Reality: Cholesterol

Here's a hard truth. God doesn't make disciples so they can do whatever they want, whenever they want. This includes eating. At no time in civilization has eating been as abundant and as focused on as it is now. I don't feel this statement needs any qualifiers to convince the reader of it's veracity. It is an opinion I think easily proven. The ingredients available, TV shows about cooking, books, and the internet, have made food move to a place of near idolatry in some cases. 

I'd like to encourage the young readers, meaning under 40, to pay attention to foods you'll need to really moderate so you don't end up with health issues later in life that cause doctors to want you to go on medication and have tests done regularly. Developing a taste for something and then having to cut it out is a lot harder than never developing the taste. We see this in plenty of areas as Christians: music, books, movies, clothing, scrolling the internet...we do not encourage living fast and loose and then reigning it in before it is "too late" in any area but eating I'd say. 

Lowering Cholesterol

The issue of lowering cholesterol and it being a positive or negative is interesting when you start looking it up. It seems inflammation is usually the thing to concern ourselves with. Sugar is something my body just doesn't like. It is low numbers-wise, but day in and day out, my system wants VERY low. I can feel it, and with how it keeps me awake, think it is just my lot in life to avoid it as much as I can. It's a bummer because I've just recently gotten good with making layered cakes look nicer. 

I'm trying Milk Thistle and Niacinamide, alternating daily, plus losing 10 lbs to see if that will lower my cholesterol enough...meaning get it below 200. Even though I strive to eat little dairy most of the time, I'm going even lower again with it but adding in whey protein for it's cholesterol benefits. We will see how the sinuses do and if it is causing too much inflammation, it'll go by the wayside of course. The other thing is exercise that gets my heart rate up, which is not enjoyable and is a little difficult given my hip issue (labrum). Working slower the past 2 yrs and cutting my daytime hours is surely part of the culprit for the sudden spike in my LDL. Working 4 days/week two years ago made a difference! But I could feel the strain physically so started to reduce and then my leg issue started, and we cut my daytime work in half. Working by the job instead of by the hour allows me to do this work but I'm no longer getting the physical workout the same way. It is hard to balance learning to sit more and rest with getting enough activity to be healthy!!

Looking forward to testing all of this out and seeing where things are in 3 months. 

Stay tuned!

Chiropractic

It's been about 10 years since I've seen a chiropractor, and have been quickly reminded of why it is a good thing for me to continue with for my life's duration. Everyone's body is different. Mine gets out of whack, especially my neck. It is likely due to my vision that causes me to tilt my head to see straight, but also just the way things are. My low back needs adjusting, neck, and mid back, and it has been this way for a long, long time. My first venture to the chiropractor was when I was 19 and had a skiing accident. It helped a lot! When we were first married I would drive an hour to a good chiropractor in Ohio. It was during one of those trips our first dog was found at a pound. What a time! We enjoyed Jakey for over 16 years. 

This doctor was a Divine appointment and like a doctor I saw 15 yrs ago, did some Active Release Therapy on my hip to break up scar tissue that is not helping my torn labrum (what we assume is). Just a note to my kids that if you start having physical pain in various places, remember ART has been a huge help to me, after spending countless hours and thousands of dollars. Massage, chiropractic, PT, ART...it is what it is with my pain and body. Add to it needing to be limited with sugar and dairy because inflammation hits me hard, plus my metabolism is sensitive to sugar. Maybe there's a catch-all condition title to how I am. I don't know. I'm just eager to stay off medication, be strong, and have no pain if possible. 

Johann Sebastian Bach | Matthäus - Passion / St Matthew Passion (BWV 244)

This is pretty amazing, from 1727 Bach. You can follow along with the translation to get the meaning! 

Good Friday Services

For over 10 years I've posted churches where you can find a Good Friday service. This year, I'm mixing it up and sharing links to two great messages. 

One is from Grace Fellowship Church in downtown Fredericksburg, and the other is CityLight Baptist Church in Culpeper, VA. 

Grace does their service at 6:30 pm and CityLight's is at 7 pm and it is a Communion service. If you missed worshipping at a church with some of the best preaching around FXBG, head to one of these next year! 

Holy Week Focusing

I've been enjoying a Holy Week reading from Desiring God each day this week. Just trying to keep focus and get my mind more on Jesus and drawing closer to God through Him this week. 

Here is a link to Tuesdays: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/he-loved-us-through-loneliness?utm_campaign=Holy+Week&utm_content=Day+3+%28Holy+Tuesday%29&utm_medium=cio&utm_source=email

I'm not sure it will come through because I signed up to receive them in my inbox. 

Using my phone often isn't something that's enjoyable. Last week I had to use it a ton because of a texting pampered chef party. It was great to earn a ton of free products again this year which I'm very excited about getting, but being on my phone for 4 more hours per day or something insane nearly pushed me to the brink. Even so, I signed up for YouVersion's Easter week readings as well so I'm sure to get more time in the Word than I would otherwise. Running to appointments and such, extra time can be found so I try to read. 

I hope you are reading and thinking this week about what God did for you in having His One and only begotten Son come to earth about 2000 yrs ago to live a sinless life and then be crucified as one guilty, yet innocent, so He could be the payment for your sin (and mine). Trust Him today and ask Him to forgive you and put a new song in your mouth, a song of praise to our God.