These are my beautiful granddaughters Addison, Avery (sitting in her sister's lap), Ragan, and Kenedie. They are the picture of health! If you don't know anything about my family, you might be surprised to learn that baby Avery is a miracle! She had major reconstructive heart surgery less than 24 hourse after she was born; then she was diagnosed with multiple other problems--liver issues and hyperinsulinism (low blood sugar). I'm pleased to report that she has made huge strides in her health; she no longer is on continual feed, most of her liver issues have been resolved, and her blood sugar levels are stable. Unfortunately,just recently she was diagnosed with a leaky heart valve--completely unrelated to her heart surgery. She's one of the biggest reasons my family is making major dietary changes. Of course, the scare that Max gave us a couple of weeks ago with his blood pressure that resulted in a trip to the emergency room also contributed. Even in the face of all this, God is faithful and performing miracles!
The change in our diet is long overdue. However, it's not an easy transition when you've grown up with chicken fried steak, cheeseburgers, and decadent deserts! My "excuse" is that nutrition wasn't anyone's radar when I was growing up--not even the medical community! Hence the reason so many of the baby boomers in my generation are having heart attacks at such an early age. Our arteries are clogged with plague!
But enough of my self-pity. It's never too late to turn the ship around, and that what we're doing! Max and I have both lost weight over the past several weeks (ok, Max has lost much more than I have, but then, men always loose more than women--that's a travesty!). I'm proud to say that even our Easter Sunday meal underwent changes this year. I still cooked a ham, but instead of macaroni and cheese, we had parmesan crusted roasted asparagus and no fat lima beans (yes, I resisted the urge to drop in a ham bone I had in the freezer). Deseart was blueberry/raspberry fruit mini tartlets--super foods on the antioxidant chart! Even the boiled Easter eggs were retired this year in favor of plastic eggs and coloring books for the girls' Easter baskets.
I'd love to tell you that everyone has embraced this way of eating with no reservations, but that wouldn't be the truth. I've met with resistance at almost every turn (sometimes I was the resistor). It's the little ones that are having trouble, especially Addison. I tried to tell my daughter that stopping for cheeseburgers wasn't a great idea when Addison was learning to eat, but healthful eating wasn't on her radar at that time. It's amazing how quickly attitudes can change when a health crisis arises.
What's important now is that we're beginning to make the change; it's going to be a long road. However, when diet is considered in light of scripture, and we begin to look at our bodies as a temple reflecting the glory of God, why would we want to junk it up with food that doesn't promote good health? Already we're beginning to see and feel the benefits of healthful eating. My mind is clearer, I'm not as fatigued, and my clothes are fitting better.
So, in a perfect world, we'd all eat the foods God designed our bodies to eat, and we wouldn't begin feeding our precious children things that will only end with poor health. I, for one, am determined to clean out my temple and restore it to the condition God intended for all of us.
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