Month: January 2015

Oh my goodness friends, last week I woke up with a swollen face and realized something is terribly wrong with my internal body process.I have been pushing my body to its limits at work for 12 months and exercise was basically non-existent.  My adrenal’s are messed up and my sleep is disturbed.  I have been using a sleep aid for YEARS, I mean YEARS and in December I slowly started to ease my way off the chemical.  Don’t get me started on the pharmaceutical industry and how I was led into addiction by the health care system…let me just say be careful when you are prescribed a medication. Your body was not meant for chemicals.  Yes, there are some medications that are necessary and important and good, but there are LOTS that tend to do more harm than good. ***RANT OVER.

This week I embarked upon a journey called “At Home in the Body”.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;  you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ than He dwells in you.  Your body is a living temple that houses the Holy Spirit. This verse follows a teaching on the body being the Lord’s and how all things are lawful but not all things are profitable.  It talks about immorality and not defiling the flesh but for me it landed on verse 19..your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

When it comes to our body we can default to two different extremes.  One is to be so caught up in our physical body that we ignore the Spirit of God that dwells in it.  We become obsessed with the outer appearance and this can make us become part of the world.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.Romans 12:2

The other extreme is to take the verse: But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” Philippians 3:20 and decide that the body is sooooo temporary that we need not tend to it at all.  It is soon passing away and we await our savior, therefore lets use this body to its furthest extremes or lets just neglect the thing all together.

I have gone both ways.  As a matter of fact I swing both ways on a daily basis.  When I found that my word for the year was  “HOME”, meaning peaceful and secure dwelling places and undisturbed resting places, I began to evaluate various areas of my life and found some places that needed to be brought into balance.  You can imagine that after having a swollen face for 2 days, the internal workings of my body became my first focus.

When we ignore areas of the physical body for such a long time, we have some upward climbing to do. I started on a pilgrimage toward restoring my bodies natural processes. My Cortisol levels are being brought into line, magnesium is being restored and I’m retraining my Pineal Gland to work the way God intended it to so that my body can sleep again, just like it was created to do.  I’m tackling the headaches by getting my body functions back into balance and being gentle and loving to my body.  I worked really hard a couple of years ago to get my physical health back and then I spent the last year using that healthy body to the point that it is a dried up well.  I’m on the road to filling that well and establishing a peaceful dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.

I’m not as concerned about ME feeling at home in the body but I’m focused on remembering that I am a place where God dwells.  This is sacred ground that is used by Him.  He claims my body as His temple and I have a responsibility to keep it holy.  I want to keep my body as a place fit for the Kings residence.  This shell that I am in is God’s property and is sacred to His use and service.  If I am beating it up with long hours at work and not feeding it well and not tending to the physical self, then the Holy Spirit is dwelling in the dirty basement and shame on me for providing such a place.

In the next week, I’ll share with you some of my health secrets and give you some ideas on how you can help rebuild your temple.  I’m starting with the inner workings of the body and eventually I’ll get the outer physical body back on the exercise train. Thanks for journeying with me and stopping by to see what is up in the land of Tracy.  I really use this as my own little journal but I know some of you enjoy following along and I welcome you!

God Bless you in your pilgrimage to health!

Making the Temple strong!

I often times wonder what life would have been like as a stay-at-home mom.  I wonder how many educational degrees I would have or how clean and organized my house would be(I know all you stay-at-home moms are laughing in my face right now but indulge my wayward thinking).  I wonder if my kids would be better scholars or have more interests.  I wonder if I would be closer to Jesus or if I would have memorized more bible verses.

It has been 10 days of stay-at-home mom for me.  No work, no agenda, just mommying and wifeying and homemaking.  I took some naps too and did the whole Christmas celebration thing as well, but mostly its been just doing life, in my house, with no work.

I love it!

As we speak, there is cinnamon roll dough rising over the fireplace (my husband is going to go crazy because I’ve been doing a lot of baking and his pants are fitting a little tight.  Sorry Babe!).  I have hugged my kids more and cuddled with the dogs for hours.  I did some cleaning and some reading and studying.  Its healing.

Last year the word of the year was SHIFT.  I liked the acronym and was interested to see how God would develop each piece of my heart but I did not like 2014.  It was hard at my job, it was difficult in various relationships, it was taxing on my family, it was full of not being home and stuffed with the world.  I did a lot of dreaming about moving into a tiny house or running away to the beach.  The one redeeming part of 2014 was the last 10 days.  I reset my focus and landed in 2015.

The word for 2015 was dropped in my lap yesterday, the last day of the old year and I actually didn’t like it so I swept it aside.

This morning, after prepping for cinnamon rolls, I asked the Lord again for the word.  He said it and I said “FINE! (blah, wonder what that even means, blah (grumble))”.

Now enter Isaiah 32:18….

Then my people will live in a peaceful habitation, And in secure dwellings and in undisturbed resting places;

Perfect.

I’ll take that.  That little verse right there all encompassed in one word HOME.

This word was an oasis to the Israelite, it was to draw their eyes to the days of the Messiah, who is King of righteousness and King of peace, and to whom all the prophets bear witness.  It is a reminder that we have a reason to hope for good times at length.  The peace an quietness in this verse eludes to two different kinds of peace. Matthew Henry’s commentary says: “It is itself peace, and the effect of it is quietness and assurance for ever, that is, a holy serenity and security of mind, by which the soul enjoys itself and enjoys its God, and it is not in the power of this world to disturb it in those enjoyments” This peace is found in the way and work of righteousness.  “Real holiness is real happiness now and shall be perfect happiness, that is, perfect holiness, for ever.”

The second kind of peace is outward peace. Matthew Henry’s commentary says it best:  “It is a great mercy when those who by the grace of God have quiet and peaceable spirits are by the providence of God made to dwell in quiet and peaceable habitations, not disturbed in their houses or solemn assemblies. When the terror of Sennacherib’s invasion was over, the people, no doubt, were more sensible than ever of the mercy of a quiet habitation, not disturbed with the alarms of war.”

It is a great MERCY when those by the providence of God are made to dwell in quiet and peaceable habitations.

HOME.

By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; And by knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches. – Proverbs 24:3-4

It is often said “Home is where the heart is”, my home is fixed on Jesus.  My house is build on wisdom and understanding is from God.  The rooms of my home are filled with precious and pleasant riches given by the Father of Lights.  Every perfect gift comes from God and this gift of 2015, the mercy of a dwelling place of peace, the strengthening of my home, the building of my heart, I’ll take it!

HOME