Reading

Here is this weeks reading. My favorite verses about righteousness by faith.

Eze 36:22  Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

Eze 36:23  And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

Eze 36:24  For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

Eze 36:25  Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

Eze 36:26  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Eze 36:27  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Eze 36:28  And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Fun Friday on Sunday

I missed posting Friday, because we are visiting my grandmother in Idaho to celebrate with her on her 90th birthday! Happy Birthday Grandma!

This week we went to the park and immediately got driven back home by a sandstorm. Then on the drive up to Idaho we got to stop at the Hoover Dam for a little bit just to take in the sights, first time for the kids. Then we spent some time with my mom and dad after we got to Idaho, which was fun, to catch up a bit. It's very smoky up here because of all the fires, so the sky is hazy. Anyway, here are some pics of the week!

Lifestyle and health

This post is a continuation of last weeks post on stress.

Head over to this article  by Dr. Vicki Griffin, Dr. Edwin Neblett and Evelyn Kissinger for some interesting information! 

Then answer this question. How stressed are you? On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being super stressed and 1 being very mellow, how would you rate yourself? 

How do you notice stress in your body? Look at the symptoms of stress above and mark off the ones you notice in yourself. 

Life events can have an effect on how much stress you feel.

Nutrition makes a big difference in how well your body is able to handle the days stress. If you have good nutrition, you can handle stress better, and there won't be as much damage to your body and brain from it. 

Here is what happens when you have good nutrition. 

     1. You have nutrient reserves ready for when your metabolism speeds up in response to stress. 

      2. Enough nutrients means your body can protect and restore your system when damage occurs, like free radical damage to the cells.

If you don't have food nutrient those reserves aren't there, and stress can cause damage. 

      1. This increases your risk of disease.

      2. It affects your moods and thought processes.

      3. And increases your cravings for foods that aren't healthy, that might make you feel good for a short time, but are no good in the long run. 

How can you add power to your nutrition?

Check out these tips below. 

You would be amazed at how these easy solutions can have a positive influence on your health. 

Comment below what works for you! 

Healthy recipe and tips

This week I was introduced by my friend to an awesome little store in our big city that has a ton of produce for cheaper than any other place I've found. They even had a rack of clearance items, so I got a box of bell peppers for $1.00. I spent way less on produce than I would otherwise including melons and strawberries. Another store she told me about was a bakery outlet store where they sell their bread at a discount. I stopped there and got about 6 loaves of bread for $1- $1.50 each. One other place I found, courtesy of my friend, is the 99 cent only store in which most things are 99 cents. Here I found bags of lentils, and some produce and other healthy foods for cheaper than even Walmart! Make sure though to compare the prices, because not everything is cheaper, or may be cheaper quality.

My tip for you is to look around your area for local markets or stands that may sell food items at a discount either because they are local, or because it's overstock items, or close to its sell buy date.

Today's menu consists of some whole grain bread, and a bowl of lentil stew with greens and veges.

The recipe for my throw together lentils is as follows:

1 lb. lentils, any kind
Boil in water until tender.
Add choice of veges and greens. Today we have 2 small bunches of kale, and a package of frozen okra.

I added half a tablespoon or so of vegetable bouillon, then salt, onion powder and garlic powder to taste. Cook until veges are just tender.

We served ours with whole grain bread on the side.

What are your favorite cheap but healthy meals?

Reading

i had a very busy day yesterday and didn't have a lot of time to do a blog, so I will do it now, before I do the next one.

Today's reading is from 2 Kings chapter 5.

Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.

2Ki 5:2  And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife.

2Ki 5:3  And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord werewith the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.

2Ki 5:4  And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.

2Ki 5:5  And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

2Ki 5:6  And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.

2Ki 5:7  And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.

2Ki 5:8  And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

2Ki 5:9  So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.

2Ki 5:10  And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.

2Ki 5:11  But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

2Ki 5:12  Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

2Ki 5:13  And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

2Ki 5:14  Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Fun Friday happenings

This weeks Fun Family Friday happenings are things we have done in the past few weeks.

VBS on Sabbath

Kids repeating the evening themes

Joshua's sermonette along with 2 other kids

Camping with old friends in Utah! Fun times!

Fun times with friends at our open house!

Watching the eclipse on live NASA YouTube 

And pinhole viewing

Doing Math

Lifestyle and stress

Stress and your lifestyle are connected. You'd be amazed at how simple the answers can be to reducing stress and having better responses to stress you can't avoid.

We will be covering 4 areas in the next few health related posts.
   1. Stress in society and stress on your life
   2. Stress and nutrition needs
   3. How your food choices affect stress
   4. The Power in your plate

We will talk about what to do, how to do it and motivate ourselves to do it.

Today's session is a short video from Dr. Neal Barnard.