The Underused Four-Letter Word

And so it goes on – winter.  The cold and snow can keep you homebound. Gray skies, when they don’t get the memo that enough is enough, can make you gloomy.  Christmas is over and sparkly decorations are put away.  Every other week it seems some new strain of crud is going around and doing its best to cancel events or make you wish they were canceled.

Then, those post-holiday bills arrive to remind us once again that next year the spending limit ought to be reduced.  Boosted by this bit of cheer, you hop online and print out your tax forms. Since you haven’t filled them out yet, you try to bask in a little ray of sunshine with the optimistic thought that perhaps, this time, Uncle Sam may have caught on to the idea that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Around here, Smuffy has always been the one to see the glass as half empty while I typically view it as half-full.  I have to admit, though, that gray days spent with tax forms can take their toll on me.  Sometimes, you just need a reminder or a little jolt to alter your outlook.  I got one last week.

As is my habit, I watched the Trim Healthy Podcast (affectionately referred to by us THMers as “The Poddy”) on YouTube.  Sometimes it’s full of rock-solid science to boost your health and well-being.  Sometimes, it’s full of rabbit trails that provide the silliness that you may be lacking in your life and sometimes it provides a level of encouragement that will rock your world.

This one, Change Everything In Your Life With A Four Letter Word! [Podcast] Ep. 365 , was just what I needed and I think you’ll benefit by watching it as well!

I love it when there’s science behind encouraging things!  Near the beginning of the podcast, Serene shared that studies have shown that in order to create a synapse in the brain where you know a thing – really know it and you’re not going to forget it – it takes 400 repetitions of the information.  However, if you are laughing and playing while learning it, the process only requires 12 repetitions!  P-L-A-Y is the four-letter word that can change everything.  They went on to share many ways their mom incorporated play and ways they feel like they’ve lost their sense of play and want to get it back again.

Just think of it – how many times did you labor over those multiplication tables until they finally got in your head, but then heard some silly TV theme song around that same age only a handful of times, yet you can still sing it word-for-word today?  Are you maybe just a bit too grown up for your own good?

Why do you consider cleaning house or preparing meals for your family some type of drudgery when, as a child, you had hours and hours of fun with a toy cooking set and thought it was great when you got your own little broom and dustpan for Christmas or birthday.  I think of our Lil’ Snookie and his love affair with all things lawn care.  His excitement over toy mowers, leaf blowers and weed eaters knows no bounds and his mommy and daddy will be delighted if this attitude continues for many more years!

Smuffy and I discussed the podcast and agreed that we needed to tackle all the everyday stuff with an attitude of fun and play.  It takes a little effort at times.  He’s been having his share of issues lately that all seem to revolve around vehicles needing repair and I am in the middle of edits on the first novel in my upcoming series.  We’re trying to remind each other that we’re having fun.

Some days you succeed.  Some days you don’t.  After a mad search through a cupboard the other day that resulted in what sounded like three quarters of the contents landing on the floor, he finally found what he’d been looking for, but looked a bit out of sorts when he came into the room where I sat.  I tried to remind him that not only did he find it, but he had fun looking for it.  He promptly informed me that he did not have fun looking for it.  But we did laugh. 

Famous industrial engineer and efficiency expert, Frank Bunker Gilbreath, always thought of innovative ways to help his twelve children learn.  The family always rented the same big, old lighthouse for summer vacations and no one really cared whether it was kept pristine.  He would write all over the walls in Morse code and tell his children to figure out what the messages said.  He would likely have been a frustrated teacher if he had not written such things as, “The candy bar is in the top left desk drawer.”  In no time at all his children were challenging themselves to learn the code because they never knew what fun or prize might be in store.

Cooking, Lizard Holes and Watering Cans www.midweststoryteller.com

Lil’ Snookie’s presence is a great reminder for us to P-L-A-Y!  You can see in the top photo that he’s excited about putting on the apron over his jammies and fixing food for everybody!  Give him a watering can and he’ll do his best, even if in reality he’s about a thousand cans short.  The middle photo was more of a safari (apologies for quality as I snapped it through the porch screen).  He asked if he could go out in the yard because he wanted to find a big stick and look for a lizard hole, after which he would insert the stick and then bend down over the hole and shout, “Hallooooo!”  Someday, he may consider that to be frustrating or fruitless, especially if the lizard doesn’t answer, but right now, it’s P-L-A-Y!

I’ve learned to approach cooking healthy meals for my family with a sense of learning, adventure and play.  It has made all the difference!  Now, I just need to find out how to play with these tax forms.

If it’s snowy, make snow angels or at least watch someone else doing it.  Put out some cute decorations for winter or Valentine’s Day, or start making homemade Valentines now.  If the day is gloomy, try new soup recipes, play games with the kiddos or watch a funny movie.  Call a friend who’s recovering from the crud and spread some cheer.  Challenge yourself to cranking out those tax forms with some fun reward when it’s all over.

Struggling? Catch that podcast! Change Everything In Your Life With A Four Letter Word! [Podcast] Ep. 365

How do you find fun and play in the ordinary or the necessary?  Leave a comment and share.  It might bless someone’s day.  Go ahead – make us laugh.

Laughter plays a huge part in this, so don’t forget to visit my “Life With Smuffy” page and my “Laugh!” page.  They’re full of adventure and fun.

You is Kind. You is Smart. You is Important! You is a Thriver!

Now, didn’t that “Help”? Let’s push on with better grammar…

I fully disclose that as a Certified Lifestyle Coach I do, at times, receive monetary compensation as such. See The Fine Print on the “About Me” page of this blog.

I first shared these thoughts a few years ago, but I’ve decided it’s time to revisit this bit of common sense and encouragement.

I first thought to name this page of my blog “Stayin’ Alive!” Love those Bee Gees! Besides, if one doesn’t accomplish at least this much in regards to one’s health, all other attempts are pretty much useless, if you get my drift.

I soon ditched that idea. There’s more to life than stayin’ alive! What’s the point of being here if your quality of life stinks? I decided on “Thrive!”

I got serious about my health during pregnancy. Up until that point, I’d stuck strictly to the See Food Diet. If I saw it, I ate it. Tall and slim, it never seemed to affect me. My dad once told me, as he watched me eat, that someday I’d stop growing up and start growing out and then be sorry about my appetite! I ate three square meals a day – big ones! No one had better leave a box of doughnuts anywhere near me.

But now, I knew that whatever I fed myself, I also fed the baby. Yikes! I spent a lot of time at the library. The baby came (all eight pounds and three ounces of her) along with an epiphany. I needed to keep her healthy till adulthood. And, (DUH!) why feed my child one way and myself another? The adult population seemed to be made up of a bunch of sick people, anyway.

I recently read of an umbilical cord study which showed that a couple of hundred toxins were detected in the cords and the samples were not taken from moms who were addicted to drugs or alcohol or had experienced anything most people would consider hazardous.  They were only moms who used foods, shampoos and body products that most in our society walk into stores and buy without batting an eyelash.

Take a look at this photo. Note your first impression.

Lemonade In Gas Tank www.midweststoryteller.com

That’s the image that came to me. We can’t run on bad fuel! Yet, we live in a country where no one seems to grasp the concept.  Or, if they do, they don’t care!

Can you imagine? Your friend Gwendolyn tells you that she hates the smell of gasoline, dislikes waiting in line at the service station and once even dribbled gasoline into her brand new shoes. She’s switching. From now on, she’ll run her car on lemonade. She likes lemonade. Tastes better, smells better and isn’t quite so icky between the toes.

You stifle a snort of laughter and get down to business. Somebody’s gotta talk Gwennie out of this madness. Doesn’t she know she’ll ruin a valuable machine with a crazy notion like that?

Gwendolyn won’t listen. Her plan is good for her, she insists. She leaves. You call several friends. After howling with laughter over Gwendolyn’s stupidity, some compassionate soul in the group says, “Listen! Don’t you think we ought to call her mother or somebody? I mean, somebody’s gotta stop her!”

I gave myself a “talkin’ to”. It went something like this: “You are kind to yourself. You are smart enough to learn. You are important to your family and you need to be the best you can be.”

Poor Smuffy went kicking and screaming all the way, suffering through strange herbs drying on the kitchen counter, whole wheat everything and tinctures galore. He told me once that the thing that kept him healthy was positive confession. Each time he’d cough or sniffle, I’d come running with some form of what he termed “stump water” and he’d call out, “I’m okay. I’m OKAY!”

Despite my efforts, I got that call from the doctor nobody wants – a cancer diagnosis. I’d studied various aspects of health, but hadn’t paid much attention to what may open the doors to cancer. I had no family history and besides, I ate good stuff! With my terrific appetite, I ate the good stuff and had room left over for some of the bad stuff.

People told me I was too young for cancer. I asked myself, “How old is old enough?” The answer, I concluded, was NEVER! After surgery, I endured chemo and radiation as “insurance”, more or less, according to the doctors. I’m sure there will be a future blog post on that nasty little interlude.

People like me are called “survivors”. I rejected that term from the beginning. It left me with an image of someone emerging from a jungle – burned, bitten, half-naked and hunted – running for a lifeboat that may or may not spring a leak. By the grace of God, I’m a WINNER! I am kind to myself. I am smart enough to learn. I am important to God and my family! I’m going to thrive

I’ve learned much over the years, and it has turned my health around.  In blog posts here on my Food Freedom page, you’ll be receiving a lot of great health information to chew on so that you can make your own decisions and take charge of your health.  I am not your doctor and don’t pretend to be, but only hope to share helpful information.  You’re smart enough to do your own research.  You may see a few posts with some foods that contain ingredients that I’ve eliminated from my diet as I’ve grown wiser and learned what the real “frankenfoods” are.  I’ll be editing those to help you out as much as I can.

So…about your reaction to the photo. Did you want to scream, “Stop, you idiot!”? Yet, we, almost never stop friends when it comes to food. Cars can be replaced. You only get one body. Why treat the finest, most intricately-designed, valuable piece of machinery ever invented – the human body – as though it were disposable?

Since the purpose of Midwest Storyteller is to take you to a better place, I want to share what I did as a first step. I gave up soda. Why pollute my body with a non-food item? A sugary soda has as many calories as a full meal. (Sorry, but I’d rather have food.) Artificially sweetened, it’s dangerous stuff, and I want to thrive! It’s been decades since I’ve had a soda. I don’t miss it. I do enjoy, however, Stayin’ Alive!

Americans have a big problem. Take a look at this aisle in my local grocery store.

Soda Aisle www.midweststoryteller.com

That’s an entire aisle! All soda! They don’t devote this much space to bread, meat, cheese, etc.  Yes, America has a problem, but you don’t have to.  We can’t fuel up on junk because we feel like it or because, like Mount Everest, it’s there.  We are as capable of making the right choices with our bodies as we are with our cars.

Okay, enough tough love. I believe in you. You are kind to yourself. You are smart enough to listen to the “real you”. You are important to God and your family.

You are also strong! Here’s the challenge: Choose one thing – just one – and take that step. Stick with it for thirty days. Whether it is to give up soda, lay off the sugar, exercise for 20-30 minutes three times a week or get more sleep, you can do it!  (That last one is a personal struggle of mine if you came here for true confessions.)

Since I first shared this idea with you, I’ve been introduced to the common sense, sustainable world of Trim Healthy Mama.  After a couple of years reveling in not having to exclude any food groups (except for “frankenfood”), enjoying hearty fat-based meals, satisfying my muscles and hormones with carb-based meals and learning how to make yummy desserts while kicking sugar to the curb, I became a Certified Lifestyle Coach.  Ooh, did I mention that I lost that last annoying ten pounds I thought I’d never lose without constantly listening to my tummy growl?  The Trim Healthy lifestyle is something you can definitely do all on your own and I’d recommend that you start with the book, The Trim Healthy Mama Plan and begin your journey.  It’s written so anyone can understand the science of “why” and without that, we all lose motivation.

If you do decide you’re better off not going it alone, contact me.  I’m happy to coach you privately in person or by phone and if you’re within driving distance at our local weekly group sessions.

Comment, letting me know you’ve chosen one way to live a better life. Or, share something you’ve already done that might encourage others. In thirty days, comment again, letting me know that you’re not only Stayin’ Alive, but determined to Thrive!

SUBSCRIBE, because it won’t be long before I throw myself a little online party, celebrating the twenty-four years that stretch between me and that cancer diagnosis.

‘Tis the Season for Joy, So Try!

All the songs tell us that we should be delirious with happiness right now.  All the street lights should look like strings of lights and even the stop lights ought to be reminding us of ornaments as they blink a bright red and green.  With people passing and children laughing, we should be meeting smile after smile and every jingle or jangle we hear should be the sweet sound of silver bells.

I love Christmas.  My mom loved Christmas.  She knew how to make something out of nothing and take joy in what she did have and set aside any thoughts about what she didn’t have.  I love surprises and gift giving and if there’s one thing in life right now that has raised the joy in that, it is having our little Snookie.  At almost two years old, he’s all wonder and happiness.  Together, he and I have been making Christmas cards for him to give to his special people and when he “paints” with his markers, he is purposeful and pleased and understands that he’s making a beautiful thing that will make someone smile.

There are, of course, some of you who are having trouble mustering up a smile.  Perhaps it is for good reason.  There’s no getting around that for some people Christmas is a reminder of loss or past or present pain.  Sometimes it can be fear of loss if illness threatens someone you love.  It can also be the absence of someone due to miles or because there’s been a rift that you feel helpless to repair.

Whether you are decorating your heart out and baking mountains of cookies while the carols play or whether you are struggling, an extra smile can’t hurt, so I’d like to share one of our Christmas smiles with you.

Touching Jesus  www.midweststoryteller.com

When Pookie arrives each day, she asks me how our day went and how things unfolded with lunch, naptime and Snookie’s mood and behavior (which, by the way, is nearly always wonderful).  Then on the drive home, she asks questions to get his version of the day.  I had decorated for Christmas and placed the Baby Jesus candle in the room where he naps so that we could light it while we snuggle, sing “Away In a Manger” and talk about Jesus.  (Do I need a disclaimer here to say that after he falls asleep I blow out the candle before I leave the room?)

The first day we lit the Baby Jesus candle, it was still fresh in his mind on the drive home.  The conversation went like this:

Pookie: Did you have a good day?

Snookie: Candle!
Pookie: Did Grandma have a candle?
Snookie: Light!
Pookie: You lit a candle?
Snookie: Jesus!
Pookie: Oh! You and Grandma lit the Baby Jesus candle?
Snookie: I do.  (Always his answer when he’s affirming an action or desire.)
Pookie:  Did you know Christmas is Baby Jesus’ birthday?
Snookie: Cake!!!
Pookie: Well, maybe we will have cake for Jesus’ birthday.
Snookie: Try Mama.

So, now, though we’ve not had the tradition in the past, Pookie is thinking that maybe a birthday cake is in order for Baby Jesus.  And, why not?  He is the reason for the celebration after all.

Children and their understanding of Christmas can not only bring us laughter, but bring us back to a place of wonder.  If you’ve wandered from your wonder into a place of commercialism, cynicism or down-heartedness, maybe it’s time to pray that your childlike joy returns.  I’d love to hear your stories of how the children in your life have understood Christmas, so please leave them in the comments.  I’d love to write a post filled entirely with those! 

One of my favorites is when my niece was discussing the Christmas story with her mommy.  They talked their way through it and when they got to the part about the wise men coming to bring gifts to Jesus, she asked what they tripped over.  Now, this puzzled my sister and she asked the reason for the question.  My niece gave the obvious answer:  “Mommy, it says they fell down and worshiped Him.  What did they fall over?”

I hope this has given you a smile.  I encourage you, like Snookie, to “try”.  Pull out your Bible and read through the portions of the book of Isaiah that promise us hope and tell us that the people walking in darkness have seen a great light.  The Light is Jesus and it far outshines the candles we use in symbolism.  Go to the New Testament and read the story of Jesus’ birth in the Gospels and ask Him to put that same “Peace on Earth and Good Will Toward Men” in your heart.  It’s more than just something to be printed on greeting cards.  Or, bake Him a cake!

Take the first step by going in search of the Christ-child.  Just try!

Still struggling with stress and perhaps even guilt? Check out “I Surrender All…Guilt” here and and “I Surrender All…Guilt” (Part 2) here.

Leave your comments with your fun Christmas stories, so we can all share Christmas smiles!

Subscribe either in the right sidebar on your computer or if on a device, navigate to the Contact page on the menu and you’ll see a subscription box. Be sure to “pin” this article and share it on your social media.

If you’re in need of a case of the out-and-out giggles, take a journey through my “Laugh” page and also the stories about my “Life With Smuffy”.

You Don’t Have to Be Irish to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

After all – and I hate to burst your little green bubble – St. Patrick wasn’t Irish.

No! Wait… What?

If folks could take a moment from pinching one another, guzzling green beer, searching for leprechauns or perhaps, more profitably, for pots of gold, they might be able to get down to the historical facts of the matter. So, now that you’ve taken the deep dive into your closet and found a green outfit for today, we can settle down to find out how the real story went down. We thrive on truth!

I like true stories, especially when I have a personal link to them. My mother loved keeping the family history and her side of the family is full of Irish, Scots and Brits. The more I learn about my fascinating ancestry, the more the British Isles move to the top of my list of places to visit. I don’t know about kissing that Blarney Stone, though. It looks mighty precarious and apparently some ancestor of mine must have kissed it long enough and hard enough to make it last because I’m already blessed with the gift of gab. My time in Ireland would be better spent trying to find and position the perfect headscarf in order to keep this mane of mine looking anything close to reasonable in that amount of wind. If all the hairdressers in Hollywood couldn’t keep Maureen O’Hara’s hairdo looking decent in all those movies, there’s little hope for me on a trip to Ireland!

Back to Patrick, now that I’ve taken the blarney detour. Let’s see, where were we?…

Oh, yes! Patrick wasn’t Irish at all. He was born in Roman Britain. His real name, according to my limited study on that point, was Maewyn Succat, which he wasn’t so fond of, so he called himself Patrick. Can’t say as I blame him. Imagine us all celebrating St. Maewyn’s Day. Nah!

He has nothing to do with leprechauns. Probably, if he ever encountered one, he would throw a few choice verses of Scripture at the vertically challenged little guy and it would go “poof” and disappear. He has nothing to do with pots of gold. People just associate that with leprechaun lore. I’m pretty sure that pinching people lay somewhere outside his personal boundaries, especially if it involved being so petty as to base it on the color of a person’s clothing. Leprechauns – now that’s another story. Should you encounter one, they are the ones who pinch you for not wearing green. The moral here is: Stick with Patrick. Avoid leprechauns.

I have no idea whether Patrick drank beer. He probably did, because he neither grew up nor spent his adult life in the land of teetotalism. I doubt that he bothered to color it green. Somehow, I think (and I’m pretty astute in these matters) this custom seems to be to be one of those that can be attributed to human nature. People who are looking for a great excuse to consume way too much of something will certainly latch on to any novel way to get the party started.

This brings us to snakes. Ireland is one of a handful of countries, including New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland and Antarctica, where snakes are not native in the wild. No snake with an ounce of sense would want to go to these places without a good, warm sweater and you’re probably less likely to meet up with that sight than you are a leprechaun. Saint Patrick had no need to drive snakes out of Ireland because there weren’t any. However, since the Scriptures refer to Satan as “the serpent”, the visual picture brought about by this mythical story is more than appropriate. Patrick, throughout his life, certainly dealt a blow to the wiles of the serpent.

Shamrocks? Yeah, you might want to pin one of those over your heart if you identify with the real Saint Patrick. Read on to discover why you might want to honor Saint Patrick on his special day.

The Real Saint Patrick www.midweststoryteller.com

I’ve heard it said that “the best revenge is a life well lived”. Joseph, after all his trials in Egypt, spoke these words to his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20 NKJV). Jesus said, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (Matthew 5:44 NIV).

Tough stuff, but Patrick, by faith in the One who saved him, was able to do it. What an example!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Changing Time

It snowed here on October 26th – the first snowfall of the season and a bit jarring for someone like me.  I hadn’t even made the switch from Daylight Savings Time yet and that plunge into darkness is bad enough. I have a “love fall/hate winter” thing going on and I like to put the snow event off till Christmas Eve.  Make that dusk on Christmas Eve with somewhere between two and four inches.  However, I do have to admit there’s beauty in a frozen rose.

Frozen Joseph's Coat Rose

Today it was once again so beautiful that I put my ‘Lil Snookie in the stroller and we went for a long walk with not so much as a jacket.  I’m soaking up as many of these gems as God grants me before the actual Midwest Winter Nasties set in, unpack their frosty bags and refuse to leave until April except for brief episodes of hiding just to tease.

Recently, at my local writers group, we were challenged to write, on the fly, a story focusing on this time of year.  I thought I’d share mine with you today.  The prompt brought to mind the emotions that, for me, change with the season.

A nip in the air tells me that it’s changing time.  It happens every autumn.  For me, it comes as a strange mix – something between a child-like ecstasy and PTSD.

Soon the leaves will change and the inner voice tells me, so must I.

For ten minutes or so, I’ll lose myself in a world of cozy sweaters, chunky jewelry, scarves, boots and jeans.  Then, then some random distraction jerks me out of my reverie, my eye catches the strappy patent leather sandals I’ve left near my chair and I want to hug them and beg, “Please, don’t go!”

Each new fall sign brings another urge.  “Plant mums!” it says.  “What’s wrong with you?  Why are there no pumpkins on your porch?”  Yet, next to the front steps, my hot pink petunias wave and I wave back, “Please, don’t go!”

I make huge lists.  I need to stock up!  How squirrels do this without pen, paper and a phone app or two – I have no idea.  Herbs, spices, flours, broths, sauces and a bulk bag of chocolate (lest a blizzard set in) are all put on the list.  Three or four stores and two or three days later, the shelves are loaded, the checkbook’s been unloaded and I’m starting to calm as I take my tour of the estate and breathe the air that is now crisp.  I might be ready for colored leaves now.  That is, until my eyes fall upon the rows of pots clustered in the southern flower bed.  I feel an only too familiar pang at the sight of basil, parsley, sage, lemongrass and all the others and I stifle the urge to beg them, “Please!  Don’t go!”

How can this glory and this vibrancy bring this sadness?  Years of experience have proved that winter will pass, but it will pass slowly.

It seems my moods in autumn vary as much as do the many-colored leaves.

Autumn's First Snow www.midweststoryteller.com

How about you, Dear Reader?  Do you make a smooth transition into winter or do you curl up and feel as encrusted and weighed down as a rose that droops beneath the weight of unwelcome change? 

Science tells us, most unromantically, that it’s merely the chlorophyll’s exit that enables us to see the sugar in the leaves that up until now it’s kept hidden from view.  Perhaps that should serve as a great reminder to us to savor the sweetness of each beautiful autumn day and thrive in this beautiful season.

Autum is About to Tell Us How Beautiful It Can Be to Let Things Go  www.midweststoryteller.com

How do you savor your autumn days?  Long walks?  Special events?  Scenic drives?  Leave a comment and share your favorite fall activities.

Pray That it May Passover

Our world has changed much these last several weeks and at no time have we been more aware of it so far than in preparing to change how we spend the next three days.

Many have taken a hit because of the corona virus.  Some have lost loved ones, some are working exhausting, back-breaking shifts while others only wish they had a job to go to.  The rest of us, here in the United States, are plodding along, wondering when we can again spend a day doing something we once took for granted – running errands.

The worldwide celebrations of Passover and The Resurrection of Christ have to rank at the top of the list of things Jews and Christians never thought they’d do without attending the largest faith gathering of the year, not to mention home gatherings to celebrate with family and friends.  We thrive when we practice our faith and share our holy days with one another and we’re feeling a bit cheated this year.

I just can’t go along with the idea that these events “got cancelled”!  Maybe we’ve forgotten that on the first Passover, Hebrew families were huddled, each in their own dwelling, partaking of a meal as instructed by God in order that the angel of death might pass over.  And what happened the following morning?  They were set free from cruel taskmasters and the bondage that had been their way of life for four hundred years.  Perhaps we’ve forgotten that when Jesus, our Perfect Passover Lamb, lay in His borrowed tomb, all his followers scattered each to their own homes, hiding.  No throng gathered at the entrance to that tomb on Sunday morning to celebrate the Big Day.  They were, for the most part, each in their homes, confused and scared

Neither group called it “social distancing”, but when you’re shutting yourself away from deadly plague or staying inside so that no one recognizes you and reports you to the authorities, it amounts to the same thing and reminds us that our situation is mild in comparison.

If you knew you had the cure for cancer, would you keep it hidden, or would you share it with the world, hoping to save even one who might listen?

I believe there’s an answer.  I won’t tell anyone else what they must believe, but neither will I hide “the Cure” when people all over the world are suffering.

I believe in the loving God who calls his people to pray and then answers.   I believe Scriptures hold examples, instructions and insights on how to pray.  I believe in “standing on the promises” as the old hymn goes!  I believe now is the time, this special weekend, when we’ve been offered a quiet time with just those few closest to us, to pray like we’ve never prayed before – to be bold in coming before God’s throne to ask that this plague on our health and our economy might “pass over”!

I’m asking my readers to join me and to SHARE this prayer right away with all your friends and family so that we can stand on these promises together, fasten our spiritual seat belts and see what the Deliverer will do if we will but ask.  Scripture references are included to encourage you to delve into God’s Word and see what He promises (and also so you won’t think I’ve been nipping into the hand sanitizer).

I hope this has inspired you to pray and believe for an answer.  I encourage you to print this out and read it aloud together with those you celebrate with this weekend. I’ve included a FREE easy-to-read PRINTABLE HERE.

Wherever you are, may you have a Blessed Passover and a Glorious Resurrection Day and may we celebrate next year together!

“The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
 the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
 the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”  —Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)

How have you adapted your celebrations during this season of social distancing?  What great food ideas have you invented because you might not have been able to get your hands on the usual ingredients?  How have you decorated when you haven’t been able to acquire a few new things?  Leave a comment and give us all your tips!

The Happiest New Year!

Perhaps you’ve been wondering if Midwest Storyteller has fallen off a cliff or something – but no, what I have been doing is falling in love.

I’ve been a little too preoccupied to think about blogging for the last few weeks because we’ve started off the new year oh, so right!

The Grandma Life is SWEET!  www.midweststoryteller.com

This 9 pound, 9 ounce bundle of love managed to squeak in at the tail end of 2019, leaving Smuffy and me changed forever. We can’t get enough of staring at that fresh, sweet face and twiddling those precious fingers and toes. And the squeaky little noises and the smiles – don’t be telling us that’s just gas – every one is meant just for us.

We’re new at this grand-parenting thing, but we’re convinced that we’ll have no trouble falling into the groove. This boy is a miracle and his mommy and daddy are amazing us with the the natural way they take to parenting. We knew they had it in them all along!

Look for more at Midwest Storyteller in the days ahead – just as soon as I can tear myself away from the nuzzling and the head kissing.

If your 2020 is as blessed as mine, your world is going to be fabulous!

May you be blessed in each and every day that lies ahead!

I’m Still Here!

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. It’s late in the day for me to be saying “Hey there!” to all my readers, but this day has been doubly special and I wanted to share.

For those of you who may not be close enough to hear me shouting from the rooftops for the last five months, I am pleased as punch to announce that I am soon going to be a grandma for the first time! I spent the afternoon at a lovely baby shower for my radiant daughter, watching family and friends bless her and welcome our new little one.

Becoming Grandma www.midweststoryteller.com

Is that exciting, or WHAT!?

The thing that makes it doubly sweet is that today is also an anniversary for me. No, it’s not the day I married Smuffy.

Twenty years ago, I got that call from the doctor that no one wants. When you hear, “The biopsy does show cancer”, everything shifts. Life is different. I was young. My daughter was not yet fifteen. I was homeschooling and to me it was a calling. Up until then, when I overheard people with health problems saying, “Well, you know, I just take one day at a time”, I thought it was canned conversation – something you say when you don’t know what else to say. Over the next several months, I learned what it meant to take one day at a time – to do what I could when I could and let everything else go.

The world calls us cancer survivors. I refused to adopt that term for myself. In my mind, it forms a picture somewhat similar to someone who has been rescued from months lost in a jungle after a plane crash and crawled back to civilization on their belly and elbows – someone who will never be the same again. By the grace of God and carried on the prayers of family and friends, I came through not as someone battered, scarred and fearful, but as a winner! The enemy that attacked me is defeated and the trophy is mine!

You’ve probably heard it said that the best revenge is a life well lived. What better revenge can I have than to mentor other people with their health and help them to thrive? If I can help someone avoid the path leading to failing health, then I am a success.

Two decades later, I got to glory in this shower welcoming my grandchild rather than…well, you know…the alternative.

So, I sent myself a card because…why shouldn’t I? I couldn’t let this day close without inviting you all to join me in wishing myself a “Happy 20th Healthyversary!”

May you learn, grow and thrive in body mind and spirit! God is good and I am blessed!

You can find more of my story on my Thrive! page and lots of healthy recipes and great healthy tips are always being added to my Food Freedom page.

Trim, Healthy and Tasty!

Today I want to take a moment to make a confession.  I have fallen in love. 

After decades of self-study in the area of health in order to understand my own issues and do the best I can for my family, I have, at last, found a resource that seems to be custom designed for me.

Trim Healthy Books www.midweststoryteller.com

I’ve never struggled with obesity.  In fact, aside from a couple of photos of me as a chubby toddler, I spent most of my life in the string bean category.  Well, maybe a string bean with hips.  That is, until I went through something that is just about the biggest hormone screwer-upper ever – chemotherapy.  You can find more about that part of my story here.

As I sat in the chemo room listening to the others chat, I heard women saying that they’d gained as much as forty-five pounds during treatments.  Forty-five pounds!  The patients and their care-givers blamed it on the steroid anti-nausea drugs.  At that point, I didn’t care as much about the cause as I did the result.  The idea of that type of weight gain stayed in the forefront of my mind and at the top of my prayer list for the next four months.

Well, I didn’t gain forty-five pounds, but I did gain fifteen and in the following years, that fifteen has tried it’s best to turn into twenty.  As is my body’s tendency, it wanted to pack itself disproportionately below the waist, which may have paid off if I’d lived during the Renaissance and cared little for my modesty.  In those days, there was a demand for those who would, at artists’ requests, recline on couches with a bunch of grapes in one hand and a dove perched upon the other.

I tried various diets and joined the well-known support group that counts points. Since points were much simpler to count than calories, this worked for me.  In fact, it worked for me two or three times.  There seemed to be two issues.  They declared that “points are points” and we could consume them in any combination.  After a while, I learned that some foods’ points stuck to me like glue while others slipped off effortlessly after a period of over-indulgence. The other issue – and this one bothered me most – was that while this farm girl had been taken off the farm, the farm appetite hadn’t been taken out of the girl.  I wanted more food, dagnabbit!

After a prolonged period of stress, Stage 3 Adrenal Fatigue showed up, stayed much longer than I preferred, juggled my hormones even further and, if I may cling to that comparison, dropped all the balls.  My holistic M.D., along with treatment, advised a diet that would go easier on the glands and I gave up sugar and most grains.

A couple of years later, a long-time friend of mine lost around thirty pounds.  I had to admit that she maintained more joy than anyone I’d ever known on any type of “diet”.  She absolutely glowed and was enjoying herself.  I asked about it and she told me about Trim Healthy Mama.

Further inquiries led me to understand that the food on the THM plan was nearly identical to the recommendations of my doctor.  The only thing – and it seemed such a logical thing – that they recommended to people who wanted to trim away the pounds would be to separate carbohydrate fuels from fat fuels at mealtimes.

After toying with the idea and reading bits and pieces of their plan for a while as I was coming out of the adrenal struggle, I took their plan and began stepping into it at the beginning of this year, studying it and putting it into practice one day at a time.  Finally, I have enough food to eat!  I promised to grant myself grace to go off plan from time to time and to feel no guilt should I decide to go ahead and use up some off-plan ingredients along the way instead of throwing them out.  I think they’re all gone now (if you don’t count Smuffy’s cheat stash).

I needed to make friends with a few new special ingredients to help me in separating fuels, being kind to blood sugars and getting the extra protein I needed in my diet.  I’ve embraced a lot of new ingredients over the years, so it didn’t rock my world much.

I now have their plan books and cookbooks and since I have a big yard with lots of weeds to pull, have listened to over 130 Trim Healthy Podcasts (or, as we call it in THM Land, “The Poddy”) as of this date.  I feel like I’ve completed a crash course in getting to know the authors, Serene and Pearl.

I have lost several pounds and as my hormones steady themselves further, I’m sure the  number on the scale will continue to drop as I feast on real food and avoid even some of the healthy ones that are known to spike blood sugars and set off hormonal chain reactions.

In case you haven’t had the realization yet – hormones are everything! Messin’ with those will make you ugly inside and out, if you get my drift.

The best part, or what is referred to as a “non scale victory”, is that I feel good and do not feel the slightest hint of deprivation.  In fact, “junk” tastes like junk and I know that’s hard to believe if you’re still addicted to the SAD.  What a perfect name for the “standard American diet”!

I’ll post more about my journey with Trim Healthy Mama in the future, but today I wanted to share with you some of the great meals and treats I’ve discovered on this plan and give an honest review.

THM Mama's Famous Meatloaf and Mashed Fotatoes www.midweststoryteller.com

Today, for lunch, I made “Mama’s Famous Meatloaf” (page 157 of the Trim Healthy Cookbook) and topped it with a sauce made from “Trim Healthy Ketchup” (page 482). It had great texture and was moist with good flavor, just as you’d expect from an old-fashioned meatloaf like Grandma used to make.  However, we tend to like things with a bit more “zip”, so next time, I’ll probably make it my own by adding a bit more spice.  I’m not sure why the topping is more orange than red as I did follow directions, but it was tasty!

The ketchup recipe can be called a tomatoey sauce, but it is not ketchup to me.  However, I had already developed my own recipe without any refined sugars and it tastes just like Heinz.  As soon as I take the THM one and marry it to mine by having one of my kitchen lab brainstorms, I’ll post it here on the blog.

What is meat loaf without mashed potatoes?  Well, it’s fabulous if you serve up “Mashed Fotatoes” (page 264 of the Trim Healthy Table Cookbook).  Who needs all those starches and carbs?  Not me!  I’ll never be sorry I left white potatoes behind after seeing how easy it was to whip of this cauliflower version in the food processor in a matter of seconds. 

I found them heavenly.  Smuffy requests that they have a little less garlic next time.

Smuffy’s been growing okra in his garden, so I served it up alongside just the way we like it.  I stir together my own “baking blend” with equal parts almond flour, golden flax meal and coconut flour.  After slicing the okra into half-inch pieces, I tossed it in about three tablespoons of this mixture and stir fried it in a skillet I had pre-heated on medium-high heat with a tablespoon of refined coconut oil and a tablespoon of real butter.  It’s browned and beautiful in no time at all. 

All this made a delicious Satisfying meal.  (The THM plan defines “S” meals.)

I struggled with whether to assign this post to my “Thrive!” page because of the health benefits of Trim Healthy Mama, to my “Feed Me” page because it is good food or to my “Reviews” page because I can’t say enough good things about Trim Healthy Mama.

I have tried many recipes from their books and have only found a couple that I considered “duds”.  Pearl and Serene, I don’t know what you were thinking.  Perhaps they are a hit in Aussie culture, but “Slender Slaw” (page 266, Trim Healthy Table) and “Tzatziki Cucumber Salad” (page 266, Trim Healthy Table) are both odd.  Not horrible – just odd – and not a hit at our house.

To give a completely honest review, I must make one negative comment on the cookbooks. Pearl and Serene, I love you, but whomever is compiling your indexes needs to be assigned to a new job. You’ll notice how many flags are protruding from the books in the first photo. That’s because, once you find a recipe, you’re going to have a dickens of a time finding it again, and I know how to use an index. Recipes need to be listed by under categories, by actual name and by featured ingredients. Just sayin’.

I’m loving “Wonder Wraps” (page 251, Trim Healthy Table) and the first recipe I made from this cookbook, “Creamy Garlic Spinach Spaghetti Squash Bake (page 135).  That one got me off to a good start and I couldn’t wait to share it with friends.  However, the day I attempted to do so tried my soul and you might want to brace yourself before reading about it here.

I have only two words to say as I prepare to go downstairs and sneak a couple out of the refrigerator – “Superfood Mounds”, people!  Forget about those candy bars we grew up with.  Stir up a batch of these (page 424, Trim Healthy Table) in a saucepan and get ready for awesomeness!  Another super-easy treat is “Two Minute Truffles” (page 422, Trim Healthy Table).  I’d make extra if I were you and skip dusting them.  They are better when smooth.

In case you haven’t met them, Serene Allison and Pearl Barrett are sisters from “down under” who have ended up in the hills of Tennessee along with their husbands, children and extended family.  After writing a book to share with friends and acquaintances who asked them for the science and “how-to” on how they stay so trim and healthy, they found themselves on the best-seller list!  Now their sensible, scientific and doable approach is available to us all.

Thanks, Serene and Pearl!

Are you a Trim Healthy Mama? Are you toying with the idea? Never even heard of it? I’d love to chat about it so leave a comment!

What’s all the fuss about eating healthy?  We shouldn’t just survive, we should thrive!  Check out my Thrive! page.  My Feed Me! page offers recipes with free printables.  Not every recipe there is THM compatible, but most can be altered to work and I’ll try to make edits in the future to help you with that. 

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE, so you’ll receive an email reminder each time Midwest Storyteller has something new.

Hi, Mom!

Happy Mother's Day!  www.midweststoryteller.com

This day and this wish carry so many emotions and not just my own. As I look at social media, I realize, as I do every year, that, good or bad, we are all connected to our mothers by an unbreakable bond.

I hope that each one of you had a mother as wonderful as mine. That would make the world a better place! If your mother was less than perfect in ways that affected you negatively, I pray you have found the strength to forgive her and allow healing to take place.

If you’re glorying in your children today, I take joy with you. My daughter took me for an outing to the city where we ate, shopped, laughed, talked and simply enjoyed one another till we had to come home and I treasure each moment of it.

If you’re missing your mom, as I am mine, I pray that the sweet memories are a comfort and that you’ve come to the certainty that you will be with her again someday.

I know there are some of you who have lost a baby and perhaps no one even knows. Others have lost a young child or an adult child. The unspeakable grief is more than I can imagine. Along with the God who holds them in His loving arms, I cry with you and say, “He loves you.”

To all the adoptive moms, I jump for joy along with you that the day came when you could call that child your own, just as I have done with the several moms in our family who have adopted children into their hearts and homes!

To those who still wait, longing to conceive to adopt, I pray, “Let it be, O Lord! Let it be!”

There are those of us who, though we have not given birth or gone through legal proceedings, have chosen to mother or be mothered by someone other than our birth mother. The bonds shared may as well be ties of blood, for they are just as strong.

Some nurture babies with fur and paws with as much compassion and emotion as if their charge were a human child and this is love.

Let’s reach out today and and wish one another a Happy Mother’s Day! After all, we share in common a child-shaped spot in our heart that is filled only with the love for a mother or the love of a mother.

To meet the special lady who was my mom, click here.