Living Jenn

A LIFESTYLE BLOG ABOUT MARRIAGE, INFERTILITY, AND LIFE

Archives for December 2014

God Will Deliver Us From Our Misery

This year when Starbucks released their Christmas cup collection, I knew instantly which one I wanted. Every time I was out, I would say to myself, “I’ll get it later” Kevin even asked me a few times, and I would say the same thing “I’ll get it later.” Well, a few weeks ago, later came, and the cup sold out online, so I drove to a few stores, and no luck; it seems this cup was so popular it sold out right away. After a trip to a gym outside my area, I decided to stop and see if any stores in that area had the cup. I parked and prayed sort of jokingly, “Lord, this is it; this is the last store I’m stopping (which was the first store) at; please let them have the mug.” God knows my love for mugs, so this prayer doesn’t surprise Him.

I walked in, looked around, and there was MY CUP! I was so excited I walked up to the Barista and said, “I just prayed that you would have this cup, and here it is.” Smiling and laughing, I then said, “God delivers us from our misery.” The Barista replied, “Hallelujah! Yes, HE does!” Taken back, my eyes filled with tears, I looked at the Barista and said, “excuse me?” He replied, “God will always deliver us from misery. God will always redeem us.” I thanked the young man with tears rolling down and told him how much I needed to hear that right now.
I love how God places signs or people in our path to reaffirm what we know to reassure us of His promise to us. I hope this story will do for you what it did for me, and may you know whatever you are going through right now, whatever misery you are in, God will deliver you from it.

XOXO,
Jenn

PS I’m giving away FOUR Val Marie Paper Prayer Journals TWO winners plus TWO people they tag! Go back to Instagram, look for the post announcing this blog post, and tag a person you think would like a prayer journal. Good luck! Winners will be chosen at random and announced on Tuesday, December 30th.

il_570xN_651845571_bkhq

Photo By Val Marie Paper

It’s All About Balance

The first thing I’ve learned about this trying to conceive journey (TTC) is that everyone has an opinion on what supplements you should take and what you should or should not eat. Now, before I begin, these are my thoughts and what I learned about a diet I was on I’m not saying I’m right or wrong; I just found what works for me.

For three years before trying to conceive, I was a strict vegetarian, and I was the unhealthiest I have ever been. My skin looked awful; I was constantly sick; I had very low energy; I also gained weight I was the heaviest I had ever been. I’m still struggling with the weight I gained. I was a bad vegetarian.

I would crave meat protein but would deny myself it because I had it stuck in my head that it was horrible for me, but in actuality, it was my diet that was horrible for me. Don’t get me started on all the juice cleanses or juice-only days I did oh, I could kick myself! Because I was not getting enough nutrients and protein, I craved sugar and carbs so much, so it made me pre-diabetic, and all the sugar in all the juices I was drinking didn’t help. My digestive system was also out of whack, which made me feel stuck and sluggish.

After a routine checkup and blood work, my doctor called to tell me I had several vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and that’s when she explains to me the diet I was restricting myself to was doing more harm than good. She also told me she suspected I had developed leaky gut syndrome because she needed me to see a few specialists.

It’s All About Balance
I now eat balanced meals, skip gluten as much as possible, and say no to juice cleanses. When I went back to eating a limited amount of meat, my cravings for sugar and carbs disappeared, and I regained my energy. Eastern medicine, as well as many other cultures, believe that balance ‘cold’ foods lowers your blood flow and ‘warm’ foods increase it; optimal health is associated with free-flowing energy when you’re blocked, this can’t happen. Non-Western Medicine believes our power is centered in our middle, and it must be working correctly for everything else to be working correctly. I think feeling stuck had a lot to do with my diet.

Here are a few ways to increase your blood and energy flow:
Acupuncture
Massage
Maya/Arvigo massage
Chiropractic Care
Walking
Yoga
Swimming
Stretching
Mediating
Whatever diet you prescribe to make sure it’s the right one for you.

XOXO