Friday Feature: Vegetarian Iodine Sources

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Rhonda J. Smith

One of my friends just completed a raw food fast and another woman told me she is going to begin a raw food program next week. Experiencing myself the great results of more energy, losing weight, and being more clearheaded and spiritually attuned, I rejoiced for both of them. They both tapped into my knowledge and I was more than happy to help them begin and stay the course. So often people lung head-on into becoming a vegetarian or a vegan but are lacking essential knowledge that could be damaging to their bodies. Last week I told you a major problem for vegetarians is a lack of protein in their diet and gave you some non-soy vegetarian protein sources that I eat. A lack of protein isn’t the only issue that vegetarians tend to have. Additionally, we lack iodine (mostly obtained from meat and their products) and vegans lack calcium so many have weak bones. In an upcoming week, I’ll discuss vegetarian food options for calcium, but today I give you a list of vegetables high in iodine (I give descriptions for those that are not so common):

Kelp—a sea vegetable that tuna eat and gives tuna its distinct flavor
Dulse—a sea vegetable that is a red algae
Agar—a gel derived from red algae
Swiss chard—a leafy green vegetable
Summer Squash
Mustard Greens
Kale
Asparagus
Turnips
Spinach

God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, including to those on a largely plant-based diet (2 Peter 1:3). Check out some of these and get the iodine you need without having to add iodine enriched table salt to your food.

More Mercy

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Rhonda J. Smith

What Do You Think? Wednesday

A thought from my journal:

We must have mercy on others, true mercy that comes from a heart that recognizes the misery of sin. God has mercy upon the sinner to pardon her from the consequences of sin and provides an opportunity to be relieved of the misery of sin. The consequences of sin are the just results we receive for engaging in sin. The misery is the shame and other emotional turmoil we experience as a result of sin. We may still be in sin or may have been delivered from it, but if we don’t recognize God’s mercy in its totality—us not receiving the consequences we deserve and God not requiring we walk in guilt—we will remain miserable. We don’t believe we have been fully pardoned and don’t believe God can (and wants to) use us to His glory. We cannot become our version of God and deny mercy to others and even ourselves. Truly we will be people most miserable and live in a world more intensely miserable than we could imagine.

There is no misery allowed! Stop wallowing in sin. Ask God for and trust that He will give you forgiveness and pass the same on to others (1 John 1:9).

What do you think causes us to reject God’s mercy and not have mercy on others? Please, tell me what you think.

Release Control, Create Independence

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Rhonda J. Smith

For a few weeks I had worked with Nate, my 4 year old, on learning to swing on his own. He would recite ‘kick out, pull in” to remind himself to push his legs forward when swinging forward and pull them back when swinging backward. He and I were happy that this catchy phrase would keep his coordination and he would be able to swing apart from my pushing. But he often got tired of pushing, would whine and ask me to push him. Tired of hearing him whine, I often would push him. Nate stopped wanting to try, preferring me to push him instead.

I had done this—made him a swing quitter—with my controlling self. Doing things myself so I don’t have to deal with the hassle of teaching a slow learner or so I know it’ll be right is an issue I’m working on and an issue other recovering strong black women wrestle with. And this is an issue that will work your nerves and overwork your body, constantly challenge your patience and keep you entrenched in pride. We can’t do everything, should not want to do everything, yet the control freak in us cries loud and we heed her cries.

Recently, God reminded me how continually holding the reigns only keeps me in the position of holding the reigns. If I take over the housework, cook without having pupils beside me, withhold assignments from workers and tell those I counsel what they should do instead of what the Bible says then I’m creating a dependence on me and preventing my followers from being self sufficient. We can’t do everything for our children, withhold assignments from our workers or tell our counselees what to do. We can keep the reigns tight, but when we decide we want to let go, our followers won’t be able to steer. And we will be stuck, doing all the work, even when we don’t want to. I thank God for the reminder to release control, remain calm and let others learn what they need to learn so they—not I—can do what needs to be done.

My One Thousand Gifts List

#611-620
Liz saying she could tell Flynn and I are one
Meeting Liz
The diversity at Nichole’s party and witnessing folks’ genuine love for her
Christen helping me every Sunday
Christen supervising the boys during choir practice
The sermon I’ve been waiting for: Pastor Brooks speaking of God wanting to use the arts to reach the unsaved
Fellowship in the sanctuary after church and during New Evangel Members Orientation
Jeremiah’s baby dedication
The sound of Nathaniel eating food he enjoys
Walking Justus in the parking lot at church and him smiling at the wind being on his face

Friday Feature: Vegetarian Protein Sources

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Rhonda J. Smith

It seems at least once at month someone I talk to about my vegetarian (mostly vegan) diet asks me “How do you get enough protein?” After giving up soy, a great source of protein, I asked myself the same question. From my research I can confidently say “I get more than enough” with the following foods:

1. Nutritional yeast
2. Hemp seeds
3. Kale
4. Almonds
5. Walnuts (if I take Activated Charcoal to eliminate my allergic reaction that I just recently found out I get when eating these nuts)
6. Brazil nuts
7. Macadamia nuts
8. Sunflower seeds
9. Pumpkin seeds
10. Beans
11. Peas (I also just recently realized that I am probably allergic to peas so I take Activated Charcoal after eating peas, too.)

If you are considering cutting back on or eliminating meat (including fish) from your diet, then don’t let the fear not getting enough protein stop you. You can use the above foods in a variety of ways, including the less traditional ways in dishes like lasagna, stir frys, and protein drinks and the more traditional ways like for snacks and in salads. Check out my Friday Feature blog post “Staples in My ‘Raw Food Kitchen’” and search online for ways to incorporate these and other protein-rich vegetarian friendly foods into your menu plan.

Identity Denied

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Rhonda J. Smith

What Do You Think? Wednesday

Last night was an amazing time of prophetic ministry during the women’s service at my church. Our women’s pastor and my BFF, Renee Carr, spurred the women to remember that “Only the Strong Survive” and challenged us to avoid the traps the devil has to give us a TKO (Total Knock Out). All while she spoke a woman near me kept shaking her head and saying “umm, umm, umm.” Most of what Pastor Carr was saying was identical to a conversation she had had minutes earlier. She knew God was speaking directly to her and received the confirmation to embrace her calling.

Sometimes, though, we don’t want to heed God’s voice even when He is evidently speaking. This happened last week while in prayer with my children when Joshua, my oldest, my prayer warrior, said a quick prayer. When he ended, I said, “C’mon, prayer warrior,” then Nathaniel, his four-year-old brother, shouted, “Pray like a prayer warrior.” I had never said what Nathaniel said to Joshua and didn’t even know Nathaniel could process like that. After Joshua attempted to pray more effectively, Nathaniel said, “That’s all you got, Smith?” (A phrase my husband uses when the boys are trying, and failing, to beat him at a game.) “You’re a prayer warrior. Pray like a prayer warrior!” Nate kept saying over and over again.

Though Joshua initially tried to deny that the Holy Spirit was using his brother to prompt him in his calling, to claim his identity, he was clear that his yet to be saved brother had some unusual insight. Joshua just couldn’t believe how adamant Nate was in telling him “Yes you are!” after Joshua proclaimed “I’m not a prayer warrior.” Denying our identity is something some recovering strong black women may have a problem with, too. We know what God is saying, but we know what we want to do instead. We know where we want to work, where we want to serve in ministry, who we want as friends and where we want to live. But perhaps we keep getting denied a promotion, aren’t working well in our chosen area of ministry, get tagalongs who try to befriend us, and can’t sell our house because what we want is a denial of our identity. What we want isn’t suitable for the person God has called us to be.

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This “all” includes everything that we want to hold onto that is definitely not “in Christ”—our attitudes, our relationships, our activities and, yes, our identity. We may have thought we would have a certain career path and God led us on what we thought was a detour, but the switch was God’s plan for us all along. He stamped our identity before the foundation of the earth. Even with that knowledge, some of us fight our identity. But there comes a time that we need to just do what the woman at my church did: Hear the words, recognize them as familiar and simply say, “Yes, Lord, I hear you. I submit to your way.” Our lives will be less of a struggle; God’s grace will be with us, and He will be pleased.

What have been your greatest areas of identity denial? Read the “Reclaiming Your Identity” article by Dr. Deana Murphy in EEW Magazine (a different, yet complementary, message to mine but for me confirmation that God was speaking this word about embracing our identity when He prompted me last week to write about this) and tell me what you think.