Orange is the new Gold

I embrace the fact I am known for my weird food habits. And although I could sidetrack into how often I am right for my food choices (Trader Joe's, almond butter, and the silent prevalence of lactose intolerance among a majority of the population...to name a few..) I'll save that for a future blog. Today I want to introduce a sorely under-estimated little health secret that is easily becoming a new must-have in my diet.

Ready for it?

CARROT JUICE.

I know what you're thinking. The years of hanging out with rabbits have finally gotten to me. Wrong. Nothing is at work here except for a little online research, common sense and in-vivo experimentation I've conducted on myself. Again, I'm aware most think I'm probably off on another hippie-trip...but I have to tell you. This stuff is amazing! And chock-full of wonderful health benefits that you could slip into your daily routine without batting an eye-- or a whisker-- at.

I discovered the wonders of juice (vegetable juice here...not your standard, fiber less, sugar water that is any fruit juice) in my never-ending quest to improve my skin.

Which, that topic alone could be dedicated to an entire blog, perhaps even epic docu-drama about all the years I've spent trying to solve the mystery of why my skin rebels against me.

But anyway...so I'm researching about natural ways to detox the body (because skin problems usually result from an inefficiency in the body's ability to eliminate toxins) and find article after article citing carrot juice as a key health warrior. Fresh off a life-changing stint reading 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, I was already well aware of the necessity of incorporating more vegetables into my diet. The disease-fighting capabilities of these little plants make (most) of them one of the EASIEST, and CHEAPEST ways to obtain and maintain optimum health. No wonder the Lord has had them around for so long! Forget Zone diets, Atkins bars and Splenda...aren't the Lord's answers to diet issues always the most simple... and obvious?

Okay, but I digress. It's easy for me to do on this topic, forgive me. Back to carrot juice.

Carrot juice contains high amounts of minerals and beta-carotene, which is a pre-cursor of Vitamin-A, Vitamin-E, and the B Vitamins. Because of this, beta-carotene is also known to be an excellent anti-oxidant, which is a cancer-fighting Navy Seal. (Anti-oxidants eliminate free radicals in the body. Think free radical = DNA damage. DNA damage = crazy cell growth. Crazy cell growth = cancer.) So every time you eat a carrot or drink some carrot juice, you are amping your body's ability to protect all the billions and billions of replicating cells from cancer-forming tendencies. So easy! But the benefits continue...

The Vitamin-A found in carrot juice also aides the body's detoxifying abilities. This means it helps the liver cleanse out the fat and bile that it stores from the food we ingest. Additionally, when we are deficient in Vitamin-A, our skin (ding! this one caught my attention), nails and hair all suffer in that they become more prone to dryness and damage. Dry skin means microscopic cracks, which means dirt and bacteria can more easily enter your body causing inflammation and infection. Dryness usually occurs during the winter months (if you don't live in California) when your skin is constantly exposed to the harsh, chilling winds, or (if you do live in California) being constantly exposed to the sun's drying rays. Either way, upping your intake of Vitamin-A won't harm your good looks and in fact, will most likely enhance them ;)

And carrot juice is such an EASY way to do this! After just a week of incorporating more carrot juice into my diet, I have noticed my skin clearing up and even appearing brighter and firmer. Also, making simple changes like asking for smoothies (because, let's be honest, this girl has her share of them) to be made with carrot juice instead of fruit juice is almost an effortless way to increase the density of nutrients in your diet...and I hardly notice the taste difference.

I'll close this lengthy posting with two recommendations I have for anyone newly smitten with this scrumptious orange dream and would like to welcome it into her diet:

1. The first is to try the White Rabbit smoothie at participating Whole Foods bakeries. This is a delicious yet simple blend of carrot juice, vanilla soy milk and bananas. I like to substitute the soy milk with almond milk, which of course Whole Foods can do because it can do no wrong, and also add some bee pollen or spirulina if I'm feeling indulgent.

2. Or, if perhaps you are not a Whole Foods junkie like myself, I also created this homemade recipe as a spin-off for when I'm feeling thrifty:

--a cup of plain carrot juice (Naked, Odwalla and Knudsen's are good brands)
--frozen mangos, strawberries and bananas, or basically any frozen fruit combo
--splashes of almond, hemp or rice milk, to taste
--spoonful of ground flaxseed
Blend, drink, enjoy!

...and I realize my homemade recipe IS basically the Whole Foods version and anyone could have come up with the idea to just make that at home. But I wanted to feel special...and, it's my blog :)

The Fringe

I'm back, after a really long hiatus from blogging, because...well, no real reason other than I just didn't deem it important. A lot has happened in my life, things have been seen, thoughts have been thunk, experiences have been had, and rather than recap them all I'll just appreciate them as continual evidences of the Lord's grace, goodness and guiding hand in my life.

So here I am, today, ready to blog again!

Now, on to what to blog about. The "about" is usually the difficult part for me as I have so many webs, rabbit trails and tangents of thought in my head at any particular moment, it can be hard to discern what is the most important to immortalize in text. After a few seconds of said thought....I think I can narrow it down to what will be the most beneficial for myself, and anyone else reading this (you rare and precious gems you!) which is: what the Lord taught me this morning. Or rather, what little amount of time I asked Him to bless as I sat down with my Bible and an egg before rushing out the door. He graciously gave me this to chew on.[Pun may or may not have been intended.]

While He was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before Him, and said, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live." Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples. And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, "If I only touch His garment, I will get well." But Jesus turning and seeing her said, "Daughter,take courage; your faith has made you well." At once the woman was made well. -Matthew 9-18-22 (NASB)

This is a well known passage. Jesus heals. Surprise, surprise... right?

1. It is sad how accustomed I (we) can get to these miracles. I gloss over them because I've read them a dozen times and already know the words that are coming next on the page. "Speak to me, Lord! Illuminate these words to make them real and applicable to my life!" But then I speed-read the passage, shut the cover of my Bible and check my QT off the list for the day.

2. Therefore, let's have another look. Let me be patient, present, and purposeful before Him.

"...touched the fringe of His cloak;"

Woah. Stop right there. The fringe. I've thought about this before, but it was brought to mind again this morning and intensified. The bleeding woman only but touched the FRINGE, the little raggedy, bordering seams of Jesus' cloak. Probably the parts that were tattered and rough from being scraped along the sandy, rocky ground from miles upon miles of travel.And that is all she desired to touch because she knew even those parts...were of Him, and so she reached for them in faith. Isn't that incredible? I wonder what she had heard of Jesus before this moment, to be so wanting, so desirous, so bold to reach for even a scrap of who He was.
And doesn't He offer so much more than his scraps...to me? Without me having to push through crowds and bleed for twelve years to get it? And what do I prefer? My eggs and morning routine. Ah, forgive me Lord!

3."But Jesus turning and seeing her said, "Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well." And it was the faith-touched fringe that caught Jesus' attention. On a road, on a purpose, and probably tired from human exhaustion, Jesus responded not to the multitudes of people who were undoubtedly crowding around him, but to the tiniest display of faith that was probably hoping to go unnoticed. Oh, but there's the key. Jesus always notices our acts of faith!

This is so elementary, yet something I can never seem to grasp naturally enough. I often think that I need to full-fledged, body-slam Jesus, so to speak, before He'll turn around to respond to me and my situation. Not so. Sometimes, it's just remembering what I've heard of Him, Who I know Him to be, that prompts my humble faith to reach out for His cloak. I am so quick to forget Jesus is about the heart. He lives in mine, after all, so why do I feel the need to bombard Him with these loud bells and whistles, grand acts of sacrifice or eloquent soliloquies of prayer when all He would ask is that I render a heartfelt plea or praise in a tiny whisper? Then it matters not if I touch the fringe... or grab hold of His entire robe, Jesus turns and offers me His full attention. Not that I could ever lose it, but it takes faith first to see that I already have it, that I'm already wearing a robe of my own that He has bought, paid, and clothed me in, so how could I think He would ever turn a deaf ear to even the simplest and smallest of my cries?

"When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine. Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD." -Ezekiel 16:8-14