Body: "What can this food do for my body?" mentality

I want to go back to about a year ago when I was

Looking at food from a "what can

 this food do for my body?" frame of mind.I have actually copied part of a post from June  '11,these points are important and make sense for changing my mindset:Here the following is paraphrased from

You: On A Diet;

Fiber in the morning helps control afternoon cravings. Protein in the mornings decreases appetite.

Consuming "good fats" during the afternoon and early evening can help keep your sense of fullness. Such as nuts, olives and olive oils.

Omega 3 rich fish oils decreases bad cholesterol.

Limiting simple sugars keeps energy levels stable and decreases appetite as well.

Eat as many raw vegetables as you can!

This next section of my blog entry is to remind all of us that food is fuel for our bodies. How I plan on doing that is explaining in the most simple terms some of the vitamins we need and what they do for our bodies and what foods they are found richly in-

The first one is Vitamin A: 

When we eat foods rich in Vitamin A we are helping our body processes for vision, reproductive function, immune system and helping  the body produce and maintain the linings of the eyes, intestines respiratory and urinary systems. Not to mention the benefits for our skin cell renewal. 

What foods to eat??;

brightly colored fruits and veggies, liver, milk, whole eggs and fortified breakfast cereals

The second one is Vitamin B:

Vitamin B is more complicated because there is B1,B2,B3,B5,B6,B9 and B12 that are all important to our bodies. 

Best said this way :Vitamin B promotes overall health and well-being. 

Here is some of the bigger ones- helps our nervous system, helps us metabolize fats, carbs,and proteins into energy, and helps with DNA repair also blood cell maintenance and more! 

What foods to eat??;

Oatmeal, whole grains, potatoes, liver, eggs, leafy greens, tomatoes, mushrooms, almonds, milk, cheese, fish, legumes, chicken, beef, avocados, non-citrus fruits, and fortified cereals.

The third one is Vitamin C:

Vitamin C protects the body's cells against the damage occurring during oxidation (a natural process that constantly changes cells as they interact with oxygen). 

Interpretation - helps us not get sick and maintains so many functions in our bodies! 

 What foods to eat??;Citrus fruits, brightly colored veggies, kiwi, and fortified juices

The fourth and final one is Vitamin D:

Vitamin D supports our bones, heart health, and nervous system and is so unique because our body manufactures it in response to direct exposure to the sun. 

What foods to eat??; 

Fortified milk and cheeses. Get outdoors in the sunlight a little bit every day if you can :-)

In conclusion, I would like to bring the point home that our body needs all these vitamins to work the way it is supposed to work. 

If we will look at potential meals in this way we will surely make better healthier choices for life. Changing your mentality to one in which we see food as promoting great body functionality, could be lifestyle altering forever. 

Mind/Spirit: God's punishment should be feared

The above picture is a depiction of Ananias and Paul from Acts chapter 5. The story goes that Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold property and were to give 100% of the profit to the church. They withheld some from Paul and then lied about it. Peter questioned Ananias and reported his evil choice exposing the deed. Here is an excerpt from that book of  the Holy Bible: Acts 5: ³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”⁵ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. ⁶ Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

 ⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

   “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

 ⁹ Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

 ¹⁰ At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Well here it is - God struck them dead because they knew better and they disobeyed while being so dishonest in the process of their questioning. Wow - maybe today we need to accept that God is going to punish us. Fear is a lost part of Christianity in our modern society. We are told over and over how merciful God is - but don't you think  a good healthy dose of fear is good in the light of our sinful society? I believe that just as we look at prayer and some blessings bestowed upon us as coincidental, so do we also look at misfortunes as coincidental. Maybe God punishes us with different types of hardships and we do not want to think of God that way. Here is the way I think of it; I believe God either punishes to correct us or to warn us. I think some punishments are built in- what I mean is physical burdens from gluttony, over-indulgence in alcohol, some sexual sins, etc. We have punishments that are physically painful from misuse of food, alcohol, medicines, sexual actions and even though we suffer some of us continue in one area or another. It is the great lie that the immediate gratification of any overindulgence is worth the damage done to our body. The warning punishments might just be something that gets our attention - like a fender bender, or in the form of other minor hard situations that gets you off one path and thinking about your choices.  Who knows? but I think we need to be more observant of those stories in the Holy Bible in which someone is being punished by God in a corrective fashion. We also  need to embrace the fact that God is not just punishing people by casting them into Hell at the end of their life, but is punishing them along the road of their life to give them opportunities to change, and live in obedience and enjoy the life that He has planned for us. 

One last thought- 

God instructs us through His Word and the Holy Spirit.

God lays down laws to keep (The Commandments).

God shows mercy when we turn from sin and repent. 

God punishes when we stay stubbornly in our sin and lie about our disobedience (denial).

God rewards the obedient Christian that embraces correction and strives to walk righteously through this journey. 

Romans 2:13 Not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.   amen!

Spirit: prayer answered in a way that is not expected

Today I have a story about a rainy day. We have had quite a lot of them in the South this year. We have endured not just rainy days, but some storms as well; scary storms, soaking storms, windy storms and even some surrounding counties have encountered tornadoes. 
Back in January, there was a normal school day going on and the weather information was telling us that a big storm was coming our way and was going to have heavy downpours with lightening, high winds etc. This was slated to hit about the time the school buses were to arrive and take the kids safely home. However, I am on car rider duty every day and I stand out in the weather (whatever it might be) for approximately 30 min.s. Needless to say, I was dreading getting drenched and had on tennis shoes and long sweat pants that day (I did have an umbrella but knew from previous times that I would be completely soaked). Plus, the lightening always is unpleasant :-(
I started to pray about it (I am learning to pray for everything). I asked God to please move the storm to later, after all the kids were safely home or on their way home.I just poured out my heart and told God how much I did not want to be out in that storm and I felt like I was believing with all my might that God was in control and could so choose to grant this request, so why not ask? Not only that but I have been recently exposed to the idea that it is a matter of honor to take all my concerns to the Lord our Savior. 
Well, something so awesome happened that afternoon: I felt as if I was being told by God that my prayer was going to be answered. It was a happy feeling of confidence that we would avoid the drenching rains. I can't explain it but it was definitely spiritual. Then as the skies were darkening at the end of the school day - doubt crept in... I just knew I was being foolish. 
All of a sudden at 3pm (time to start car rider pick-up) there was an announcement that for the first and only time this school year that car riders would be picked up in the front of the school ahead of the buses --- under a huge awning, and then I was told that I would simply be stationed under the awning and walking students to their automobiles at the end of of the awning!!!!!!!!! I was going to be dry and out of the storm. I really did not have time to let it all sink in while the chaos of directing parents and students was taking place, but on the drive home I was overwhelmed and learned a valuable lesson. 
You see, God had answered my prayer in a way that I had not anticipated. He didn't move the storm but he kept me out of it!!!!! Amazing grace! I have no doubts that some prayers get answered that we cast off as coincidence. God is so much smarter than we can fathom and I want to close with this bible verse that attests to the power of prayer (spoken from our Savior's lips) ; It is about the fig tree withering. Jesus said to the tree "may you never bear fruit again" upon finding it fruitless and immediately the tree withered. The disciples asked how did the tree wither so quickly and Matthew 21:21-22 I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, Go throw yourself into the sea and it will be done. If  you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.    Here is the thing your prayer might not be answered now or in the way you expected but with faith you can believe that it will be answered in some way. Have a glorious day!