I Like Big (Diaper) Butts...

... and I cannot lie.

Climbing the Ladder

I already feel stuck.

I thought I wouldn't feel it for at least another year or more.

But, it's here. Routine. Ordinary. Monotony. The same thing. Repeated. Every. Single. Day.

I read these beautiful blogs written by other women... I mean - wow. They write about finding the glorious in the mundane. Sounds surreal to me, as I live in the nursery with a teething baby and dirty diapers.

I look around and wonder if the room is getting smaller. These walls just might be caving in. Maybe.

This pastel-colored nursery appears dismal at times. You know...

It's me. My mind is playing games. Halt. How do I quit this game?

Easy. I start giving thanks. And with each thing, I start climbing the ladder back up. Out of this pit. I am putting my attitude of gratitude back on. How did it come off? I must guard it more carefully. Feed the Spirit.

As I rise, the nursery looks brighter. And bigger. More spacious.

A smile creeps up. My breathing becomes more rhythmic.

And, I find it! The glorious in the mundane. By pouring out my thankful heart, I am inviting the Glorious One into my mundane life.

There is poetry in these walls. I see beauty. And grace. I want to dance.

Thank You, Lifter of my Head, my Countenance-Reformer!

Activity Doesn't Do It

"Many Christians who love the Lord are up and down in their Christian experience because they have no definite time with God. Beware of the barrenness of an overactive life." ~ George Sweeting

"I found that believers are ready to get involved in almost any activity that looks spiritual but allows them to escape their responsibility to the Gospel." ~ K.P. Yohannan

Mercola's Medical Myth #6

Sun Causes Skin Cancer

There are many misconceptions about melanoma – the most dangerous type of skin cancer that accounts for more than 75 percent of skin cancer deaths. But despite all the bad press linking sun exposure to skin cancer, there’s almost no evidence at all to support that stance. There is, however, plenty of evidence to the contrary.

Over the years, several studies have already confirmed that appropriate sun exposure actually helps prevent skin cancer. In fact, melanoma occurrence has been found to decrease with greater sun exposure, and can be increased by sunscreens.

In my interview with vitamin D expert Dr. Robert Heaney, he explains how the conventional recommendations are in fact causing the very health problem they claim to prevent.

How does sunlight prevent, rather than cause, skin cancer?

In short, it’s the vitamin D formed in your skin from exposure to sunlight that provides this built in cancer protection.

The vitamin D goes directly to genes in your skin that help prevent the types of abnormalities that ultraviolet light causes. Unfortunately, if you follow the conventional recommendation to avoid sun exposure or always use sunscreen, your skin will not make any vitamin D, leaving you without this built-in cancer protection.

Statistics confirm the truth of these findings, as melanoma rates have increased right along with sun avoidance and increased use of sunscreens. If avoiding the sun actually was the answer, then melanoma rates should have decreased exponentially over the past couple of decades...

Instead, sun avoidance and the excessive use of sun screen are actually the two primary reasons for the rise in melanoma.

This one is so important because almost everyone we know is still under the illusion that the sun is the villain and sun screen is the superhero! What a myth this is!

Anyway, Dr. Mercola is not advocating unlimited sun exposure. Getting burned, overexposure to the sun, is problematic as well. The key is to get a decent amount (~20 mins depending on your skin type) of sun exposure on your skin to activate the Vitamin D in your skin. No hindrances. Then, if you must stay out in the sun for a longer period of time, use a SAFE sunscreen.

Mercola's Medical Myth #5

Penguins Sound Like...

• We took Aolani's measurement's yesterday: her height didn't seem to change, but her weight was 18 lbs.
• She is constantly making baby talk, aka gibberish.
• I learned the easy way to clean your blender, instead of trying to get the food off the blades manually. Simply fill it 1/3 with water and a squirt of soap, put it back on the stand (lid ON), turn it on, and watch it clean itself! We often make smoothies, so this was a helpful hint for us.
• Fall is here, and the layers begin:

• This is what we look like during the day at home alone:

• Our escape artist found after another failed prison break attempt :)

• This is her new favorite position. She only crawls to get to something to help her pull up. The bad news is that she likes to fling herself backwards and bang her head against the bars. She now sports multiple bruises across her face - it's pretty pitiful-looking :(

• Kylie and Aolani had their first sleepover last week. Their personalities are noticeably quite different. Aolani is such an extrovert and just loves people. I know that if she could walk, she would have been chasing Kylie!

• Last night, we passed out Bible tracts and candy. And penguin squeals.

• I did not get last week's verse down pat, so... try, try again! 1 Peter 5:10 ~ And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Good Stuff

I have collected a bunch of eclectic resources lately that I want to share:

• Here is a video that speaks volumes without many words:



• A short blurb about Embracing Who I Am and wanting to be Super Mom.
• A bunch of moms got together and created a list of their top recommendations of books, blogs, and other resources for mothers.
• Moving music video by JJ Heller called What Love Really Means. [I just love how she erases the words off of the blackboard at the end :)]
  
  

Yank Away

There is a wind-up toy in her crib, a musical bear, that I always play before I leave for her nap. Apparently, she has been watching me quite closely. Two weeks ago, I would suddenly hear it out of nowhere. She was signaling me that nap time was over. "All done. I'm awake now. Come get me." Aolani is still obsessed. She pulls it all the time. Over and over and over... I am hearing Brahm's Lullaby nonstop. She's proud of herself, can you tell?

What I Was Waiting For

When I was younger in my faith (I turned 10 years old, in the spiritual sense, this past year), I was constantly waiting. I was eager, like a perched dog with head high and ears up, sitting by the back door just waiting for my master to come home at the end of the day.

Waiting for what? For something to come about that would prove God's existence.

Like what? Something tangible or visible. Something outward, not inward. Something undeniable.

Proof? Complete, total, 100%, beyond a shadow of a doubt. In other words, when this something would "happen" or "be uncovered," then everyone (and I mean everyone) would have to believe. Period. His existence would be irrefutable.

2 + 2 = 4. There is no denying that truth. That is what I was waiting for.

And then, years later, it comes to me. I remember. Faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God... Now faith is being sure of what I hope for, certain of what I do not see.

I was waiting for a proof that is never going to come. Indeed, it cannot happen. Because I was waiting for that undeniable proof that would eliminate my need for faith. God will never allow the kind of proof that will extinguish faith. God will always make faith necessary.

That's why there is ample extremely convincing evidence for Intelligent Design, the Creator, but not undeniable evidence. He will always give us plenty of the extremely convincing proof - just enough to remind us to have hope. In fact, it just keeps coming. I am unable to keep up with all the new discoveries that reveal our LORD. Yet, some people still deny Him. They are not convinced. The proof is not undeniable. But you know what, it never will be.

Faith is a necessity.

Who to Talk to First

"The prayer closet is the arena which produces the overcomer." ~ Paul Billheimer

“After you have met God in the secret place you are ready to meet men in the market place. Keep the order straight: speak to God about men, and then speak to men about God.” ~ Bill Bathman

Mercola's Medical Myth #5

Saturated Fat Causes Heart Disease

As recently as 2002, the "expert" Food & Nutrition Board issued the following misguided statement, which epitomizes this myth:

"Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol have no known beneficial role in preventing chronic disease and are not required at any level in the diet."

This dangerous recommendation, which arose from an unproven hypothesis from the mid-1950s, has been harming your health and that of your loved ones for about 40 years now.

The truth is, saturated fats from animal and vegetable sources provide the building blocks for cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances, without which your body cannot function optimally.

They also act as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Dietary fats are also needed for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A, for mineral absorption, and for a host of other biological processes.

In fact, saturated is the preferred fuel for your heart!

For more information about saturated fats and the essential role they play in maintaining your health, please read my previous article The Truth About Saturated Fat.

We all know that unsaturated fats are good. Trans-fats are bad. Saturated fat? Depends on the source! It is actually necessary and vital to maintain your health. It even helps you LOSE weight. The whole low-fat or no-fat thing is a bust. There is healthy and unhealthy saturated fat. You need not, should not, cut healthy sources of this fat out of your diet.

Mercola's Medical Myth #4

Let Me Out!

• Our little party-girl! We had a friend from Asbury University visiting over the weekend, and we went to Myrtle Beach to visit my side of the family. Aolani got to meet two more of her great-grands (my dad's parents) for the first time. Her cousin, Kylie, was there. This was the first time they really interacted - it was so cute!

• Ricky is published! Read about childbirth from his perspective.


• As of last week, she has begun to help me turn the pages when I read books to her :)


• After her morning nap today:

Caught red-handed trying to bust out!

• The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is Sunday, November 14, 2010. Inform your church to participate and remember our suffering brothers and sisters in prayer this day. Here is the international website for information about IDOP and some helpful resources you can use.


• Verse to memorize this week: 1 Peter 5:10 ~ And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

BUTTerfly

Aolani is on the move with her new skill: