40 Days and Holding!

It's day 41 of this new healthy regimen for me (but who's counting, right?!)

In the preface to Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life, he says that 40 days is a spiritually significant time period. Whenever God wanted to prepare someone for His purposes, He took 40 days.

To cite just a few examples:
- Noah - 40 days of rain
- Moses - 40 days on Mt. Sinai
- the spies in the Promised Land - 40 days
- the city of Nineveh - 40 days to change
- Jesus - 40 days in the wilderness
- the disciples - with Jesus for 40 days after His resurrection

These were all days of transformation for the people involved. 

So what kind of transformation have I had? Well, I've lost about 12 pounds. I'm more energetic then I have been in a long time. I've increased my stamina for jumping on the trampoline from 7 minutes to 15. I feel great! And I'm thinking all this carrot juice may be making my eyesight better.

Supposedly, this is also an anti-aging diet! (The jury is still out on that one.) And, it's supposed to help my mental clarity. Roger is still waiting for that benefit to kick in!

Except for some Ezekiel bread - which is a bread made from sprouted grains - I have stuck to all raw fruits and vegetables and nuts and seeds for my diet --- except for one treat I allowed myself last week. I cooked some organic popcorn in coconut oil - the preferred healthy oil for us today. It smelled so good! But after two handfuls I thought I was going to be sick. : (

Sometimes I wonder if I will have to remain on this diet the rest of my life. Obviously, my body has adjusted or transformed to the change and is responding positively. So for now, I'm sticking with it. 

But I have to think back to the Israelites who ate manna for 40 years. I'm pretty sure I would be complaining too. In fact, I already have complained! (To which Roger responded: "Just put some of your dressing on it and eat it.")

I often find myself coming down hard on the Israelites. I don't understand how they could turn their back on God. How could they see a miracle and not give Him credit or not remember what He had done for them? I mean He parted the Red Sea and they crossed over on dry ground! But I do the exact same thing. 

I often find myself coming down hard on the Pharisees too. They were always keeping the rules and judging those who weren't. And if I'm not careful, I could easily turn into a Pharisee over this diet and my lifestyle changes. As I learn more and more about how we are poisoning ourselves with what we eat - mainly processed food and genetically modified meats and foods - I just want to scream! I want to tell young mothers to quit giving their kids all that sugar and those carbonated drinks. Cancer is now the number one killer of children in our country --- ahead of accidents! And, it's on its way to being the number one killer of adults because we aren't fueling our bodies appropriately and because our environment is so toxic.

So, please, if I start preaching to you, forgive me. Know that I do it out of love. 

I love something that Billy Graham said about this very thing. He said, it's God's job to judge, the Holy Spirit's job to convict and our job to love. 

I can try and make up my mind to not judge you and tell myself that I'm going to try harder and not judge people any more - but that is trying to operate in my own strength and I always fail. 

I believe the ONLY way to judge less is to love more! And that's my goal because "love covers a multitude of sins."

Thank you all for the outpouring of love through your emails, cards, notes, texts, Facebook comments, gifts, hugs and words. We are so blessed to have such a great group of family (some of whom are pictured above) and lots of friends. I love you all!

"I love you, O Lord, my strength."