Missing Grace – Missed and Misunderstood

Ministered

These past two weeks I had the privilege of being ministered to by Life Action Ministries.  I think that they are a great ministry and what I find most amazing is how sometimes the simplest truth is the most life changing.  I grew from Life Action’s ministry because they ministered to my spirit, my family, and my needs.

Salvation

Before they even came to our church, I had no doubts that I was a Christian and that I had committed my life to Christ.  I knew that by faith in God’s grace alone through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that I had eternal salvation.  Life Action had even explained that the point of this summit was a “revival,” which is reviving . . . you can’t revive something that has not already had life.  I have had God’s life, but something was definitely missing.

Squeezed

On the first or second day, Steve from Life Action Ministries explained that an orange, when squeezed, squirts out orange juice.  However, if you take out all of the juice out of the orange, inject ink into the orange, then squeeze it, the orange will squirt out ink not juice.  Our lives are like the orange.  If we are living in Christ and we are filled with the Holy Spirit, when squeezed we pour out the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  If we are living in disobedience and not according to the Spirit, when squeezed we pour out fear, despair, anxiety, bitterness, hostility, hypocrisy, selfishness, harshness, and rage.  It was as if Steve held up the mirror of God’s Word and it didn’t look like the mirror I had been using.  My mirror had a special […]

By |January 31st, 2016|Brooke S., Faith: Heart, Mind, Body, & Spirit, Spirit|2 Comments
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Whole 30 Diary: Start

Whole 30 Diary

Day 1

Breakfast

Eggs fried in lard on my cast iron skillet

Lunch

Whole 30 Lunch | Boholistic Mom

Huevos Con Chorizo

+ a handful of pecans

Dinner

What did I eat again?

+ an orange

Day 2

Breakfast

Paleo Bacon (Doesn’t have the sugar that normal bacon has. Did you know that your bacon has sugar?)
Eggs fried in the lard from the paleo bacon in my cast iron skillet

Lunch

Roasted Root Vegetables

Dinner

Hamburgers from the grass-fed beef that we are getting in our basket from Blooming Colors!

(no bun, but with pickles and homemade mayo that I’m about to make, but I’m scared!!!!)

and

Something vegetably (I know that’s not a word. Today it is!)

 

Whole 30 Diary: Day 1 and 2

If you haven’t heard of the Whole 30 Diet, you should definitely look it up.  While some people are doing it as a “diet” as in do this and you’ll lose weight, I find the Whole 30 much more than that.  I think it is a GREAT first step toward a healthier lifestyle.  I couldn’t care less about how heavy you are, how skinny you are, how much medicine you are on, or how much pain you are in . . . because that’s just a starting point.  Who cares where you are now when the possibilities are endless on what can change?

Here are my reasons for doing the Whole 30:

  • I have a lot of back pain that is due to inflammation.  The Whole 30 […]
By |January 14th, 2016|Brooke S., Quick & Easy, Real Food Recipes|1 Comment
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Huevos Con Chorizo Perfect Whole 30 Recipe

Huevos Con Chorizo Recipe

Huevos Con Chorizo2

I really enjoy Mexican food.  I love the atmosphere, I love the spices, but I do not love the MSG.  Sometimes it’s hiding in a sauce, sometimes it’s in the meat, and sometimes it is hiding in my Huevos Con Chorizo.  I really dislike additives!

I’ve been doing the Whole 30, so I really have to find ways to make my own food and not rely on restaurants as much.  So voila!  I found a Huevos Con Chorizo recipe online and made it work for me.  I love lard, so I switched the oil to lard.  I also made sure that I could find a good quality chorizo sausage that had no MSG and didn’t have any sugar.  If you are Paleo or do Whole 30, you understand that struggle is REAL!

And as usual, it utilizes eggs.  So many of my go to Whole 30 recipes include eggs.  Protein and nutrients!

Huevos Con Chorizo is one of my Easy and Fast Whole 30 Meals!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon lard

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

3 sausages of Chorizo (without MSG and without sugar – see picture)

And 4 eggs

Chorizo | Boholistic Mom

Heat up lard in cast iron skillet (okay . . . any skillet will do fine).

Add diced onion.

Sauté until it begins to brown.

Add diced garlic.

Let cook for a minute.

By |January 14th, 2016|Brooke S., Quick & Easy, Real Food Recipes|0 Comments
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Four Food Myths to Watch Out for

 

Four Food Myths | Boholistic Mom

I am a little worked up about health lately.  So many people around me are ill and I want to do something about it.  I truly believe that a lot of illnesses are preventable, treatable, and, most importantly, brought on by false nutritional education.

Many illnesses are preventable.

I believe that we were created to have good health.  Why don’t have good health then?  Many of the reasons that we have poor health is due to the fact that we have forgotten the traditions of health passed down to us from our parents, their parents, and up the generational lines.  We are to respect and honor our parents, but we have rejected the wisdom of the past.

I’ve put together four food myths in order to underline four easy ways that a family can change their health by beginning to make small changes in their eating and drinking.  Consider these myths and please feel free to ask questions by commenting at the bottom of this blog.

Four Food Myths

“Fats are bad.” – FALSE

Processed, factory-made fats are horrible for you. They need to stop being served as food. However, natural fats from olives, coconuts, and even grass-fed (or naturally-fed) animals are essential for health. Without real fats, the body suffers.

 

“Water is healthy.” – FALSE

Not all water is healthy. The government has decided to allow chemicals, drugs, and other pollutants to remain in our water in small amounts. They have decided that these small amounts are allowable. Healthy bodies may be able to filter these pollutants, but let’s face it, who is actually healthy these days? Consider researching filters for your drinking water. Your kidneys will thank you.
“Grocery […]

By |November 14th, 2015|Brooke S., Food or Foe, Real Food Recipes|0 Comments
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Ethical Thanksgiving Shopping 2015

Thanksgiving Shopping | Boholistic Mom

Do you believe in Thanksgiving shopping?

While you are being thankful at the table with family and friends are you dreaming of shopping?

I, for one, do not.

I do not have visions of Thanksgiving sales in my head as I sit down to eat turkey, pour on the gravy, and consume homemade stuffing.  I just don’t.  I really don’t know many people who are planning to abandon their families, their tables, and their homes to run out to get a trendy pillow from Target, a new blazer for JCPenneys, or an overpriced door mat from Kohls.  Who would?  Really . . . who are the people who are frequenting these stores on Thanksgiving and encouraging them to be open yet another year and keeping retail employees from being at home with their families.

If it’s you, can you just stop already?  You can choose not to shop on ONE day of the year and allow tons of employees of these greedy companies to stay home.  Is that so much to ask?

Please join me in boycotting the stores that are planning to be open on Thanksgiving Day.  I actually encourage you to skip these retailers altogether during the Black Friday weekend.  Why?  Because I want to see them fail, I want their greed to prove unprofitable, and I want to give the businesses who stayed closed TONS of business.

Boycott Black Thursday!

Here are a list of stores that I encourage you to skip this holiday season:

  • Babies R Us
  • Bass Pro Shop
  • Belk
  • Best Buy
  • Big Lots!
  • Dollar General
  • Goody’s
  • hhgregg
  • JCPenneys
  • Kmart
  • Kohls
  • Macy’s
  • Meijer
  • Michael’s
  • OfficeMax/Office Depot
  • Old Navy
  • Peebles
  • Radio […]
By |November 12th, 2015|Brooke S., Home, Natural Lifestyle|0 Comments
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Roasting a Pumpkin – a fall tradition

Roasting a Pumpkin | Boholistic Mom

Roasting a Pumpkin

Can I just say that there are a million different ways to cook a pumpkin?  So while it may seem like cooking a pie pumpkin is a radical activity, it really isn’t.  In fact, it is more rewarding and financially smart than buying those cans of pureed pumpkin.

The benefits?

Roasting pumpkin in the fall gives you a ton of raw material for recipes, is extremely affordable, and is memorable.  A pumpkin is a spacious item.  In that one pie pumpkin, you get tons of pumpkin for recipes.  You can freeze it, you can can it, you can use it as a soup bowl, and you can use it right away in a recipe.  It’s amazingly versatile.

I mentioned that it is extremely affordable.  I just bought 5 pie pumpkins for $5 at Kroger.  Can we say DEAL?!  These puppies are at least two pounds each and will serve me for many recipes.  I think I might go back and get more . . . what other vegetable can you get at the store for 50 cents a pound?  Remember, sticking with the seasonal vegetables will always save you money.

Okay, this may seem silly, but cooking real pumpkins is memorable.  You feel like you are nurturing your family, breathing in the fall season, and creating new traditions all at one time.  Why do we revere traditions so much?  Because our American society has become so amalgamated that we no longer hold to the beautiful traditions of our past cultures.  It is important for each family to build traditions.  This builds unity that is vital for the survival of the family unit.  The pumpkin is […]

By |October 20th, 2015|Brooke S., Quick & Easy, Real Food Recipes|0 Comments
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The Faint Line on the Pregnancy Test

The Faint Line | Boholistic Mom

Many times I have brushed this experience off as wishful thinking.  Only who would ever wish the pain that I have felt over the years remembering that day?

Just a Faint Line

I lived in Gulfport, MS at the time.  I had a three year old beautiful boy.  I had an internship at a wonderful church.  I had a husband who went to work and hurried to come home to me each day.  It was a rich time in our lives.

Having had one child, we hoped to have two children.  At least.  We had been trying almost two years, but we weren’t really worried.  These things take time, right?

Each month came and I hoped and I wished and I became excited.  This will be the month!  Surely!

Each month left and my hopes were dashed.  At times, I felt almost a depression.

Then . . . one month I was late, so I took a pregnancy test.

It was a faint line, but it was a line!  I took a picture of it just to prove to myself that it was really a line.

But when it is that faint of a line, you wait.  You don’t rush into the doctor.  You wait a few days and you take another test.  I waited a day.  Maybe two.

My period came instead.

I went to the doctor to ask them what had happened.  They didn’t say.  They just shrugged it off.  They made me feel small and insignificant.  And most of all, they didn’t bother explaining anything.  Rather than giving me what I needed, they just pushed me away and avoided the entire situation.

I asked around to those friends I […]

By |September 22nd, 2015|Brooke S., Natural Fertility and Childbirth, Natural Lifestyle|5 Comments
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How to Discipline Your Child

Last week, I had the opportunity to go to a Mommy’s Drop-In with my church and hear a seasoned mother speak on discipline.  Can I just tell you that before this point I had never been taught specifically how to discipline my child by a mother who has children who are grown up and have chosen to continue their walk with the Lord?

I had been given tips.  Oh, so many tips.  By new mothers, by mothers with young kids, by mothers with teenagers, by mothers with older kids, and finally, I’d been given a few tips from seasoned mothers who emulated Christ to their children and their children chose to follow after Christ.  How do we make sense of all these tips?

Then there are books.  Oh, so many books.  Some books say to spank your children, some books say not to spank your children.  Some books say give your children choices in order to avoid conflict, some books say your job is to be their parent not their friend, so bring on the conflict!  I’m not sure about you, but I get some mixed messages from both Christian parenting books and the rest of the parenting books.  Why can’t they agree?

After hearing this amazing woman of Christ teach about discipline, I don’t feel confused any more.  I feel that the Bible is clear on how we are to raise up our children.  We too often look to momma tips or to books for the answers of how to discipline and we don’t go to God’s Word.  Let me spend some time taking you through what my new wise friend, Toma, shared last week.

How to Discipline Your Child

Discipline Is Training

Discipline is consistent and continual. […]

By |July 29th, 2015|Brooke S., Mom, Natural Lifestyle|1 Comment
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My Boho Beach Look with One Kings Lane

My Dream Beach Look

This week, I had the opportunity to join One Kings Lane “A Shore Thing: Beach Towels + Bikinis” campaign.  I’m very happy to participate, but even more so, I love having inspiration.  This week, I’m inspired by One Kings Lane.  Before showing you my personal boho beach look, I’m going to show you my dream look with items from One Kings Lane.  Take an imaginary beach voyage with me and tell me if you love these ideas as much as I do . . .

First, lay down on your beautiful beach towel!

 Next, look around and enjoy the amazing glasses that are filled with any kind of refreshing juice you wish to drink.

Delicious right?  And even more delightful in those glasses.

Now on to thinking about how cute your bathing suit looked as you took it out of your adorable bikini bag.  Who gets to have such an awesome bag for their bikini?  That’s right, you.

 And then there’s the umbrella.  I mean, it’s unbelievable.

Can you believe that the beach is […]

By |July 22nd, 2015|Bohemian Style, Boho, Brooke S.|0 Comments
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Holistically Love Jesus

Honestly, most Christians hear the word ‘holistic’ and they begin to run in the opposite direction.  We envision people doing yoga and Ohmmmmming and we quickly add on a mental image relating to a “new age” lifestyle.  I was one of those people.  Wow, I have come a long way from being so quick to jump into one idea (at least I hope I have).

Being holistic has nothing to do with yoga, ohmming, new age, or voodoo.  I assure you.  It has everything to do with realizing that God made you as a whole being.  Remember that verse about loving the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30)?  Everything that God has given us should work together interdependently to love Him.

Merriam-Webster defines holistic as “relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts.”  The example offered by the dictionary is “holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body.  When describing our walk with Christ, holistic means looking at our life and body as a complete system rather than pulling our life and body into parts.

Let me ask you a question.  Do you find that we as Christians tend to dissect ourselves when we seek to love God?

  • Have you ever spent tons of time using your mind to read the Scripture, then forgot to involve your soul and heart?
  • Have you ever used your strength to serve Christ, but forgot to pray to find out if your chosen service was God’s will?
  • Have you ever worshiped God with your heart and completely left out worshiping Him with your strength because you were too timid to move?
  • Have you ever given God […]
By |July 5th, 2015|Body, Brooke S., Faith: Heart, Mind, Body, & Spirit, Heart, Mind, Spirit|2 Comments
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