October 11, 2012 - The Fruit of my Mouth

The Power of Words (Proverbs 18:20–21) 20From the fruit of his mouth a man’s stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied. 21The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. How many of us need to be reminded everyday that our words are powerful? They can bring a smile to someone's face so quickly or tears to the eyes of someone being slapped by the sharp tone of our voice. I also wonder sometimes if we are careful around others with our words and yet will say anything about ourselves, especially that which is negative. I have a BAD habit of saying something ugly about me. My husband and Shelly remind me that the phrase brings a cloak of darkness to my life. I know as soon as that phrase rolls off my tongue, it's not good. But it really is a BAD habit. Great news: habits can be broken and redirected! My husband is really challenging me in this. So today, every time we consume a piece of natural fruit, let's pause and say something uplifting about OURSELVES and our health journey. Let's speak life and smile with our eyes. And the next time we start to make some negative comment about ourselves, OR SOMEONE ELSE, let's remember that Proverbs teaches us that our words have such power. Declare that your body is healthy. Declare that your cells are operating at maximum capacity and fulfilling their God-given assignment. Declare that you shall LIVE and not DIE to declare the words of your God. DECLARE it today. Eat your natural and spiritual fruit today with a smile! PK

October 10, 2012 - Can Halloween Look Different?

I know many of us are planning our fall festivals and gathering our candies for the BIG Halloween event. I am really proud of my granddaughter who is now living life without sugar. She told my daughter recently that she didn't want to "do" Halloween because of the sugar. How many 9 year olds do that? I know MANY adults who can't go a day without sugar, let alone an event. :) How cool! But the truth is we really should be looking for an alternative to candy for ourselves and our young ones. I was thinking we could give out small tubes of Spry gum? All natural and most kids love gum. Yes? And for you, while handing out sugar-free gum, if you like vanilla yogurt, here's a new trick. Take a small container of Chobani yogurt (fat free, sugar free, 100 calorie, plain) and add 2 teaspoons of Truvia and a tsp of clear, vanilla extract. Still it up and return to fridge for about 15 minutes so the sugar can dissolve and mix well. YUM x20! Again, I know so many of us will have dress-up days, staff candy days, etc to celebrate Halloween. Be a trend setter and take something healthy. One of the ladies at Life Group Sunday evening told of a man in our church who was recently diagnosed with cancer and they injected him with sugar water as it "would lead them to where the cancer was." They said that sugar seeks and finds cancer, and then perpetuates it. OMGoodness. So, can we declare that this Halloween is a SUGAR FREE DAY? Now, that doesn't mean go grab aspartame products - let's grab an apple and all natural peanut butter or make a trail mix that's healthy. And, when the kids come - give them some Spry gum. :) God has given us wisdom in the area of our health, let's share that in subtle and not so subtle ways. Giving a non-sugar treat for Halloween is not very subtle, but certainly much more healthy. :) How about we share additional things we could give away on Halloween (if you participate......our church has a festival)? Got any ideas? I leave you with this today - your life is a gift, your body is a gift, your mind is a gift. When someone gives us a gift, how do we treat that gift? Do we place little to no value on it and re-gift it? Do we place some value on it and place it in a box in our closet? Or.........maybe if it's a SPECIAL gift we display it for all to see as we are proud to be the recipient of such an amazing gift. Where are you today? Where am I? Let's take the gifts given by God and keep them in perfect condition and display them proudly as a testimony of the gift given and the AMAZING giver of the gift! Amen! Lord, we rejoice in this day! PK

October 9, 2012 - Judge Well

Good morning to you all, Love the fall! The cooler temps and beautiful colors bring such a smile to my face. I also love the apples in abundance. However, my favorites are not as yummy and are hard to find this year. pink crisps. I found them last week in Portland and they were YUMMY - sweet and very crisp. The ones I bought here Friday evening had very little taste. UGH! But I ate them anyway because they help keep my cholesterol down. One study reports that one apple daily can reduce your overall cholesterol score by 20 points. That's a lot. One of my devotionals this morning focused on judging. Now for Ezekiel, God was asking him to evaluate and discern. The word judgment can be used in a couple of ways. God allowed him to see CLEARLY the situation in order to bring a word of correction and wisdom to the people. I thought about how as a family of healthy trend setters (THAT'S WHAT WE ARE), we are sharpening our skills to discern whether foods are supportive of our plan or not - whether people are going to support or lead us into temptation. :) We really need to clearly evaluate all "new" food items; reading carefully each of the ingredients - then judge wisely. Yes or no? Thanks, Linda, for having your phone ready to look up words we couldn't pronounce on Sunday night. I learned some new things to avoid. I know that my dad used to say, "a little bit of something is NOT going to hurt you." As I child I bought into that - not now. A LITTLE BIT of poison can hurt me terribly. Companies are getting REALLY smart. Someone made me a coffee with No Sugar Added hazelnut coffee flavoring from Kroger recently. They were excited to have something other than half and half. One sip - too sweet for NSA??? Second sip - "can I see the container, please?" While there was NO SUGAR ADDED, the second ingredient was corn syrup. Really???? In the health food section????? Really? Then I had to gently hand the coffee back and I felt bad. More than that......I loved the TASTE and wanted it so desperately! But God has given us the Holy Spirit to help our eyes "see" and judge and then make a tough call if we have to. I applaud you for making the tough calls - when we celebrate our 100th birthdays, and our bodies are still walking 2 miles a day, we'll smile and know we judged well. :) God is for you and you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you! PK

October 8, 2012 - Some See

Good morning - I'm home. My trip was more than amazing and I appreciate your prayers! The schedule was rough by God was ever present and I saw Him touch, heal and deliver. Thanks be to God for His presence and your prayers. Life Group last night was "off the chain." We had a great group and some new people who were "checking out" the eating healthy journey. They wanted to see if healthy food can taste good and get a feel for what a healthy life style entails. I think they were pleasantly surprised. :) Healthy stuffing with the turkey? Healthy pumpkin spice muffins with pumpkin spice cream cheese icing???? Healthy cranberry relish and millet flour flatbread with no starch or sugar???? And the surprising factor..........it all tasted AMAZING! We laughed and said most healthy stuff tastes like cardboard but we CAN LIVE LIFE and eat healthy and not sacrifice taste. Win-win for us. Yes? That's the strength of our group, right? New foods and recipes EACH month - WE GOT THIS! :) I thought about this morning how people can view the same journey so differently. SOME see our fight against obesity as denial - "you can't have that; you can't eat this; you can't go here to eat; you can't eat sweets." SOME see our fight for obesity as a passing fad. SOME see our fight against obesity as a genetic condition we'll NEVER REALLY conquer. BUT SOME see this as a journey that offers life, hope, and endless possibilities. I imagine it depends on how you choose to view the situation. I choose life! We had a great meal all within the "legal" boundaries and yummy taste. That's not denial. If it is........bring it on. There was laughter and joy and excitement. That's what I SAW. I'll take that perspective all day long. So when the nay-sayers at work are trying to put you back into the obesity box - remember that SOME See is a choice, and you choose LIFE. Love you all - I'm glad to be home. :) PS - if you ever have a devotional you'd like to share, please send it to me. I'd like to start sharing some of your thoughts as well. There was such energy in the room last night that POURED out of people.

September 27, 2012 - Rolling Through the Stop Signs

Good morning fam, As I type I am sitting beside my luggage hoping it's not more than 50 pounds - we have weighed it twice and it is close. :) How's a girl supposed to be gone for so many days and take less than 50 pounds? UGH! Anyway, I asked the Lord what he would like to say to EACH of us this morning. I heard him say, "rolling through the stop sign." WOW. Okay, Lord, what about that? Many times (and I would imagine many of us do this), we approach a stop sign and perhaps slow down but never fully stop. MAYBE if a police officer is adjacent??? However, if the coast is clear and we are in a hurry.........off we go. Or, even if we "stop", it's more like a pause. In our health journey I would imagine we do the same - come to the "stop sign" and roll through it. Stop signs are designed with an emphatic purpose. Often, we don't care about their purpose; we care about our agenda. Yes? I want us to consider several reasons to "stop" today - REALLY stop - along our journey to health: 1. Have you stopped long enough to have a physical lately? These stop signs are critical. Have your blood checked every 6 months - it tells the truth! 2. Have you stopped long enough to have your eyes examined lately? The blood vessels in your eyes give clear indication of certain maladies that are directly related to our health journey. 3. Have you taken a day simply for yourself lately - no agenda - no plans - no accomplished goals. Our minds need pockets of intense rest. Put your project down and allow your body to BREATHE. 4. Have you stopped long enough to send a card to someone special, a meal to someone in need, or given your family your undivided attention? 5. Have you stopped long enough to prepare the meals you need for YOUR health or are you simply grabbing the burger from the dollar menu with your kids and rolling through life? 6. Have you stopped long enough to lift your head towards heaven and thank God for his love, faithfulness, and plan of salvation? I could journey awhile here, but maybe you get my point? Our health journey is MORE than apples and 12 cups of water. Rolling through the stop signs will eventually bring consequences that could be unpleasant. STOP today....STOP. Let's not "roll through" this day and miss the majesty of God and all the wonderful things in place to keep us safe during our journey toward our 100th birthday. Wink! I will not be blogging again until October, 8th. Going to be in Portland and Virginia. PLEASE make plans to join me on October 7th for LIfe Group at my house. Our focus - healthy foods for our Thanksgiving Feast. :) Much love and continued prayers - PK No rolling through the stop signs - especially for a season. :)

September 26, 2012 - Back to the Basics!

I think one of the things I hate the most is being afraid. How about you? I went to the County Fair this past Saturday with some family and precious friends and I remembered a time when I used to ride all the HIGH rides and loved the excitement of being scared to death cresting the first HUGE hill. Those days are definitely over! Whether out of maturity or the "fear" of a chiropractic bill - OVER! I used to watch horror movies - DONE! But sometimes.......sometimes.....you know that creeping, nagging, unstable place that occasionally we deal with? UGH! That's where I understand and embrace Psalm 23 and Psalm 91. How about you? Sometimes on my health walk, there are days where I will gain a few pounds and immediately there is a "fear" of returning to my past state of obesity. I have to GRAB that emotion and remind myself - I have not cheated, I have not opened any doors, so let's slow down and see what the truth is. I don't react out of emotion, but respond to my body. I start going through the list.......did I get my water in? Have I rested properly and allowed my cells to deliver nutrients and water to my organs? Have I been too generous with my portions???? Somewhere in those questions lies the truth. SO...I answer and adjust. I correct the problem and usually within a few days the scales reflect the correction. It's critical in our journey to be able to operate not from fear or legalism - but in TRUTH we walk. We were created in the image of God and given dominion over the earth and our bodies. We cannot blame our bodies when we willingly overstep the truth. We can't blame shift and say....."menopause." All that blame shifting started in the Garden of Eden and is still running rampant! Also, the FEAR of failure will often cause us to do something drastic - change eating plans, try to live on water for a week, work out 17 hours a day.......UGH... FEAR! No, no.....go back to the basics. Mankind was created using BASIC things like dust and bones - go back to the basics! I am very aware now of every commercial offering the next QUICK fix. There is NONE. I tired EVERY ONE. Back to the basics, ladies and gentlemen. SOOOO.......evaluate your meals for today. Are they reflective of the proper tools your body needs to produce life - minus your candy bar. wink! We got this! I know we can do it! PK

September 25, 2012 - From my morning devotions

Good morning fam, Sometimes things are TOOO good not to repost. It's totally the opposite concept of re-gifting. :) BUT.........it kind of is a re-gift. This so blessed me and was a gift. I want to give you a gift this morning and share how this touched me. Following yesterday's blog, I find that sometimes we can really be soooooo hard on ourselves. But the person we are closest to and have the deepest relationship with is us. :) Hope this blesses you - PK You Have a Relationship with Yourself - Joyce Meyer Did it ever occur to you that you have a relationship with yourself? You may have never given it much thought, but you spend more time with yourself than anyone else, and it's vital that you get along well with you because you are the one person you never get away from. We should love ourselves, not in a selfish, self-centered way that produces a lifestyle of self-indulgence, but in a balanced, godly way that affirms God's creation as essentially good and right. We may be flawed by unfortunate experiences we've gone through, but that doesn't mean we're worthless and good-for-nothing. We must have the kind of love for ourselves that says, "I know God loves me, so I can love what God chooses to love. I don't love everything I do, but I accept myself because God accepts me." We must develop the kind of mature love that says, "I believe God is changing me daily, but during this process, I will not reject what God accepts. I'll accept myself as I am right now, knowing that I will not always remain this way."