a great week to celebrate daily our freedom! This week's blogs will do just that. :) PK

March 22, 2013 - A New Start

Yea, it's Friday and we made it through another week and successfully transitioned into Spring 2013. That's a lot, huh? I pray your week has been one of productivity, success and X-treme LOVE. I am more convinced that we must fight to LOVE ourselves in the greater picture of loving others "as we love ourselves." When we feel bad about failure or even the simple daily routine of fitting into our clothes, does this effect us and ultimately effect our day? For the majority of us the answer is yes. When we feel bad about our health journey, often that consumes our sweet spot. We would all like to say it doesn't, but I am afraid our attitude about the way we look influences more of our day than we would like to admit. The arrival of spring brings many feelings - the beauty of the flowers, the staggering effects of the pollen and a sign of NEW LIFE. It's amazing that after 56 springs, I still get excited when the dead leaves blow away (or are raked away) and fresh colors explode on the trees and flowers. This annual event always renews my heart with the notion that new life can happen over and over. I like second, third, fourth and 56th chances. I need them. How about you? Sometimes we need a reminder that we can start again - even after what seemingly appears to be a season of death and utter failure. I spoke with someone recently who had decided that trying again to be healthy was no longer worth the effort after so much failure. I understand feeling the effects of failure and being scared of failing again - it's devastating. But God never gets tired of offering his help. Never! Isn't that cool? Everyone may be tired of helping us succeed EXCEPT God. As we look at spring this year, let's all smile as we embrace a renewed sense that God has plans to do good by us and not harm us. God knows his thoughts toward us and nothing changes them - not our success nor our failure. But today, this week, let's shed the dead leaves of winter, make a fresh commitment to LIFE and commit to rake our "failures" into the fire heap where they can be consumed by truth. We can only walk and stand in truth if we are willing to allow truth to change us. Are you willing for your "dead leaves" to be set on fire? I am! I have things that need to be consumed and destroyed. I am willing to allow death to produce life. How about you? Happy Spring! PK

March 20, 2013 - The Snicker's Voice

As we approach Easter, we focus our attention and remind ourselves of the way of the cross, the sacrifice that brought us freedom, life beyond the cross, etc. I know that our day-to-day journey touches these concepts, but during this season we find the church really returns to a place of deep meditation and concerted focus. We return to the cross and bring our wandering thoughts back to the captivating concept that a high price was paid for our freedom. I will never understand God's love for me in that He would give his only son and watch him die to have a long-term relationship with someone as wicked as I. I legitimately cannot understand that type of love and yet am eternally grateful...beyond words grateful.....beyond description grateful. When we think of the gifts of the cross, we could make a list. Couldn't we? We certainly pray and confess that Jesus took our infirmities and diseases upon himself and "by his stripes we are healed." I stand on that truth in my own personal life. But sometimes I wonder if we firmly accept that Jesus heals "real" diseases - like cancer, diabetes, things I cannot pronounce - but he doesn't have the time to heal our eating disorders. STOP! You will never convince me that all the beating, blood, stripes, and eventual death was only for a certain "select" issues. I have child-like faith to believe that Jesus' journey to, through, and beyond the cross is BIG enough to heal anything. Many of us struggle on a daily basis to eat properly and often feel defeated when we cheat. We hide behind voices that compel us to submit - like the Snickers voice, or the Dunkin Donuts voice, or the voice of our children needing a Big Mac. Then when we submit to the voice, we feel defeated and often get angry with God for not healing us. Can I challenge that way of reasoning this morning, as I lived there for 52 years? Jesus' death brought us freedom from diseases, but it also brought us the freedom of choice. Preach, sista! As I told a friend the other day who was ingesting a large double cheeseburger and a bucket of fries, "you are free to eat that now, but you are not free to choose the consequence that eating this COULD bring to your arteries later." Their response, "I'll worry about it later." Yes, freedom comes to us through the cross, but our free choices may hinder God's best desire for our body later in life. They could! Perhaps our healing of diseases could be hindered by the freedom to make choices along our health journey? I know this, I would rather eat to live and use my freedom of choice to fill this body God gave me with great substances than endure heart disease and cancer and need a miracle on that end. I would. Love you all, PK Ps - let me know about Life Group in April. Bring a friend. :)

March 19, 2013 - Twas The Night Before Christmas

Good morning, I pray your car and house survived the hail storm last night with minimal to NO damage! Hail and spring storms make a statement don't they? I know you probably see this as a slanderous term this morning, but the experience last night with hail was "cool" to some degree. My family was having dinner and as soon as we heard the fierce hail striking the house, I felt we became characters in the story "Twas the Night Before Christmas" as we quickly arose from the table to see what was the matter. Actually we were scrambling and running around like a cat that had it's tail caught in something. I laughed out loud and screamed as we leapt with our phones to take photos, make video clips and even open the door to gather pieces of the ice in our hands. If you had watched the scene, we could have been your evening entertainment. Maybe you did the same? Hail is created with water, cold temps and wind. Don't need to bore you with a science lesson here, but let it suffice to say there is a procedure. Sometimes, in my small brain, I wonder if God purposely created the procedure before the earth began or if He was entertained when it occurred the first time as a response to elements in the atmosphere reacting to one another. Not sure, but regardless, hail makes a statement. When the momentum and ingredients are properly in place and hail forms, there really is no way to prevent its attack of our houses and cars. There is a lot to be said for momentum. Let's go there. Sometimes our health wanders back and forth and we basically reconcile ourselves to accept a poor life style. After all, we are getting older and aging brings it's on set of conditions. Let's challenge that acceptance. Moses was eighty and his eyes were still healthy. Scientists are now reporting that people are alive, currently, who will live to be 150 years old and healthy. I want to challenge each of us to NOT ACCEPT poor health because "that comes with getting older." We have to fight for truth and life. Even a small amount of acceptance toward poor health can cause long-term problems. Back to the hail, PK. Ok - so hail basically exists because it endures a very turbulent procedure but eventually (after being kicked around over and over and turned upside down repeatedly) gains enough stamina and structure to fall through the turbulence and arrive in a perfect, round shape at its destination. Let's not concentrate on the destruction for a moment but on the victory of being formed under intense conditions and out lasting the opposition. Hail arrives because it endured. I want us to arrive at the final stage of our life and smile because we know against all odds we endured. The storms, the ice, the turbulence, the wind are all meant to destroy us, but we never quit! I feel that some of you would love to quit - give up on being healthy - it's too difficult - too much energy in fighting for a great life. I want to encourage you to get back in to the storm of life. It's not easy to always choose to be healthy or cook nutritious foods. It's not. But YOU are worth fighting for. When hail arrives, it makes a statement. When you "arrive" as a healthy person, finally committed to the process regardless of the end that you cannot see now - you make a statement. Healthy people challenge the status quo. They confront the lie that says aging and sickness are co-laborers. That's you - that's me. Let's make a statement and a declaration. No wind, no rain, nothing to stop me, baby, no mountain high enough, no valley low enough, no river wide enough to keep me from getting to you, babe. I hear a song.........smile if you hear it too. We got this! 150 + health = PK. How about you?

March 18, 2013 - Quinoa

Good Monday to you all and praying that you had an amazing weekend. I am still having a time getting back on a regular schedule and 4:30am seems to be my wake-up call. YIKES! But it is a quiet time to pray for the faces that impacted my life on my Thailand trip. So that's good! The publisher for my Devotional Cookbook sent a proposal on Friday, but I am praying and waiting on God for the green light. If we can work out the details, the book could be ready for distribution by the end of the year. It is a journey and at first I was not certain I could walk "up hill" for that many months. But with God, all things are possible. Right? I will keep you posted. For now, I am focused on my work at the church, creating a schedule to allow me to travel and speak more, and being a wife, mom, and grandma. As God opens the door for more travels, I will prayerfully consider each one. I am speaking at a women's meeting in McDonough the last Wednesday of the month. While in Thailand, God renewed my PASSION to see people walk in freedom in all areas of their lives. Jesus came to give us freedom and paid the price for it. It's like this: In Thailand we had to pay the going rate to have the bar girls come to a banquet prepared for them. We went out to get them, paid for them, and provided a BEAUTIFUL banquet for them for one evening. One of their "owners" came and made a show because we had taken his property. He was not allowed to take the lady from the banquet because we paid HER PRICE. However, we had to stand our ground against him and his insults. But in standing - we won. Do you see the correlation to Galatians 5:1. Jesus paid for us to be free, but the enemy will always come to challenge that freedom. Jesus did his part, but are we determined to stand in that freedom regardless of the opposition? It was a super visual for me. Amen! Let's remind the opposition (anything opposing our health journey) that we ARE FREE from this bondage thanks to Jesus and WE WILL STAND and remain as free people. I have been studying a lot about quinoa and have decided to give it a try. It is a starch, but has all 9 amino acids that allow it to break down as a protein. It contains a multitude of nutritional values and has several healthy fats. I have read that the balance of high fiber content and healthy fats actually promote healthy blood glucose levels and could possibly be beneficial to those with Type 2 diabetes. Most of the research also suggests quinoa can help with inflammation in the body. It reportedly does not cause a spike in blood sugar as other grains because of the 9 amino acids. All that being said, I am going to start playing with some quinoa recipes. Have any of you tried it? Does it cause you to gain weight or your blood sugar level to rise? Let me hear from you. Have a great day, PK PS - Lots of GREAT health information renewed in my heart about coconut oil and coconut water while in Thailand. Good to get both in our diets daily if possible! PSS - due to the sensitive nature of the banquet scenario described above, please no Facebook shares. They don't mind us sharing our stories in a group, or like this, but many of the teens on the streets have access to Facebook and we don't want them to feel exploited in any way. Thanks! PSSS - Healthy 4 You Life Group - first Sunday in April (7th) from 6-8 at my house. Bring a friend. Our focus this month will be salads and side dishes. I will have some healthy muffins as well. Please let me know if you plan to attend.

March 15, 2013 - Make a Fist

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get to a place where I don't have to deal with being hungry? I am a big eater and I love to eat.....bad combination. I wish I had one of those "little girl" appetites, but somehow when those were assigned I must have been in the food line singing "here we stand like birds in the wilderness waiting to be fed." (did you ever sing that at camp?) Having a tiny appetite or being one of "those girls" who have to remind themselves to eat would have been so beneficial to me. Yes, it would. But again, not only do I remember to eat I have to fight the urge to consume abundantly. Even great foods can be consumed in extravagant proportions and cause us issues. Just recently I ate so much fruit at one sitting I almost got sick. That's just wrong. The whole time I was smiling and thinking, "these fruits are rare, native and scrumptious. I may never eat things like this again and they are ONLY fruits. Right?" Then, I proceeded to act as if I had never eaten before (even though I was really hungry due to missing dinner the previous evening) and quickly realized I had pushed the boundaries and my body was responding negatively. Now maybe you're thinking, "really, it's just fruit." True - and in another season of my life it would have been brownies or a candy bar, but our stomachs are only designed to hold a limited amount of whatever. Did you know your stomach is about the size of your fist? Try it. Make a fist and get a picture. Then think of the last meal you consumed fitting into that pouch. Does it work? Does it fit easily? Eye opening isn't it? So when we use the phrase, "I'm so stuffed," what we mean is our pouch is crammed full and our stomach is screaming STOP! Let's use the fist visual to help keep us from reaching the stuffed phase, which ultimately stretches our pouch and allows more food and calories to be ingested. This can ultimately lead to increased weight. Let's remember - we can eat again, there is plenty, and my stomach is really fairly small. Maybe as a means of not overeating, we make a fist before each meal and determine if the items on our plate will fit easily. If not, remove a few things. Discipline 101 this Friday morning. Enjoy the sunshine and choose well this weekend. Let the fist be your guide. PK

March 14, 2013 - Running Errands

Good morning - the weekend is on the way with warmer temps. I will be sitting outside in the sun in a few, short days. I wanted to blog this morning by giving a comment on a passage of scripture as we drink coffee together. (wink) Here's the read: Romans 6:12-18 (MSG) 12-14 That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God. What Is True Freedom? 15-18 So, since we’re out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live any old way we want? Since we’re free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it’s your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you’ve let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you’ve started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom! Me again: Freedom is our God-mandate, but freedom doesn't mean we live, eat, and act in any manner that we choose. I really felt the Lord highlight this morning that we fight hard to walk in freedom in our health. Amen? (how many know sometimes it appears to be an UPHILL battle?) But often, we "peak" out from the closed casket door (the picture God gave me) and wink at our old ways of eating because we're free. Does that make sense? Once we have placed our old eating habits in the death box, we are free to live as healthy people. YES, WE ARE! BUT SOMETIMES, those old eating habits try to get us to open the casket lid and "give a peak" at their gestures. I love the red, highlighted section above - don't peak, don't listen, and don't run errands. Leave the casket containing your old, unhealthy ways of living CLOSED! Praying my visual helps you today. Remember, we walk in freedom because the lid stays SHUT! PK

March 13, 2013 - Rebuild, Restore, Renew

GMA, The spring season has announced its arrival as the warmer temps have settled in. I am so glad you got to see a dusting of snow while I was gone. :) My husband sent me pictures. I loved it. Let's talk this morning from Isaiah 61. The prophet is describing the ministry of Jesus that would come and bring deliverance for us all. In verse 4 Isaiah uses 3 terms, rebuild, restore, renew. As I was reading these again this morning the Lord reminded me of our health journey. As we adjust our food and fluid intake, we offer our cells the best opportunity to rebuild our bodies. We have talked a good bit about this. The cells are the building blocks of our body. The rebuilding of our cells must happen first as all life proceeds from that level. As we feed our cells life-giving foods, they begin to restore LIFE to our body. It doesn't happen quickly, but it happens. That's the wonderful thing about this body God gave us - it has the ability to repair itself. Then, once the restoration process is in full swing, we begin to feel renewed. The manner in which we operate daily declares renewal. Right? Think about how you respond to your daily activities when you've had a great night's sleep, eaten well, and hydrated well. How about when you've had a successful health month? Isn't there a skip in your journey, a smile on your face and an encouragement in your attitude? The answer is yes, yes, and yes! Feeling renewed is GREAT, but it begins at the cellular level with our cells rebuilding. But remember, our cells have to be given the proper tools to rebuild with. That's when we enter the equation. We do our part, they do their part and everyone wins. Bring it on! I like that. Have a great day, PK

March 12, 2013 - My Wellness Reminder

Being in a foreign country for 10 days is certainly a challenge when the base of their eating experience is sticky rice. I had many that suggested I "give the plan a rest" and eat what was presented to me. How many know that may have been easier? But easy is not always best. I found that the longer I looked for healthy alternatives - whether a coconut filled with beautiful water or fresh watermelon and pineapple slices on a stick - there were things to eat. I had taken a homemade trail mix consisting of walnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and dehydrated strawberries (low salt, no sugar) and to this I could always add fresh fruit which was readily available. There you go - great meal. I found that as the journey progressed others joined. It was a hoot. Before long a couple of other girls were "helping me" look for healthy foods and saying, "I might as well join you; I need to eat better." I never made a declaration or ask for support volunteers, but it doesn't take long for others to determine that your health is important to you and if they had someone to follow, they could eat healthy as well. I had several share with me that their doctors had basically given them ultimatums about their health and choosing life over obesity. It was CRAZY. We were on a team to rescue enslaved people and many on the team were open about their own bondage and the need for delivery in the area of food. One of the sisters on the team was a powerful intercessor who struggled in this area. The power of her prayers, I feel, were cut short due to her excessive weight. As she shouted, declared, and made declarations she struggled to catch her breath and often would need to sit after about 10 minutes of walking and praying. I identified with her struggle. I began to "check" myself again and ask, "is my health interfering in any manner with completing the plan of God for my life AND THE PLAN OF GOD FOR OTHERS THAT I AM SUPPOSED TO TOUCH." I feel it's critical for us to remember that our lives have been bought with a price and God has need of us - to go, to pray, to administer his love. Let's not let our weight and struggles to breathe be a deterrent along the journey. I received my Wellness Reminder in the mail yesterday from my insurance company. Upon first inspection, it was silly to me. Then, I nodded and thought, my insurance company totally understands the need for consistent evaluation in all areas of my health. They send reminders every couple of months with updates and support info. These natural reminders can often serve God's plan. He created a vehicle for our journey through life and gave it to us free of charge. Let's do the maintenance of the vehicle He's given and keep it running at maximum capacity. Let this blog serve as your wellness reminder this morning. If you had to give your health an evaluation score this day, what would that be? Food for thought! Have an amazing day friends, PK