As a child I witnessed several in my family struggle with diabetes… one being my father. So, therefore, I witnessed the lifestyle changes it brought with it, in my childhood home, and even took part in them. I saw the struggles first hand of how excess sugar impacted someone’s life. And I know it’s hereditary, therefore, guess what is on the back of my mind!?! Then, 13 years ago, my father-in-law had a major heart attack. Naturally, this prompted my husband to consider his life a little more in depth. Ok, a whole lot more in depth. So guess what was on the back of HIS mind!?! He listened to advice that the doctors were giving his father on what to eat and the necessary changes that he should make to avoid future complications, and made the decision to start incorporating them into his own life. RIGHT THEN. Now… I’m not gonna lie… this whole process has been just that– a process. While my husband was having no issue with implementing the process, it didn’t come without a fight from me. I admit, I like things to be easy. I do not enjoy cooking. So grabbing convenience foods was more my style, whether it be eating out or eating conveniently canned/ processed goods. So, you see… the first step of this wellness journey was dietary for both of us, but God has truly used those instances to lead us down an amazing pathway! With our diets being the start for both of us!
Now friends, we understand that we are commanded not to worry or be anxious in life (Luke 12: 22-31; Phillipians 4:6) BUUUUUUUT… we truly believe God gives us brains and free will to make choices of how we take care of the Holy Spirit’s temple here on this earth! (1 Corinthians 6:19) So… slowly but surely the food questions took over: “Should we fry this, or bake it? Hydrogenated oil. WHAT is that? (please research this if you do not know!) You mean they put SUGAR in fast foods to draw you back in?! MSG does WHAAAAAA?” As we were educating ourselves on foods and preparation methods and how they were grown (my husband is a soil scientist/ hydrologist, so he is very knowledgeable about soil and water health), it became a snowball effect before long.
Filtered water– CHECK. No more sodas in the house– CHECK. No more canned goods– CHECK (BPA in the can liners + sodium levels that are out the ROOF). No more plastic shower curtains (this will be a blog post all on its own soon!). No more non-organic cookies and crackers (re-visiting that hydrogenated oil statement!). Aaaaaand we put a MAJOR check on the candles, beauty products, and cleaning products too. Now, that seemed pretty quick to type up, but rest assured, this has been a slowwwwww process for us. We had to truly educate ourselves along the way, and I will be sharing with you about that more and more! But first, go download the “Think Dirty” app and look at some of the products in your own home. You will be amazed. I promise! I sure wish I would have had a tool like this 8 years ago. sigh. lol Ohhhh the ease of technology!
And I will leave you with two of my favorite photos from our recent adventure to East Tennessee. God’s design is perfect!
Smiles!
Charlotte
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