You Can Do It!

You can do it mamas! It takes much perseverance but you can stand for the whole health of the next generation (that includes your babies).

Remember whole health is spirit, soul, and body- each part of how God made us is important and valid to steward and nurture.

If you have multiple children, continue your journey exploring what each child digests best, chews best, enjoys best, etc. and distribute accordingly. You'll see in the details listed below that I serve something slightly unique to each child.

All three of my babies ate together at the table after I captured this photo! Precious and______________hahahaha, you fill in the blank. Most things with them are usually precious and __________________!

Okay, details...
Asher, my 2-year-old son is eating:
1) homemade bean dip (Stonyfield organic whole milk plain yogurt, organic black beans, salt, pepper, onion powder) on Garden of Eatin' organic blue corn tortilla chips. He also has this bean dip on the side!

2) Goji berries

3) Skinned organic pear

4) Gluten-free Rotini pasta with olive oil, salt, and pepper

Sissy, also known as Willow, my 1-year-old daughter is eating:
1) homemade bean dip on tortilla chips. She also has this bean dip on the side!

2) Skinned organic pear

3) Gluten-free Rotini pasta with olive oil, salt, and pepper

Jeremiah, my 3-year-old, big boy is eating:
1) Gluten-free Rotini pasta with olive oil, salt, and pepper

2) Organic green beans

3) Natural cheddar cheese

4) Simple, low sodium Pickles (dye-free)

5) Organic carrots

Water-filled sippy cups all around. Children should drink half their body weight in ounces of water each day! Hydration is so, so helpful and necessary to health. Don't overlook it, for you or for them.

Final note: Veggies, veggies, veggies. Don't lose heart. I've worked with my 3-year-old for two years to enjoy veggies and now I can add three veggies options to his plate and he eats them!

IMG_6975.jpg

WH Green Smoothie

Wholly Healthy Smoothie Recipe for the (whole family) WIN!

-1 Organic Green Apple 
(with skin)
-1 Organic Pear 
(with skin)
-1 cup blended Organic Spinach and Kale 
(see Greens Note below)
-1 cup Mangos
-1/2 cup-3/4 cup Orange Juice 
(depending on your taste and texture preference)
-1 TBSP. Camu Powder 
(optional, but potent non-gmo Vitamin C source!)
-1/2 cup ice 
(optional, if you want to make more of a juice)
-1 squeezed lemon 
(optional, lemon is so good for us!)

Family Note: 
I serve this to my boys in 9 oz sippy cups with 1/3 water, 2/3 smoothie because they don't need it that sweet or thick! They down it :) My Jeremiah Michael requests it "Mommy I have a smoo-vie?" Boom, power-house veggie deposit.

Portion Note:
The ingredients I listed above is enough for my sons and I to all enjoy! If I'm making some for my hubby too I'd likely 1.5x the recipe and have some left over. The uncooked greens are too much for Willow's tummy yet, but soon enough she'll be joining in on the family smoothies.

Greens Note:
I buy a fresh kale bunch and bin of spinach. Within 1-2 days I combine all of those greens and about 1/2 cup water into a blender and liquify. Then I put the greens mixture into cup size freezable containers. And freeze them! This technique brought breakthrough to the consistency of my green smoothie habit and kept me from losing the race to eat all the greens in the fridge before they went bad! Ya hear me??

Green Smoothie.jpg

Healing the Wounded Soul

I am currently studying the rich revelation of Katie Souza. She wrote a book called Healing the Wounded Soul. Her revelation is a strong and rare resource that I am applying to my own soul, relationships, and coaching. If you are interested and willing to advance your understanding of how and why the soul becomes wounded and how to heal-from a framework of biblical revelation-I recommend her as a tutor.

https://shop.expectedendministries.org/product/healing-the-wounded-soul/?fbclid=IwAR07lrvr_xRutL6NOHlTAYmHrh29wj2UdhYnLK-NxbOnxwr42FSPBuKdPTw

Oils for Mamas and Babies

This is an informative tutorial on oil use for mommies and babies. I enjoyed hearing from this gal and concurred with her usage suggestions!

The top oils I use on my babies skin (diluted) and aromatically in their rooms are Melaleuca, Lavender, and Breathe. Oh...and Frankincense is the best oil booster. I currently use a teething support blend on my 8-month old, an immune booster blend on my 1-year old and 3-year old, and I've recently started using Serenity at night on my 3-year old to help him "wind down". Smile. At the end of our bedtime routine, he looks at me and says "oil on back?" Because all my babies are curlies I also use a blend on their hair to moisturize their locks. I'd be glad to share any of my blend recipes if you're interested.

I only use doTERRA oils and always refer to my dilution guide. In short, essential oil usage for us has: 
1) liberated us from pharmaceutical parameters (I.e. prescriptions, fear-based thinking, synthetic drugs that can't be used on youngsters, etc.) 
2) given us a safe, all natural, non-synthetic resource to support our infants and toddlers in both prevention and corrective health needs 
3) given us creation-based tools to engage our soul and body health
4) been FUN!

If any of you want to get connected to doTERRA and begin integrating oil use into your lives let me know-I would be very glad to support you in that process.

P.s. My facial skin is currently supple with Frankincense, applied this am. I just finished drinking my morning water (12 oz. room temp water, 1 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 drop doTERRA lemon essential oil, a pinch of salt, and a shake of cayenne pepper). And I currently have Breathe, Citrus Bliss, and Basil diffusing around me. Yaaay, we live an oil lifestyle, and you can too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4pNodnaW24&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3eUy7857Q1GmfSGE6C-GY5zHXePocJb4uR_Z7cALgvjFzPBPaDJ9n9dPE

Stuffed Peppers

Tonight, after getting the babies down for bed, I asked my hubby what he wanted for dinner. This is a normal practice and no matter how tired I feel it brings me joy to serve him and for us to share a table experience. He replied by saying he wasn't very hungry so he just wanted something simple. He said "hmmm, maybe chips and guac?" I said okay! Then he said "but what else goes good with guac?" I looked around quickly, and in resourcefulness (I absolutely inherited this from my mama) I said, "well do you want to put the guac in Bell Pepper Boats?" He said, "yea, let's try it." And so we did. Here are photos of our food adventure tonight. He did share that it was a good flavor combo and he liked it. So for any of you trying to cut down your chip consumption, maybe this is worth a try :)

Recipe (1.5 Servings):
-4 Fresh Organic Mini Bell Peppers (Orange, Red, & Yellow)
Guacamole:
-1 Avocado
-1 teaspoon Olive Oil
-Black Pepper 
-Sea Salt
-Cayenne Pepper 
-Organic Onion Powder
-1 drop doTERRA Lime Essential Oil

Peppers.jpg

EWG APP

Very HELPFUL mobile tool to assess 120,000 food and personal care products according to their level of toxicity. There was a season where I was detoxing all things related to my life and I looked at every product I owned and considered buying on this assessment tool.

https://www.ewg.org/apps/?fbclid=IwAR30s6vGzNEK_aaRx6KVpbQTFFfme6e25-bdx435zc_Gg3E-77Nt31tBWak

Imperfect Produce

This company does not yet deliver to Shreveport/Bossier area. Closest delivery location looks like a San Antonio, TX launch in 2018. But I wanted to share it with y'all to keep on your radar for future delivery possibilities, and encourage you that companies like this DO exist that desire us to eat well and won't require overspending to do so. I learned about Imperfect Produce from Dr. Caroline Leaf. Wise frugal-living strategy!

https://www.imperfectproduce.com/?fbclid=IwAR1QXEwdYJKXWHt0isQDbob0k50hsiMZ3KT7G_bQyflOUEzS5gg0_Ot2f1I

Clean Meat

Pay attention to this! I recommend you read through this article then consolidate the information onto a note card by writing the restaurant names and their corresponding "grades". Keep the list in your wallet or purse to reference when you're thinking about where to eat out next! You could make a note in your phone instead, if that's your style :)

Heeeyyyy Chipotleeeee

https://www.eatthis.com/best-worst-fast-food-chains-using-antibiotics/?fbclid=IwAR0_OqinWPgLWNSf5ZHbkPGnmODjW59U8VYT1GXdUv3Z5A-mK0kjitMUfEw

The Real Work

This devotion is written by Jeff Wells. He is the pastor at WoodsEdge church in Woodlands, TX. His devotion plans are on YouVersion bible app. This devotion changed my life upon reading it recently and I had to share. We respect Jeff and his family and are grateful for his life and impact. 
________________________________________________________

The Real Work

Prayer is warfare. Prayer is not a nice, sweet, Sunday school picnic. An invisible war rages across the galaxies. Angels and demons do battle for the souls of people. Lives, families, and marriages are at stake.

The context of this charge to pray is found in verse 12:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Then God tells us to don our armor for the battle.

Finally, there’s the call to prayer.

Because prayer is warfare; because an invisible war is being waged everywhere; because our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against dark, invisible powers; because prayer is the real work of ministry: for all of these reasons, it is vital that we pray in the Spirit. Our prayer must flow out of a Spirit-led, Spirit-filled, Spirit-empowered life. The Spirit prompts our prayer, fuels our prayer, and directs our prayer. We pray in the Spirit.

Moreover, we must be alert in our prayer. There is urgency in the air. Bullets are flying, bombs are exploding, and soldiers are bleeding. Lives and souls are at stake. Be alert!

Thomas à Kempis once wrote: “The devil sleepeth not, neither is the flesh as yet dead, therefore cease not to prepare thyself for the battle, for on thy right hand and on thy left are enemies who never rest.”

Chip Ingram, in The Invisible War, relates one graphic example of prayer and the battle:

There was a missionary in Africa also serving as a medic. To get the medical supplies he needed he had to travel by bike to a neighboring city. The trip took two days so he had to sleep alone in the jungle overnight. On one particular occasion, he came to the city to get the supplies and he helped a man that was badly injured in a fight. He also shared the gospel with the man. The next time the missionary went to the city to get medicine, he saw the same man he helped previously. This man proceeded to tell the missionary of his plan to kill him and steal the supplies the last time he was there. However, when the man and some others followed him into the jungle they saw 26 armed soldiers surrounding the missionary. Being outnumbered, they left the missionary alone. The missionary was puzzled by this as he was alone that night in the jungle.

Several months later the missionary shared this story with his home church and a man in the congregation stood and told the missionary that he remembered that night well, as he had received a strong urge to pray for the missionary that night. This same man gathered others to pray with him. As the men stood one by one they counted 26.

Never underestimate the power of prayer.

Prayer is the main work.