I've got the itch again... the feeling that comes every so often nudging me to change things up a bit. I have lived here, in the sunshine state, for 12 years and I now consider myself a Floridian. I remember the first summer I lived here. I was working in Daytona beach and I had been out in the sun all day before I went in for my shift. Within an hour I was passed out cold on the hard concrete floor of the restaurant I worked at. Heat stroke. By the time I woke up an ambulance was carting me off to the hospital. It was humiliating, but it taught me that the Florida sun is no joke.
These days I need a sweater when it gets below 72 degrees and I practically get hypothermia when I swim in a pool cooler than 85 degrees. I have had all three of my kids here. Only Ben has seen snow in real life. Florida is our home, finally. So it's only natural that I want to pack it all up and move somewhere new. A new state... preferably one that I've never been to before.
I want snow and real seasons. I want my kids to have the chance to ice skate and ski. Some of my happiest memories are of being on a frozen lake with my friends skating away a Saturday afternoon. I want to breathe without the aid of nasal steroids. When we travelled to Tennessee a few weeks ago Chris and I both got relief from chronic allergy symptoms. It was amazing to breathe easy for a few days.
As I read about and share our country with my kids I realize that there is so much I have never seen or done. I want to see more. I want to spend the next decade exploring a new place. While I loved growing up in New Jersey and being able to hop over to Philly anytime I wanted, I needed the chance of pace that moving to Florida brought. I just read an article about a family that decided to travel the USA for 2 years in an RV. They homeschooled and the husband worked at "home" so it was easier for them than it would be for a person with a job to go to. It was a great article and it got my mind reeling! I want to do that, Lord! I want to sell all of our belongings except a few pieces of clothing, some pots and pans, and our books. I want to explore Christ in the land and the natural wonders. We would miss our friends and family here so much, but the wind in my face would dry my tears(just kidding;)).
I have a place I need to be pretty soon here so I don't have time to properly end this entry so I'll be back to do it later.
Thanks for reading!
Jackie
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
everyday choices
It seems like every few years I am a new person. I look back over the last two and see that our day to day lives have changed so darn much. Even just looking back six months I find that life is incredibly different today than it was. Humans are built with a need to learn, evolve and grow. I wonder how much we are like the Lord in that way.
I have noticed lately that with knowledge and passion comes a tendency to do one of two things: accept the person I am and not hide, or completely hide. In my effort to never judge another for his or her decisions I usually keep quiet about most of what I believe unless asked. This is a fairly new thing for me... I used to blast any new found information as loudly as possible upon learning it. Now I am the opposite. I am okay with others thinking that I am peculiar, that the way Chris and I are doing things is extreme, pointless, or wrong. I am even okay with keeping my mouth shut when another person says something I know to be wrong... isn't that something! For the first time realizing that what I "know" is a gift and it's not to be used to correct other's mistakes. The Lord is releasing me to let mistakes happen... mine and everyone else's too.
We do everything differently. We are a part of an organic community that expresses the Lord. We try to remain healthful and eat healthy so that when illness comes our bodies will fight it to the best of their abilities. We homeschool, but even among the homeschoolers do it a little different as we do not tell our children what they must learn and when, but see their strengths and cater to what they are interested in. We believe that if we eliminate toxins in small amounts over a period of a lifetime, that our children will have a good shot at not getting cancer when they are older.
These beliefs are a little different and I try not to talk about them unless asked. I find that sometimes we get judged. I am completely aware of everything I do for my family from the types of fabric and candles in my home all the way to the bigger decisions, like not eating food sprayed with pesticides.
The Lord created us to eat food that could be found in the original "garden". We were not created to eat food that's been microwaved or cooked on Teflon(which is a poison). Everything a human needs to survive can be found in a garden. Adam and Eve are proof. Over the years we have gotten so far from eating whole foods that it seems extreme to do so. But we weren't designed to live off designer foods. That doesn't mean we can't do it, just that we weren't designed to perform at our best while eating these types of foods. So we eat fake foods and then expect the Lord to care for our health, which He does despite our bad decisions. To me it is similar to when I was a heroin addict. I knew the Lord would protect me despite my efforts to consume a harmful drug. I asked Him to and He did, but my body would have been a lot better if I wasn't using heroin.
These are facts to me, truths that shape how I run my household. I would never, ever judge a mom that 1) didn't know these things and did things differently or 2) that did have this knowledge, but chose to run her house differently. I know that healthy people have always come off a little judge-y to me even though I have been one for the better part of 10 years. What I am learning is that just like with being a christian, there are those that judge me and my lifestyle.
And I don't want to be angry with anyone for it. It occurred to me the other day that a big part of choosing to live differently means choosing to let go of anger. It also means that I don't have to defend my choices(that's what my blogs are for anyway). I have a wonderful group of friends and family that accepts my strangeness and embraces me. Sometimes I get asked questions out of curiosity, but I never get judged for it... at least I don't think I do;). People are more important than being right. It has only been through the grace of God that I have learned this.
While we can't control whether or not others will judge us for the choices we make, we can decide to be okay with how others live. It's okay if someone feeds their child a fast food burger. My child will be healthier physically, but I am learning that I don't need to point it out. The truth can seem judgemental at times. Just ask any non-christian on earth. Hopefully I didn't jump around too much as I wrote today. My thoughts were back and forth as I wrote and I just needed an outlet for them. As always, thank you for reading.
Love and Sunshine,
Jackie
I have noticed lately that with knowledge and passion comes a tendency to do one of two things: accept the person I am and not hide, or completely hide. In my effort to never judge another for his or her decisions I usually keep quiet about most of what I believe unless asked. This is a fairly new thing for me... I used to blast any new found information as loudly as possible upon learning it. Now I am the opposite. I am okay with others thinking that I am peculiar, that the way Chris and I are doing things is extreme, pointless, or wrong. I am even okay with keeping my mouth shut when another person says something I know to be wrong... isn't that something! For the first time realizing that what I "know" is a gift and it's not to be used to correct other's mistakes. The Lord is releasing me to let mistakes happen... mine and everyone else's too.
We do everything differently. We are a part of an organic community that expresses the Lord. We try to remain healthful and eat healthy so that when illness comes our bodies will fight it to the best of their abilities. We homeschool, but even among the homeschoolers do it a little different as we do not tell our children what they must learn and when, but see their strengths and cater to what they are interested in. We believe that if we eliminate toxins in small amounts over a period of a lifetime, that our children will have a good shot at not getting cancer when they are older.
These beliefs are a little different and I try not to talk about them unless asked. I find that sometimes we get judged. I am completely aware of everything I do for my family from the types of fabric and candles in my home all the way to the bigger decisions, like not eating food sprayed with pesticides.
The Lord created us to eat food that could be found in the original "garden". We were not created to eat food that's been microwaved or cooked on Teflon(which is a poison). Everything a human needs to survive can be found in a garden. Adam and Eve are proof. Over the years we have gotten so far from eating whole foods that it seems extreme to do so. But we weren't designed to live off designer foods. That doesn't mean we can't do it, just that we weren't designed to perform at our best while eating these types of foods. So we eat fake foods and then expect the Lord to care for our health, which He does despite our bad decisions. To me it is similar to when I was a heroin addict. I knew the Lord would protect me despite my efforts to consume a harmful drug. I asked Him to and He did, but my body would have been a lot better if I wasn't using heroin.
These are facts to me, truths that shape how I run my household. I would never, ever judge a mom that 1) didn't know these things and did things differently or 2) that did have this knowledge, but chose to run her house differently. I know that healthy people have always come off a little judge-y to me even though I have been one for the better part of 10 years. What I am learning is that just like with being a christian, there are those that judge me and my lifestyle.
And I don't want to be angry with anyone for it. It occurred to me the other day that a big part of choosing to live differently means choosing to let go of anger. It also means that I don't have to defend my choices(that's what my blogs are for anyway). I have a wonderful group of friends and family that accepts my strangeness and embraces me. Sometimes I get asked questions out of curiosity, but I never get judged for it... at least I don't think I do;). People are more important than being right. It has only been through the grace of God that I have learned this.
While we can't control whether or not others will judge us for the choices we make, we can decide to be okay with how others live. It's okay if someone feeds their child a fast food burger. My child will be healthier physically, but I am learning that I don't need to point it out. The truth can seem judgemental at times. Just ask any non-christian on earth. Hopefully I didn't jump around too much as I wrote today. My thoughts were back and forth as I wrote and I just needed an outlet for them. As always, thank you for reading.
Love and Sunshine,
Jackie
Saturday, June 4, 2011
#2
... So this blog is a bit of a continuation from my last one. In it, I was looking back on different things that my family was consuming every single day, that are poisons, carcinogenic, and unhealthy for humans.
It's taken a while to write another entry because my family and I went to the mountains of Tennessee for a fun get away with some of our church family. The day before we left I started to come down with cold-like symptoms. Packing still had to be done and my kids still had to be tended to. There was no time(or energy) to go to the doctor or the health food store. With children, us moms do not have the luxury of lying down when we feel ill. So I drank lots and lots of water.
Water. One of the most basic elements that the Lord gave us to enjoy, use, and make the world go round. Water flushes out our bodies and helps the liver and kidney function properly in removing waste from our bodies. Water washes the outside of us and the inside of us. It quenches our thirst like none other. (There is quite a picture of Christ here that I can't resist pointing out).
In 2008 the Associated Press investigated America's tap water, coast to coast, and found that it is contaminated with an array of prescription and over the counter medications. This happens when we take medication. Our bodies don't absorb all of it and the rest is flushed down the toilet. Water treatment plants do not remove pharmaceutical residues. My family was drinking this water and getting these medications in minute doses year after year... who knows what kind of an effect this would have on us if we drank tap water day in and day out over a lifetime. There is no national strategy to deal with this issue. Water makes up 70% of our muscles and brain tissue(that actually explains a lot about some people, just kidding).
Both fluoride and chlorine are added to water in an effort to kill harmful bacteria, but then it is not taken back out before given to us to drink. These chemicals are known to cause cancer. The Earth Day Network has declared that 14 million people in the US right now are drinking water contaminated with chemicals that DO cause cancer, one of them being perchlorate, or rocket fuel. To check your local water quality go to www.nrdc.org, find the "issues" page, then click "water". Now, your own water could be further contaminated because of old pipes leading to your faucets. There are several companies that will test your water for you. If you go to amazon.com and type in water filter testing, you'll find quality kits.
Something else we realized when we were looking into getting a good water filtration system was that we also needed to clean our shower and bath water. I could drink filtered water all day long, but the next morning when I took my shower I put a whole day's worth of unfiltered water into my body. When I took a hot shower and the water steamed up I was breathing those harmful toxins in as well. We got a filter for our shower head and a bottle of ascorbic acid for our children's baths. A few sprinkles of ascorbic acid into a bathtub will neutralize some of the chemicals in the water.
I am going to go ahead and also state the obvious and well known here... plastic water bottles are bad. The kind that you buy filled with water and then put in recycling when done with them, they are harmful. About 1/3 of the bottled water tested was positive for significant chemical or bacterial contamination, exceeding levels allowed under a state or industry standard guideline. The longer a bottle sits on the shelf, the more likely you are to consume larger doses of a chemical called antimony(a carcinogen that leaches from the plastic).
Store your water in stainless steel or BPA free water bottle if possible. Sometimes I do drink water from a plastic bottle... it just makes life easier and a few bottles of water won't give me cancer(hopefully).
So to end this blog I will just express how grateful I am in that the good Lord gave us something so simple, yet so good to consume for health, wellness, and life. I am thankful that He gave us water in abundance. It saddens me a little at what we've done with this earth that we've been entrusted to care for, but He has also given us a "way out". Our Lord has provided ways to consume the healthy water that was originally put on earth for us.
Thank you for reading!
Love,
Jackie
p.s. If you do buy a water filter, make sure it is independently certified by NSF International and maintain as often as the manufacturer recommends. Healthy water = worth the trouble.
It's taken a while to write another entry because my family and I went to the mountains of Tennessee for a fun get away with some of our church family. The day before we left I started to come down with cold-like symptoms. Packing still had to be done and my kids still had to be tended to. There was no time(or energy) to go to the doctor or the health food store. With children, us moms do not have the luxury of lying down when we feel ill. So I drank lots and lots of water.
Water. One of the most basic elements that the Lord gave us to enjoy, use, and make the world go round. Water flushes out our bodies and helps the liver and kidney function properly in removing waste from our bodies. Water washes the outside of us and the inside of us. It quenches our thirst like none other. (There is quite a picture of Christ here that I can't resist pointing out).
In 2008 the Associated Press investigated America's tap water, coast to coast, and found that it is contaminated with an array of prescription and over the counter medications. This happens when we take medication. Our bodies don't absorb all of it and the rest is flushed down the toilet. Water treatment plants do not remove pharmaceutical residues. My family was drinking this water and getting these medications in minute doses year after year... who knows what kind of an effect this would have on us if we drank tap water day in and day out over a lifetime. There is no national strategy to deal with this issue. Water makes up 70% of our muscles and brain tissue(that actually explains a lot about some people, just kidding).
Both fluoride and chlorine are added to water in an effort to kill harmful bacteria, but then it is not taken back out before given to us to drink. These chemicals are known to cause cancer. The Earth Day Network has declared that 14 million people in the US right now are drinking water contaminated with chemicals that DO cause cancer, one of them being perchlorate, or rocket fuel. To check your local water quality go to www.nrdc.org, find the "issues" page, then click "water". Now, your own water could be further contaminated because of old pipes leading to your faucets. There are several companies that will test your water for you. If you go to amazon.com and type in water filter testing, you'll find quality kits.
Something else we realized when we were looking into getting a good water filtration system was that we also needed to clean our shower and bath water. I could drink filtered water all day long, but the next morning when I took my shower I put a whole day's worth of unfiltered water into my body. When I took a hot shower and the water steamed up I was breathing those harmful toxins in as well. We got a filter for our shower head and a bottle of ascorbic acid for our children's baths. A few sprinkles of ascorbic acid into a bathtub will neutralize some of the chemicals in the water.
I am going to go ahead and also state the obvious and well known here... plastic water bottles are bad. The kind that you buy filled with water and then put in recycling when done with them, they are harmful. About 1/3 of the bottled water tested was positive for significant chemical or bacterial contamination, exceeding levels allowed under a state or industry standard guideline. The longer a bottle sits on the shelf, the more likely you are to consume larger doses of a chemical called antimony(a carcinogen that leaches from the plastic).
Store your water in stainless steel or BPA free water bottle if possible. Sometimes I do drink water from a plastic bottle... it just makes life easier and a few bottles of water won't give me cancer(hopefully).
So to end this blog I will just express how grateful I am in that the good Lord gave us something so simple, yet so good to consume for health, wellness, and life. I am thankful that He gave us water in abundance. It saddens me a little at what we've done with this earth that we've been entrusted to care for, but He has also given us a "way out". Our Lord has provided ways to consume the healthy water that was originally put on earth for us.
Thank you for reading!
Love,
Jackie
p.s. If you do buy a water filter, make sure it is independently certified by NSF International and maintain as often as the manufacturer recommends. Healthy water = worth the trouble.
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