A Sweet Logo Design

I haven't been so good about getting new designs posted. This was a really fun logo to create. The business owners were awesome to work with and had a good idea of what they wanted. What made this job even sweeter was getting the actual product to try! It is so awesome to actually see my design on an actual product but then to try out the item... oh my goodness! We made avocado pudding with the honey and it was amazing! Kaelyn doesn't like avocados but she loved this dessert. The recipe will definitely be shared in one of our Enduring Health newsletters (can sign up at the bottom of the page) and possibly eventually on the Enduring Health blog.

Thank you Brad and Crystal! I wish your business great success!

Golden Sunshine Birthday

I can't believe it has almost been a month since we celebrated Kaelyn's golden birthday! She is our little sunshine so it worked great for her golden theme. She loves to see what I come up with for decorations and of course she's excited for the food/dessert too. I made a wild rice dish and a couple cupcake experiments. Her golden ones were chocolate chip pumpkin with a unique frosting, no lemon. (unique, but tasty and good!) The recipe will most likely be shared in one of the first two Enduring Health Journey newsletters. If you are interested in receiving healthy recipes, uplifting inspiration, and tips for healthier living please sign up at the bottom of the page on my new website HERE. I will try to have the first newsletter out the end of this month and it will only be coming out quarterly so I won't be flooding your inbox. :) The recipes shared in the newsletter may or may not be put on the Enduring Health Blog. Kaelyn is so excited to help in sharing healthier lifestyle tips and allergy friendly meal plans.

She had a great birthday and was so happy for all those who could make it. The weather isn't always the best when we plan to celebrate so we are thankful for those who are determined to make it and have safe travels. Several people went out of their way to make her day extra special. Thank you! It was a golden birthday she won't soon forget. :)

Now Live! New Website & Blog ~ Enduring Health Journey

My passion... to share our story of difficulty, to share what we have learned, to encourage and inspire you to live a healthier, happier lifestyle, and above all... to hopefully grow and strengthen your faith. A year ago, I thought if we (my daughter and I) could get better, if we could overcome most if not all of our health issues, I would share our story with the world. I am so happy to say God has blessed us greatly in knowledge, in hope and encouragement, and in health. He has driven Enduring Health Journey to become a reality. He has showed us the power of purpose, prayer and perseverance and we want to share it with you. We are in the beginning stages of a new blog, website, twitter space and instagram. We hope you will join us; we pray you will be blessed!

Today is going to be a good day!

Hello! Sorry this space has been quiet for so long. I would love to add a few more hours into the day... I bet most of you would agree. I've been having some fun the last couple months with wood burning projects. I enjoyed coming up with the words, designing and burning the one above simply to inspire myself. It is to remind me that if I keep a positive view from the time I awake, it will be a good day, no matter what is thrown my way. There is a bright side to every situation. It is up to us to choose how we will respond. God's way is the best.

I have seen myself change so much this past year. It amazes me to see how God can work within one's self when you are open to Him and welcome to change. I have grown so much spiritually and because of this my physical and emotional well being improved greatly. I am grateful. If you have been in this space for awhile, you know I had a long ways to go with physical health. And thankfully I can say I am now doing so well! God has guided me and He has healed me physically, emotionally and spiritually. With that said, there is always room to grow and improve but I am no where near where I was two plus years ago and honestly it is all thanks to the Lord.

With that said, God has placed the passion in my heart to reach out to others, those who are struggling, whether it is with health, financial, marriage problems whatever, I want to offer encouragement and hope. I have been working on a new site for awhile now and am hoping to share it with you soon. I pray that it will inspire people all over, in all walks of life. It will be a place where I share my heart, words that God has placed on my mind, and the ways that helped me and my daughter heal. My desire is for the new site to be an uplifting space for anyone that stops by.

I've debated about getting rid of this space but have decided against it, because I do love to create. So this space will go back to its original purpose, a place to share designs and art/creations. The new site will be focused on health, wellness and encouragement. I hope you will join me in the new space when it is ready.

Last thing, my sweet and very talented husband made the awesome frame above. He's made a few of them now and I love them! I thought it made the piece. You can check out more of his work at wispwoods.com.

The Greatest Gift of All ~ Part 2

Make sure to first read Part 1 HERE.

*******************************************************************************

Once back home, the children tried to go about their busy days as usual. They were hoping that their filled work schedules would take some of the pain away. Oh how their hearts were aching. They had never felt a pain like this before. They found themselves unable to focus on anything other than their father. Not keeping in better contact with their dad while he was alive was tormenting their minds. Why, they wondered, did they put all their focus and attention on their jobs, money, material things? What was their purpose? Someone that meant so much to them, someone who went above and beyond for them was now gone. They were feeling miserable for how they treated their father and now they couldn't see a good purpose in anything they were doing. Everything was feeling meaningless. People around them could tell a difference in their attitudes and it was impacting everyone around them. Relationships, their businesses, everything it seemed, was starting to suffer. Eventually the children decided to head back to their childhood home to see if there was any hope of finding closure to this heartbreaking situation they found themselves in.

When they arrived at their father's home they remembered the gift he mentioned before his death. They really didn't think they could accept another gift from him. They felt so unworthy of it. With thoughts of their father on their mind and knowing he really wanted them to have this last gift, they decided to go see what exactly it was. When they went upstairs they found on their father's bed a smallish box, neatly wrapped with a letter on top. They opened the letter and read...

To my dearest children, this is for YOU ~

I know my death came as a shock to you, but I expected it. Although you won't be able to understand right now my passing is for the best. You see, out of bad things come good so don't focus on the bad but look forward to the good that is coming because it will. There are a few things I want to share with you that I couldn't before. You see, before I never had your full attention.

I want you to know how much I love you... each of you, so very, very much. I thought about you well before you were born. My heart was bursting when I saw you come into the world for the first time. You were perfect! You are wonderfully made and capable of so much!

The purpose of your life was never simply to survive. You were meant to live life fully, to truly thrive. A life of good; able to enjoy all the gifts I have given you from the beginning. Now, you are given choices to make. You are given free will over your own lives. I never once told you growing up that you had to do things my way and no other. I strongly urged you in certain directions for your safety but the end choice was always yours. If you chose wrongly there would be consequences. Because I love you, I want to warn you, if you choose to follow the ways of the world, you are likely never to feel complete. There will be great hurt on many different levels. But I am happy to tell you there is another option for you. Would you like to live a life where you felt free, at peace and filled every day? Could you accept a gift like this?

Now if you feel bad about any actions you have done in regard to me or have done something else that you think is so unworthy of deserving such a gift, I tell you, for peace of mind, please ask for forgiveness and know then that you are truly forgiven. I love you with my whole heart. I could never stop loving you; you, who I loved before you were even born. I've watched you grow. I know you so well. You are a part of me. There is nothing you could do that could stop me from loving you. Trust me!

My earthly gifts did not move you. At least they did not move your heart. Your heart was left unchanged. Since my death, you realized a pain you had never known, your heart felt something. Your heart is changing, renewing and growing. You now are seeing me much more clearly then when I was with you in person. I have given you ALL I have and ALL this I give you will be more then you can ever imagine.

As you know, my heart was filled with love, joy, kindness and truth. This is your inheritance. My gift goes beyond any "natural" gift. There is no limit and it cannot be contained. It is freely available for you and it is meant to be passed down to your children and their children, for generations to come. With this great gift you will be able to overcome life's trials. You will be brought to difficult situations but with my gift, planted in you, you will be able to overcome these trials! Children, trust me! A good heart conquers all evil! All you need to do is place your faith in me.

By excepting my most precious gift, you will lack nothing. For my heart will join yours and work together with you to do what you have seen me do and even greater things than these. There are no boundaries to the good you are able to do. With me, in you, all things are possible. Have faith in ME! Keep your focus on ME! Speak words that come from me, these are words of life. If you happen to make a mistake and lose focus, it is okay. My love for you is too great. I will never give up on you, so do not give up on me due to your own mistakes. Ask for forgiveness and keep pressing forward.

In the box, I have left you many more letters to reveal to you more of my good and perfect ways. Read them, but know that the most important thing is that I am always with you. I am in you. I love YOU!

So children, I hope you now know deep within your soul how much you mean to me. I hope you know I want the best for you and your children to come. I pray you will accept my gift; that you will open your heart fully and allow me to guide your steps. You will then live an abundant life of blessing and you will impact many around you. This will make me proud!

I will be with YOU ALWAYS! With all my love ~ your Father

With tears streaming down their faces, the children were changed forever. They accepted the perfect gift from their father. They were filled with great hope for having a purpose filled life. They were ready to share the good; to share the love with others.

To be continued...

Part 3 HERE.

Love lettering done by my daughter, Kaelyn age7.

The only way I can describe this story is that the Holy Spirit wrote it through me. I pray it will bring you closer to Him. He has certainly made a huge difference in my life. For so long, I didn't have time for Him. When I thought I really knew Him I didn't. He wasn't IN my heart. I finally realized how much he loves me and ALL his children. He so wants to be a part of our life. He wants us to turn to Him first for every situation we find ourselves in. He wants us to speak His words. He wants us to love like Him. He wants the best for us. What he desires most is for us to KNOW Him and love Him! If we are hoping for prayers and desires to be fulfilled, are we wanting these gifts without having a relationship with the one who gives them? I have cried, because I am guilty of this. I am thankful for the trials I have gone through because I can now see Him much more clearly. I have a new love in my heart... it is for Jesus who showed me how to live, who took my place as a sinner on the cross, who freed me from Satan.

I pray that I will keep my focus on you Lord and that you will work through me the rest of my life, no matter how undeserving I am. Thank you God for leaving us so many letters (in the Bible) to encourage us and reveal your ways to us! God, thank you for loving me with your whole heart. I love you!

Healing Power of Raw Milk

For awhile now I have truly believed in the healing power of food. Food is medicine. Meaning food that is organic and as close to God's original creation will benefit us. If man gets in the way and tries to alter food the healing power seems to be, no, IS destroyed. I don't really know when it happened that man thought they could create something better than God. I have found this to be true from personal experience. Trying raw milk this summer confirmed my beliefs. Kaelyn was allergic to milk since she was a baby. When my health turned for the worst and I removed many foods from my diet, I found dairy was a big issue for me also. I was sad because I really liked dairy products. After cutting it out I kept getting this feeling that milk should work for me. But no matter what we tried from the store, like 100% grassfed homogenized butter, Kaelyn and I would both break out with rashes. I was frustrated. I had been doing quite a bit of health research around that time and had come across a few readings that several people with dairy allergies could actually tolerate raw milk. This was exciting news, but where could I get my hands on raw milk? A farm a couple hours away was already swamped with customers wanting his raw milk and my husband was not for raw milk at all due to safety health scares at that time. Since then my belief in the healing power of God's given food increased. I was watching and experiencing my own body heal through food, herbs and prayer. Hearing stories from my 92 year old grandma about her and her family drinking a lot of raw milk growing up really made me want to try it. Without going into much detail on my grandma, she does not seem her age, she is active, keeps up her own big house, gardens, and if her or her siblings happen to fall they bounce right back up. No broken bones! There has to be a good foundation for this type of exceeding health. Anyway as time went on I had a conversation with another couple about raw milk near our area. (Thank you June and Jason!!!) I kept the information in my mind. I had been feeling for quite awhile that we were not getting enough calcium in our diet. After seeing that my teeth were not looking so great... like some translucent spots on them I knew we HAD to get more calcium. That night I told my husband to please go to the nearby dairy farm and see if we could try some raw milk. He finally changed his mind and decided we could try it! Turns out the farm had one jug of milk that hadn't been spoken for and that we could try it. If it worked for us we would have to buy a cow share as required by state law at that time.

Well we tried it. I was nervous giving it to Kaelyn since she had always reacted very noticeably in the past to dairy. At first I blotted some milk on her wrist and then by her mouth. This is a good test to see if you are highly sensitive to a food. She did not react! So she drank some. She loved it and still did not react. Milk continued. My teeth looked better within 24 hours of drinking the milk and Kaelyn's eczema on the back of her arms was reducing! Praise the Lord for His good gifts! How he worked out a place to get it right near us and its healing qualities amazes me.
David has been stopping at the farm weekly for the last couple months+ to pick up our glass bottled milk. Last week we took a family trip to the farm. It was Kaelyn's and my first experience there. We were met by happy cows going to graze in the pasture, chickens and quite a few happy, healthy children. The kids were so full of energy and loving I couldn't keep from laughing. Kaelyn loved it there even though she was being pulled in all directions by the kiddos. :)

I am not saying raw milk will work for everyone. (Although raw goat and sheep milk is even easier tolerated than raw dairy as it is easier to digest.) If I had the milk before I eliminated a lot of the Candida in my system I'm not sure it would have gone over so well. I feel my body would have been too congested. It just happened that the timing was right and everything aligned. God had it planned out perfectly! So now we are enjoying raw milk every day. Yay! And what's even better, the state just changed its rules and we no longer have to own a cow share. Yep, we don't have to own part of the cow in order to get milk which means if we want more milk we can get it! So exciting... atleast for us! :)

Some may be wondering why raw milk works and not pasteurized dairy. The main reason is when raw milk is heated, beneficial bacteria and enzymes that the body needs are killed. Pasteurization prohibits the milk from working in the body the way it was originally meant to. Short explanation... the good is destroyed by the heat. Man, get the hint... DON'T mess with God's design and we would all be better off! End of rant.
More information on the health benefits of raw dairy vs pasteurized can be found on Dr. Mercola's site HERE.

One of the lessons I have learned is if something keeps coming up in your mind and you can't let it go, God wants you to do something with the information. He speaks differently to each person. Just listen, accept and do. Good will follow. :)

Have a awesome and blessed day!

A Summer Glimpse

Wow, sorry for the extended blog silence. Hopefully everyone hasn't given up on me. 

I was thinking our summer would be a little slower and that just wasn't the case. 

Here are a few of our family's highlights from summer 2015...

 Lots of time experimenting and cooking in the kitchen. I have a great helper! :)

 Fishing time! Kaelyn and her Grandpa are the lucky ones.

Gardening sure takes a lot of time, but it is well worth the fresh, organic produce. This year my garden consisted of onions, butter lettuce, red romaine, garlic, cilantro, kale, collards, spinach, swiss chard, radishes, cabbage, cucumbers, green beans, celery, summer squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, broccoli, dill and Kaelyn grew peas, ground cherries, sweet corn and a watermelon. I also grew a fair share of weeds... I just couldn't keep up!

Our biggest project was renovating a camper. We love to travel, but when our food issues were posing a real problem with travel plans we decided to find a camper so we could have a kitchen with us where ever we go. The whole process was quite a struggle and a humbling experience. We had no idea how quickly campers went up for sale and were sold right away. We inquired about quite a number but they were all sold before we could look at them. We absolutely fell in love with one and were going to travel several hours to get it. The guy promised to save it for us and wouldn't you know it was sold out from underneath us. It was an emotional roller coaster. We ended up finding an older one with the same layout though and thought it would be a fun, quick renovation project to get it how we wanted it. Ha! I should have learned my lesson by now, wallpaper hides many things really well! In renovating houses I have had a ceiling fall on my head... the wallpaper was hiding the cracks! In the camper, the wallpaper was hiding black mold! Uggh! Hubby spent a lot of time rebuilding and fixing window issues. There were a lot of late nights, sweat, and tears put into this project over most of the summer.

 One of the Bible school crafts I had the kids do. This year we had a safari theme.

K spent a lot of time at the pool. Her excuse was she needed a lot of practice for swimming lessons. It paid off because she passed no problem.

 Fun at the farm!

 EEK! We can tolerate milk! RAW milk that is. Praise the Lord! This will get its own post soon.

 Kaelyn did Plein Air Paint Out with me this year and had so much fun.

It was hard to get much artwork done with this little fur ball running around. For some reason he loved to get his nose in everything of ours. Pretty sure he thinks he's a dog! :)

Me and my girl. So thankful for feeling good! ♥

 Fourth of July... Kaelyn requested we go to the BIG show again.

At the end of summer our camper was finally ready to use for a few outings. 

Out of state we headed and God blessed us with wonderful family time, beautiful views and good weather...

Awe... so much better. Clean, light and airy.

 K loves her bunk bed.

Yes, the hard work was worth it! Being able to stop anywhere, anytime and cook your own healthy food is a huge blessing! The end even made me want to do another renovation project. Guess I will have to find some projects around the house. I already have ideas. :)

Some amazing views while out with the camper on our first trip...

K's first roller coaster experience and she insisted on going by herself. She had the most horrible expression on her face while riding I thought for sure she was in tears and screaming the entire time but when she got off and got her breathe, she said it was fun!

 Back to school. Summer went by way to quick!

Now that my firecracker is back in school and the garden produce is slowing down, I should be able to post more often. Definitely more health posts in the works.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Journey to Healing {Part 1: Essentials}

Shortly after the new year, I blogged that this WILL be the year I heal. Even though I've done a Candida detox twice before without success I am still determined and sure this will be the year of regaining my health naturally. It is only the beginning of March and I have seen so much improvement already and such nasty things coming out of my body! Yay!!! Nothing is more exciting than seeing advances when you have worked so hard for so long.

First and foremost my praise goes to the Lord for the healing. I don't know how many prayers I have said for healing but still tried every so called health tip I came across. After eating so clean for such a long time and not seeing a big improvement I became really frustrated. It wasn't until I really asked God for guidance on what I needed to do/take that helped me on my healing journey. The end of last year/the beginning of this year I have done my best to listen to Him. As always, he answered and led me to two crucial products that have helped me significantly!

The first product is organic Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth. What is that you ask? Diatomaceous Earth is finely milled silica shells of ancient microscopic freshwater plants called diatoms. What is so amazing about these little silica shells is that when you mix the powder with water and drink it, the diatoms run through your body attracting and absorbing fungi, protozoa, viruses, endotoxins, pesticides, drug residues, E.coli and heavy metals! The good stuff in your body is left unharmed. Pretty darn amazing if you ask me and it comes from the earth, made by God! You can get a lot for not much money. It kinda tastes like drinking sand but I have no problem taking it as I can see it working. After two months of use I noticed/saw the biggest changes so far. So it isn't something that is going to happen overnight... like everything good, it takes time. I worked up to taking 1 flat tablespoon mixed in spring water. I actually mix it in half of a glass of water, drink it right away and then drink a big full glass of plain water right after that. It is a good idea to drink a good amount when you take the Diatomaceous Earth to get it moving throughout your system. 

I just have to note that it was the day I asked God for guidance that I came across the Earthworks site who sells this stuff and what I thought was so awesome was their About Us page actually talks about God and Heaven! I knew in my heart this stuff was going to help me. So far I have not been disappointed and it even has so many more uses! So anyone who is struggling with health issues and not seeing the results they would like to see even after drastic diet changes, I strongly encourage you to look into taking Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth. Make sure it is FOOD GRADE! If it isn't food grade it would harm your health!

The next big essential is good, strong probiotics. You have probably heard the importance of probiotics by now. Your body needs plenty of healthy bacteria to crowd out the bad guys in your gut. Every time an antibiotic is taken, the good bacteria is being killed. You need to repopulate the good! If the bad guys out number the good, sickness and disease will overcome you. One of the problems I found was finding a good probiotic to take. Even the ones my doctor recommended didn't seem to do anything for me which made me feel like I was wasting a lot of money. Since many health conditions are caused by the imbalance of beneficial bacteria, one needs to restore a good balance. Again I prayed about it and came across Saccharomyces Boulardii and Bio-Kult. Saccharomyces Boulardii is recommended for those struggling with Candida/yeast issues. Clinical and holistic nutritionist Christa Orecchio has had Candida herself and successfully overcame it with Saccharomyces Boulardii (and Diatomaceous Earth). After listening to many of her health talks I was excited to give Saccharomyces a try and it has worked well. After using Saccharomyces for about 3 weeks with no other fermented foods, I added in Bio-Kult which comes from the UK. It contains 14 live strains of good bacteria. (My daughter also takes this as it is safe for children too.) Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride is one who helped formulate this probiotic and I trust her work as she has helped heal many. I currently use both of these probiotics and upped the amount towards a therapeutic grade level per Campbell-McBrides recommendation. After taking them in combination with the DE, I have seen and feel great results. Sure, I have gotten some die off reactions, which are the not so fun feelings of the toxins dying in my body... head spinning, not feeling so well, fatigue... but it is fairly short lived and since I know what it is from I can control it by backing off a bit if I need to. Knowing my body is working on removing the nasty stuff keeps me focused on pushing forward to restored health. Praise the Lord for allowing our bodies to heal themselves given the right conditions! I am currently starting to make my own sauerkraut to get in more fresh probiotics. I have done many kitchen experiments already this year... water kefir, sourdough and now sauerkraut. It has been fun, but sadly our bodies weren't quite ready for everything we tried. In time...

A clean diet free of all processed food is a huge and helpful step. For quite awhile I wasn't seeing a big benefit from it. My doctor suggested I try Betaine HCL to see if my stomach had enough acid to break down the beneficial food I was eating. Sure enough I wasn't getting the good nutrients from the food I was eating. I kind of knew my body was missing important nutrients due to the horrible ridges on my fingernails but at the time didn't know much about Hydrochloride. I thought I was missing some vitamins. Slowly my nails are becoming smoother! Anyway, if you think your body isn't breaking down food properly ask your doctor if you can do the HCL test. You simply take a pill after you eat a meal with protein; you should then have a warm burning sensation in your stomach which means you have enough acid. If you don't feel anything your digestion is needing some help. I got up to the max amount of seven pills and didn't feel anything. After time and more healing I have been able to cut down to one a day and sometimes don't even need any!

I share these items with hopes it will help someone else going through a similar situation. I wish I would have known about them and tried them on my first Candida detox round, but I remain hopeful that the third attempt will be a charm. :) I linked to the actual products I use and think are amazing. Please don't hesitate to ask me any questions about the items. I will do my best to answer.

With these healing essentials I also continue to focus on these points that I previously shared. I haven't been doing the best with spending time outdoors since it has been so cold around here lately, but that will soon be changing... warmer weather should be arriving this weekend. Yay! So excited to get outdoors! I love being out in nature and breathing the fresh air. The photos above were taken on a ride back home. The sky was amazing. A South Dakota landscape can be quite beautiful. ♥

TRUTH: The Cause of Sickness & Disease

For you and your loved one's health PLEASE read. 

If you don't want to read my ramblings fine, but I beg you to listen to the youtube links in this post. It has been placed on my heart that everyone needs to know this information. What you do with it is up to you but I urge you to seriously think twice about what you are feeding your body, your children, your loved ones...

God did an amazing job of designing our bodies, to fix/heal themselves, to run smoothly, to be healthy and strong. He provided us with good food to nourish ourselves. We have to do very little to this good food and it will provide us with amazing benefits, both physically and emotionally. What is sad is God's design and purpose is constantly being pushed to the side, which makes our lives so much more complicated than they need to be. When it comes to food we have the choice to eat something that comes directly from nature or we can eat something that is artificial, man made, genetically modified. Some or many pay no attention to what they are putting into their mouth or onto their body. I admit, I was that person for many years. As long as the so called food tasted good that is all that mattered to me. I never thought of the effects the food could have on my body. Besides some skin issues, and not wanting to get out of bed in the morning, I was thin and felt fine, so why should I worry? Life is very busy, I get that; people don't want to take the time to read labels, to cook "healthy" meals, but what they aren't realizing is that by not doing so there will be detrimental effects to their health. Food is either medicine or poison!

Do you know that the more man gets involved with the food process, the unhealthier it becomes? It can be literal poison to your body, causing inflammation. After an extended period of use, the toxic chemicals overwhelm your gut health and the body no longer has the ability of healing itself unless you make significant changes on moving away from the offending products. If no action is taken on your part, sickness and disease will keep multiplying until you die. That sounds fun, doesn't it? Medication is just a bandage, it does nothing for the root cause.

I am no doctor, have had no professional health training, but I have EXPERIENCED many health issues and have also EXPERIENCED some wonderful healing. I have witnessed many people die, all different ages. I've watched my great grandma live into her 100's, my grandma just turned 92 and is doing fantastic. When I hit my early 30's I felt as if my 90 yr old grandma was running circles around me. Why I thought? Why do I feel stuck in an old person's body? Brain fog came after having my daughter. After dealing with secondary infertility and being diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and Graves Disease I had a strong feeling it was the food... my diet. But the specialist told me, food has nothing to do with it, so I pushed my feelings aside. From that day on my health issues only got worse UNTIL I significantly changed my diet! There are thousands of people who have seen the same results. Before I changed my diet my little girl had a horrible allergic reaction after eating nutella. Her tongue and throat were swelling shut, her heart rapidly beating. I was in shock. I took her to the clinic where she got shots to counteract the allergic reaction and to normalize her breathing. I had this crazy sense of calmness that my daughter's health was not in my hands but the Lords, even while the panicked doctor had another higher up doctor on the phone. What scares me after that incident is hearing about other children who die from a peanut/nut allergy. Allergies are becoming more and more common. WHY? Some people think doctors are just more aware of symptoms and diagnosis now. Is that really the truth? I beg to differ as I have witnessed our own health turn around almost completely after changing to a healthier diet. I've heard other people's stories of both healing and sickness and it all comes down to FOOD!

Why is this issue so important to me? I don't want others to suffer when they don't have to. I don't want children being sick when it can be prevented. God willing, I want to live a good, long life... feeling happy and energized and I want that for my family as well. I have had lots of health experiences, sadly a lot of my issues were passed onto my daughter at birth. I don't want this to happen to other mom's to be. I want their babies to be as healthy as possible right from the beginning. There are plenty of other environmental toxins people have to deal with. Many readers know a lot about my health journey ~ secondary infertility, hyperthyroid, Graves Disease, hypothyroid, body tremors, heart palpitations, fatigue, weakness (hard to even climb a few stairs), anxiety, hormone imbalance, ringing in ears, constant congestion, swollen lymph nodes, lumps, allergies, intolerances, acne, rashes, spitting of blood, spasms in intestines, Celiac Disease, Candida, leaky gut, hypochlorydria... Saw several doctors, many tests ~ Brain MRI, cancer tests, spit tests, x-rays, unltrasounds, SIBO test, countless blood labs, radioactive iodine, some antibiotics, medications. Since my thyroid was killed I do need constant medication (which is man-made and contains harmful fillers) and if the dose isn't right my health gets much worse, but other then that nothing but diet has helped. If I would have listened to my gut feelings I would still have my thyroid and am sure I would be back to feeling 100% by now. I made a mistake and took a doctors advice without knowing what I was getting into. Which honestly good has come from that too, because I found a new passion in health and food and probably best of all, my relationship with God has become so much stronger. I know who to rely on now and I thank Him for His grace daily. I am healing! I hope my story will give others hope. I hope it will make another person's life a little easier.

Let my struggle be used for good!

But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." ~John 11:4

If you still don't understand the food/health connection I will open up myself entirely and share something I haven't shared with anyone but my husband. A year ago when I was really struggling I also had a large breast lump, (yeah, something I didn't want to share but now its like who cares because if my story helps someone else then awesome!) anyway, it was big enough that the doctor's eyes got real big when it was felt and I was rushed to the hospital for immediate x-rays and set up for cancer screening shortly after. Luckily since the lump was movable it was believed to be non-cancerous but I was supposed to have check-ups and x-rays done every few months. The doctor/nurse said the lump would more then likely grow more during different stages of the month, never saying it will or can dissolve. At that time I knew how important food was and I knew with the work I was doing to rid my body from the excess Candida that my body would heal itself in time. I never returned to the cancer facility or to the hospital for more x-rays. I knew God was in control and guess what, with food and His amazing design, the lump is GONE! Completely gone! Praise the Lord! I have seen so much healing in my body from where I used to be. If my daughter and I are around sick people and catch a bug it does not last long (we eat all organic, clean food), where as my husband can get it and be sick for days (he eats clean food and man-made, plus has a flu shot). I might not get sick if I wouldn't kiss him. Ha! I'm not worried, I believe in my body's ability to heal and His nourishing food. My body fights off sickness quickly now. God is good!

If you don't want to believe me on how serious your health is connected to the food you eat, I beg YOU to listen to these two talks. And if you do believe me, thank you, but still listen to them!!! The one by Jeffrey is lengthy but very good so try listening when your getting supper ready, cleaning up or riding in the car...

TEDxMileHigh - Robyn O'Brien - Patriotism on a Plate

309 - GMO Food Allergies & Gluten Sensitivity - Jeffrey Smith

After listening to these talks, I know my health issues were caused by the genetically modified food. Not realizing it back then, I was addicted to the processed junk, macaroni and cheese - all time favorite, tv dinners with the brownie, chicken nuggets, pizza, pasta, bread, desserts, m&m's, ice-cream, specialty iced coffees... that is what my taste buds craved. Veggies were not on my list. Now I assure you they are and I LOVE them! My daughter does too and actually told me she was glad she had allergies so she could eat this good food. A couple days ago she also told me she feels yucky if she eats the "other" food. (Other meaning processed food, artificial candy from school.) I don't let her eat that junk any more. It turns my stomach seeing all the artificial candy kids get at school and at parties. When Kaelyn wanted a piece of candy she brought home from class I read her the ingredients list on the back and she went and threw it in the garbage!!! This mama's heart skipped a beat with pure happiness. No, it is not always so easy but I know how precious health is and I will do everything in my power to keep my child as healthy as possible.

The main GMO foods to stay away from: corn, soybeans, cotton, canola, & sugar beets. (90% of sugar beets in the US are genetically modified and a lot of it is made into table sugar.) Remember all these can come in different names on ingredient lists. Over time consumption of these foods will cause inflammation and autoimmune diseases unless it is only in small amounts, with the majority of your diet being clean veggies and meats. I am all for supporting organic grown foods and small farms that don't alter nature. As Jeffrey Smith stated, a GMO is like saying God Move Over. GMO's are like a silent war going on in our country. The outcome is devastating, not everyone knows about it. I urge you to be skeptical of man-made products that you use in/on your body. Someone may be just making a buck off you and harming your health. It is sad! Please watch what you feed children. They don't realize what is good vs. harmful. Teach them early on. It will be hard at the beginning but it will get much easier and they will thank you for it in the future. God created everything so perfect and good, His works should not be changed! I pray that people will change their focus of money to doing good for others.

"For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you." ~Proverbs 2:10-11

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." ~Proverbs 1:7

"If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land." ~Isaiah 1:19

Thank you for taking the time to read this and please, please listen to the links!

What we ate Wednesday & a recipe! { for Health }

{Sesame Tahini Salad}

I have been having fun in the kitchen lately. First I made a few little changes to my gluten free buckwheat bread and like it even better. Crazy how a few little tweaks can make significant changes. I will be sharing the recipe later on. I'm off all forms of grain right now as I am on a strict Candida diet/detox once again. Maybe the end of February/beginning of March I'll be able to make the bread again and make sure it is good enough to share. :)

Other recent kitchen experiments include a meatloaf made from liver and grass fed beef. I never looked forward to Kaelyn whining about liver and onions for supper so I decided to try and hide it in a meatloaf experiment. Guess what? She loves it!!! In a crazy way the liver gives a tomato taste to the meat. I'm not sure I love it but it isn't bad and hey its a huge win when she doesn't complain about eating it. She even asks for it several times a day! (I didn't tell her there was liver in it and not sure when I will disclose that information. Ha!)

My favorite experiment has been clam chowder. Oh my goodness, this soup was something I really missed. My grandma used to make it every Christmas eve and it was my favorite soup! After my daughter and I were having so many food allergies/food intolerance issues I didn't think I would be able to enjoy it again. Not too long ago it hit me what I could use instead of potatoes and dairy and it turned out to be a big hit! Yay!!! My family loved it so I tested it on my grandma to see what she thought and she was amazed! Last Sunday we had an impromptu get together at our house and I fed them the clam chowder and it continued to get the thumbs up. So I will be sharing that recipe soon. I never measure ingredients so I should probably go back and get some idea of amounts.

This last week I've been loving this salad I created with sesame tahini. I may be slightly addicted. :)

If you would like specifics, here are the links to several of the ingredients I use and really like:
Kal nutritional yeast flakes ~ gives an awesome cheesy flavor for those who can't have dairy/cheese, and the flakes also contain many beneficial vitamins
turmeric ~ don't need to add but gives a nice burst of flavor and turmeric is a great anti-inflammatory ingredient
Himala sea salt ~ not like refined table salt, HimalaSalt  contains essential minerals
Bragg's olive oil ~ there are many to choose from but I am currently using this organic extra virgin olive oil
sesame tahini ~ could grind your own sesame seeds into a butter or use this spread if you are short on time. I love this spread but it is a bit spendy. It is organic, raw and stone ground with good nutritional value.
pumpkin seed butter ~ I've added this in with the tahini and it tasted good. Good source of iron too.

As far as the meats go for the healthiest version, I make sure the chicken or turkey is free of antibiotics and hormones and no other ingredients are added. Free range and organic are best but hard to find around here. Always get organic celery. The chemicals they spray on some veggies can be extremely hazardous to our health, so make sure the celery and leafy greens have the USDA organic label on them.

Experiment all you want with this recipe. Amounts all depend on personal taste. Seed butters are a wonderful dressing alternative and they are full of nutritional health benefits. Hope you like it as much as I do!