My Top 5 Healthy Living Blogs

Hello Everyone!

My January is always a quiet month as I use the time to get focused on what the rest of my year will look like...and that is what I have been doing!  

This is the year that you will get an inside look at what I do in bringing inner healing to my clients.

One of the drawbacks of online work is the inability to actually have you come to me in person, but with technology’s innovations, we can work "face to face" in a manner of speaking at least!  Another benefit of technology is the ability to work at one’s own pace, or even work during the middle of the night instead of the normal 9 to 5 office hours!

So, if you were going to come see me on a professional basis, there is a little paper work you need to fill out first.  One of the most important questions in my intake form is this:

“When was the last time you saw a doctor?”

More than the answer, this question serves as a “trigger” to get a client thinking about the possible organic roots of the problems they are having.  I am serious about getting a medical evaluation though, and will work with a client to get them a check up if one is due.  Many problems have organic roots, and relationships between the mind and the body aren't always understood.  Sometimes medical doctors don't understand these relationships either, so I also seek to provide valid information to educate my clients.  What am I talking about?  Habits of our daily lives may be contributing to organic issues, which in turn affect our minds and emotions.

You see, we live in an industrialized nation.  We know that air pollution and water pollution are issues that we need to be concerned about.  But we may not be as well educated about the toxins or chemicals that we come in contact with or absorb due to our laundry soap, our cleaning products, our cosmetics, our soaps, our fabrics, our furniture, our convenience foods, our processed foods, or even food that is marketed as healthy.  Chemicals added to our water supply to make it safer for consumption can cause their own problems in our bodies.

I was glad when the Lord began to open my eyes to the need to eat clean and be aware of physical toxins that are common in the environment (not just toxic people and relationships!), yet it is overwhelming for me to keep up with it all!  What I have found are several bloggers and business people whose passion is to educate others about how to live and eat “clean”.  Today I am sharing my favorites, the ones that I subscribe to so I can have access to good research, handy tips, and great recipes for living "clean", whole foods and natural remedies!

I am NOT getting any revenue from sharing these businesses - these are simply the ones I love and choose to follow.

First:

Keeper of the Home founded by Stephanie Langford and

written by a wonderful group of contributors. 

They cover healthy living in all of its facets, including home making, cooking (healthy whole food of course), natural remedies and natural products, essential oils, child rearing, and on and on…If you only had time to read one blog, this is the one I would recommend.

Second:

My Humble Kitchen by Diana Baumann

If you sign up for her email list, she will send you her free

“25 Day Grace Filled Journey to Real Food”.  

Her recipes are fantastic and her approach is truly grace-laden.  She shares her recent struggles after being exposed to mold in the home they were renting, and how that struggle has refined her health journey.  You will love reading her encouraging words.

Third:

The Nourishing Home by Kelly Smith

Kelly has to eat gluten-free and writes an encouraging blog as well as offers weekly menu plans and linked recipes for her subscribers.  I love this tool of hers!

Fourth:

Butter Nutrition by Catherine Crow

Catherine does an excellent job of teaching which “health” fads you should avoid, which foods and toxins to stay away from and why you should.  

She doesn’t hold back information to try to get you to join her site, but she does have a coaching program.  Do a search about why you shouldn’t do a sugar detox, why you shouldn’t get a mammogram, why our ancestors didn’t suffer from food allergies, and anything to do with hormones.   

Fifth:

Dr. Axe by….Dr. Josh Axe!

Dr. Axe’s site is full of exercise tips, recipes, essential oil use, and natural remedies for various problems.  What I love best of his information is his infographics that he puts out.

There you have it, my top 5 healthy living blogs.  I hope these recommendations help you on your journey towards health and peace!

Prayer for the President

Peter Marshall's, Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, 1947 prayer for the President - still resonating!

We pray, Lord Jesus, for our President.

We are deeply concerned that he may know the will of God, and that he may have the spiritual courage and grace to follow it.

Deliver him, we pray, from all selfish considerations.

Lift him above the claims of politics.

Fill him with the Spirit of God that shall make him fearless to seek, to know, to do the right.

Save him from the friends who, in the name of politics or even friendship, would persuade him from that holy path.

Strengthen and empower his advisers.

Bring them, too, to their knees in prayer.

May their example and their influence spread, that we, in these United States,

may yet have a government of men who know Thee, the Almighty God, as their Friend,

and who place Thy will first in their lives as well as in their prayers.

Hear and answer, we pray Thee,

forgiving us all our unworthiness;

cleansing us from every ignoble thought and unworthy ambition

that we may be renewed in spirit and mind and heart, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

from: The Prayers of Peter Marshall, by Catherine Marshall

What the Wise Men's Star Can Teach Us About Light and Darkness

In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

John 1:4-5 

We usually associate the star that appeared in the night sky, guiding the wise men to the new born King, as a "before Christmas" event, but in reality, this part of the Christmas story really occurs some time after the birth of Jesus.  Knowing that helps us remember that the message of "God With Us" is for all of our days, not just a few special holy days.  And the fact that wise men from the East were the ones who recognized the sign in the sky and came to worship the new King teaches us that God reaches to all of mankind, even those who we would call unbelievers or pagan...

...all are invited into the light....

The Christmas Star teaches us about contrasts:

 - moments of sparkling joy excavated from under blankets of black suffering

 - smiles in the midst of tears

 - the riches of kings laid at the feet of an infant

 - death and life, life and death

 - journeys and arrivals

 - mysteries and revelations

 - prophecies and promises fulfilled

 - hardships and abundance
 - light penetrating darkness

 - heaven invading earth 

 - the Creator becoming one with creation

A little later, still in the book of John, we read this:

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12 

And though we have the light of life, and therefore we are never in total darkness, there are times when:

For now we see through a glass, darkly; 

but then face to face: 

now I know in part; but then shall I know 

even as also I am known.  

1 Corinthians 13:12 

The Christmas Star teaches us that Light will always overwhelm the darkness,
                                                    that Light will illuminate and lead to the path of life,
                                                    that Light will reveal that which is presently not understood,
                                                    that the Light will always shine, even when a heart may remain closed to it,
                                                                 patiently, gently warming it with Its eternal fire...           
                                                     that Light came to be present with us, in all of life's darkness...

John Piper shared great wisdom in regards to suffering and hope in his poem "The Innkeeper" that helps us remember that the hearts of those who suffer need our tender care...and tending to the suffering is the reason that Jesus came in the first place.

We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize . . . 

but one who in every respect has been tested as we are.
(Hebrews 4:15)

Just as the Wise Men from the East had to journey a great distance over much time, following the beaconing star, and finally finding the object of their worship, so also those who face pain and brokenness this past holiday season and through the new year will have a long journey over time - and as they follow the Light that shines into their darkness, they will come to their own personal place of worshipping the One whose Light will ultimately engulf all this darkness...

Let us lift up our prayers and keep watch with all those who are hurting...

(This is a revised post from 2012 - click here if you want to read the original)