Tag Archives: Health

A Safe Place

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What Do You Think? Wednesdays

The other day my sister and I were talking about what makes non-church going folks say “I have to get myself together” and “I don’t have nothing to wear” before they can come to church. Sometimes they claim these are barriers because they want to keep on living the way they’re living, but sometimes they really do think self-help and a Sunday best wardrobe are what they need. Where did they get these notions? I believe folks in the church have created these barriers, ridiculous preconditions that have nothing to do with the soul-saving power of Jesus Christ and the transforming work that He can continually do in our lives. We don’t have the power to get ourselves together and we can never dress up our pain and confusion. But non-church going folks think so, and others, especially we strong black women, do, too.

Our legacy of strength makes us believe we have to keep ourselves together, never falling apart, never exposing ourselves to the church, the body of Christ, our family, fitly joined together to meet everyone’s needs (Ephesians 4:16). This includes OUR needs. We don’t get help in the church because we don’t want to expose ourselves and, unfortunately, churches don’t want us exposing ourselves. They need us to keep it together to run the ministries we run and some leaders just don’t know how to minister to us. The façade is easier, but no one can play these roles forever. We eventually fall apart in a farther gone place because of too few safe spaces like this website that are so prevalent outside the church. I thank God for my church’s counseling ministry that even has designated times to just walk-in and see a counselor. We even have intimate classes for women taught by strong biblical women. Besides offering these ministries and other sermon-styled women’s ministry functions (that usually don’t allow for transparency and intimacy), what does your church do or what do you think the church needs to do to create safe places for hurting women who think they need to mask their pain? As always, I look forward to hearing from you.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Friday Feature: Roundup One

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God has placed some awesome natural healing practitioners in my path. Starting today, I plan to roundup some of their articles for a fourth Friday Feature. With my lay experience and their expertise there will be a wealth of information to help us strong black women be strong in body the way God intends for us to be (1 Corinthians 6:19-20.)

    • Dr. Colbert tells us about The Most Important Nutrient in the Body.
    • Dr. Cherry speaks about necessary enzymes in God’s Pathway to Healing for Digestion.
    • Mike Adams, the Health Ranger and editor of NaturalNews.com, says Dangerous Chemicals in Personal Care Products Compromise Health

    • What do you think you might do as a result of reading these articles?

    Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

    Friday Feature: Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide

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    When cleaning my bathroom with bleach made me weak, gave me a headache and irritated my nose, I had to give it up. I know; nothing works quite like bleach. Put some in a load of whites, scrub a sink and a tub, and disinfect the garbage disposal and you will get clean and sanitized, but, like me you might get some other things you hadn’t counted on, like toxic fumes, burnt skin, eye irritation, or coughing and wheezing.
    Instead of getting sick, I began to whiten my clothes with oxygenated products. There are a host of these available for all types of cleaning uses. You can do a web search or check a natural health store for brand name products. But my daily go to cleaning product is food grade hydrogen peroxide.

    Hydrogen peroxide is made of hydrogen and oxygen, an oxidizing agent (one that transports oxygen), helping clean the body internally and externally and whatever our body encounters. It helps our bodies fight infections and keeps our immune system boosted. This substance kills bacteria, fungi and viruses. What a great all-purpose cleanser!

    Though food grade hydrogen peroxide is non-toxic and is a powerful cleanser, disinfectant, food decontaminant and odor remover, like bleach it can burn your skin, even when mixed with the proper amount of distilled water, as it should be used. But I’d rather risk having small-scale, momentary burns for superior and non-toxic results than a product that makes me sick and may cause long-term damage.

    Food treatment
    I like to clean my fruit and vegetables in bulk. Like I do when cleaning with baking soda, I put my produce in my sink that’s filled half-way with water and add one tablespoon of food grade hydrogen peroxide. Like baking soda it removes dirt but it also sterilizes produce. Hydrogen peroxide zaps whatever pesticides and bacteria were there. Let the produce soak for about 15 minutes then rinse produce with cool water. I also have a one-quart spray bottle of distilled water mixed with at least an ounce of hydrogen peroxide. When I run out of my choice vegetable and fruit wash and I haven’t cleaned my produce in bulk, I use this to spray individual pieces of fruit and rinse after 2-5 minutes. I also have sprayed my meats to decontaminate them.

    Surface treatment
    Bathrooms and kitchens are the most used rooms in my house and, like yours, accumulate a lot of bacteria. I disinfect my toilets, countertops and sinks, especially after working with meats. Just like the everyday hydrogen peroxide you use on cuts, this food grade version turns surfaces white on contact with a contaminated source, making me confident that the product is working. I use this to freshen up my carpet, too. Just spray the stale area.

    Body treatment
    Add 20 drops to four ounces of water and you have a natural mouthwash. I also use this to clean a fallen toothbrush or one that I don’t get to change when I should.

    There is a host of other ways to use this product, but, as always, I share only what has worked for me.

    What ways do you (if you) use food grade hydrogen peroxide or another natural product you find equally useful?

    Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

    Friday Feature: Free Flowing

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    It’s so easy to give up after trying hard at something and not seeing the results you expected. I know. I’ve done this in trying to improve my digestive health. The change in eating certain foods, the increase in enzymes and even more water just didn’t seem to be working for me at one period. I finally realized that more water and fruits and vegetables for me meant more than the average person. My major increase helped, but I was still having a bit of sluggishness until I discovered that I needed to do the following to keep my colon free flowing:

      1) Avoid mucous-forming foods (also known as acid-forming foods), like cheese. Mucous can get caught on your intestinal walls and block the free flow of waste through and out of your system.
      2) Drink room temperature beverages with meals. Many of us love an ice cold glass of water, but cold and food don’t mix well. Cold drinks can solidify your food and keep it from flowing freely.
      3) Drink 32 ounces of room temperature purified water first thing in the morning. This helps my digestive tract get going after its rested overnight. I also have a friend who drinks a hot cup of water first thing in the morning. She says this does natural wonders for her system.
      4) Drink a freshly squeezed juice or vegetable drink in the morning. This also helps my digestive tract get going immediately.
      5) Drink a hot beverage after a meal. I like to drink tea. Hot drinks help to “melt” foods, helping them break down and allowing them to move easier. Sometimes for an extra boost I select fenugreek tea, which loosens mucous and is a natural diuretic.

    If you are on the quest for better help, please don’t give up. Sometimes we strong black women think we have too much going on to work so hard on an issue like digestion. After all, we’ve dealt this long with a sluggish system; we can survive, some of us might think. But you don’t know this. God gave us everything we need for life and godliness. Taking care of our bodies in every way we can gives us life and helps us to be godly because we are honoring our bodies, the temple of the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost, God Himself, deserves the best. We should give our best whenever and wherever we can.

    Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

    Friday Feature: Swallow It Up

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    Resting well heals your body and makes you look and feel good, too. We talked about this last week and I hope you got some good, long sleep. Did you? If you didn’t, try to do so tonight. And I want you to add another basic practice to your healthy quest repertoire that will also heal your body and make you look and feel good, too.

      #2 Drink More Water

    I know you have heard it before, but are you drinking more? And if you are drinking more, is it enough for YOUR body? I ask this because of these amazing statements I’ve heard over the years:

    1. Most Americans are dehydrated and don’t even know it.
    1. People are more toxic than they should be.

    Dehydration and toxicity were two of my main issues, making my skin and digestive system really suffer. I can always tell when I haven’t had enough water: Pimples pop out seemingly out of nowhere and the food I’ve eaten doesn’t flow as freely through my system. Water helps to flush out waste, moisturize skin, hair and nails, lubricate joints and eyes and a bunch of other functions we take for granted or that haven’t even occurred to us. When we don’t have enough water to flush out the junk through our digestive system, some of the junk remains and some seeks to escape through our skin, the largest body organ. With our bodies being composed mostly of water and us losing about 10-12 eight ounce cups of water daily from our normal activities, we have to replenish our supply so we don’t get dehydrated. Dehydration can also cause memory loss. Lack of lubrication can cause us to shrivel up on the outside and the inside then what good can we be when we’re supposed to be grapes and not raisins?

    We have heard that the average person (whatever that means) should drink at least eight eight-ounce glasses of water each day. I haven’t found a modern health professional that can say where this formulation came from and why we should follow it. I also heard that daily we should drink half our body weight in ounces (e.g., if you weigh 140 lbs then you should drink 70 ounces). When I follow this plan (drinking purified water) and a add a few ounces on top of that, I find I have less problems with my skin and my digestive system is free flowing.

    Then the LORD replied to me, “If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?”—Jeremiah 12:5 (NLT)

    The Lord was asking Jeremiah how he would be able to deal with more troublesome people if he was having problems dealing with people on a small level. This is why I’m challenging us to rest well and drink more water, two very basic practices for good health. How can we go on to more intense health practices if we may be struggling with these basics? We have to start here. It’s not enough for us to possess information if we don’t put the information to use. Having water with us is not enough. We have to open that bottle and swallow it up to be (or continue) on our way to better health.

    Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith