my newest blog

I very recently chose to embrace the nutritarian-vegan lifestyle. This means no meat, no dairy, and rare encounters with refined and processed foods, vegan or not. Once I discovered how unhealthy and unsafe animal products are for you, it was an easy decision. Organic meat and dairy are no better as animal protein and fat is animal protein and fat. Our bodies were originally design for a plant-based diet* and this is how we can reverse and avoid disease. My family is joining me too. I'm so proud of them!

I've begun my blog with a vegan pumpkin pie (recipe link included), which has sugar, but with the holidays coming up, a girl's gotta account for special occasion recipes!

Lilibeth's Vegan Garden

*Consider that the hydrochloric acid in the human stomach is only 1/20th the strength of that found in carnivores. Carnivores require the stronger acid to process the flesh they consume. Human hydrochloric acid is designed for plant food, which means it can’t fully process flesh. Furthermore, our intestines are 12 times the length of our body, whereas carnivores have intestines three times the length of their body. This is important because once a carnivore digests its prey, the remains needs to be quickly flushed through to prevent putrification (rotting). On the other hand, when humans eat meat, the combination of weak stomach acid and long intestines means putrification occurs throughout the digestive system, which can, and often does, lead to disease. Plant food, however, requires the longer journey to properly break down the fats, proteins, complex carbohydrates and nutrients. (original article here)

You Can Reverse Cancer and Other Diseases

Please, please, please schedule 2 hours of your life to watch this new film! It may be the most important educational film you may ever see in regards to your and your loved one's health! I promise you will not regret it!

Click here to go directly to it's YouTube page

Anderson exposes the failings of conventional cancer treatments and how the medical establishment and the cancer industry wildly - and deceptively - exaggerate the benefits of treatments. Interviews with people who have beaten the disease demonstrate how cancer can be successfully healed with dietary treatments and natural supplementation. Participants in the film include: T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., The China Study;Brian Clement, Ph.D., Hippocrates Health Institute; Brenda Cobb, The Living Foods Institute; Mirea Ellis, The Kushi Institute; Charlotte Gerson, The Gerson Institute and many more.

the generation of those who seek Him

Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the LORD,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face.

~ Psalm 24:3-6

wow

Found this verse today in my new copy of the Amplified Bible*, and it really struck me:

Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love? (James 4:5, Amplified Bible)

I'm still learning to grasp the concept that the Holy Spirit has deeply profound emotions. Meditating on that will be life-changing.

*the guy at the Canadian Bible Society asked me if I had had an Amplified Bible before and I told him no, but that I'd heard many people refer to it a lot lately. He told me I was in for a treat. He wasn't kidding! I got a $15 paperback version on sale and I can see I'll have it falling apart in no time. The next one will be in leather for sure.

losing sight

"In many churches you can find a plethora of twelve step programs. But in many churches, the one who really needs a twelve step recovery program is the pastor because he has lost sight of what he should be doing and become addicted to marketing cultural relevance, politics, social reform and other substitutes for the real thing." ~ John MacArthur

by our love

I just heard this song for the first time a few minutes ago (while painting my daughter's room!). I find the video below extremely distracting and wish I could find a version with just the album cover, but it's worth listening to if you close your eyes or scroll below the video. Nothing wrong with the video, but in my opinion it takes away from it! I posted the lyrics below.



Brothers, let us come together
Walking in the Spirit, there's much to be done...
We will come reaching, out from our comforts
And they will know us by our love...

Sisters, we were made for kindness
We can pierce the darkness as He shines through us...
We will come reaching, with a song of healing...
And they will know us by our love!

The time is now
Come Church arise...
Love with His hands
See with His eyes...
Bind it around you,
Let it never leave you,
And they will know us by our love...

Children, You are hope for justice,
Stand firm in the Truth now, set your hearts above
You will be reaching, long after we’re gone,
And they will know you by your love!

Written by Christy Nockels
© 2009 worshiptogether.com Songs / sixsteps Music (admin. by EMI CMG Publishing) (ASCAP)

hope and trust

"The inability to open up to hope is what blocks trust, and blocked trust is the reason for blighted dreams." ~ Elizabeth Gilbert

restless rebellion

crows in a storm

"I often wonder what those preachers do who feel called to make up their message as they go on; for if they fail, their failure must be attributed in great measure to their want of ability to make up a moving tale. They have to spread their sails to the breeze of the age, and to pick up a gospel that comes floating down to them on the stream of time, altering every week in the year; and they must have an endless task to catch this new idea, or, as they put it, to keep abreast of the age. Unless, indeed, like chameleons, they have a natural aptitude to change colour, they must have a worrying time of it, and a horrible amount of shifting to get through. When they have done their best to preach this gospel of their own, then they are accountable for having made that gospel. For every bit of its teaching they are accountable, because they were the manufacturers of it, and it came forth from their foundry, bearing their stamp. If they take this yoke upon them, and so refuse to learn of Christ, they will find no rest to their souls." ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

Original sermon found here.

may no man's reigns ever chain you

I posted this almost 2 years ago I think. This song will always make me stop dead in my tracks and be still and somberly listen. I've always thought of it as a song for women who are oppressed* in relationships. This is not my personal situation, but I know it is for countless many.

It's like a prayer.



All the wild horses
All the wild horses
Tethered with tears in their eyes
May no man's touch ever tame
May no man's reigns ever chain you
And may no man's weight ever defrayed your soul
And as for the clouds
Just let them roll
Roll away
Roll away
As for the clouds
Just let them roll
Roll away
Roll away

Live version:



*"People who are oppressed are treated cruelly or are prevented from having the same opportunities, freedom, and benefits as others" (Google). "to put down; subdue or suppress." (Dictionary.com) . "to burden spiritually or mentally : weigh heavily upon" (merriam-webster.com)

Jesus Culture - Chris Quilala - Dance With Me

how nice to be featured!

I'm a little excited, being that I'm a seriously random and inconsistent blogger, and yet found myself being asked permission to post my latest interior design endeavor (a.k.a. making my house look purdy!). Beth Zeigler, a contributing editor for Apartment Therapy Los Angeles e-mailed me yesterday to do just that.

I know i love my new front entry, but it's nice to know that others appreciate it as well.

I was featured here: Using Fabric to Transform a Cabinet

Take a look at your own stuff and see if you've got something ready and waiting to be brought to new life with a little bit of designer fabric or paper!


Cabinet makeover originally blogged here:

My Tribute to Early 70's

being

in my "favourites" at etsy.com ~ future embellishment
it's time to get back to the simple things of life
being a good mom
being a good wife
being a little girl in God's eyes
being crafty to make my little cottage a haven in this crazy world (the nesting instinct)
being a good friend to both friend and stranger
just
being

leave them behind

lace trees

I'm being a total and complete copycat, taking this quote from Redemption Junkie's blog. It's goooood.

"Sometimes we have to "step over" our anger, our jealousy, or our feelings of rejection and move on. The temptation is to get stuck in our negative emotions, poking around in them as if we belong there. Then we become the "offended one," "the forgotten one," or the "discarded one." Yes, we can get attached to these negative identities and even take morbid pleasure in them. It might be good to have a look at these dark feelings and explore where they come from, but there comes a moment to step over them, leave them behind and travel on." ~ Henri Nouwen

the church's mandate

snowneressness

"When Jesus called the twelve disciples he appointed the first Christian congregation. That first congregation was thereafter the standard or norm for all Christian congregations in every era. The mandate our Lord gave to the twelve he therefore gives to any congregation in any era. Needless to say, it's the mandate without which we wouldn't be a congregation at all. We might be a religious group, or a middle class club, or a social circle; but we wouldn't be a congregation called and commissioned by Jesus Christ himself and appointed to the same task and responsibility as our twelve foreparents in faith. In other words, it's the mandate that makes the congregation.

There's a crucial difference, however, between the mandate the government gives a royal commission and the mandate Jesus Christ gives us. The mandate given the royal commission authorizes its members to ask questions and produce reports. They do that. They produce innumerable reports. They make dozens of recommendations. But how much gets done? A great deal is said; very little is ever done. The mandate that Jesus gives a congregation, on the other hand, authorizes us to say relatively little, even as it insists we do a great deal. What's more, what we say and do in obedience to our Lord he then adopts himself, takes it up in his name and uses it to so as to render it his speaking and his doing.

What's the mandate? First the twelve are to announce, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." This is what they are to preach. Thereafter they are to do; specifically they are to do what reflects the fact that the kingdom is at hand. They are to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons." ~ Victor Shepherd

original article

Christian Codependency

don't walk through that door

"Churches that are closed systems are so insecure that they believe their survival depends on destroying everything that differs from them or does not support them. Such churches lack faith in the gospel’s inherent power." ~ Anne Wilson Schaef

2010

sacred beach
I wrote this yesterday...

The new year is underway and I'm quite excited about it. Life seems fresh and new on many levels. In one particular aspect of our lives, it was as if we had been sailing around in a fog, going 'round and 'round for years on end, but now the sails have gathered up fresh winds and are carrying us into blues skies and open seas. Who knows what swashbuckling adventures await us. Yup, sounds corny, but I can live with that.

The important thing is to not look back at the things that strive to define us or drag us down. In life, we often have to make decisions and changes for the sake of fostering greater emotional and spiritual health. We can't then concern ourselves with other people's reactions or deductions. It's best to stay in the mode of looking forward instead of looking back, and being grateful that by God's grace you had the courage to break free of the things that confined you.

I think too, that the key is to focus on the blessings that come with change. When we take stock of that, what's behind you really pales in comparison. Besides, if there's anything healthy behind you that belongs on your current path, it'll catch up to you when the time is right.

Jon just came home from church. We all had a late night last night after thoroughly enjoying a very stormy yummy night with dear friends, and Faith and I slept in while the boys went to church. Jon said people shared this morning, and one guy who is struggling with drug addiction said Jesus is helping him to get free. Others shared similar stories. If that doesn't put things into perspective, I don't know what does.

Church is about people thriving, healing, the poor being fed, children being nurtured and discipled, people finding Jesus, the gospel being taught, and everyone being transformed by God's love.

I'm going into 2010 feeling rich! :o)