II Chronicles 15:15b
"They sought God EAGERLY, and he was found by them.
​So the Lord gave them rest on every side."

Have you ever wanted something so badly that it brought you to tears? And I don't mean something material....I mean, a relationship repaired, a loved one saved, a sick one healed.

In Sunday School we've been studying the power of a prayerful life. I can honestly say that for the last 20 years of my life, I've lived a prayerful life. I wish I could say that for the past 46 years of walking as a Jesus follower that I sought after Him with a prayerful life, but I did not. I'm not even sure I knew how. 

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14

Every New Year I begin with a word or a phrase that I have been especially prayerful over. One that would shape my life in this New Year. A word that defines my life. 

This was my 2016 Vision Board. 2016 was a TOUGH year!!! But EVERY step was bathed in prayer. Bob and I didn't take one step that we hadn't prayed over.....we didn't want a life of regrets we wanted God's best. Oh, there were tears and some passionate feelings involved....hey what can I say, I'm a Strong Hearted Woman!

Looking at that Vision Board brings tears to my eyes....not one thing on it didn't come to pass. It hangs in our closet to remind me of God's faithfulness to us when we choose Him and His will above our own. 

This years 2018 board has been made very clear to me by God. I'm still gathering words and pictures from magazines....and my daughter smacks her head over my stacks of magazines. LOL! 

We've lived in Texas for 1 year now. We've adjusted well to retirement and being together 24/7/365...in fact, we love being together. We like one another's company....I'd choose to spend time with Bob over anyone else, hands down....well, except for maybe the 2 little guys in the photos. My heart explodes when I see them. No one could EVER of prepared me for being a Nana! 

I have spent 15 months asking God repeatedly....WHY here? Why this little poor rural area of East Texas??? WHY Grapeland Texas?

I'm starting to see it....I'm starting to understand my calling in "retirement".  For 46 years of walking with Jesus I have had a heart for the poor. It could be that He made that a part of me because my family went through some very very very difficult financial and personal times when I was in High School. But my heart aches for the poor and the homeless, the sick and the dying. I know what it is to live in poverty. I know what it is to have parents addicted to alcohol. I know what rage and abuse look like from a front row seat. BUT I also know that God does restore the years lost to the locust!!!

Grapeland Texas has moved up from being the poorest county in Texas to being 8th! 

I have no doubt that God uses all of our life experiences to form us and make us into His workmanship. 

Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

​I'm sure that's why I had a heart to go to India twice and love on all those little orphan boys...I'd go back in a heart beat, but I truly don't believe God is calling me there. God was preparing me for the works He had prepared in advance for ME to do....right here in Grapeland Texas. Of course you'll never see my name in the papers or the headline news...God forbid that. I just want to make a difference, even if it's in the life of just in 1 child. I've started by volunteering once a week just listening to children at the Grapeland Elementary read. 

Our Sunday School teacher is the President of the School Board and he told us that the Texas prison system determines how many prisons to build by whether a child can read by the 3rd grade. I about broke into tears...my heart broke...I failed 3rd grade...I was one of those statistics! I told him right then and there that when they started up the reading program, I'd be there! There isn't a Tuesday that goes by that I don't sit there with those kids and say in my mind...will it be you. And I vow to not let it be on my watch.

I walk a couple miles about 4 days a week and I listen to Audible books....that way I can get more done! You know, multi-tasking! Two miles and 1 or 2 chapters! 

A few weeks ago I started a book I bought years ago....Own Your Life: Living with deep intention, bold faith, and generous love.  Yep, that about sums it up! That sums up what my heart has been telling me. 

My 2018 Vision Board will be Own Your Life or Intentionality...however that word has been way over used in the last few years...but it still applies. I have many things I'm praying about and all of them will go on the board. You'll see dining tables, you'll see children, you'll see art, you'll see gardens....God can and will use anything in our lives if we offer it to Him as a sweet sacrifice. Nothing is wasted with God. Nothing.

I am very excited to see how God chooses to use me in 2018 as I Own My Life! 

Since Bob retired October 31 2016, we seriously love spending everyday together. No kidding! We sit at the breakfast table also known as the dinner table and have breakfast and do our Bible studies and then sit again together for "dinner" as they call a bigger midday meal in the South. Then at supper time we have whatever we want.
​
Leaving off on L'chaim, Bob was still living in Maryland for the remaining 3 months before he drove truck #2 down to Texas on November 6. He came for 1 short weekend visit smack dab in the middle and I broke the news to him before he got here.

"Um...you need to know, I stopped eating meat. I feel so much better and wait till you see how much weight I've lost."

He said, "Okay! Great! Can't wait to see you Baby!"

Boy that was easy. Actually Bob's been easy for the entire 36 years (March) that we've been married. I could put a cold shoe on his plate and he'd trust me that it was delicious.

This afternoon, I knew there weren't any leftovers in the fridge so when he asked, "hey Babe, what's for lunch?" I said, "well, there isn't anything, so I better get movin." And I quickly went through my brains recipe file...and remembered Mac & Cheese!

Do you know how hard it was to change my thoughts about food, once I changed over to plant based? 

REALLY HARD! 

I'd pass grains in the grocery store with evil thoughts....I'd just trained myself to eat Paleo (dead animal flesh) for gosh....well over 10 years. Not to even mention that we ate animal flesh like most Americans...3X day! I just kept eating dead animal flesh and I kept gaining weight and the inflammation was evident in my face. 

I'd even find myself starring at the meat or seafood...and putting it in my cart! It probably took well over 6 months after the change for me to not even give meat a second thought and not accidentally pay for it! 

Now we eat Mac & Cheese and enjoy every single bite! 

No, it's not dairy cheese AND it's certainly NOT "vegan" cheese from the store...we eat real food...not manufactured food...it's an awesome Son In Law & daughter tested and proven delish plant cheese made with potato, carrot, onion, nutritional yeast, cashews.....and NO guilt!

We love this stuff! I'll make the cheese just so we have something healthy to snack on. With homemade fat free tortilla chips, it hits the spot for that yummy crunchy snack. It really is the best queso dip I've ever had! 

I find that I cook a lot more now and actually enjoy it. We eat a lot of great food....mostly Bob gives an encore and others....not so much! But he eats it at least once!

We don't eat Plant Based Mac & Cheese very often...maybe 1X month. It's pretty high in fat with the cashews and coconut milk and the WFPB way of eating is low in fat, especially saturated fat. But since neither of us has CAD (cardio vascular disease), we can get away with it once in a while. 

If you need help finding good WFPB recipes, I've collected and tried many on my Pinterest WFPB board. 

*One BIG distinction between WFPB and Vegan....is that WFPB is REAL FOOD made from plants and generally low in fat. Vegan foods are high in fat and manufactured...I mean, Oreos are Vegan!!!  There are some well meaning FAT vegans! The chef for Dr Pam Popper's organization weighed in at a whopping 450 lbs and he was VEGAN! Thankfully he's down considerably after she helped him see the difference.

I challenge you.....do you want to see a health issue turn around? Are you looking for that cure to your disease? Are you feeling sluggish and tired all the time? Is your skin showing signs of oxidation? 

Join us old folks and live well! I want to die after I've been used up and poured out...not propped up and kept alive with Rx. 

​Let Food be your medicine!

I'm 59 and full of life and energy! No make up...first thing in the morning before my walk. No more bags under my eyes. No dark circles. Just clear vibrant skin!

Come on! What are you waiting for?!

References to help you:
Dr John McDougall
Dr Colin Campbell
​Dr Michael Greger
Forks Over Knives

My earliest memories of gardening are from my childhood. My parents had a garden at our childhood home. I don't really remember helping Dad in it but I remember rhubarb...that's about it...rhubarb. Both of my grandparents had big gardens. They grew all of their food except meat. I remember the best Lima Beans & Corn, the best berries, the best tomatoes, the most beautiful roses. The best life had to offer.

​PopPop Heath grew the very best watermelons in his lower Delaware sandy soil. He'd take me out to the garden pick a watermelon and then proceeded to cut open a big juicy watermelon and tell me that we were only going to eat the best part...the heart. So we did! Then he buried the rest. At their home, after a delicious dinner, PopPop would say he was going to "bury his garbage"...I now know that he was creating a compost pile...to him it was just a part of daily life...collect your kitchen waste and then bury it. I'm sure he amended his sandy soil with that very same compost. I think of him every time I "bury my garbage"...which somedays, living on a plant based diet...is quite often. I sometimes use compost trenches, sometimes I toss in a bin and just keep piling it in...hoping it's going to break down with the help of a few worms...and I have a worm farm in the garage. The worm farm has been working it's magic for about a year and I'm ready to sift the soil and remove as many of my red wigglers as possible. One sad fact here....we have no worms in this sandy soil. None! 

I remember my first garden back in Maryland. We weren't even finished building our home and I hand turned the sod to plant a garden that was only tended every few days or once a week, depending on how often I was able to go out to the building site. Our ground in Maryland was a clay loam...more loam than clay, but we always had 6-8" of top soil. Always!

Coming to Texas was a completely different ballgame! Texas literally kicked my life long garden butt this year! 

I had several factors stacked up against me.

1. Sand...everywhere I look it's a sea of sand...but no beach! Some areas Sugar Sand...others a little loam.
2. Shade...one important factor buying this place was there was no grass to cut (weeds...yes...grass...no..lots of shade)
3. Heat + Sand=thirsty plants
4. BUGS! OMGOSH I HAVE NEVER seen so many bugs. Fire Ants!!!!! Grasshoppers as big as my thumb...no joke!

Exercise alone isn't enough to ward off the big C. A whole food plant based diet is a step in the right direction and adding a morning walk can lower my risk of developing cancer....and heart disease and diabetes. I've been reading Food Over Medicine by Pam Popper. It's known that diet promotes our ability to develop cancer. Yes....I said, "our ability". Cancer cells are just cells that have been fed to go rogue. We all have the ability to develop them. 

I often say, "healthcare is at the end of our fork".

Studies show that a moderate/brisk walk can lower your risk of developing breast cancer and other types of cancer. So, I've added a morning walk to my day just to reduce my risk even more than I already have by eating a WFPB diet. Breast cancer doesn't even "run" in our family genetic make-up, so it's not that I'm aware of a genetic expression that I want to turn off. However, carrying extra weight does. And weight is one of those factors that has been associated with developing cancer. 

Although that is my primary reason...it's not my only reason. 

Living in a forest we don't get to see the sunrise or set anymore.

The word that hit me as I was walking this morning as I finished up The Magnolia Story by Chip & JoAnna Gaines on Audible, was the word, Intention. Now, that word has been way over used...but when you come right down to it....it's a good word that drives a lot of things home. 

I have to be intentional to see the sun...although it shines down in the opening around the house and my garden...it's not something we have shining in our windows anymore....a good design plan by the builders, especially in the Texas summer heat. 

When I glanced out the window this morning and saw it shining down the power line....I put my shoes on quickly so I wouldn't miss the best part of the day! 

I won't go out too early because...well, we've got some big critters here. Granted they might run at the sight of me...I really don't want to test that theory. 

I keep seeing big paw prints in the sand when I start out up the power line. Bob thinks it's most likely coyote prints. We recently saw 2 very large coyotes at the top of a hill a couple miles from our house...they were scoping out the cattle one early morning. They were the size of a large dog and could probably take down a small calf. 

I swap howdies with the horses  on the corner and then head back this way on our lonely country road. One early morning I spotted wild hogs in the pasture next door....I don't have any intention of running into them! I've tried to formulate a plan if I did...but frankly...I don't pack any heat while walking, so as Dad would say, I'm up the creek without a paddle. 

Then I walk down our long driveway into our pine grove and thank God for another day in Texas. 

As Fat Man Rants says, "Just do a little more today than you did yesterday."

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God prepared in advance for us.
Ephesians 2:10

​I have Ephesians 2:10 taped to my Mac, so that I am reminded when I sit here, that I am God's workmanship and that He created me for a purpose.

As I was getting ready for church this morning, I said to the Lord....I'm adorning myself for you and you alone...I am the bride of Christ.

Do you remember your wedding day? You primped for hours. Everything had to be perfect. No detail left unturned. 

How much time to do you primp and prepare to meet the Lord, not just on Sunday but everyday of the week?

Does He get the best of you or just the leftovers?

Wow! Can you imagine if we really believed He, the God who spoke creation into being, created us for a purpose! Wouldn't you walk and talk differently? Wouldn't you think differently of yourself and of others?

So, I guess my question is....What did He create you to do? What did He create me to do?

Years ago, I quit "going" to church. I got sick of just doing and just showing up. I got sick of being herded like cattle....and I know how that goes since I did it on a few occasions....you yell and scream at the one not doing it right...you chase them down and force them to go the way you want. (So...this might of happened the very last time I "went" to church..just sayin)

I guess I've had this longing in my heart for probably 46 years....the longing to be SO hungry and in love with my Lord, that I stop "going" and I start BEING! This hunger that is never satisfied. 

I think if I were satisfied I'd grow cold and complacent. I'd take Sunday and every day for granted. I'd stop reading my Bible and make excuses. I'd stop loving people. I'd stop doing good works...when no one is looking.

I was saved by the grace of God in 1970...I was part of the Jesus Movement! It was awesome! I couldn't get enough of Jesus. I had the best fellowship. The best friends. The best times of my life. 

I've asked God many times...many...why He brought us to East Texas. Without a doubt I know He did. It's beautiful here and peaceful but there has to be more. But frankly I have no idea. I don't think there is any ginormous mission He has for us here. But I do know that the people here really need Jesus! They need to hunger and thirst for Him. They need to love those unlike them. They need to stop going and start being. 

Many times I've said, "I don't know what I was expecting. But it wasn't this."

To be honest, I do know what I was expecting. I thought rural small town Texas would be seeping with Christianity....people on fire for Jesus. It's not here. Oh there are a lot of people "going" to Tres Dias (3 Days)....a "secret" charismatic event....but frankly I haven't noticed that it has made them any different.  

What I discovered is that the people here are just like the people everywhere. Yes, there are many more occasions of being blessed by a stranger, walking into Christian establishments and being invited to church by a stranger. But Satan is alive and well in East Texas. 

The young man above had a tremendous impact on my early years walking with Christ. Keith Green moved is ministry here to East Texas....in Texas terms...just a few miles up the road. If you know his story, he was a prophetic voice in the wilderness, speaking, singing and worshiping the King of Kings, using lyrics that convicted and hopefully brought about change. He tragically died along with his 2 small children in a plane crash right here at the ranch. 

I want to make a pilgrimage to Garden Valley (Lindale, Texas) where Keith is buried. I want to thank him and tell him that his life was not lived in vain. That he touched a young girl and impacted her life forever for Jesus Christ. 

I don't know....maybe that's the only reason I'm here in nowhere Texas. Maybe it's just the time God needed to bring me back to my roots. To remind me that He created me for good works. 

John 12:24
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

So, why were you created? 

​Something to think and pray about.

​Go out and live it.

I'm sure you knew it wouldn't be long before I started talking about food and health again.

I just had to get my computer in a comfortable spot to write. 

If you've followed my blog for any amount of time....whether you started with my original Peaceful Acres Farm which I started in 2008 and chronicalized my healing journey with Chronic Lyme Disease and 3 co-infections, or if you followed the new Peaceful Acres Farm blog which doesn't exist anymore....thanks to all the hacking on Wordpress.....so now we're in this lovely little place made possible by Weebly...Wow that was a run on sentence....

Like I said, if you've followed my blog for any amount of time, you know health is a top priority in my life.