No Complaining?

I saw this 10 day challenge on facebook yesterday and was very intrigued by the idea. Mostly because I recognized it as something I SO need to do! Health issues, extended family problems, and just every day circumstances sometimes pile up and I tend to find myself being negative over everything. Not exactly following the verse in the Bible about being thankful no matter what. Anyway, after reading about it and deciding to try it I promptly became involved in the stress of dealing with 3 out of 4 kiddos having a nasty viral bug and kind of forgot about the challenge. (oops!) So I can't honestly say that last night was totally complaint free. But I'm determined to do better (and today has been pretty good so far I think) and am praying that God will use this to help me see what a bad habit I've gotten into in this area. I'd love to have you join me! No matter what life may be throwing at us these days I KNOW that we all have so much to be grateful for. Here's a verse I found a few weeks ago that's really been sticking with me: "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah." Psalm 68:19 The BIGGEST blessing in my life is that God saved me, not to mention that He has given me so many added benefits since then. So there is ALWAYS something for me to be grateful for. I'm hoping this challenge will help me stop complaining about the not so great things in life long enough to remember that!

So what do you say, can we do 10 days of no complaining? I think we can with God's help!

                                
                                Tyra 

                                     

30 Day Health Challenge

Due to our multiple allergies we already have a pretty strict diet, but I've been looking at different ways lately to change it up even more in hopes of healing some of our issues and possibly toning down some of the sensitivities we have. I found something called the Whole30 which eliminates pretty much anything that can cause inflammation or sensitivities for most people. There are a couple things I don't agree with about it, one because it's based on the Paleo diet whose beliefs come from an evolutionist viewpoint that I think is totally wrong and two because I don't honestly think everything that they've chosen to eliminate is really bad for you and some of the things they recommend we are allergic to. So of course as with anything else we have to take that into consideration and make the diet into something that works for us. The idea for us is to just try to calm down our reactions as much as possible and hopefully heal our gut/digestion issues enough that when we add back other foods they will be easier digested and not cause sensitivities. It's something that seems doable for the 30 days but not something we think is necessary all the time. Anyway, that's a little background of the what/why of the idea so now here's the basics of how we're doing it.

Starting this past Monday we eliminated all grains, dairy, legumes, soy, processed foods, additives, sugars (even natural ones), and basically anything else unhealthy you can imagine outside of those things. Some of it we already didn't eat anyway and some of it is new, but needless to say it. is. hard. Basically we are eating meats, eggs, most vegetables, fruits, nuts, and good fats (like coconut and olive oil). Yep, that's it. Sounds fun, huh? :-) If you're wondering what that looks like in an actual day of meals then here's a few things we've tried so far: eggs, breakfast meat, and fruit, turkey breast and veggies, natural beef hot dogs and sauerkraut, hamburger steak with green beans, chicken wings and steamed broccoli, fried plantain and eggs with fruit, etc. We've also done some freshly made juices and smoothies as well as some "jello" made out of juice and gelatin (which is really good for you!). It's day 3 and we are hanging in there so far but I'm starting to see some detox and withdrawals in all of us I think so who knows how the rest of it will go!

In addition to eating changes we are also trying to focus on doing some exercising each day and working on spiritual/character issues as a family. As much as we want to be healthy physically, we want our hearts to be in good shape even more so! Spending time together playing and talking has happened a lot this week and not doing much media throughout the day. All these things are a work in progress and require not only diligence to keep at it but also patience while adjusting to something new. Let's just say that we are far from perfect around here! We are hanging in there though and hoping for some good results/rewards at the end!

I will say that the past couple weeks have been rough for all of us physically and our family isn't getting good sleep most nights. That in itself is super challenging and can become overwhelming after a while since exhaustion makes everything else so much harder. Our outdoor allergies are at the all time worst right now so it feels like we are just being hit with a lot at the moment. Prayers for strength and grace are so appreciated as we try to have wisdom in deciding what's best for everyone on this health journey. Thanks for reading and I will hopefully be able to give some updates as the month progresses!