Showing Compassion As Celebrate

This is a wonderful time of year.

The wonderful celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus the Christ!

The sparkling lights and glittering garland as we travel in the dark (it sure is dark a lot, eh?).

The wonderful time we get to spend with family and friends.

The super yummy food that we savor during this month of calorie free (it’s free if you’re not counting them like me) eating.  

Speaking of food – do you realize that 8% of children under the age of 18 (that’s about 6 million) kids are allergic to one or more foods? This increases more and more each year.

I will not get into the particulars (too much) on why there are more food allergies and intolerances – but just know that it has a lot to do with genetically altering and FDA regulated processes (e.g. pasteurizing) that may have started with good intentions, but ended up actually changing the food. So the milk we drink (well, not my family, we are dairy free) is not the same milk that our grandparents grew up drinking.

Of course we also know that it is partially due to the results of the fall of humanity into sin. Our bodies are decaying and each generation shows more and more signs of this.

Back to the holiday celebrations.

Imagine a little girl loving the time she spends with her family on Christmas Eve. She is singing Christmas carols. She is opening presents and smiling for pictures. She’s kissing Grandpa under the mistletoe. And she is loving the holiday food! It is decorated so beautifully. It tastes divine. What a wonderful Christmas Eve.

On the way home, her tummy starts to cramp and hurt. She goes to bed crying from the pain. Christmas day she wakes and still does not feel well. She tries to put on a smile as she opens more presents, but her eyes are dark and puffy and her tummy is cramping so much. She spends much of Christmas morning in the bathroom. The homemade cinnamon rolls that her Mom made especially for her family (leaving out all the ingredients that will make her feel ill) just sit on the counter. She does not feel like eating much of anything. She decides to go back to bed and sleep most of the day.

 Not a fun way to spend Christmas morning, is it?

Imagine another situation where a child grabs one of the cookies that he saw someone eat one and declared it to be the best cookie he has ever tasted! He grabs the cookie and before he finishes it, his lips and tongue start to swell. He struggles for his breath. He sees his Mom in the distance and gives her that look of panic that she fears. She grabs the needle and stabs the epi-pen into his leg. Slowly he starts to breathe better. Slowly his mouth stops itching. Slowly the hives start to disappear. In his shallow breathing and tiny voice he asks if they can just go home.

So as you gather with friends and family this season, consider the people you are meeting. Do any suffer from allergies? The adults have probably learned to cope pretty well, but it is especially difficult for the kids to understand they are not able to eat the food that everyone says is so delicious. It feels like punishment. It feels like torture. 

Here are some things you can do to show compassion:

1.       Know the food you are bringing.

a.       If it is homemade, bring the recipe (or remember what you added that might be an allergy (egg (e.g. whites, yolks, egg beaters, and marshmallow cream), dairy (e.g. butter, sour cream, whipped cream, cream cheese, and cheese), gluten (aka flour), nuts or peanuts).

b.      If it is something you purchased at a store, be sure to have the ingredient list.

2.       If you know that someone in the group cannot have a certain allergen, try to find a recipe or purchase a food that is allergen free.

a.       There are many websites that provide yummy recipes that do not require a bunch of “odd” ingredients. Sometimes all you need to do is google the substitution for the allergen would be. For instance, if you were making cookies, you can replace an egg with half of a mashed banana or applesauce. (e.g. Living Without, Go Dairy Free)

b.      You can also ask a parent for a recipe that their son or daughter can have. Most parents are more than willing to share a recipe.

3.       Remember that people are rarely allergic to fresh vegetables and fruits. They are always a good choice!

4.    Most importantly, be compassionate. The people who suffer from food allergies and intolerances do not choose to suffer this way. They would LOVE to eat the peanut butter fudge, mozzerella stuffed mushrooms, or even order a pizza. But they have learned the (very) hard way that it is not worth it.

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another;
love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous
[1 Peter 3:8]

Sources:

http://blog.seattlepi.com/timigustafsonrd/2011/06/21/food-allergies-among-children-dramatically-on-the-rise/

Same Blog - New title

You might have noticed I have changed the title of my blog from Dana's blog to a Merry, Married, Mary Mom. I thought Dana's blog sounded sort of blah, and wanted to come up with a cute, catchy name, that had scriptural meaning and related to the life stage I am currently in. So here it is....

Merry  - because I strive, with the gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit, to be a Merry and joyful person. Giving thanks for all things and full of love for all.

Married - well, because I am married. ha ha!  And marriage is something that God loves, God builds and can only succeed when built on God's foundation. Ed and I both want to glorify God with our marriage.

Mary Mom - Remember the story of Martha and Mary. Both were showing they loved Jesus, but one did it in the form of service, which included anxiety and worry. The other just sat at His feet and loved Him. She soaked up every second she was with Him. Too often, I am a Martha Mom. I serve my girls (and husband) because I love them. I clean the house, make beds, do laundry, cook, scrub toilets, wipe butts, sew, plan fun parties....all kinds of things. But sometimes, I am so busy serving them, that I haven't taken the time to love them. Most of the time, they just want me to sit on the floor and play horsy or Uno or build a lego tower. I still love to serve them, but I feel God reminding me to just sit with them, love them and soak it all up while they are here and they are little. They are only little for a little while.

There you have it - I am striving to be more of a Merry, Married, Mary Mom (and wife).

Summer Smells

There are some things about this world that I think are wonderful gifts straight from heaven - and one of my favorite things is SUMMER! Now that I am getting older, the heat is a little hard to take, but I still love it! One of the only good things about living in the Midwest is that we have such a stark contrast between winter and summer, that it makes summertime even MORE delightful! Since it is the beginning of our summer season (technically, still spring for a few more weeks), some summer smells have just made me smile and bring back such wonderful childhood memories.

One of those smells is fresh cut grass. Even though it often makes me sneeze, I treasure this smell. It reminds me of when I was 10 when we moved to a new town and riding my bike all around to see whatever I could see - although it turns out there isn't much to see in a town of 500 without even a mini mart (they have one now, but not back then) or stop light. One time, we drove 10 miles away on a super hot summer day just to get some ice cream. My Dad drove so fast that we felt like a jet airplane getting ready for takeoff when we hit the HIGHEST SPOT IN HENDRICKS COUNTY - and if you are from there, you know exactly where I'm talking about. My dear friend hit a cow there once. Oh, I have side tracked..... 

Fresh cut grass reminds me of playing at my Grandma and Grandpa's house. It reminds me of waiting for Grandpa to be done mowing so we could put up the slip and slide. We would run and flop down on our bellies so hard and slide so fast, off into the freshly cut grass. Then I remember Grandma yelling at us to make sure we got all the grass off before we did our cannonballs into the pool. My Grandparent's house was the best place to be as a kid in the summertime. We swam in the pool for hours, ate Pizza Hut pizza, and then laid out in the sun for the appropriate 45 minutes after eating (you didn't want to get a cramp and drown). I can still picture Grandma writing out the check at home and Grandpa going to pick up the yummy pizza. You had to be sure and leave the crusts for Grandma, she loved them so much! I remember my Grandma floating in the pool and we were so jealous that she could just lay back and float, almost levitate like it was magic. Now, I realize that she had a little more, what do you say.....um.....she was a little more round than we were as kids so she could float easier. :) Now I test to make sure I CANNOT float.

One thing you may not realize, and might be one of the reasons that I love summer so much, is that my birthday falls at the beginning of July. So cookouts, pool time, summer heat, bright blue skies, blooming flowers, the gentle cooing of the mourning dove, the buzzing of the hummingbirds, and the bOOm and bANg of fireworks all bring back such fond memories of childhood. I thought all that was for MY BIRTHDAY. Silly child, I know. But the wonderful Fourth of July weekend seemed like one long holiday  -- all to celebrate me and whomever that Uncle Sam guy is. :)

One other distinct smell is that of sweat, sunscreen and chlorine all mixed together. It just smells heavenly to me. I love to spend days at the pool or beach and this smell just spells HAPPY TIMES!! I love it even more now that we have children of our own. We see how they grow each year, learning to swim, loving the water, and always yelling - "Mommy! Watch me do THIS!"  It is fantastic!

Summer may not be one of your favorite things like it is for me, but remember to enjoy the blessings are from God.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

Survivor

I have been a dedicated Survivor fan for a very long time. Actually, since the first season started - many moons ago. I love it! And I have no idea why. I hate the thought of eating gross things (although they don't seem to do that much anymore - and I am thankful). I despise the lying and back stabbing and blind siding. I am not a big fan of people running around in magenta skivvies - or even in their skimpy swim suits (and I have a strong opinion about children watching this type of stuff on TV, but more on that in a different post). I think it is disgusting to not brush your teeth for a month (although I am sure they all are sent the best whitening package ever before they go on the show because there is no way, statistically speaking, that all the people they choose could coincidentally have teeth that white). And don't get me started on deodorant. They are always saying how HOT it is on location - imagine that without CREST or RIGHT GUARD.  ICK and DOUBLE ICK!  You know, I am not even a competitive person. I prefer to play a game and not even keep score.

So why do I like Survivor?

I love to see the exotic locations. I love to see God's creation (well, minus the spiders they constantly show)! I love how their lives are not filled with junk. It is down to the basics. Food, water, shelter. I love to see the relationships form and find out how people emotionally and physically handle the extremes. Best of all, I love players like Matt.

Did you watch this season? Unfortunately, Matt didn't win. He came close, very close. He endured hardships. He was isolated much of the time from the other players. He had to handle getting the essentials for daily living nearly all alone (if you don't know, he was on Redemption Island most of the game, alone). He struggled and he admitted it. How did he pull through - by the grace and strength that only God can provide. And Matt constantly gave God all the glory. He talked SO MUCH about God, that the secular media producers couldn't provide any clips where he didn't give God glory. One woman, as she was leaving the "island" declared that she would go home and find a church because she wanted "what Matt had". Another guy said that he also became closer to God because of the example that Matt was to the rest of the players. He prayed to God before the meals. He thanked God for everything, even the trials. Wow! God received SO MUCH face time on primetime TV. Fantastic! I loved it. I was like someone watching the final minutes of the NBA final game. Sitting on the edge of my seat, just waiting for what Matt had to say next. He didn't win, but he was on every episode - and therefore, God was well represented on every episode of Survivor this season.

I'm not sure I'll even watch next season because I just can't imagine how this season could be topped. I am sure the devil has a plan to take the show back for himself and I do not really want to be a part of that. But this season - God was glorified! I love it!

Opinions

Ok, so I have decided to start blogging more. It seems everyone has an opinion these days - and what do they do with their opinions? They post them on the web. Either on Facebook, or they Tweet them, or email or blog..... it turns out that I have just as many opinions as the next guy and I am choosing to post them to this blog. So, you, with all of your own opinions, can choose to read this blog or ignore it. I think you should choose to read it. Why? I am going to have opinions on a vast array of things, and try to come at them from a Biblical Worldview. That means, I am not your average 35 (well, for another month or so) year old woman. My focus is God and bringing Him glory. I try to think about God most of the day - and try to think about His Kingdom. Remember the Lord's Prayer?

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
 
This prayer says that we are to want, focus on and pray for God's Kingdom to come on the Earth and for His will to be done on Earth as it is in heaven. That means we need to want what God wants. Do you ever think about that? Do you think of that when you are completing the seemingly mundane tasks for the day? How can you grocery shop and still be striving to bring God's Kingdom to Earth? If you begin to pray this way - God will open the eyes of your heart and show you.
 
Ok. So I have opinions. Can you tell they might be strong opinions? Don't worry. It won't get TOO preachy. I leave that for the Pastor. I just want to help you be Kingdom focused (and help myself) in all areas of your life. This culture is so thick with sneaky sinful opinions that creap in unnoticed that it is time we saturate our lives with redeeming opinions.
 
BTW - my opinion can only be Kingdom focused because Jesus died for my sins. I have repented and my sins have been washed away by the blood of the Lamb. Have yours? Email me if you have more questions about this. There is no such thing as easy believism. There are no free rides into heaven. It is a narrow gate and it takes more than just saying you love Jesus to get through the gate. It is easy and difficult all at the same time.
 
But it is worth it.