Category Archives: MUSINGS

Friday Feature: Digest This

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I’m big on digestive health and think you should be too. Most of you know this. You know how I struggled with regular flow, one extreme time landing me in the emergency room. I thought I must have needed surgery for something that was surely coming apart in my insides. The issue was not a torn hernia or appendicitis but excessive compaction. That’s right. I had eaten too many non-juicy foods that made their way through only half of my intestines then stopped. That traffic jam had my system backed up and had me bent over all because of what I chose to eat. And this is the case for most Americans. In fact just this week one of my mom’s doctors said that 75 percent of all Americans would get diverticulosis, a condition that my mom has where out-pouches have formed in her intestines from foods struggling to pass through. He said “this is an inevitable part of growing old, except for those who take in fiber.”

So 75 percent of all Americans DON’T HAVE to get diverticulosis whose problems range from discomfort from food and feces getting stuck in the out pouches and inflaming the intestines (changing the condition while inflamed to diverticulitis) to life threatening bacterial infections forming from festering waste that didn’t pass through. To avoid the horror of this condition, all we have to do is add fiber to our diet. Following are some of my favorite foods and their fiber content to help you get in your daily recommended allowance of 25 grams for a woman on a 2,000 calorie diet and 30 grams for a man on a 2,500 calorie diet:

½ cup of (uncooked) pinto beans=18.8 grams
¼ cup of yellow split peas=12 grams
1 cup cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans) =12 grams
¾ cup of cooked broccoli=7 grams
3 (unpopped) tbsp. popcorn=6 grams
1 baked potato=5 grams
½ cup of oatmeal=4 grams
1 medium apple=4 grams
1 cup of brown rice=3.5 grams
1 medium orange=3.1 grams
¼ cup of almonds=3 grams
¼ cup of raisins=2 grams
¼ cup of pumpkin seeds=2 grams

Not to dampen your Christmas cheer, I just want you to make sure you add some fiber to your mix as you are getting your grub on. I’m not talking about drinking some fiber supplement but getting fiber in throughout the day with food. If you do this, and drink plenty of water to push the fiber through, you may be okay doing some damage at the dinner table this weekend. You will even be preserving your body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, to offer to Jesus as a living sacrifice to Him. What a perfect gift to give our Savior in celebration of His birth.

Merry Christmas! How do you plan to add fiber to your holiday food mix?

Special Obligation: Christ for Christmas

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Photo courtesy of www.visualphotos.com

I’ve only bought one Christmas gift and we don’t even have up a tree. Yep, it’s four days until Christmas and we only have stockings and lights on the mantle, occasional Christmas music wafting and much talk from my 9 year old about wanting a gaming system. Praise God that my husband did some shopping online and picked up a stocking stuffer, but I have done almost nothing. This is not the Christmas season I planned, though it looks closer to the one that I’ve wanted for years. I have wanted to do away with a tree, most of the fattening foods we eat, and gifts that I still can’t figure out what have to do with celebrating someone else’s birthday. I wanted to give up the feverish frenzy of planning, shopping, plotting and hiding, trying to perfect a day whose traditions I question greatly. I wanted to focus on Jesus, celebrating His life that came to earth as human to save all of our lives.

My first major step toward this was writing the blog series “The 39 Days of Christmas,” where for 39 days I examined one Old Testament book each day for Jesus’ presence. Revisiting the posts this year has kept me centered on the One who gives life to this season. Tending to my mom, who has been hospitalized five and a half weeks and has had at least three near-death experiences, has kept me centered on the giver of life this season. Knowing that it was humanly impossible for my best friend’s 91-year-old grandma and her elderly aunts to escape the fire that consumed their home but not them this morning keeps me focused on the giver of life this season. Knowing that I have met insanity, depression, weariness, and frustration this season, but they have not become my friends, helps me rejoice this season about Jesus! Jesus must be the main focus. If not we will succumb to the ones whose job is to kill our joy, frown our smile, drown our spirit and muffle our praise. But Jesus gives life, preserves life and balances life. He is life (John 14:6). So the Christian has the special obligation to have Jesus as the central focus at Christmas time. No other way will do.

What are some ways that you have focused on Jesus this Christmas? What do you need to change in order to make Jesus the focus of Christmas? Please, tell me what you think.

Kindness: The Key to Unity

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My 9 year old has expressed a real yearning for hearing from God. Still young in his faith (he accepted Jesus at 5), I told him that it takes time to discern the voice of God. “But how do you know when you hear him and it’s not just you talking to yourself?” “What a good question,” I said and told him that many adults ask that question and I’m glad that he is searching now so he won’t be on a lifetime journey. I gave him some typical ways to become sensitive to God’s voice, including becoming familiar with who God is by studying the Bible, recognizing that God uses people to give you a message, and understanding that God repeats messages when He wants you to pay attention to something. The repeated message way of hearing God’s voice happened Sunday morning when my pastor talked about the unity that is necessary in the Body of Christ to draw the world to Christ. This is the crux of my latest post in EEW Magazine.

I believe God is speaking in this hour that Christians need to pay attention to His command to be united. This is the way we win souls. United with God the Father, this is the way Christ won souls (John 10:24-30). Check out the post that begins below to see how you can foster brotherly kindness in your family to effect change in the Body of Christ and in the world:



We have heard these, maybe even said them ourselves, when our children don’t get along and are at each others’ throat: “These kids just can’t get along;” “It’s just sibling rivalry.” Maybe their behavior is sibling rivalry, but are we resigned that they won’t get along because they just can’t or do we just wait it out, expecting the conflict to go as the children grow? Parenting expert Abbey Waterman, a mother of eight and home educator for more than 20 years, says parents have to foster brotherly kindness in their children and not just expect it to happen.

“I didn’t let my children ‘have friends’ outside of the family until they could get along with each other,” said Waterman, whose children range in age from 23 to 6. “We would go to church and I would have them head straight to the car after service. They didn’t get the privilege of socializing with their friends at church.” She once made a bickering son and daughter share a room, forcing them to deal with each other and work out their issues. Today, the children are close.

Waterman’s tactics may seem extreme, but God expects us to go through radical means to get radical results. Read the rest here.

My One Thousand Gifts List

#361-370
Not having to cook dinner
My author copies of Daily Guideposts: Your First Year of Motherhood arriving in the mail
Strength to cook dinner after a long day
Keeping me safe without access to a phone
Getting my blog posted before going to get Joshua from school and after a morning at Dan’s funeral
My family enjoying my fried chicken
My family rejoicing over the devotional book arriving
Taking a nap
Flynn cleaning the kitchen and allowing me to take a nap
Good “cornbread” made with non-corn meal and spelt flour

Friday Feature: Holiday Dishes

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You probably already have your Christmas meal all planned out and you are probably going to lay it out like you always do: Glazed ham; rich macaroni and cheese; candied yams; greens with a hunk of meat; cornbread and dressing made with meat fat; and sugary sweet desserts. Well, I want you to consider trying a new recipe on a classic dish or adding a new, healthier choice along with your classics.

  • Try my famous greens made without meat.
  • Use Daiya cheese instead of dairy cheese.
  • Use agave instead of white or brown sugar.
  • Use olive oil instead of meat fat.
  • Eat only sides and no meat.

June 6, 2011 marked my start on a no meat and very little seafood diet. Because I love a variety of fruits and vegetables and even cook a few of my favorite Mediterranean and Ethiopian dishes, my transition to no meat wasn’t that difficult. But some of you, who have been slathering fat and smothering food in meat for years, need to take it slow, just one dish at a time. I understand; I used to love me the Thursday special of ham hocks and pinto beans at Steve’s Soul Food in Detroit. In one season, I was there every week. So, take it slow, one dish at a time, and I hope you decide to make a change this Christmas. You will be able to share your dish with your family and perhaps get others to consider making a healthier choice when they taste how amazing your food is. I’m considering making my egg plant stew, candied yams with agave, my famous greens, and cornbread with rice milk, agave, olive oil and no egg. I make all these items regularly except the yams. That will be my new dish. If I make it, I’ll be sure to tell you how it turned out. Make sure you share in the comments section about your change.

Here’s to your good health and a better body for the Body of Christ!

Don’t Believe God

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What Do You Think? Wednesday
Some things are just worth revisiting, even when we have plans to go elsewhere. Such is the case today. I had another special obligation that I wanted to share, but in my quiet time this morning God made it clear that I had to return to the special obligation that the Christian has to follow the Bible. I wrote about this on November 23, saying that “I find it liberating not to have to develop a blueprint for my life, then on my own have to seek out the contents to build my life and manage them to maintain my life.” I have been liberated through the Bible and am experiencing the great joy that comes from this freedom, particularly during this rough season of seeing about my mom, who has been in the hospital for more than a month.

Yes, the trips to the hospital are numerous and the hours spent there are long. Yes, I have to, along with my siblings, be a watchdog for my mother’s proper care and still care for my husband and children, continue to write, eat right, get some sleep and have some time for me. All of this comes with fervent prayer and fielding texts and calls from my mom’s friends and other loved ones near and far. My schedule is grueling and my face and body feel the effects, but I can truly say with the song writer that “it is well with my soul,” but for some reason some people don’t seem to believe me. They ask me how I am doing. I expect and appreciate that. But what I don’t expect is the repeated questioning that people’s tone of voice suggests, and as one person actually said, “How are you really doing?” Perhaps they believe I should be riddled with worry and that my voice should quake when I speak of all that my mom has had to take. Maybe my face should be flush and constantly gushing with tears. Maybe they expect that I shouldn’t believe God.

Of course, no one would ever say that, but “How are you really doing?” can mean don’t believe God. I understand how people could probe further. Recovering strong black women learned well to wear the masks, those of sterile feelings and super strong veneer. I understand people want to really see my face, make sure that I’m really okay, but I what I want to know is “When is the Bible really true in our lives?” Is it only true when times are good and not when we are going through? Is God indeed a refuge, a place that I can run to and be safe (Psalm 62:8)? Is He not a person that gives me peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7)? Can God not keep my mind in perfect peace if I keep my mind on Him (Isaiah 26:3)? Are these scriptures only glorious platitudes and not places for us to strive to be? I could go on, but I want you to chime in. How have people responded to you when you reflect God’s strength in adversity? Do you fall apart and STAY apart, forgetting the strength available in God’s Word? Please, tell me what you think.