Color Me Healthy

I have been so intrigued lately about living healthy. I never realized how much junk I put in my body constantly and don't even think about it. We wonder why we live in a world full of so much sickness and health problems but the more I study the more obvious it becomes. Even foods labeled "organic" or "natural" are not always what they seem and all of the trash labeled diet and fat free is such a scam it should be a crime. We almost literally live off food coloring, fat, salt, sugar, and artificial flavors. We believe every lie food companies tell us and willingly buy their products no questions asked. I used to laugh when James talked about living off the land but I am realizing more and more how much healthier we all would be as a whole if we did eat more foods that we grew with our own hands. And there really aren't excuses. We live in an apartment right now and we still manage to have an herb garden in little containers by windows. I think what bothers me the most is hearing people complain about how expensive organic or eating healthy is. First of all, organic companies offer coupons, samples and put their products on sale just like regular products. Secondly, not everything needs to be bought organic. Produce can be gardened, gotten from neighbors, gotten from farmers markets or produce stands locally and also can be washed and peeled. No one needs to buy organic produce that you peel unless you eat banana peels for example. And lastly, the statement that junk food is cheaper and therefore I buy my family junk food is the most awful statement ever because that is like saying money matters more than health. Would you not prefer to buy your family less healthy foods that will satisfy them rather than twice as much junk food that leads to obesity, cancers, attention disorders and diabetes? I have realized over the past year that eating healthy is not only better for you all around but also completely doable. It is scary how processed almost everything is in grocery stores from prepackaged meals to frozen dinners to almost all commercial cereals. However, there is a healthy version of anything you can buy, it just all depends on how willing you are to work at learning it.

Color Me New

It has been such a life changing experience being married(and it has only been a few months!) Being married challenges you in many ways but two for me in particular. The first is that is shows me who and how I really am. I thought I was such a good person before XD Now it is like seeing my true reflection for the first time.  I see my true desires, my selfishness, my deepest hurts, my longings. And these things do not just affect only me now. The second thing is becoming one with someone. I never fully understood what it meant when the Bible says "the two will become one" Even at the wedding those words still rang a little hollow, but I understand now. When two people become one it is no longer MY hurt feelings, it is ours. If I am self conscious or demeaning or hurtful I am not just hurting myself I am also hurting James because we are one. And likewise for him. When one of us is damaged we are both damaged. If  I have negative thoughts or use hurtful words or mistreat my body I am also doing all of those things to James. That is a hugely sobering thought. No wonder those few who learn to truly become one with someone are such amazing Christians. They have been tested by fire and emerged still being one. The ugliness of divorce become even more horrible after being married because you realize that because you are one person there is no way to separate two people who have become one without painfully destroying the other person. There is no way to make it 50/50. Someone will always pull away with more and both people will forever carry scars and pain. Marriage is so much more powerful than I realized.

Color Me Alive.

There seems to be more going on in the world now than ever. You cannot get away from the news and there is never anything good in it. I choose not to even listen to it in any form because you can never believe even half of what it says. I was reminded Sunday of how much suffering there is. There is staggering amounts of pain, sickness, hurts, and injustice. All of this goes on every second and yet we obsess ourselves with our little problems. We riot, petition, and cry injustice about gun laws, security, and lack of freedom, but in looking only at ourselves we purposefully ignore the true injustice going on all around us. America is just as lost as India. Europe needs the Gospel as desperately as Africa. We live in a culture consumed only by our own  wants, but this is not what Jesus suffered for. We could have pursued all of these things regardless of whether he died on the cross or not. How, especially can we as Christians pour so much of our time and money and resources into getting our wants and trying to make our own lives as comfortable and self interested as possible when in doing so we almost literally have to step over people headed for eternal separation from the only thing that matters? Maybe I will always have the government watching my every move? Good! Maybe in monitoring my every word and move they will experience the Gospel. Maybe I will never be able to carry a weapon. It only shows that only Jesus is my true protection. We want so much to be the keeper of our own lives with safety and security and resources and yet when those resources run dry then we want to turn to Jesus our back up plan. But only when all else fails us. This is not true Christianity. I do not care to have a safe, financially secure, passive life. Not when I hear the hearts of the rest of the world crying in my head to have this same Salvation that I have. I can never forget what Salvation tasted like for me when I felt it. It was the sweetest thing I have ever known. I cannot forget how it felt to once be lost and hopeless without a purpose or reason to live. Now I have both a reason to live and a longing for the life that follows. Death no longer exists for me, only a new life to follow this one.

Color Me Stretching.

It is hard to love when you feel unloved. It is hard to show affection when you feel unnoticed. It is hard to share your thoughts when you feel that you are on the outside of someone else's. But this is where marriage gets beautiful. It is in the ugly parts. It is in the seemingly impossible times. It is when change seems like it will never come. And I am still in the learning part but I am determined to be the wife God has called me to be. I am determined to love when love is the last thing I feel. I am determined to forgive when I feel betrayed. I am determined to show affection when I feel like I am in a one sided relationship. Because it is easy to think our problems are the whole world. It is easy to think our thoughts are the most important and that our fears are center focus. But in reality----they aren't. What if I took the time to dive into his head and embrace his fears and feel his hurts? I think my problems would seem so small.

Color Me Loyal.

Abby has become an even bigger blessing than I ever imagined. For those who don't know, Abby is mine and James' lab/retriever mix we rescued last year. Just like she has grown into her over sized paws and adult head that she had even as a puppy, she has also grown in our heart. Abby asks for nothing more than love(and a lot of beggin strips), but she gives so much more. She is gentle and protective, loyal and loving, playful and laid back. She also has a great sense for knowing who needs who at the moment. If I am the one having the bad day then she is cuddling in my lap or showing my extra attention, if it is James then she is in his lap. She is impossible not to adore even by people who are not dog lovers. She is just a dog I know, but we couldn't have hand picked a better one than Abby.

Color Me Perspective.

I have been so overwhelmed by everything going on lately. This has definitely been one of those times when it seems everything happens at once and you go "whoa, slow down!" God reminded how much we need Him today though. I decided to get away for some quiet time and it made all the difference. Away from all the noise, needs, and long to do list, I found I could finally listen. And like always, it was in the quiet that God spoke and He told me that instead of wanting my situation to change, maybe I needed to change my perspective about it. He was right. We always think everyone or everything else is the problem when sometimes the biggest problem is how we are viewing things. Learned something today.