How to prosper with your goals

January is for making resolutions.
February, for most, is about giving up on them.
What about if we took March back from feeling guilty and got better goals?

Here's are a few way to take back this month to MARCH FORWARD in life, whether your goals are health related or not.

1. Instead of sprinting into the year and burning out by the second quarter, make smaller, positive goals. For instance, instead of swearing off all sugar, aim for swapping sweets with sensible solutions or making a better goal like eating a healthy lunch so you don't get hungry for afternoon treats. Better goals are smart: specific, measurable, achievable, reasonable and time-bound. For instance, instead of "I'm not going to eat sugar," saying "I am going to eat high fiber cereal before I leave for work so that I don't stop at Starbucks and buy a scone." If you'd like the Sweet Swap List you can download it here.

2. Share your goals with a friend. This makes it alot more fun and makes you more likely to achieve them. Studies show that verbalizing a goal to a friend makes you 50% more likely to succeed.

3. Aim for prospering. Prospering has two root meanings: to make successful AND to flourish and grow strong and healthy.

4. Write down your goals beyond the problem and visualize how you will think, feel, look and be different; then, place it somewhere you will see every day.  This is an exercise I learned from Marie Forleo, the business coach I've learned a lot from. Here's a video from her on goal setting with soul.


March can be all about making forward progress. No need to get down on yourself or make grandiose gestures: goals that come from the soul usually are much better and find much great traction.
If you feel like sharing your specific goal, jump over to my Facebook page

TTYL,
Nora

Longing for Spring? Try this Spring Leek Soup

We can long for spring today, while the snow is falling.

Why not make something green? This Winter Green Leek Soup from my upcoming Spring Meal Plan has been fantastic!

Leeks are rich with soluble fiber, also known as inulin, which is a powerful prebiotic. Prebiotics feed healthy bacteria that grow in our gut microbiome. We need about 20-30 grams of fiber each day-- from both soluble (soft) and insoluble (adds bulk.) While fiber may be largely undigestible, we do know that the bacteria in our gut feed off of soluble fiber to create healthy microbiome balance.

This soup is a quick fix to get that dose of fiber, while brightening the palate with a pop of dill + providing relief from the weary, dreary winter with it's bright green color.


This soup has a dose of fiber both from the leeks and the peas.

With only six ingredients, it is quick and simple to assemble.

It is satisfying both in its chunky and pureed forms: for added flavor I like to put a little extra dill sprinkle on the top.



 Recipe
1 tb butter or olive oil
2 leeks, thinly sliced
3 green onions, thinly sliced
2 cups frozen peas 
1 qt vegetable or bone broth
2 tb fresh dill
. 
Sauté leeks and onion in butter until soft over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add peas and broth and cook for 10-12 minutes. Add fresh dill salt and pepper. Purée. . . .

For more recipes like this, check out a full list of the recipes in the Spring Meal Plan here.

SPRING LEEK SOUP

By NORA SHANK NUTRITION

This simple, high fiber soup is delicious and healthy with a bright pop of flavor from dill cooked in just 20 minutes from 6 simple ingredients

Prep time: 5 minutes, Cook time: 20 minutes, Total time: 25 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 Tb butter
2 leeks, split, rinsed and thinly sliced
3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 cups peas (frozen is fine)
1 qt vegetable or bone broth
2 Tb fresh dill, minced
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Instructions:

INSTRUCTION

Melt butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan

Saute leeks and green onions until soft, for 8-10 minutes

Add peas and broth, then bring to a simmer, about 10 minutes

Season with salt and pepper to taste

Serve or blend first with an immersion or standing blender.

Sweet Treat Traps

I had a client today who was sad he didn't lose any weight today.

He didn't see it as a "win".

 " There was Valentine's Day, and then it was a special anniversary; and my spouse brings sweets home all the time." 

But after a week of many of these special treats, he didn't gain any weight. That's a win, friends.

When we eat well at other times, our bodies handle those extra calories with grace. This is the point of metabolic training with consistent meals and enough fiber and healthy fat at each of those meals--> it leads to flexibility.

 " I'm sure I've gained weight." 

The scale said the exact same number. The proof was there that even with all those extra treats, the body is able to maintain homeostasis. No weight gain.

You can drink. You can eat sweets. You can have treats. 

And still not gain weight.

 " I'm sure its because I've eaten too much sugar. Sugar makes you fat."

The problem isn't just in the sugar (which does cause problems to the metabolism overall)-- I believe the problem starts with our self-talk traps.  If we constantly create confusion about sugar between our willpower (sugar is bad, it makes me fat) and our body  (where we have created a loop of desire and satisfaction with sugar that has been repeated by thousands of positive/happy experiences and reinforced heavily by dopamine)

- Sugar is not a bad food that makes us fat. -

We must change the conversation inside of ourselves.

Once the conversation inside starts to shift, we can move away from a dieting mindset.

Who wants to live losing and gaining the same ten pounds over and over?

Here's a simple way to get off that merry-go-round:

1) Start noticing what negative things you say to yourself about food

2) Find a new phrase to use about sweets, like " I enjoy this food" 

3) Figure out the context for the craving (is it emotions, physical, medical, environment)

4) Feed your body with the right food.

How to feed your body when the craving comes? Here's a new handout called Sweet Swaps that will help guide you to make good choices so that you can get a handle on those cravings.

Sweet Swap Tips by Nora Shank, RD

Fight Time, I mean, Dinner Time

I want to go on strike.
To quit making dinner. Can we just go to Chick-fil-A?
This is not the dietitian talking.
This is the mom, who is tired to fighting to feed every single bite of healthy food into my children's mouths.

Maybe it's because I'm tired or pregnant, but our dinner time has become a major fight time with my two children. I attribute this all to the prolonged winter weather and record cold temperatures, and the lack of the ability to lock send my children outdoors before dinner.

There are stages where it is explainable, commonly known in the nutrition world as "food jags", when kids get stuck on certain preferred food items-- but what about all the other times?

A RDN (registered dietitian nutritionist) named Jill Castle, wrote a great series on feeding toddlers, as well as wonderful resource for raising healthy eaters through childhood. In her article, "Your Toddler's Development: What to Expect and How It Affects Nutrition" she says,

Toddler eating can worry parents. Understanding how the toddler develops, both physically and cognitively (fancy word for brain development), can help you get a grip on why your toddler behaves the way he does, especially around food and eating.

Instead of giving up, I try to remember that children use food as the first power play-- they are learning to exert their independence as well as using it as a power play with parents and the limits we set. My role is simple: make and offer healthy food choices and model good eating behaviors.

In agreement with Castle's guidelines, we have never had many "rules" for eating at the table, but we have structure and standards for manners like: sitting still and not getting up from the table until you are finished with your meals, saying "please" and "thank you for dinner", not complaining about the meal, and trying at least one bite of a food that is "not your favorite".

I think it has worked for the most part, but with our long winter, I've been relying on a lot of warm foods, like soups and stews, which seem to be particularly difficult for them to try, because they can't separate the ingredients.

My husband was so kind as to offer to help me make some freeze-ahead meals for the next month or two, so I started by writing a list of our children favorite meals.

Here's a snapshot of what I came up with:

For the full list, you can find it on my Pinterest page here.
I am going to get a shopping list and few of the recipes together and start posting them as I go and fill up my freezer again with some of the freeze-ahead versions and shopping lists.

Thanks for stopping by!

Comfort

Through a difficult week for many friends over the loss of a dear mother, friend and Warrior. She's blazed a trail for many mothers many years ago, having a career as a nurse, then getting married later, only to really enjoy having seven kids and raising them well. Her daughter blogs about her in a tribute. 

In the same week, there was a terrible accident at the high school I attended, where a teen girl was killed and another girl seriously injured.

The loss of those two beautiful women is striking and severe. We all must face loss in our life. We might not lose our mother or our friend or our daughter, but every day we must confront our own mortality and limitations.  

Grief isn't just over great loss, it can be experienced every single day.  We might see them as frustrations or disappointments. But they are losses. The kids break the radio. The meat you took out for dinner is bad. School is delayed two hours again. Our friend let us down. The struggles we face might seem simple in light of a greater loss, but we still have to ask   How do we move through grief?

Every person has their own way through; and if you are currently experiences, I pray you will find your way through the comforts of Christ. But you will have your own time, methods, pace, momentum and stalling. That is why I love poetry; because it is always a reflection of someone else's process. It reassures me that I am not alone in my experience, nor am I supposed to make it look a certain way.

Speak low to me, my Saviour, low and sweet

From out the hallelujahs, sweet and low

Lest I should fear and fall, and miss Thee so

Who art not missed by any that entreat.

Speak to me as to Mary at thy feet!

And if no precious gems my hands bestow,

Let my tears drop like amber while I go

In reach of thy divinest voice complete

In humanest affection -- thus, in sooth,

To lose the sense of losing. As a child,

Whose song-bird seeks the wood for evermore

Is sung to in its stead by mother's mouth

Till, sinking on her breast, love-reconciled,

He sleeps the faster that he wept before. 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

There is a way through, one where you reach a place of rest from your sorrows and disappointments. There will be a time when we will "lose our sense of losing." A small psalm understands the smallness we feel when we grieve: Psalm 131 gives us a simple image: that of a resting child.

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;

my eyes are not raised too high;

I do not occupy myself with things

too great and too marvelous for me.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

like a weaned child with its mother;

like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore.

As Browning writes, there will be a time when we will have sweet rest faster than the tears come down so quickly.

My little ham bone

I haven't written about my son, Grant, in quite a while. After receiving this picture, I couldn't help but pause and reflect.

Isn't he a ham? We didn't prompt this pose at all. During the photo sessions after my brother-in-law's recent wedding, we were trying to get him to smile, and my husband gave him a "thumbs-up" from the sidelines. 

At three and a half, he has returned to his normal, cheerful, but mischievous self. In contrast to my daughter, he is much more sneaky. We often find him hiding with various electronics under our large ottoman, our bed or his bed. The same goes with food-- he says "surprise" with his little eyebrows raised, as if the candy or chocolate in his mouth was a great idea. He also has very specific preferences and explains those in great detail at great volume. This morning: "Mom, I need milk in. a. sippa. cup." Every word is emphasized. As if I didn't know or hadn't heard that one before.

Most of his winter days involve couch acrobatics, breakdancing spins on the wood floors, or going over "to check if Ben's home." Ben is his neighbor friend next door; Grant explains it like this, "You know, Ben's my bruder, you know, Mom?" Here they are roasting marshmallows in front of your favorite winter activity: making a fire. I think you get this love of woods, outdoors and fires from your Opa, who loves to take you outside to chop wood every time you visit him.

In other ways, you are still a little guy. Every morning, if you don't find me in bed, you ask me, "Why you not in bed, Mom? You supposed to 'nuggle me!" You bury your cold feet against my warm legs and you nuzzle down under the covers or blanket next to me. I love these little moments because I know they won't last forever. I always knew I wanted little boys for their rambunctious and spirited energy-- and I got a special one in you.

Two babes.

The first is my third child, due in July. Here's a picture of "Salami Shank" so dubbed by my three year old son.

Nice.

At least my older child calls it "Rosie".

Obviously, both my children have strong preferences on gender. Good thing it's not a decision I chose and have to live with the problem of being a major celebration for one and a epic disappointment for the other.

The second is my fourth. Yes, I am having two babies in one year! That's what Carolyn and I call our joint book project, The Measure of Success, due out February 1, 2014. Here's what it look like if you haven't seen it already on my Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and every where else :)

Here's a quote from the back of the book:

Discover God's view of the successful woman

Should a woman work? Can a woman be feminine, godly, and ambitious? Is work only for women who need the income? Is there any sanctified ground between the stay-at-home mom and the aspiring executive?

Whether you are married or single, young or old, and whether you work inside the home or in the marketplace, Carolyn and Nora create a rich vision for fulfillment through an understanding of the compelling foundation for the biblical call of productivity.

Far from the stone-throwing arguments that often occupy the discussion around women, work, and the home, Carolyn and Nora show how the redemptive message of the gospel allows the Bible's teaching on the role of women to coexist with ambition. It creates a fresh vision for the profit we all gain from encouraging female contribution in the home, society, and church.

If you've ever wondered whether you're living the life that most glorifies God,The Measure of Success will help you answer that question.

My bio on the back says that I ran several entrepreneurial candy and lemonade stands, so I thought would share a picture of my first with my childhood friend. Aren't we cute?? Can you read the sign on the right? It says, "Keep your cups if you wint more." That was the Dutch in me trying to be cheap and resourceful.

I can't wait to hear what you think about our latest venture! In the coming weeks, you'll hear more about how we would love to hear from our readers on their work and how they define success, as well as a few fun giveaways!

If you want to read more specifically about work for women and see less of me and my pictures, then you can check out my other site here.

Above the clouds

I'm siting here on the airplane, 30,000 feet up on the air, getting farther away from my city, and it's got me thinking. 

Why do I spend so much time wanting a break, when the minute I arrived in the security line, I feel lonely?

What?! Are you crazy, Nora? You finally get away from the kids-- and to be alone with girlfriends for the first time in probably ten years, and you're missing them already? 

I guess so. Call me crazy, but when your life starts embedding in your children's lives more deeply with each passing year, I finally get what all those weepy-eyed college mothers are crying about.

When my kids were super little, I loved getting away. There was the time Travis and I ran away for three days to the Mexican beaches and I was so fed up with a one and a half and three year old, all I did for the whole car ride down there was eat almost an ENTIRE bag of Sunchips. Not fed up obviously, just delirious and hungry-- a bad combination when standing in a gas station. 

Now that they are (almost) out of toddlerhood, and with the advent of school years upon me, I am more tied in than I ever thought.

This is when it is time to detox. I'm not saying to run away from your children maliciously. Or to neglect your duties or ignore your children's physical or emotional needs. I just agree with many other smarter old school mothers: I have to take care of myself.

This is a concept discussed with much more eloquence by Anne Morrow Lindbergh in her book Gift from the Sea. She writes how important it is to create creative and emotional space for ourselves as women, because we get tied up in being caregivers.

I think we all need time, extended time, away from those we love as caregivers. It will honestly take me several days to detox from mom and wife mode and the distracting thoughts about dishwashers needing to be unloaded or to find that missing pacifier. I have to choose to distance myself, not by disconnecting or stop caring, but by getting away from the essential, well known belief women all have that it's all up to me.

When we get away, we know that no vegetables will be eaten, the floors won't be clean, the laundry bins will overflow and something WILL get lost or broken.

But in our love to be central to our households, we can sometime forget the freedom found in letting go. 

It would have happened anyways: the laundry and cleaning will never cease. Food will spoil in the dark recesses of the fridge to the best of us. Tears will be shed anyways.

We're important but also important as an individual. Caring about yourself, specifically, your own soul, mind and body isn't wrong. It's a good thing for both you and the ones you are entrusting to others.

I feel this way every morning I put a little sweet kindergartner on the bus. I have to 'entrust their souls to God while doing good'.

A great speaker at our church said it well:  faith is believing in character as much as capabilities. On a deeper level, I have to trust other caretakers that they are reliable in character as well as capabilities.

We would like to think that the kids will really miss us (most likely our spouses will after they spend a weekend or afternoon fending for it on their own), but we will probably miss them more. It is good for children to learn that the universe does not revolve around Mom either. Dads can really use the time alone, without us disturbing their mojo with interjections and 'that's not the way we usually do it' commentary. 

So, here's from the flight deck: fasten your safety belts and take off-- take off for an hour: don't worry about your kids or think about how if you're not there present with them, that you are disappointing them. For full-time moms as well as full-time working moms this helps us survive as well as spend our emotional energy wisely. Taking time off also helps us to recharge our capacity for helping them through life and crazy heart emotions. Getting away helps us use other parts of our brains, including strategic and creative centers.

Friends, when was the last time you got away?? I'm just going to try not to text my husband reminders of a million details this weekend for starters :)

To a real friend...

Do you have THAT wonderful friend? Mine is the kind that would make me Pinterest worthy lunches just because. She loves my kids almost more than I do. She always answers the phone in a crisis moment. And she is a smokin' hot wife to her husband that puts my love language to shame. Put it this way: she inspires me.

It's her 30th birthday and I am off flying off this weekend to celebrate. I'm so excited!

First of all, she's totally worth it. And, second, o. my. goodness. I am leaving my family behind for five whole days! Yes, it's another beach vacation (which, if you've been paying attention, is like the seventh beach trip this year) but more so, it's about quality time with some awesome women.

Do you have THAT friend? What makes elevates a normal friend to that upper status? All I know is that I sure learn alot from her-- she's the kind that tells me I'm crazy, or overreacting, or both. The truth is we all need someone like that in our life. Someone that can see us from the outside (not inside a family) and tell us the bracing, unabashed truth.

I think it's what is called fellowship.

Have you found that? Do you seek it out?

True fellowship sure takes a lot of work and it isn't for the faint of heart, because it involves lots of driving back and forth, late nights, lots of money, talking on the phone again to talk about that one thing over and over again, rescuing them from their own children, loving sacrificially, and letting them borrow your clothes (or their husband borrowing your husband's clothes-- shhh! don't tell them we did that!) along with a million cups of coffee and other, shall we say, sustaining beverages.

So, this is a homage to my friend. I never knew that someone could be closer than a sister. She proved me wrong, and I am so grateful, because I am so much of a better person. I am so excited to not even pretend to be a skinny as her (lucky!) and do what we do best: enjoy good food, drink calorie-laden mochas and keep on talking.

If they put it on Amazon...

It must be real.

My (third) child has arrived. My friend just told me she preordered it. She should get a prize or something for being the first one to order it, right??

You can see it here, too.

It is our book: The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Outside-the-Box Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home.

It's due out sometime this spring officially, February 1, but, if you're crazy, like she and probably my Mom are, you can pre-order it here:

http://amzn.com/1433679922

Competition, Bylaws and Negotiation: How Business Principles Apply To School Lunches

As you know, my daughter just entered Kindergarten this week. As a mom, and as a dietitian, I worry about her: not just her emotional well-being, and her fears, but her physical health too. Thus enters the lunch competition.

Their are a million blog posts out there about packing healthy lunches for your kids. Just like most mommy topics, plenty of amazing ideas can instantly trigger the 'm-sending-my-kid-with-Cheetos-shame and subsequent guilt.

Here's the truth: stop feeling guilty. It's not too late to make a plan and gain some ground.

But here's a more important truth: you have limitations and so do your kids. Maybe, your five year old won't eat organic sunbutter (here) or doesn't like nitrate free lunch meat (here again). Not to mention that not everyone has the time or energy to create gorgeous, organic bento box and flower shaped cutout fruit bowls.

I am blogging this in real time. My kids ate eggs for breakfast, but Kate just refused to drink a honey sweetened fruit smoothie. Blast. She's getting dehydrated at school and, ahem, you moms know what that means for their bowels. 

Challenges. They're real. Especially when it comes to kids and healthy foods. They're picky, they're forgetful, their distracted, and then, to top it all off you are competing with the cafeteria, aka the magical kitchen where they can get pizza, nuggets and everything else theywould  rather eat anyways.

Sure, K will eat salad and broccoli, where G will have none of it, but the comparison between my lunch and that lunch in the cafeteria is just a world of difference in their minds. Moms, they just plain want that other choice more.

Here's some tips: 

1. Let them choose some of what they want for lunch. Getting them involved will create buy-in, that thing every mom should know: marketing strategies must be applied to children so they want the food.

2. Create ground rules. Don't be manipulated by school-aged children. Just like you don't give them the option of brushing their teeth, enforce some healthy guidelines for that child and stick to your by laws aka drinking water instead of soda.

3. Bend the rules occasionally. The worst thing we can do for our children is to create a black and white world that doesn't exist in the real world. Live (yourself included) in the 80/20. Do the right thing 80% of the time so you can break out of the box 20% of the time. This is called negotiation, a very powerful tool when you wield the power, not them.

Last night we were having a crisis of grand proportion at the dinner table. K was crying hysterically that her enchilada filling (usually her favorite meal) was falling out of the tortilla. And G was crying because he wasn't hungry and refused to eat any more than one bite of both that and the side of cantaloupe  Wow. A new low. So, after we had our requisite two bites, I pulled Kate aside and told her Here, eat this piece of chocolate, and that I told her extra snuggle hugs and a piece of chocolate fix most problems. Boom. World crisis averted. Break the rules sometimes, moms, and get over it if they don't eat all the right food groups yet. Persistence will eventually win them over from the dark, I mean, junk side.

Finally, just give yourself a pat on the back for surviving the first week of school lunches and have a piece of chocolate.

Love,

N

First first.

The first first of many. We put Kate on the bus a few minutes ago for her first day of kindergarten. Although it is exciting to start a new adventure together, it is really hard to say goodbye. I was totally surprised by the tears that leaked out of the corners of my eyes as I smiled and waved.  She was very excited for the last few weeks, but a couple of nights ago, I think the reality sunk in for her too. She was going to be gone all day. All day. This isn't camp, or vacation bible school, but this is leaving her home life for something much bigger and much longer. She's usually a brave girl, not afraid of new people or places or experiences. But I could tell, for us both, that we were sad to leave each other. The bond that we've spent five years making is stretched with new distance. She has spent the time looking at the world through my eyes and now she will have new experiences that I will only see through her beautiful, blue eyes. I love you girl.

Muffnies

That's what Grant called them until a few days ago. So sad that he is losing his baby talk and exchanging all words ending in "-nie" for words like "memoirs" (The Pooh Movie). Sniff.

It is our practice run week for school. K is in camp, going to a "Hop into Kindergarten" week every morning, so that we can practice getting ready and out the door for real school. Its the third day and she said to me this morning, "Mom, I don't really want to go away from you."

Double sniff.

That what you call a "muffin morning". When we woke up, it was low 60's outside too, so it really was a perfect cooler morning to try these muffins and heat up the kitchen with the warm smell of bananas, spices and oats.

 Here's a gluten-free recipe for you to try: Banana Oat Spice Muffins.

Banana Oat Spice Muffins.

1.5 cups gluten free flour (trader joes)

1.5 cups quick steel cut oats, whirred in the food processor for 2 minutes

1.5 teaspoons baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp fine sea salt

1 1/3 cups brown sugar

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

1.5 ripe bananas

1/4 cup buttermilk (I used kefir :)

Salted, shelled sunflower seeds (opt) for garnish

In a stand mixer bowl, beat wet ingredients (except buttermilk) until thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes, until bananas are broken down evenly into other ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flours and other dry ingredients. 

Add dry ingredients all at once to the wet ingredients, mix on low speeds, then add buttermilk, until ingredients are just combined.

Let stand for one hour or overnight in the refrigerator.

Scoop into standard muffin tins. Sprinkle with seeds if desired.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned on edges and firm to touch on top.

Enjoy!

Back to school

I am trying to get prepared for a very busy fall. We head to our (last) beach trip the week after next and then it's back to school. Since I have a kindergartner and a preschooler this year, I have to make take-and-go lunches for the first time since I was in highschool.

One food challenge is new to me: the "nut-free" dilemma. Fortunately, with my background as a dietitian, I have some experience with this topic. That doesn't mean that it is easy to apply. Especially when you add two peanut-butter addicts to the mix.

When I asked K why she likes peanut butter so much, she said, "Because it's thick. It's salty. And it's crunchy.And it makes me feel good."

Enough said.

It's all this guy's fault: meet D, the man who eats peanut butter every day. I think my dad put a genetic code into our bodies to love the stuff. It might be a little thick to run like blood through our bodies, but with the amounts that my collective family eats, it might as well.

Alas, this causes a slight problem for school aged children in my household. Fortunately, for K, she can have nuts in her lunch, just not in her snack. Here's a list of lunch ideas I came up with to post on my fridge  (note: K doesn't like most cheese, so that creates additional obvious eliminations) so that I know what to do on coming morning rush moments...

Hard/Wonderful

Is there anything too hard for The Lord? Genesis 18

Recently, there was this moment where I panicked. It was like someone plucked a string deep, down and low. It sent old feelings vibrating through me like the twang of an off-key string. Discouragement and thoughts started to surface like, "Are we really going to make it?"

With our move to the East Coast, we live in an area with a very different vibe from Maricopa County, Arizona. There's a lot of pressure to be something, to get somewhere, to have some nice things. Sure, those pressures would be there inside of us even if we were not surrounded by Capitol fervor. But I think Washingtonians define success a little differently. In our book, we call it the pressure to be "The". 

The Political.

The Lady.

And for me, and my husband, we find ourselves easily slipping into the pressure to be "The Young Couple." We so want to be doing great things for The Lord and to be able to live generous, fruitful lives.

And we have setbacks. Needs arise. People you care to help. And so, "The" plan, changes. It's easy to sit comfortably in ease and splendor, with great confidence, when life is going according to plan. Life has another soundtrack, though. It has one hit wonders, happy jingles and symphonic moments, sure, but it also has a lot of dissonance and chaos. What we need to hear most in those moments is the promise that nothing is too hard for The Lord. 

Did you catch the title of the post? Hard is also wonderful. In other translations, the general sense of this phrase can also mean Is anything too wonderful for The Lord?

Do you feel up against the odds? Feel left out? Like you will never catch up?  It's the moments when the toys all over the floor again ten minutes after you've cleaned them up, and someone decided it was a great idea to try crushing Cheezits into the carpet, and you have to make dinner from scratch again to save money, that you have to give yourself a pep talk,

I am doing something worth it.

Nothing is too hard.

Underneath are the everlasting arms.

He is making me strong.

It is lie that all the time we have to be "The" woman: a modern superwoman. Admitting weakness is hard, but it can also be wonderful. Let's try and look to the most important "The": our Lord and Savior. We can start by moving away from the hurt, pain or fear towards hearing His voice and putting Him first in our thoughts, emotions and actions.

Love,

Nora

Visions

My sister passed this along to me this morning. I am pretty impatient when it comes to waiting for my plans (or dreams) to come true.

Hoping this encourages you this morning.

Vision And Reality

Utmost for His Highest

July 6, 2013

And the parched ground shall become a pool. — Isaiah 35:7

We always have visions, before a thing is made real. When we realize that although the vision is real, it is not real in us, then is the time that Satan comes in with his temptations, and we are apt to say it is no use to go on. Instead of the vision becoming real, there has come the valley of humiliation.
"Life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And batter’d by the shocks of doom
To shape and use."
God gives us the vision, then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of the vision, and it is in the valley that so many of us faint and give way. Every vision will be made real if we will have patience. Think of the enormous leisure of God! He is never in a hurry. We are always in such a frantic hurry. In the light of the glory of the vision we go forth to do things, but the vision is not real in us yet; and God has to take us into the valley, and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the place where He can trust us with the veritable reality. Ever since we had the vision God has been at work, getting us into the shape of the ideal, and over and over again we escape from His hand and try to batter ourselves into our own shape.
The vision is not a castle in the air, but a vision of what God wants you to be. Let Him put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes, and as sure as God is God and you are you, you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision. Don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had the vision of God, you may try as you like to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never let you.

Gaining and Losing

Have you ever stepped on the scale and wondered, "O MY GOODNESS! How did I just gain like five pound in a week?" We all worry about it, but especially with vacation season here, we've worried our way up until the moment we leave about how we are going to look in our bathing suit, only to worry about what the scale says about us when we get back.

Here's the rock bottom truth: We all gain weight. We all lose weight, too.

Let's not forget that a number is never finite. That means that the number that you see on the scale after the beach or the trip is not always reflective of how you ate a whole bag of Sunchips in the car on the way to the beach (done that) and had a huge handful of M&M's until the bag was empty (oops, me too).

First of all, travel always disrupts our gut and our fluid status. That means that the traveling part slows our bowels down, and then all the sitting causes us to retain fluid. Then, we eat all sorts of "treats" which are usually higher in fat and sugar-- whether it's the soda on the beach or the glass of wine at night, not to mention all the extra snacks and desserts. 

I  am always shocked when I get back on the scale after vacation. But I have to tell myself. Do. not. panic. I don't need to diet. I need to get back to what is called "mindful eating". Small weight changes or fluctuations in weight do not need to set us off on a crash diet. Most of us just need to return to our healthier habits and normal physical activities, ones that do not include lounging around like a slug in the sun slurping up every calorie laden beverage in sight...

After listening to a great webinar about mindful eating, I really liked how the speaker made her principles easy to remember and full of sound, non-panicky, wisdom:

1) Eat with INTENTION.

2) Eat with ATTENTION.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, I usually know exactly what I need to do to get back on track. First, I start choosing my food very carefully if I'm up a few pounds. Or, if I've been really busy and I've been on survival mode, I pay more attention to what foods taste like, chewing more slowly and carefully, sitting down for meals, and paying more attention to the food I'm used to inhaling. Both strategies work to manage that weight as we gain and lose in the natural flow of life.

How are you doing managing your ups and downs? Any strategies you find really helpful? I'd love to hear them!

Love,

Nora

Lean In and Watch.

 

Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning.
Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
Psalm 5:1-3

I remember reading Psalm 1 as a child, memorizing the words as I rode in the backseat on the way to school with Jon Ward and his brothers. As I grew up, I would read it again, and then skim over the next 22 Psalms until I got to Psalm 23. I just didn't understand what all that groaning and crying was about.

Now I get it what those Psalms about pain were saying in between those two bookends of Christian prose. Life has a way of educating you about pain quickly.

Have you ever waited for something that you really wanted? Do you ever long for that thing to change? Are you on the edge of your soul, desperate for it to happen?

I am. As a wife and a mother, I am not only want things for myself, but there are those around me I am praying for that God would answer as well.  Another translation for that phrase "prepare a sacrifice for you and watch" i s "direct our prayer to you." In the HCSB Study Bible, it says, "at daybreak I plead my case to You and watch expectantly." 

When I really want something I don't have (and I am not just talking about wanting this beautiful new couch), I have to remind myself of two truths:

First, God listens.

Second, I must lean in and watch expectantly.

I know that Cheryl Sandberg says that women need to lean in more to their careers and stop opting out too soon. I would say the same is true for our faith as women. God wants us to remember that He hears our needs, our groanings too deep for words, as well as our wants. It's not wrong to be ambitious and want things. We just have to ask and then be willing to watch.

I too have to keep my eyes open while I watch. I have to watch for small moments of gentleness in my daughter, and then praise her for it, and not forget it in the moments when she is wild and crazy. I have to watch for the sweetness in our marriage, and thank my husband for his love. I have to watch for "God-sightings" (as my kids are learning in VBS this week) in my career as I desire to work again.

We have to watch. Sometimes, we get so fixed and focused on the mundane, the minutiae of life, that we forget to prepare, pray and then watch with our eyes opened. I pray God will give you the eyes to see His love at work.

Detoxing

Recently I was asked about detoxing especially after a major surgery. Here's my advice for anyone trying to detox their body of unwanted toxins, or in this case, after strong pain medications.

"A diet focused on probiotic containing foods, fruits and vegetables is always safe, effective way to help your body take a break from harder to digest foods. 

Start by drinking 60 oz of water every day, then include two servings of probiotic containing foods like kombucha, kefir and yogurt. Try eating vegan as much as possible (if so desired, adding clean and lean meats) and increasing healthy fat intake from avocado and extra virgin olive oil (or equally clean fats.) 

Really, the most benefit is derived from LOTS of greens, not just in salads or raw but sautéed or in smoothies or juicing. You can't go wrong with it unless you are on blood thinners. Other foods like cabbage, celery, many asian vegetables would be beneficial as well for detoxifying the liver. These foods have also high amounts of fiber which can help relieve the constipation related to higher doses of pain medication. They are rich in iron, calcium as well as B vitamins.

Adding in lots of spices such as cinnamon and fresh ginger to your food choices as well as lemon or grapefruit into your drinks can really 'flush' your body with anti-inflammatory antioxidants and reduce stiffness or muscle soreness.

Lastly I highly recommend yoga or therapeutic stretching (if your doctor okays it) to get all that muscle stiffness associated with surgery or stress out of your body. I did that this spring when I was trying to recover from writing our book and needed to rejuvenate my system. 

As always consult with a dietitian or doctor to confirm what would be best for your body.

As always, choose to do something worth it--even if its just cutting back on sugar and eating two vegetables for dinner, you will still be making strides towards a healthier, stronger body.

The 2nd time I fell in love...

A blogger I love to read asked if it was normal to feel sentimental about loving your first baby as you prepare for the second.

Yes.

Not that I'm not totally in love with my little guy, and his sweet golden curls, but the first moment I saw her, I knew I would love her as fiercely as I ever could.

Where did this fierce and beautiful creature come from? She is, as her name implies, 'each of the two'-- a powerful combination of two firstborn children all wrapped up into one empathetic, curious, creative, people-loving powerhouse.

Five years ago today (on a equally hot day) in Phoenix, I met her. We kept it a surprise but, o, how had I wished for a girl! And now that I know her a little better I am even more excited to see what kind of woman she becomes.

Happy Birthday dear girl-- who else would I make a five layered, strawberry blueberry rainbow cake for but you?