What kind of survivor are you?

After watching the Glenn Beck show on Friday night, I followed the link on his website to take The Survivor's Club quiz. Ben Sherwood, author of The Survivors Club: Secret and Science That Could Save Your Life, took a couple of years interviewing people and researching this book. He concluded that there are five survior types: fighter, believer, thinker, realist and connector.

Take the quiz and see what type of survivor you might be.

The Survivors Club Quiz

Examining the past...

All around us these days people are talking about the economy. Some are worried and seem paralyzed by this fear. Others are concerned yet are taking proactive steps to plan for the security of themselves and their families. The final group of people are those who go about as though all was sunshine and lollipops. They don't believe anything serious will happen, and find those of use who do to be depressing and gloomy. I am in the group of concerned people who have chosen to take some active steps to plan for the worst, but I hope for the best.

I have been studying the "Great" Depression for some time now. The stories of the people who lived through it intrigue me. At the peak of the Depression, my grandmother was fifteen years old. I am sure she had some great stories to tell. Unfortunately, grandma passed away over five years ago. Everyday we are losing the people who can give us insight into this time in history. Soon we won't have their wisdom and insight.

As I read through interviews and articles written by and about those who lived through the 1930's in America, I am struck by two things. First I see a value system and an attitude in these people that seems to be lost to Americans today. Secondly, these people can teach us many practical lessons as we try to navigate through these uncertain financial times.

I would like to devote some time on my blog to pursuing the values, attitudes and practical lessons that our grandparents, great-grandparents and their peers can teach us. I hope you will join me.

Busy Days...

I hate to have these big gaps of time between blog posts. I have had so much running through my mind lately, but nothing was forming together into anything that I could actually write down. I wake up, make Dave's lunch, hop on the computer, read my Bible, get ready for the day, and teach the children. Then I drive kids to hockey practice, friends' houses, the barn, 4-H, youth group and church. When I am home and have free time, I have been planning my curriculum purchases for next year. I am trying to find a good writing program for my struggling 9th grade writer. Thankfully, I think I may have found something. I have been studying some about the Depression of the 1930's. Finally, I placed my seed order for this year's garden.

So, I have been doing a lot of little things here and there, but nothing much to write home about.

I do appreciate all of you who stop by to see what is going on here. Please keep coming back. I have some articles in the works.

DISCIPLINED Eating

In my head for the past two weeks has been my desire to share with my followers and friends all the things I am learning about eating and especially disciplined eating.

Let me give you a little back story. Right after Christmas I was making a purchase from Christian Book Distributors, and I was about $2.00 short to receive free shipping on my order. I started looking around the $5 and under pages and came across the book, Love to Eat, Hate to Eat: Overcoming the Bondage of Destructive Eating Habits. It was inexpensive, sort of applied to me, so I bought it.

Now lets go even further back in time. In July 2004, I started an on-line bible study geared to set people free from all sorts of sinful behaviors including sinful eating. I went through the course, became a mentor, and lost nearly 65 pounds in the process. After about a year, I left the ministry. Slowly, very slowly, the weight came back on. I sit here today with all of that weight back on me. How did this happen? I have been asking myself this for nearly 5 years.

I think the biggest thing for me was that I never truly saw my eating habits as sinful. I wanted to and even prayed to, but I just never had the heart wrenching conviction that what I was doing was sinful. See, I could justify it all. Everyone in America eats like I do. It tastes good. I'll take care of that "after the holidays, weekend, party, etc." I was deceived and blind to what I was doing.

I know this is getting rather personal, so I hope you will bear with me. Finally I have started to see how my choices are self-indulgent, lacking self control, and most importantly disregard God's sovereignty in my life. I can only attribute my recently renewed vision to the the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. You see, the first time I lost weight it was all my doing. I took all the credit. God's Spirit was not working in my life to help me. I was following rules and being obedient to man's rules for my eating and exercise. I truly believe this is why I have gained back this weight.

The book I have been reading has really opened my eyes and allowed me to deal with some of the hang ups I have had about what is really sinful in certain eating habits. I love how Ms. Fitzpatrick addresses the idea of disciplined eating. She has made it an acronym.

D=Doubt
I=Idolatry
S=Stumble
C=Covet
I=Inroads
P=Praise
L=Life
I=Illustrate
N=No
E=Emotions
D=Distract

E=Enslave
ating

This an acronym is actually in the middle portion of the book, and there was a lot of reading and thinking that had to go on before I got there. I know that this is going to be a journey, but I know that it is one that I and the Holy Spirit are on together. I also know that with the help of God's Spirit that I will never have to go back into those destructive ways of eating.

So, this is where I am at with my eating. I am thinking through this an acronym each day. Well, at least the parts I have memorized. I am going slow so that it really sinks into my heart. I can tell you that in the past two weeks many changes have occurred, and they did not feel burdensome. His yoke really is easy, and his burden really is light.

Be blessed

Our week...

I was really feeling a nagging desire to blog today. I admittedly have not been on the computer as much this week. Mondays are always very busy for me. I hit the ground running with laundry. I wash all of our clothes on Monday. Well, I wash clothes for myself, Dave, Carolyn and Brianna. Jonathan and Natalie have their own wash days. Next have to make sure my school planning is finished and in order because the older two will be wanting their assignment sheets. These are actually extremely handy for me and them. If my memory serves me correctly, school took forever on Monday. Some days are like that. Natalie went to the barn to work. I came home and did a couple of things. Then I went back up to get her. After a supper of chicken corn chowder, I took Jonathan to youth group. A ladies bible study has just started at church. So, I attended that.

Tuesday was fine until mid morning when some intestinal distress hit and made the rest of my day awful. I did manage to get through grocery shopping in the afternoon, but Dave picked Natalie up from work. Then Natalie, Dave and Carolyn made pancakes for dinner. I slept.

On Wednesday we got about 9 inches of new snow. It was not too bad until the wind started blowing in the late afternoon. Then we started getting drifts, and it was kinds of nasty. I drove in it twice because my diehard horse girl had lessons. Carolyn has taken a break from lessons until the weather breaks. She is such a little thing, and she gets so cold even with warm clothes on. So, we will wait until April or so. I am sure she will let me know when she would like to go back.

Thursday was our gym and swim day, and now we are back at Friday again. I do not have a dinner plan as I am out of mozzarella cheese. I tried to get a big bag at Wegmans on Tuesday, but they were out of the big bags. I won't pay for the little bags, so we have no cheese for pizza. I am going to dig through my refigerator and make whatever is in there. Better to eat it than to waste it.

I hope to be back with some more winter pictures. We have had snow on the ground for over a month now. We did not get a January thaw. Well, it did get up to 40 last Friday, but that only melted a little.

Our new eating plan...

Here is a sampling of dinner menus from our new eating plan.

Beef barley soup (homemade)
Bread (homemade)
cheese
oranges

Hamburger Pinwheels
Brown rice
green beans
applesauce
pickles

Chicken tenders
Buttered noodles
Peaches (canned)
Romaine and spinach salad

Macaroni and cheese w/ meat (I confess that my kids like hot dogs in theirs, but ham would be better if you are going for whole foods)
Pennsylvania Red Cabbage
Salad (romaine)
Pickles

Meatball subs
Green beans
Pears
Noodles

Cube steak
Mashed potatoes
broccoli
applesauce

Pizza (We eat this every Friday. I make my own, but now I am rounding out the meal more by adding...
carrots or salad
strawberries or other fruit

I hope this blesses some of you as you strive to eat healthier with more whole foods.

Update to the couch cushions question...

Way back at the beginning of December I asked what I should do about my couch cushions. Some of my Family Homestead friends gave me their ideas. Well, after Christmas I found slip covers at Bed Bath and Beyond. Add that to the lovely cabinet that my husband gave me for Christmas, and I feel like I have a whole new living room.

Note the lovely cabinet with the basket of pinecones on it. Lurking underneath are all my homeschool books. I love it.

And one picture of the dining room

The Eating Plan...

I have learned over time and by experiment that making too many changes at one time leads to disaster. I have decided through much reflection that during the month of January the only changes I am making to my eating and meal preparation will be to follow the meal plan laid out in Feeding the Whole Family: Recipes for Babies, Young Children and Their Parents.

Since we are not vegetarians, I will follow the meal plan with animal protein. This is how the plan breaks down:

Fish, eggs, chicken, pork or beef
Starchy vegetable or whole grain
Green vegetable
Another vegetable or fruit
Something fermented, pickled or raw

I tried this with tonight's dinner. For dinner we had hamberger pinwheels which does include both meat (beef) and whole grain (the dough). I did add in brown rice as another whole grain to add some depth to the meal. We also had green beens that were sauted and quartered strawberries. I forgot to include the pickles, but we did have them at lunch.

Typically I plan my meals for a month. I am not in the habit of giving much thought to the vegetable or fruit that we are having with the meal. Sadly, it is often an after thought. This will take all of my thought and effort this month, so I am waiting until I get this down before I add in other things. The only other focus area will be water consumption. This is not that difficult for me, so I am not counting that as a "new" focus area for me.

Now I am off to get the rest of the plan down. I especially need to know what I am making tomorrow.