Give Up Your World

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

“..(A)nyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”—2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

The other day my oldest son asked if he could arise in the morning to join me during my prayer time. I was so pleased, but I wasn’t always this way. When Joshua was 6 God told me some things He had called Joshua to be and one was a prayer warrior. I asked God to show me how to train him to war in the spirit this way, and I didn’t hear anything from God. Suddenly, at 6, Joshua began to arise early on his own, sit quietly as I prayed and would hand me tissue so I could dry my tears. At first I thought his rising was endearing. After he kept joining me for about a week, I was upset. “Can’t I have some time to myself?” Then God reminded me that I had asked him to show me how to train Joshua. What better way than to model prayer and have him pray kneeling beside me right after me? But I soon slipped back into my selfish way, being happy a few weeks later when Joshua stopped waking up. I reasoned that the season for training him during my quiet time must be over. Truth is, discipline is part of the training, and I should have awakened him even when he didn’t get up. I did sometimes, but for the last two years that has been only a handful of times. So last week when Joshua asked to wake up to join me in prayer, I gladly agreed. I’m so glad I did. We had a rich time, and I got a chance to see a bit of what God sees every time we walk in selfishness.

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.—1 Corinthians 13:11

Before we prayed Joshua asked, “What happens to our bodies if our spirit goes to be with God when we die?” Of course, this led to a Bible study on Christ’s return and us receiving glorified bodies and reigning with Jesus on a new earth (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 20:6). To give him a picture of what our glorified bodies might be able to do I had him read Luke 24:15-31 when Jesus walked and supped with the men from the Emmaus road then vanished from their sight. When I told him that our bodies would be supernatural, like Jesus’ body, letting us do supernatural feats like superheroes, he became sad. I was perplexed. Like his dad, Joshua loves comic book characters and he frequently asks me which ones I think are the strongest. When I asked what made him sad about getting a new improved body he said, “I want this body. I like this body. And I don’t want there to be a new earth. This earth is perfect. I want it to stay the same.” No matter how many benefits I told him about having a glorified body and reminded him of the wretchedness of this world he still wanted to cling to the old. He was determined to remain unchanged in spite of the pain and disappointment he feels in his own body and sees in the world. He didn’t want anyone to disrupt his familiar or his comfort. He didn’t want anyone, not even God, to change his world. I just hugged him and told him I understood, recognizing that he was a child and just didn’t understand how wonderful his change would be. I knew that when he grew up, his view would change. I determined that I would continue to be there for him, allowing God to disrupt my quiet time world, so I can help Joshua mature in his faith and talk the way he should.

So often those of us recovering from strong black womanhood seek to maintain our established order so that we can control our circumstances. We can’t handle a change to our world, even one that would help us create a better world or just allow God to give us a better one. Even though we know our present personal world may be in need of repair, we somehow convince ourselves that everything is perfect and fight to keep living there. Give up the fight and the temper tantrums and let God serve you a better world. This is a challenge, but one we must rise to so we walk out 1 Corinthians 13:11 and be the new creations the Bible declares us to be.

What worlds have you been clinging to that you need to let go of?

My One Thousand Gifts List

#141-150
A woman’s desire to follow God
An anointed sermon
Dinner with Stephanie
The boys making their own fun at Stephanie’s
Flynn cleaning the kitchen
Flynn putting the boys to bed
Flynn making me tea
Being able to rest
Spending time with family
My headache dissipating

Friday Feature: The Benefits of Eating Raw

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

A Raw Food Meal. Photo credit: The Daily Ritual Blog

Yesterday I mourned, and still do, for a troubled marriage and a mother who lost her twins in the womb. Mine was a heavy day full of disappointment, misery and many tears for them and me, but God had prepared me for this, prompting me to go on a raw food fast the first three days of the week. If not for the fast I would not have been able to handle their pain and would have felt the pressure to provide answers. I pressed passed pain and provided direction all because the Holy Ghost led me on a fast I hadn’t ever done. I was strong in the spirit and able to easily hear exactly what God wanted me to say.

And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.—Isaiah 58:11.

God guarantees spiritual and physical benefits when we fast. Of course I had experienced many benefits with the different fasts I have done, including the Daniel Fast, called such after the Prophet Daniel who requested not to eat King Nebuchadnezzar’s food but instead only “pulse,” food that comes from the ground. This includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and grains. There are also six raw food categories, all plant-based, non-cooked foods: fruits, green vegetables, vegetables (all non-green produce), seeds, nuts and sprouts. Eating solely in this way challenged my creativity and cravings, but the spiritual, mental and physical benefits kept me going.

Spiritual Acuity

In addition to the above example I was able to connect with and prophesy to a couple of people right in their moment of need. Though prophecy is one of my spiritual gifts, my focus, even with other types of fasts, just hadn’t been so sharp.

Mental Clarity

Even though I have three children I didn’t suffer much from pregnancy brain, but most of this year I have struggled with my memory. Historically, I’m the go-to person to recall happenings from an event, someone’s name or other details others had trouble remembering. Recently, I was the one who forgot conversations, phone calls made and received and where I put things. It was so bad that my husband bought me some pills to help my memory. Though all natural, I didn’t use the pills but instead slowed down and got more rest. But since eating raw, my mind has been clearer, helping me to complete sentences without constantly searching for the right words and to remember where I put my glasses. I’m sure the nutritional benefits of a raw food diet caused my mental fog to clear.

Physical Vitality

As soon as something is cut from its source it begins to lose strength: a newborn losing weight before leaving the hospital; a tumor that no longer connected to a person’s blood supply and even fruits and vegetables removed from their vines. Though some of the nutrients diminish with all fruits and vegetables, you get more when eating them raw as opposed to cooking them, which can destroy enzymes that help you digest food. Digested food sends nutrients to your bloodstream, causing you to feel the nutrients work. Though I ate raw foods, I also drank fresh squeezed juices and soups, which gave me instant and sustained energy. I am a morning person, but Monday night, my first night on the fast, I was able to watch a late night movie with my hubby without nodding or falling asleep.

In addition to more energy I had
• less aches. I had gotten used to inflammation in my back from arthritis and other unattributable discomforts. I normally get headaches when I fast and most literature says this is an expected side effect when your body is detoxing, but I didn’t have any headaches while on the raw food fast. This is a perk that raw fooders (people who eat raw as a lifestyle) promote.

•less weight. I dropped six pounds day one. Six pounds is the usual water weight loss AFTER week one on a weight loss diet. I was not starving myself physically or nutritionally. Just imagine how trim I’ll be if I continue with the raw foods.

• a stomach smaller. As with most fasts, my stomach got smaller. When I began to transition back to my normal vegetarian way of eating, I found myself full with just a small amount of food. This definitely helps me not to overeat.

• sensitive taste buds. Usually only after ending a longer fast (at least a week), my taste buds quickly notice ingredients I have eliminated, but this happened to me after three days going raw. I could immediately taste sugar and really appreciated the pure flavor of organic foods. I found that if I listen to my body, there is no need to eat the sugar and snack foods like I did before being on the raw food diet.

We are temples of the Holy Spirit and a raw food diet helped me to focus on the great benefits of caring for my house of God. This fast has motivated me to incorporate more amounts of raw food in my diet, use my extra energy toward a consistent exercise plan and to control my food intake. Eating raw has been such a blessing to me. Won’t you try it (if you already haven’t) and share with us your benefits?

Mothering Mess?: Octomom and Other Thoughts

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

What Do You Think? Wednesday

Motherhood is definitely an evolutionary process. I wrote about an aspect of my own journey on Monday (). Whether we give physical birth or nurture others’ children, all Christian women are called to motherhood (Titus 2:3-5), and it is no joke. My own experience helps me keep my stones for myself. Even with that in mind, I’m curious about what you think about Friday’s Today Show appearance of the Octomom, Nadya Suleman, the single mother of 14 children, including octuplets. One of my Facebook friends said as she was watching the show she thought about “taking an ax to my uterus.” If you missed the show, you can see some footage below. After you watch, what’s your reaction? What do you believe your response, as a Christian called to motherhood, should be about Suleman’s mothering and even your own? Please, let me know what YOU think.

Maturing into Motherhood

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

— 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

I have gotten older. “Duh,” you might say. “Aging happens to everyone from the moment we’re born.” But I really didn’t begin to feel older until a few weeks ago. Of course I realized my transition some years ago when I didn’t know names of popular artists or their songs AND I didn’t care. I had joined my parents’ generation and gotten amply disengaged from the current cool. This didn’t bother me since I had always flown in my own musical realm. But a few weeks ago was different. This was when it seems overnight a nest of grays had sprouted along my front hairline; an 18 year old couldn’t say why she thought I looked so much different than the woman in my 13-year-old wedding photo; and it had been months since anyone mistook me for being at least 10 years younger than I am. I settled into my eventual, always knowing that aging is inevitable. I must admit that accepting and liking my physical changes are not the same for me. But the time that changed my physical appearance is the same time that changed my spiritual position and that pleases (and, in some ways, has shocked) me.

“You’re such a mother,” said Tabitha, one of the seven women with whom I have a formal Christian discipleship relationship. She was watching me interact with my children and remarked on my mother nurturing. She said the same thing last week, this time commenting on how I mother her and her discipleship sisters. “You really want us to be okay and reconciled,” she said about the way I had mediated a small conflict that she and another of my daughter’s in Christ had. “You didn’t take sides; you just wanted both of us to be okay.” I do, and I want the same for my boys but my desire has not always been evident.

For years I struggled with strife, having to leave ‘up and out’ words with folks who needed to know the extent of their foolishness or density. I had little mercy for the weak in mind and made it my business to tell them so. Somebody had to tell them, I reasoned, so I assigned myself that job. I resigned years ago, when the magnification of God’s mercy overshadowed my sins. His great covering was big enough that I couldn’t just keep His warmth for myself; I wanted others to feel God’s comfort and how I could nestle in His care. That was my great desire and for years only remained in my thoughts. Though I had gotten glimpses of folks under God’s cover with me, Tabitha’s encouraging word let me know that I had made room for more than I thought. And even with a new girlfriend’s recent surprise that I used to be Zorro because “you’re so kind and thoughtful” let me know that I have been more consistent in my new way than I imagined. Time may have aged my body, but I praise God that time also has matured me in the spirit. Even though I am older I am brand new.

In what ways have you become new in Christ?

My One Thousand Gifts List

#131-140
Joshua shoveling Nana’s snow
Joshua spending time with two generations
Flynn being able to attend evangelism training
Renee loving One Thousand Gifts
Renee wanting me to go to Paris with her
A smooth Sunday morning
Going to church and on time
Being able to sit in the sanctuary
A quiet child during church
Being able to serve at the altar

Friday Feature: Ways to Buy and Save on Organic

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Some people immediately dismiss going organic because they believe the cost is too much. Though most organic products are more expensive than other foods (because of many farming practices, including the fact that organic farmers don’t get government subsidies), that is not always true. In fact the organic navel oranges we buy from a national natural health food chain are comparable to the non-organic oranges at our local traditional chain grocery store. Like you seek to get the best deals at your regular grocery store, you have to seek to get the best deals on organic items, if eating chemical-free and non-genetically modified foods is that important to you. You must do the cost-benefit analysis, often looking long-range, like considering how much you may have to pay to treat an illness you’re likely to get years from now from eating pesticide-laden food (Organic.org). I’m not trying to scare you; I just want you to be aware that many illnesses we see today are the result of the nutrient-deficient and chemical-rich foods we consume. With a little effort, you can decrease your toxic intake and your chance of developing disease.

Follow these tips:

1. Prioritize your budget. Do you really have to get your hair and nails done as often as you do? How many times a week do you eat out, either as a family or buying lunch at work? Do you drink coffee and soda pop more than once a week? What other snacks do you eat often? Find those items in your budget that are not necessities and use the money you save to buy organic.

2. Buy products with less than 100 percent organic ingredients. This won’t work with produce, but you can get packaged foods, like pasta sauces and crackers, that are made with some organic ingredients. In fact, there are four levels of organic labeling that you will find at the grocery store: 100% Organic—those made with 100 percent organic ingredients; Organic—Those made with at least 95 percent organic ingredients; Made With Organic Ingredients—Products that have at least 70 percent organic ingredients with strict restrictions on the remaining 30 percent, including no GMOs (genetically modified organisms); and Other—Products with less than 70% organic ingredients may list organically produced ingredients on the side panel of the package, but may not make any organic claims on the front of the package” (Organic.org).

3. Shop at a farmers’ market. Late spring to early fall is a great time to get fresh and locally grown produce. Some farmers who sell here have been certified as having organic products. Others may not have gone through the process to become certified but don’t use harmful chemicals to grow and preserve their foods. If you go late in the day you often get to haggle with sellers to get reduced prices on already competitive products. Click here to find one in your area.

4. Join a food cooperative (co-op). Some natural food grocery stores run cooperatively, where workers and/or customers own and operate the store. Membership fees allow owners to collectively purchase organic items from farmers, getting a better price on organic items (usually a smaller selection) than those carried in traditional markets. Anyone can shop at a co-op but only members get a discount on shelf prices. Food cooperatives can also be in the form of a buying club, where members’ collective monies help to buy products from a local farm and members pick up their own items at a designated location. Click here to find a food cooperative in your area.

5. Join a farm cooperative. Officially known as a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, a CSA allows the public to buy food directly from a farmer, some of which grow organic products. You pay a fee, or a share (a.k.a. a membership or subscription), to receive a weekly box of vegetables and sometimes other farm produce, like eggs, meat and cheese. Read here for more information on CSAs and where to find one in your area.

6. Grow your own food. You can plant your own garden to supplement what you get at the store. The cost for seeds is minimal and you get the joy of cultivating and collecting food that you know doesn’t have any harmful chemicals.

7. Mail order organic items. If organic food is limited where you live, you can mail order, though this is more expensive than organic products in the stores. There may be one or two items that you would love to have and can’t get locally so this still may be a viable option.

With these tips, I know there is at least one way you can incorporate organic products in your budget. Doing so will preserve the environment and your body, making you a good steward over that which God has entrusted you and giving you bodily strength to do the necessary work to build His Kingdom.