The Spiritual Side

Oh, poor blog. I fear I've been neglecting my blog here at Secret Life of Daydreams in my enthusiasm for my posts at Jerbecca, where I've been going on about our diet changes and homemade toiletries and tasty recipes. Lately I've been feeling the tug to post back here but haven't been sure how to delineate topics between both blogs.

My current plan is to continue posting on kitchen and health related matters over there and use this blog for reflections on religion, politics, and the economy. I haven't said much about the economy lately, but boy was I surprised when I read the headline proclaiming that the recession had ended last summer. Far as I can tell, the unemployment rate is pretty darn high and the national debt is deeper than the Mariana Trench. I also read a scary article the other day about how even though it appears that American consumar debt is falling, a large portion of the decrease is coming from loans being charged off by banks as borrowers go into foreclosure. With the economy not showing any concrete signs of recovering, it's no wonder that pundits are predicting a huge turnover in Congressional staff this fall.

Speaking of politics, did you hear about Stephen Colbert testifying before the Senate? Jer and I listened to some of it on the radio this morning, and it's pretty darn funny. He tiptoes on the line between satire and contempt, but he makes some interesting points. Immigration is one of those areas that really gets my dander up-I firmly believe that we should be preventing illegal immigration, but I also believe that as Christians we are called to help the stranger and the foreigner, those who are experiencing oppression and injustice. Until we get our system fixed to empower people instead of entangle them in bureaucracy and let the needy slip through the cracks we will continue to have lawmakers who react to the problem with laws that penalize the needy instead of providing real solutions.

But enough of my soapbox. What was really on my heart when I started this post was the spiritual side of all these changes we have been making over at Chateau Anderson. On the surface it would seem that my entire focus is on what I can do in my own power to heal my conditions. I haven't talked much about the spiritual aspect of our journey. You see, I firmly believe that the Holy Spirit is active in the world today, and we can experience healing of physical, emotional, and mental wounds and disease through prayer and the life of Christ that is in us. We are children of the most high God, who formed us and loves us and does not desire that any of us should suffer.

And yet I don't believe that we should merely pray and go on with our lives expecting that there will be no consequences for what we eat or how we live. I believe that modern medicine, when considered carefully and with a critical eye, can be a tool and a blessing. And our actions must go beyond just caring for ourselves. God created us as physical beings in a physical world, and He called it all good, so we are to honor and be good stewards of both our body and environment. If, as my pastor often comments, our call is to help restore the world to the Shalom that God intended, then we must fulfill our call to stewardship of the natural world.

So while I attribute a lot of my health improvements this past year to the changes we have made, I recognize that many people have been praying for my healing, most notably my husband. His faith and encouragement kept me going on days when I despaired of ever getting better, and he has supported my research and changes better than any wife could hope for. I read stories of other women whose families fight them all the way as they try to make positive changes, and I thank God for a husband who empowers and blesses me for my diligence in the kitchen.

I also hold firmly that what the devil intends for evil, the Lord uses for good. The allergic reactions and subsequent infections I experienced last winter came straight from hell, let me tell you, but that experience made me confront the ways I had stopped caring for myself and put me on the path to research new ideas on how I could help heal myself that was beyond the status quo. Through this process I have uncovered so much good information that I was ignorant of in regards to diet, nutrition, exercise-you name it. Specifically, the science behind gut dysbiosis and the causes of allergies and eczema that I have found has completely revolutionized my thinking. I talk more about it here, but for the first time in my life I have hope that not only could I heal from my lifetime of symptoms, but I could prevent my children from inheriting the same issues.

I still believe that tomorrow prayers could be said and I would immediately heal from all these things I have been trying to overcome. But I wouldn't go back on the changes I have been making. This is about caring for myself, my family, and my environment the best way I know how, and believing that God will bless my faithfulness, along with my faith in His goodness and mercy towards me. I'm convinced that because of our prayers, the Lord has been and will continue directing my web searches, the people I come into contact with, the facts I encounter, the conclusions I reach, as I ask for His wisdom and guidance through this process. His desire is for His children to live an abundant life, and I know that the lifestyle we are embarking on is part of the plan of abundance He has for me.

The Lord is good, and His Love endures forever.