FRONT PORCH

As I spent this past week working on the deck and complaining  at the end of each day of how my feet and back hurt, I come to realize how fortunate I am.  At the end of those five days, I went to TNT  a flower shop outside of Hamilton and my amazing husband bought me some BEAUTIFUL hanging baskets for the front porch.  How grateful I am to have a front porch to hang my new baskets of flowers.
   So many times I take for granted what I have, always wanting more  and most of the times not being satisfied with what I have already.
  Lately things are becoming less and less important , and by things I mean material .  I am very blessed with what God has allowed me to have and entrusted me to take care of.  But I fall short everyday.
   I am glad to call myself a  Christian , not because of anything that I can do or know(which is not a lot) but because I have a daddy with so much grace and love I can't fail!  And when I do, I know He still loves me.... I am His favorite.  If God had a wallet, my picture would be in it.  I am on the front of His refrigerator!  How lucky I am.
  God gave me those beautiful flowers to enjoy and take care off.  He has given me relationships and family and good friends also to take care of!  I know I will fail at some point, but will try harder everyday that He gives me to be the best that He created me to be!
   It is a journey worth seeking and a relationship with HIM is the best friendship anyone can dream of.  You will never be disappointed!!!
 

"To Wheat or Not to Wheat?".

That is MY question! The day before I was to leave on a mission trip to Mexico, I found myself in the ER with lower abdominal pain. Believing in spiritual warfar, I guess I expected it. But, did not want to make a long distance trip and wind up in the hospital there. That's not what this trip was about. After several blood tests and a CT scan I get the news. You have a diverticuli. So after a shot of morphine for the pain and of course now needing a ride home, being that I was now under the influence (and liking it) I get home. The next day we left for Mexico and thank God had no recurring pain. After returning home from our trip I began to do some research. See, as a teenager, I had an episode with a Spastic Colon, Mucas Colitis and Ulcers. Wow all by the age of 18. Now this.... At the age of 56. Now a lot of my problem was stressed related and probably diet. See I grew up eating a lot of pasta since my mother is Italian. See a link here? During my research I came across several life style eating plans. I don't want to use the word "diet" because it is not a diet. It's something I will have to live with. One was the "Paleo" diet. Very similar to the Adkins but eating carbs from fruits and vege's and not pasta, rice, potatoes. It is a wheat/gluten free diet. I don't know if I have a mild case Of celiac disease but I know what I DO have. And it can get worse if I don't take control with what I put in my body. The "Paleo" has been known to heal the body of inflammation (ie knees, hands, back) which I suffer from all the above and heal your GUT -and if that isn't enough lose WEIGHT! Who doesn't LOVE that? I started the experiment this week while my husband is in Honduras. I omitted all wheat, rice ( and mind you I ate only brown rice and wheat pasta) and potatoes and legumes (also not allowed on Paleo). After several days my stomach felt less bloated my knees felt less inflamed . But nooooooo..of course last night I broke all the rules(almost) and ate some peanuts, edamame for dinner, just 4 triscuts and a hand full of tortilla chips. Guess what happened? My stomach started to hurt! Mmmmmmmm........What could this mean? Well, I knew what it meant and I won't be doing that again. Yes, I am going to miss my pasta and beans, but without them I will also not be missing the pain. Plus the Paleo has been known to heal diabetes and my birth mother died with diabetes, and she wasn't over weight. All of the reasons why I will continue on this journey and hopefully drop a few pounds to boot! So wish me luck and will keep you posted on the progress.

New to me

Being my first experience at blogging, I was just glad that I finally got to this point. I'm not a very savvy Computer user and still have a lot to learn about this thing called. "blogging". I guess I will just learn as I Make lots of mistakes. But hey, isn't that how we learn?