It’s finally here!!! We get to meet our precious new baby today! Lord willing in about 4 hours we’ll have a 4th member in our family 🙂  Just thought I’d share a couple last belly shots. After our long journey, it’s hard to believe this is finally going to be a reality. Trusting that God will give us peace and that everything will go smoothly with the delivery and recovery. I’m sure my kitchen experiments and posting will be a bit sparse for a while. But I’ll be back. And I’ll post pics soon. Thanks to all of you that have shared this journey wtih me and my family.

And since this is a food blog I just have to add…boy am I hungry!! 😛  I am not the kind of person that can normally skip breakfast…but I guess I can put up with it for today 😛  Looking forward to lunch 🙂

Infertility Myth: A doctor can make you pregnant.

I am participating in Resolve’s Bust a Myth Challenge during National Infertility Awareness Week. I debated about which myth to bust…since there are so many! And I decided to talk about the issue I come across most often. Many people know little or nothing about fertility treatments, specifically IVF. And they think that a doctor is trying to play God and can make a woman get pregnant. After multiple rounds of clomid, IUI and IVF I can assure you this could not be farther from the truth! Doctors try to help. But in the end it’s all in God’s hands, no matter what.

I’ve heard IVF described as “taking the easy way” or “a sure thing.” Let’s see. What is easy about month after month of heart break and disappointment? What is easy about pills, injections, treatments, constant doctor appointments, drug side effects, weight gain and pain? What is easy about spending tens of thousands of dollars just to conceive a child? Nothing! I can say that going through infertility and treatments is one of the hardest things a person can do. And the hardest part…more often than not the treatments don’t even work. Sadly for some they never work. As much as we would like success every time it is all a guessing game. And a doctor can not make you get pregnant. Only God can do that.

Let’s explore a couple different fertility treatments…and how a baby is actually conceived.

The first attempt for most people is clomid. It’s just a pill you take for a few days to help a woman ovulate/produce a mature egg. And everything else is done the “natural” way. This works for many people. For me it did nothing, except make me feel rotten and emotional. I did not ovulate while taking clomid. So no chance of getting pregnant…doctor or no doctor.

Next for us was IUI (intra-uterine insemination). If the woman needs help with hormones/egg production she takes medication (clomid or injectable drugs). If the woman does not have problems the drugs are not necessary. Then a doctor injects a sample of sperm into the woman’s uterus around the time of ovulation. And nature takes its course. If a sperm fertilizes an egg and the egg implants in the uterus, then the woman gets pregnant. If not, then not. Again, no doctor “makes” anything happen. And as a side note, IUI is often what results in multiples/high order multiples (even though most people think it’s through IVF) because there is so little control. If the woman produces 6 mature eggs, she has the chance to become pregnant with 6 babies. My personal experience with IUI is limited. We tried it once…and found out we had male factor infertility…so the odds of it working were pretty much zero.

Finally we move on to IVF (in-vitro fertilization). IVF is a little more complicated. First the woman takes hormone drugs (mostly injections) to help her produce multiple mature eggs. When the eggs are mature, the doctor removes them from her uterus. Then the sperm and the eggs are put together to see if any of the eggs will become fertilized. Sometimes this is done without intervention. Sometimes a procedure called ICSI is used where one sperm is directly injected into an egg (in the case of poor sperm morphology/shape). Either way the doctor has no control over whether or not an egg is fertilized. It either happens or doesn’t depending on the quality/genetics of the sperm and the egg. If/when one or more eggs are fertilized then they are placed back into the woman’s uterus. It is up to the patient and the doctor how many to put back. Being able to select only one or two gives less chance of high order multiples with IVF than there is with IUI. Any unused fertilized eggs are frozen. And here is where I think the biggest misconception comes in. Yes, a doctor places a fertilized egg into the woman’s uterus (a transfer). But NO, the doctor CAN NOT IMPLANT the fertlized egg. That is physically impossible. As with any other means of getting pregnant, it is in God’s hands. IF the fertilized egg is viable and IF it implants in the uterus, then the woman gets pregnant. A doctor can not control either of those factors. A baby is not conceived until the fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus and becomes a viable embryo. I know from experience that even implantation doesn’t mean a pregnancy. We had one IVF transfer that resulted in a chemical pregnancy. The fertilized egg implanted, but it was not viable. So it didn’t really grow. The doctor could not control the viability or know ahead of time if it was viable. That is in God’s hands. Doctors can make predictions about which fertilized eggs “look good.” But it doesn’t mean it is truly viable.

So it all boils down to the fact that we can take drugs to adjust hormone levels, we can make sure the sperm reaches the egg, but we can’t make someone pregnant. Doctors don’t create life. Only God does. It doesn’t matter if you’re taking a simple pill or going through multiple procedures. A doctor can only do so much. And then it’s up to God whether or not a sperm and egg will come together viably and implant in a woman’s uterus to create a baby.

A doctor can not make you pregnant. I know that first hand. Here is my infertility journey to prove it. If a doctor could make me pregnant I would never have had to go through all of this.

January 2007 – 1st round of clomid – no ovulation

February 2007 – 2nd round of clomid – no ovulation
March 2007 – 3rd round of clomid/1st IUI – not pregnant, male factor Dx

July 2007 – IVF #1 – OHSS (hyperstimulation, produced over 40 eggs), no fresh transfer, 15 fertilized eggs frozen
August 2007 – FET (frozen embryo transfer) #1 – pregnant, daughter born 4/17/08

October 2009 – FET #2 – not pregnant

November 2009 – IVF #2 – OHSS (produced over 40 eggs), no fresh transfer, 14 fertilized eggs frozen

January 2010 – FET #3 – not pregnant
February 2010 – FET #4 – not pregnant
March 2010 – FET #5 – beta #1 (hcg level) – 2, beta #2 – 5.1, beta #3 – 51, beta #4 – 49…not pregnant, chemical pregnancy

July 2010 – IVF #3 – OHSS (produced over 50 eggs), no fresh transfer, 10 fertilized eggs frozen

August 2010 – FET #6 – pregnant!!! 9/2/10 – beta #1 – 120, 9/8/10 – beta #2 – 1,223, 9/14/10 – beta #3 – 8,220, 1st u/s 9/21/10 – 1 healthy heartbeat: 122bpm!, EDD 5/14/11

I have been on a long journey (that isn’t over yet). And I am so grateful that God has blessed my husband and I with one IVF miracle that just turned 3 and another IVF miracle that we will be meeting in 13 days (or less!). We don’t know what God has in store for the future, but we know it is in His hands…not a doctor’s.

If you would like to know more about infertility please visit the Resolve website.

I’ll admit it…I sweat…a lot 😛  I’m not a big person…and I’m cold all the time. BUT I also have severe anxiety. And right now I’m pregnant. Not a great combo 😛  I haven’t used regular deodorant in a long time. I’ve been using a couple different natural deodorants for well over a year. They work fine most of the time. But when I’m really nervous. And especially right now they just don’t seem to be all that effective. I’d rather be sweaty than go back to conventional chemical deodorants. But I’d still like to have something that works. I finally got around to making my own deodorant last week. And tried it out yesterday. I’ve only used it for one day. But the verdict so far is very positive! Even with a big outing yesterday, that would normally cause me to sweat a bunch, I stayed dry. And there was no sweat odor. Pretty amazing for me. I still have to test the limits of this stuff, but so far I’m loving it. And I love that I know exactly what’s in it. Sometimes even the “natural” deodorants make me nervous. So this is great.

I got the recipe from Donielle at Naturally Knocked Up. I don’t have any old deodorant tubes to use. So for now I just put it in a small container and apply it with my finger. No big deal. It goes on very easily. No mess, no residue, nothing on my clothes. And it smells good too. I used peppermint oil since that’s all I have. Maybe I’ll have to try tea tree oil sometime. I only made a half recipe to try it out. It’ll still last a while. So glad I finally tried this. I just wish I had done it sooner! So easy. And hopefully very effective. And Donielle even mentioned that she sweats less/needs less after using it for a while. I hope that’s the case for me too. Not much of a picture…but it’s deodorant. You can’t expect much 😛

Homemade Deodorant

1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup organic cornstarch or arrowroot powder (I used arrowroot)
5-6 tablespoons coconut oil
5-10 drops tea tree oil (I used peppermint)

Mix all ingredients together and press into an old deodorant container. To use, let it rest against your skin for a couple seconds to soften the coconut oil, do one slow swipe under each arm and use the palm of your hand to spread it around.

For years people have been touting soy as such a healthy food. But is it really? I don’t think so. In fact, I try to avoid soy in any form at all costs. And I wish I had known sooner just how unhealthy it is. When I first started going to doctors for digestive issues they told me it was “just IBS.” I found an IBS message board and followed their diet guidelines…which included cutting out all dairy. So I had to find an alternative. My first attempt…you guessed it, soy. I drank soy milk and ate soy ice cream for quite a while. Until I figured out it was making me feel worse than when I was using dairy. I stopped the soy milk. Not because I thought it was bad for my health. Just because it made me feel bad. And I guess that was a blessing in disguise. Although I’m not sure how much damage it did while I was using it.

So, what is wrong with soy? Well, the main issue in my opinion is what it does to your hormones. And as someone that struggles with infertility that is a HUGE issue for me. I don’t want my food altering my hormones in a bad way. Soy contains something called phytoestrogens, which are plant derived estrogens. If you eat soy it mimics the estrogen your body normally makes naturally…reducing the amount of real estrogen your body produces…causing a hormonal imbalance. “a few studies have actually shown that high levels of soy can increase menstrual cycle length, decrease the follicle-stimulating hormone and also decrease the leutinizing hormone.” That’s a recipe for infertility for sure. It can contribute to endometriosis and PCOS in women. In men it can lower sperm counts, lower testosterone levels and even hinder development in boys. So please avoid soy formula!! “Phytoestrogens, particularly from soy proteins, have become a major component in our typical Western diet. The use of soy-based infant formulas to treat babies that are allergic to cow’s milk is of special concern, because it’s believed that the most vulnerable periods when the most serious, and possibly even irreversible damage to the developing sexual organs can occur, are the pre- and neonatal periods.” Or if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, please don’t eat soy. Soy is basically an endocrine disruptor and can potentially cause infertility in both men and women. It can also cause early puberty. And even contribute to breast cancer.

Aside from hormone disruption, soy interferes with vitamin absorption. It inhibits your body from properly using calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Plus it makes your body require more vitamin B12.

Another big issue in today’s world is GMOs. Similar to corn products, almost all soy products are genetically modified. Again, something I try to avoid at all costs. When I eat something I want to know what it really is. I don’t want DNA from some other organism in my food. Soy is used in so many products these days in forms like soy protein and textured vegetable protein. It’s cheap, it’s easy to use. Of course big companies use it. They don’t care about health, they care about money.

I could continue. There are so many bad things to say about soy. But I wanted to mostly focus on how it relates to fertility, hormones and children. Do I have anything good to say? Some forms of soy are ok in moderation. Like properly prepared, non-GMO fermented forms (miso, tempeh, natto). But those aren’t things I eat anyway. So I try to avoid all soy. It’s tough. I know I get a little soy lecitin in our chocolate chips (I should pay the higher price for the kind without). Aside from that, though, I don’t knowingly eat any soy. And I don’t intend to let my children eat it either.

We are fortunate to not have any kind of food allergies in our family. But what if you can’t have dairy? There are a few options…that aren’t soy. If you are just lactose intolerant (not allergic) I would first try raw milk. It is much easier to digest and many people that can’t handle pasteurized milk can handle raw milk. If that is not an option or you are truly allergic you can try goat’s milk (preferably raw as well). Or coconut milk. That is a very healthy alternative. Or almond milk (preferable homemade). Many alternative milks that you buy in the store are processed, genetically modified and have lots of sugar (processed sugar) added. Homemade rice milk is ok too, although not as nutritious. The bottom line, just because you can’t tolerate pasteurized cow’s milk don’t immediately jump to soy!

Will it kill you to eat a little soy once in a while if you are a healthy adult? Probably not. But I would say anyone that is pregnant or breastfeeding, anyone struggling with infertility or hormonal issues, anyone with digestive problems and babies/growing children should avoid all soy. And don’t forget it is also hidden in many health and beauty products. So always read labels…both for things you put into and put on your body.

Before I end I wanted to quick mention flax seeds. I used to add them to a lot of my food because they have omega-3s and they really help with digestion. But after some research I stopped. Flax seeds can have similar effects to soy…altering hormones. It is especially not recommended if you are trying to conceive or are pregnant. I don’t think it’s quite as bad as soy, but I still try to avoid it.

One of the things that intrigued me and confused me the most when starting my Real Food journey was the idea of soaking grains. You mean I’m supposed to get my flour wet before using it? As someone that loves to bake that just didn’t make sense to me. And when I first heard about it I kind of ignored the idea. But as I gradually read more and more I thought there might be something to it. So I did some research to find out why. And I gave it a try.

Turns out there is actually a good reason to soak or sprout grains. A little thing called phytates. Grains contain anti-nutrients to make them difficult to digest and compounds that prevent active enzyme activity in your digestive system. This puts stress on your pancreas. In the unsoaked/unsprouted state grains contain phytates which makes the minerals in the grains unavailable to us. This can lead to mineral deficiencies and poor bone density. Both enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid can be neutralized by soaking grains. This makes them easier to digest and makes the nutrients available to your body. This process also begins to pre-digest the grains, breaking down complex starches and tannins that can irritate your stomach, as well as beginning to break down proteins like gluten.

So without soaking or sprouting grains they are very difficult to digest and are actually harmful to your body. The best thing to do…soak, sprout or use sourdough.

So, how exactly do you do that? It’s not as hard as you’d think. And honestly I think that soaking often makes baking easier! It breaks up the process into very short steps that only take a few minutes here and there. The main thing you have to be willing to do…PLAN AHEAD. Soaking does take time. So if you want soaked pancakes in the morning, you have to plan and get them started the night before.

The basic idea is that you use cultured dairy or another acid medium to soak the grains for at least 7 hours before using them. The easiest way to start is by using recipes that give exact instructions on what ingredients to use, how much and how long. Once you get the hang of it you can start experimenting.

Soaking can be used on all kinds of grains…wheat, oats, rice, etc. It is also used for lentils, beans and nuts.

What if I don’t always have time to soak my flour before baking or what if I forgot to plan ahead? An alternative is to sprout the wheat. I often do this so that I have flour on hand for those times I want to do some last minute baking. You sprout the wheat berries, dry them and grind them into flour. Then the phytates are already neutralized and you don’t have to soak it. I have directions on how to sprout wheat berries (or any other grains) here. You will need a grain mill to do this. I have an attachment for my stand mixer. It works well, but you can only do small batches of flour. Some day I’d like to get a real grain mill. The other good thing about grinding your own wheat (sprouted or not)…it’s cheap! Wheat berries are definitely cheaper than whole wheat flour. I just got 25 lbs. of berries for $22.

A third option for dealing with phytates…sourdough. Sourdough also breaks down the phytates and makes the grains easier to digest. Sourdough can be used for all kinds of baked goods. Here’s how I made my sourdough starter. It’s actually very easy. And it’s been going strong ever since.

Finally, phytates are not limited to grains. They are also found in nuts and seeds. To reduce the phytates in nuts and seeds you have to soak and dry them. A simple process. And you can do a huge batch at once and store them in the freezer so you have them on hand. A healthy, easy snack. The method is the same for all nuts, just some variations on soaking time and salt amounts. I have made peanuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts and cashews. All very good.

Well, my little peanut is calling me from her bed…and she’s probably soaked 😛  So I’ll call this good for today. I hope it sheds a little light on the idea behind soaking and sprouting. It really is good for your tummy and your health.

I’m always looking for new ways to use my sourdough. A while back I found a great recipe for sourdough pizza crust on Kitchen Stewardship. I’ve been wanting to try it for a while.

Since ham pizza is my daughter’s favorite, and we have a bunch of good quality (nitrite/nitrate free) ham leftover from Christmas I figured it was a great time to try it.

How Did It Go?

The recipe is very easy to make. And you do all the dough prep ahead of time so that dinner time is easy. The end result…great!

I thought it was very good. The recipe made enough dough for one large rectangular pizza.

There were only a couple issues with our pizza. First, I forgot to buy mozzarella cheese…so ours had a combo of mild cheddar, marble and parmesan. It still tasted great.

Uh Oh!

The other thing is that the recipe says to put the dough on Silpat. Which I did. And it works great. But I left it on the Silpat…and my pizza cutter went through it. So that one had to go in the trash…and they’re not cheap!

So do take the pizza off the Silpat before cutting. After that incident I put the pizza on a large wood cutting board. Worked well. Honestly I think it would work just fine to not even use a Silpat in the first place. You could put the dough right on the pan. You could dust the pan with cornmeal or use parchment paper.

Aside from that the pizza was really good. I thought it had a great texture…not too thin, not too thick. I will be making sourdough pizza again for sure.

Check out the full recipe at Kitchen Stewardship. I’ll show the process below.

Sourdough Pizza

1 1/2 cups “discarded” sourdough starter (I just use my sd starter normally…I never discard anything.)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 tsp. salt
1 – 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used 3/4 cups ww, 1/4 cup rye and 1/2 cup sprouted ww…just what I had on hand)
—————–
sauce – I used my homeamde pizza sauce.
toppings – I used a combo of cheeses, ham, broccoli, peppers and sauteed onion.

When I started my journey towards eating Real Food, it all sounded so overwhelming. I started by reading Nourishing Traditions. It has so much information. And I knew I didn’t have much time to get my eating on track. So I had to jump head first into a lot of change. Thankfully I am a very determined person and do not give up on things easily. So this did not deter me. But I know that is not the case for everyone. So I wanted to come up with a list of some simple things you can do to start eating better. You can do one at a time or a bunch together. Whatever works. But each one individually is fairly simple. And might make the process easier if you tackle one at a time. Once it becomes part of your life try another one.

Simple Steps Towards Eating Real Food

* Replace vegetable oils with real butter, coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil.
* Experiment with soaking grains by using recipes that give specific instructions.
* Take fermented cod liver oil/butter oil daily (Green Pastures)
* Eat probiotic food daily (fermented food, yogurt, kefir) and/or take a supplement. Eating some full fat yogurt daily is an easy way to start.
* Replace white flour with whole wheat flour.
* Replace white/brown/powdered sugar with raw honey, real maple syrup or pure cane sugar.
* Use full fat dairy products.
* Replace pastuerized, homogenized milk with pastuerized, non-homogenized. (For those living in MI, Mooville Creamline is a great choice). If possible use raw milk.
* Do not eat a vegetarian diet. Quality meat is essential for proper nutrition.
* Eat good quality eggs often. Eat the yolks raw or runny when possible for the most nutrition.
* Eat organic produce when possible. Avoid anything grown with pesticides, fertilizers, chemicals, etc. Visiting the local farmer’s market in the summer is a great way to get quality produce. Use it fresh and preserve it for the winter.
* Eat seafood regularly.
* Replace cereal with other healthy breakfast foods.
* Avoid using the microwave.
* Replace plastic food storage containers with glass containers.

When I started on my journey towards natural foods and lifestyle I read a lot of bad stuff about fluoride. So I decided to switch to a more natural toothpaste…without fluoride. My next criteria was to avoid SLS (sodium laurel sulfate). That really limited the options. Almost every “natural” toothpaste I found has SLS. But Burts Bees doesn’t. So I’ve been using that for quite a while. And I have the children’s version for Rebecca. I figured I had avoided all the bad stuff. And Rebecca and I both like it.

Then a few months ago I started getting some very sensitive teeth. I’ve always had very healthy teeth. Sure, a few cavities, but overall very good. And I wondered what was going on. At my last dentist appt. they said they didn’t really see anything. Maybe the very beginning stages of receding gums. They thought it might be related to pg. But I knew it was more than that.

So recently I did some searching again, and read Donielle’s post about her search for natural toothpaste. And found the answer…at least what I think is the answer…glycerin. When companies make natural toothpaste and cut out the chemicals they turn to glycerin. Sadly glycerin coats your teeth and prevents it from remineralizing. So while I did cut out the chemicals, I also was not really helping my teeth. And I’m paying for it. And I DON’T want to ruin Rebecca’s teeth.

So of course I wanted to fix the problem asap. But if I can’t use regular fluoride toothpaste and I can’t buy a decent natural toothpaste, then what? I make my own 🙂  Over the last few days I’ve just been brushing with baking soda and water. It’s not a good long term solution since it can be harsh on your teeth. But I thought it was a good temporary solution to get the gylcerin off my teeth and avoid bad stuff. And today I made my first batch of homemade toothpaste. I looked at Donielle’s recipe and did some searching. I wanted something that was effective and safe for Rebecca (since she doesn’t spit yet). I found an easy recipe (almost identical to Donielle’s) on Lusa Organics. It’s mostly just coconut oil. So it’s safe to swallow. And it really is so easy to make. It only takes a few minutes. I tried it this morning. It did have a little bit of a soapy aftertaste at first. But it went away quickly. And I think after using it a few days I won’t even notice it. I’ve heard that if you add baking soda that can help eliminate the soapy taste. I’ll probably try it both ways. And keep experimenting to get the flavor just right. But this is good enough for now. I’m so happy to have found a healthy alternative that will hopefully help restore the health of my teeth. My mouth already feels much cleaner after only a few days of cutting out my “natural” toothpaste. It was like there was always a film I couldn’t get off. Now I know why. I’m anxious for Rebecca to try the toothpaste. Hopefully she’ll do ok with it. I didn’t add any sweetener since I don’t have xylitol or stevia. And I’m not sure how I feel about either of them. I figure if we can manage without it’s better for us.

I’ll update again sometime after using this toothpaste for a while. Hopefully I’ll notice some big improvements.

I also wanted to give a little info about the dangers of fluoride and conventional toothpaste:

*Fluoride is a toxic substance. Check the label on your toothpaste…it gives warnings about being poisonous. Keep out of reach of children. Doesn’t sound like something I want in my mouth. “If the formulation contains fluoride ion higher than 1000 ppm, it can cause poison; and the fluoride ion can react with calcium ion and magnesium in the human body and cause low level calcium ion and magnesium ion in blood. In some cases it has caused heart and muscle problems. If a child were to take a big spoonful of this fluoride and get it down, it is a poison that could kill the child. That is why the government has finally decided to act on this long standing issue regarding fluoridation.”

*Fluoride can impact fertility. It can cause various problems with sperm.

*”Chronic exposure to fluoride has also been linked to thyroid and neurological disorders, hormonal imbalances, and heart disease.”

*It can cause cancer.

*It can change bone structure and strength.

*It can cause birth defects and perinatal deaths.

*It has not been proven effective in preventing cavities.

*It impairs the immune system.

*It inhibits the body from using key enzymes.

Personally I’d rather not use it. And I don’t want my children exposed to it either. We use a water filter to eliminate the fluoride from our water and use fluoride free toothpaste. Any little bit we can do helps. How about you? Are you ingesting too much fluoride?

**Edited 12/26/10 – So, I have not used my glycerin based toothpaste in about 2 weeks. And my teeth are feeling so much better!!! Almost all of the sensitivity is gone. The one tooth that was REALLY bad still has a tiny bit. But nowhere near what it was. I can now brush my teeth and eat without pain. I plan to make a 2nd batch of toothpaste this week trying it with baking soda and stevia. See how that turns out.

A couple of not so good things. First, I realized my water filter does NOT filter fluoride 🙁  So disappointed about that. I’ll have to do some searching to see what other filters I can find. It would be ideal to have a filter right on our sink instead of having to keep filling a container.

Second…I have not found a solution for Rebecca yet. She was not a fan of the homemade toothpaste (I’ll have to keep experimenting with the recipe and flavors). So I went the opposite direction and let her try some of the nasty normal kids toothpaste with sweeteners, etc. I don’t like it, but at least it has less glycerin. But she gagged on it, puked up her breakfast and cried. So a no go there. For now I’ve been only using a tiny amount of the glycerin based toothpaste. And we just bought her a special princess “rinse cup” so hopefully we can start trying that out this week. If she’s rinsing that will at least help a little. Hopefully we’ll find a solution soon.

**Edited 2/21/11 – I have made 2 versions of homemade toothpaste. One is just Dr. Bronner’s, coconut oil, water and peppermint oil. The other adds baking soda and stevia to that. Both work really well. I try not to use the baking soda version too often so I don’t damage my teeth. My tooth sensitivity is almost completely gone. I only notice it once in a great while on one tooth.

I also finally got Rebecca to stop using Burt’s Bees. We use Kids Spry Tooth Gel. Works well.

Homemade Toothpaste

2 tsp. Natural Liquid Soap (try unscented Dr. Bronner’s or similar)
4 Tbsp. Coconut Oil
1 Tbsp. Water
2 Tbsp. Xylitol (optional)
1/2 tsp. Stevia powder
10-20 drops Peppermint Essential Oil
5-10 drops Spearmint or Sweet Orange Essential Oil

Boil a small pan of water. Measure out 1 Tbsp. of the water and stir into it Xylitol (optional). Stir to dissolve. Melt coconut oil and add to water mixture. Measure in soap and stevia and blend (a stick blender works well if you have one. Otherwise use your regular blender or whisk by hand like mad). Blend while the formula cools enough to stay combined. Add essential oils and transfer to a clean squeeze or pump bottle. Cool completely, shake well.

Lately I’ve been reading through the book of Matthew. Jesus tells a lot of parables to try to get the people to understand his message. Sometimes when I read it, it seems like he’s telling the people the same stuff over and over…and they just don’t get it. It seems so simple, yet so difficult. Jesus is just trying to get them to listen to him and follow God’s commands. But they have their own ideas, want to be in control and have a hard time accepting something different than what they know. I normally take each parable on its own…there is meaning to each one. But when I look at them as a whole Jesus is really saying the same things…believe in God, serve only Him, love each other. But there is still a lot of confusion…even for the disciples that walked and talked with Jesus daily.

This idea really struck me yesterday. Funny how life with a toddler can teach you a lot. Yesterday was one of those days where it seemed like Rebecca did not listen to/hear a single word I said. I could repeat 10 times in a row not to touch the ornaments on the tree, but she would not take her hands off. Or I would ask her to come to get her shoes on when it was time to go away…but she would not come. Or at gymnastics she was so distracted by the other kids that she could not pay attention to the teacher, me or what she should be doing. No matter how loudly I spoke, she didn’t even turn in my direction. It was like I wasn’t even there. I got frustrated because it seemed like such a simple thing…listen to what I’m saying and obey. Don’t worry about what the other kids are doing (running away, being silly, etc.), focus on what you are supposed to be doing. I know you might want to keep playing or touch things that are fascinating, but Mommy knows what’s best right now. And as I was reading my Bible it dawned on me that we often act like toddlers when it comes to our Christian life. We read the Bible, but it goes in one ear and out the other. We know God’s commands and yet we don’t always follow them. We worry so much about what other people are doing/what other people think that we don’t think about what God has called us to do. God speaks, but we drown him out and keep doing what we want to do. We have such a simple task…to listen and obey God. And yet we make it so difficult.

In one of my recent devotional emails it talked about obeying God. Here is what it said about obedience:

“God smiles when we obey him wholeheartedly. That means doing whatever God asks without reservation or hesitation. You don’t procrastinate and say, “I’ll pray about it.” You do it without delay. Every parent knows that delayed obedience is really disobedience.
 God doesn’t owe you an explanation or reason for everything he asks you to do. Understanding can wait, but obedience can’t. Instant obedience will teach you more about God than a lifetime of Bible discussions. In fact, you will never understand some commands until you obey them first. Obedience unlocks understanding.

Often we try to offer God partial obedience. We want to pick and choose the commands we obey. We make a list of the commands we like and obey those while ignoring the ones we think are unreasonable, difficult, expensive, or unpopular. I’ll attend church but I won’t tithe. I’ll read my Bible but won’t forgive the person who hurt me. Yet partial obedience is disobedience.


Wholehearted obedience is done joyfully, with enthusiasm. The Bible says, “Obey him gladly.” (Psalm 100:2 LB)
 This is the attitude of David: “Just tell me what to do and I will do it, Lord. As long as I live I’ll wholeheartedly obey.” (Psalm 119:33 LB)


James, speaking to Christians, said, “We please God by what we do and not only by what we believe.” (James 2:24 CEV)


God’s Word is clear that you can’t earn your salvation. It comes only by grace, not your effort. But as a child of God you can bring pleasure to your heavenly Father through obedience. Any act of obedience is also an act of worship.


Why is obedience so pleasing to God? Because it proves you really love him. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” (John 14:15 TEV)”
 
God wants us to listen and obey. Simple, right? Yes, but also not really. But we must try. As someone that struggles with OCD this is especially tough for me. To totally give up control and obey God. But I know that if I do God has great things planned and can fully use me. So I will try. Simple or not.