Failure

Hello friends! There is something that has been on my heart much lately-failure. Sometimes I can get in a cloud of negativity over my failures/sins. As I look back over the past year, I can see failure LOOMING around so many memories. I can get myself into a dark pit of thoughts if I focus on my many sins and shortcomings. In this situation I wasn't patient with my child(ren), in this trial I wasn't filled with faith in my God, or in this conversation I said something that did not bring edification to the one(s) listening. Oh my, how heavy my heart can get. But, is that how He wants me to deal with my sins? How does He want me to respond? I am still a younger woman and have much to learn, but I want to share at least what I know of His heart and Word now. First I believe He wants us to repent fully and soberly. Sin IS serious and comes between us and our Saviour. Also, we need to repent to and ask for forgiveness from those that we hurt in our sin. But, then....THEN, we need to lift up our eyes off of ourselves and continue to run our race. We need to 'forget' what we did yesterday and rejoice in His love and grace today. My tendency is to wallow in my pit of condemnation, but is that going to get me to the finish line? I think not!! Having my eyes on myself is not going to bring His life into my life. My eyes need to be SEEING Jesus and then I will be running. So, dear ladies, if you fail/sin, and somehow I am pretty sure you do ;-), don't stay in the pit of bashing yourself over the head. Repent and then worship, obey, and love Him. Keep running rather than rolling in the dust on the side and being of no use in His kingdom. ~ Blessings, Andrea~

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and He delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand." ~Psalm 37:23 &24

"For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again....." ~Proverbs 24:16a

"Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus!" ~Philippians 3:12-14

Simple Iron Remedies

It seems that we ladies often have trouble with our iron levels. Low iron makes for really tired mamas and can be a risk for hemorrhaging during birth. Here are a few simple ideas for increasing our iron levels.

1. Saute ORGANIC chicken livers in a small amount of butter or coconut oil. I have never done this myself, but have heard that it really, really works.
2. Take an herbal supplement called Floradix. Many midwives recommend this.
3. Eat lots of greens.
4. Take beet root powder capsules or drink freshly made beet/carrot/celery/parsley/apple juice. This is building as well as cleansing. This is like a super shot of body building nutrition. Beets are amazing!
5. Drink liquid chlorophyll in water daily.
6. Kelp capsules
7. Green smoothies. I have been doing this every morning lately. I take about 1 cup of water, 1 cup of blueberries, 1 banana, 4 kale leaves, 1-2 T of orange juice concentrate, 1 T evening primrose oil or flax seed oil and liquefy all of this in a blender. You can vary the greens and the fruit to your liking. This is so nutritious and cleansing first thing in the morning. Wow!!
8. Chickweed/parsley/nettle/yellowdock/peppermint infusion tea sweetened with honey.

Those are a few ideas that I know of. Do you have any great ideas for building iron supplies? If so, I would love to hear them. It is so important to take care of our bodies so that we can live for Jesus with energy and enthusiasm. Blessings to you ladies and your life-giving bodies. :-)

Chai Tea

While we were still in Texas, a sweet friend taught me the basics of how to make a delicious, healthy chai tea. For those of you interested, I wanted to pass on the recipe so that you can enjoy it's warm yumminess. :-) Here is our recipe that you can adjust to your liking...

• 8 cups water
• 5 bags Lipton tea or 5 bags Red Rooibos tea
• approx. 20 cardamon pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 T. fennel seeds
• 5 c. milk
• approx. 3/4 c raw sugar, maple syrup, or honey

Put the water, tea bags, cracked open cardamon pods (cracked open with the back of a spoon), cinnamon stick, and fennel seeds in a big pot. Bring it to a simmer, cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes or so. Add the milk and your choice of sweetener. Let warm on low for 5-8 minutes. Take off heat and let cool for 10 minutes or so. Pull out your favorite tea cups or mugs, gather some friends, your family and ENJOY!