A Christmas Pause

If you hadn't noticed, it's Christmas. There isn't snow on the ground, but the wrapping of too many gifts and the baking of too many goodies and the hustle of shopping for last minute forgotten items tells me the season is really here. Busyness is trying to war with my worship today. I need to remember what this is all about. I need to focus on the entire reason this season is so special. The BEST gift. 

Without this gift, I'd be nothing, have nothing, possess no hope for the future. I'd be swallowed up and eaten alive by anxiety. I'd be no good at all to my family and friends. I'd have nothing to write about.

In Jesus, I have everything. I have peace, anticipation of future promises, strength for today, joy in the simplicity of everything this life can be. 

I'm sharing a scene from my latest biblical fiction novel. I hope it gives you a moment to pause and consider in a new way the age-old message of Christmas. 

EXCERPT FROM MY BROTHER THE KING...

***

“Daughters, come near,” Yosef said weakly from his pallet on the floor. He had been thrashing back and forth all evening. The girls had been huddled in the corner together, watching his face grow white and his desperate breathing become a tell-tale rattle in his chest. They knew death, and they knew their father was close to it.

They came to him and kneeled beside him. Talia buried her head in Yosef’s tunic, crying.

“Save your tears for mourning, little Talia. I want to go to Sheol with the memories of your beautiful smiles.”

“Please don’t go, Abba,” Talia begged as she tried to stop her tears. Her sobs only grew deeper.

“Be silent so I can speak,” Abba said tenderly, lifting a trembling hand to Talia’s cheek. When she quieted, he spoke again. “When I am gone, little lambs, you must do something for me.”

“Anything, Abba,” Hannah leaned over him and squeezed his arm. “Just say the words.”

Yosef smiled at her and reached a hand to smooth back the hair from her face. “Little Hannah. Only eight years on this earth and you wish to be a grown woman. Don’t be in such a hurry. Womanhood will come all too soon.”

“Amen,” Hannah said without thinking. She took his other hand. “May you be there to see me as a woman.”

“I will not be there,” Yosef said decidedly. “I want my daughters to be strong. Help your Ama in her grief.”

They hesitated, exchanging glances, then nodded.

“Whatever happens, you must both follow Yeshue. Not only in matters relating to the family, for he will be the head of this house, but in all things. He is the M’sheekha, and you must follow him.”

Yosef’s voice became urgent, almost as a plea, as the spirit ebbed away behind his warm brown eyes. “I have told your brothers the same.”

“Yes, Abba,” they both said in unison.

“If only I had the time to tell you…” Yosef’s voice faded and Hannah thought he had died. A cold chill spread over her.

“I must speak to Yeshue,” he said suddenly, squeezing their hands with his little remaining strength. “Send in the one they call my son.”

They sprang up from his pallet, crying as they descended the ladder and ran to find Yeshue. Hannah found him in the courtyard, sitting against the wall, his head in his hands. She was not sure if he was praying, or crying, or both.

“Abba asks for you,” she said. He jumped at the sound of her voice, as if he’d been surprised by her voice. Very rarely did anyone surprise Yeshue. He must have been deep in thought.

He stood and motioned for her to come to him. He kissed her head. “Go to your sister, Hannah. She will need you to hold her while she grieves.”

Hannah nodded, a lump in her throat.

“You are a strong one. A brave girl.” He squeezed her shoulders before he went to Yosef.

Instead of going to Talia, Hannah followed Yeshue back into the house. She sat in the doorway and listened to their words. She had to strain her ears to hear Abba’s words over Ama’s sniffling.

“Son, my time has come,” Yosef said. 

Yeshue said nothing. After a moment, he nodded.

“I know we haven’t spoken of it in a long time, but I want to remind you of your birth. Make sure you understand.”

Hannah would have laughed if it had been any other circumstance. Yosef and Maryam had talked often of Yeshue’s birth. Sometimes Hannah wondered if they could speak of anything else.

“I understand, Abba.” Hannah heard Yeshue’s soft answer.

“Ah, let an old man speak his memories,” Yosef chuckled, which made him cough.

“If he must,” Yeshue sat down on the stool made by Yosef’s own hands. “I will be glad to listen.”

“You indulge me,” Yosef said, and Yeshue chuckled in response.

“Your mother was the most beautiful girl in town. Have I told you that? Long dark hair, shiny brown eyes full of innocence…”

“You describe every young woman I can think of, Abba,” Yeshue teased him mildly.

 Yosef reached a hand to lightly slap Yeshue’s arm. “You are employed here only as a listener.”

Yeshue nodded and bowed his head in deference.

“I was taken with her from the moment I arrived in town. You know I came from Bethlehem, but our family had come to Nazareth for the wedding of my cousin. We ended up staying for several weeks, and I wanted her for my wife, if her father could be convinced to let her marry an old bachelor.”

“An old bachelor at twenty-four. You wound me. I hadn’t realized at twenty-five I was useless and elderly.”

Yosef wheezed a short laugh. “Well, I seemed an old bachelor to Maryam. She was barely thirteen. But there was something about her. Wisdom beyond her years. She wasn’t flighty or silly as the other young women. She had a peace about her I found very attractive.”

“As you should have.” Yeshue looked at his mother across Yosef’s pallet and nodded.

“I decided not to ask for her, though. Surely she deserved better than a poor carpenter.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“In the end I didn’t need to. Her father’s olive crop was destroyed by flies and they had no money to pay the tax. He would have had to sell her to save the little ones, so I paid the bride price. He asked me to wait a year before I took her to my home because she was so young, and I agreed.

“Not two months after this, Maryam was visited by the angel.”

“Gabriel,” Yeshue said with a nod. Almost like he spoke of an old friend.

“Imagine my shock when she came to me with wild stories of angels and heavenly messages. I pulled her aside to hear what nonsense she had dreamed up. When she told me she was going to have a baby, my blood ran cold.”

Hannah sneaked into the animal shelter underneath the floor. She watched them through a small hole in the floor of the upper story. She knew her parents would make her leave if they knew she was listening to such a conversation. But she was intensely curious about the part of the story no one would speak about when she was around. Her brother Y’hud played nearby, banging on a pot with all his strength. She glared at him, and he gave her a toothy smile.

“You did well to hear her out,” Yeshue said.

“I was like one possessed,” Yosef continued, his voice softer and weaker. “I wanted to rage and find the man who had defiled her. I would give him justice. But she went on about how the baby would be born of the Spirit of Alaha. He would be the M’sheekha.”

“Did you believe her?”

“Yeshue, surely you know every woman who has come to be with child in the last four hundred years has claimed to be carrying the M’sheekha.”

Yeshue smiled. “Ah, but it is true.”

“Well, I marched her right back to her father’s home and left her there, too angry to say a word. Then I paced the rest of the day, trying to decide what to do.”

“You did well not to have her publicly shamed.”

“I did not want to run ahead of Adonai.” Yosef closed his eyes, his words slurring as he tried to gather strength to finish the tale. Yeshue put his hand on the older man’s arm, and the gesture gave Yosef strength to continue.

“I was going to put her away from me without anyone knowing. I wanted her life to be spared, at least. I thought maybe the father was a Roman soldier that had cornered her and taken advantage of her innocence. Maybe she’d come up with the angel story to cover the horror of what had happened.”

“You were a man of integrity, thinking the best of her.”

Yosef shook his head. “A good man would have stood by her and believed her story. Alaha had to send an angel to me before I would accept it.”

“You did, though. You didn’t question after that.”

“No, I didn’t. How could I question the word of Adonai?”

Yosef was quiet for a long time. When Hannah thought maybe he had died, he suddenly spoke again. “I am going to die.”

Hannah expected Yeshue to disagree—to urge Yosef to fight the illness and stay with them. After all, he had eight children and other relatives to care for. What would their family be without him?

“I know.” Hannah heard the catch in Yeshue’s voice and imagined the tears swimming in his eyes.

“You will be head of this house.”

“I understand.”

“Do you have any questions? Do you know what to do for the girls when they come of age? Do you understand how to balance family and the business, and still have time for your studies?”

“I think so,” Yeshue said simply. 

Yosef nodded, visibly relaxing in the quiet confidence of his eldest son. “Don’t misunderstand me. I know you are here for a higher purpose than looking after the poor family of a tekton. You must be about your Father’s business, as you have reminded me.”

The words didn’t make sense to Hannah.

“I will do what I have come to do,” Yeshue promised.

“No man has ever left his family in better care. That I should be so blessed…”

Her father’s voice trailed off, and moments later, she heard the wails of her mother begin. Yeshue gathered his mother in his arms and wept with her.

***

This has been an excerpt from my novel "My Brother the King." I pray it allows your heart space to think and worship this Christmas on the wonder of everything our Savior was - even a simple son and a brother.

The Bottom Line with Autoimmune Protocol - 4 Steps to Health

Welcome to your easy-to-follow, what's the bottom line, what do I really need to know introduction to the Autoimmune Protocol. If you want in-depth research and scientific explanations, you will find plenty of information out there. This is for those who have no time or interest in the specifics of why. You only want to know what you absolutely have to do to pull this off.

Gotcha. Here you go:

1. Sleep. 

Sleep in or go to bed early, whatever you have to do to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. I'm not saying do this forever. I'm saying do it for the next 30 days.

2. De-Stress.

Don't take the big project on. Give notice to the child or adult in your life that tends to bring with them a lot of burdens you usually take on. Breathe deeply, sit in silence, turn off netflix and youtube and take a hiatus from social media and the news. If you pray, have at it! Listen to classical music, take walks in nature, pet your animals. Whatever it takes to relax and unwind.

3. Eliminate

Probably the hardest part. Say goodbye (at least for 30 days) to: Gluten, sugar, processed foods, grains (including corn, rice and quinoa), legumes and nuts (including nut flours), seeds (including coffee), dairy products, nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant, many spices), eggs, alcohol, stevia, cocoa, thickeners (guar gum and carageenan), NSAIDS (ibuprofen, aspirin or naproxen) or algae.

Let's pause here and talk. This is where I despaired. What other foods are there? This is EVERYTHING. No, it's not. I promise. There are adequate substitutions for these things, and you will be able to get by without them for a month. It goes faster than you expect it to, especially when you start to feel better. But what about NSAIDS? With my migraines and other pain, I survive on aleve. I can't live without it! But can I? Here's the thing about anti-inflammatory drugs: I did need them a lot at first. I had horrible headaches the first couple weeks into this diet. I took aleve several times, feeling like a failure but unable to cope with the pain. IT'S OKAY. The pain went away as the protocol took hold and started to work. I haven't needed aleve at all in quite a few days. Just do the best you can and be patient.

It is tricky the first week. I didn't even count my first week toward my 30 days because I messed up so much, realizing something was on the list I hadn't expected or not checking ingredients enough. Let yourself have room to mess up a few times. It's okay. You can even take these things out one at a time if you want. But when it's all said and done, go 30 days without them. That's the bottom line. And it's possible.

Eliminate supplements. What I didn't understand when I started was that I was going to be getting a lot more nutrients from my food on the protocol. My supplements were unnecessary, and thus made me nauseated and gave me headaches. Get your Vitamin D from daily sunshine (wait 20-30 minutes before you put on sunblock) and get the rest of your needs from fruits, veggies, meat, herbs and spices. 

As well, eliminate guilt. You don't have to be perfect. You will mess up. It's true that this protocol requires little-to-no cheating to work, but give yourself time to get used to it. It may take a few practice tries, and that's okay. As long as you are moving in a forward direction.

4. Add

Most AIP resources I used said to replace these things with expensive and hard to find items like cassava flour and tigernuts. Don't worry about either of those items. You can get by without them, and the truth is, I think I was sensitive to both of them and my body continued its autoimmune response because I added them in. Here are a few things you'll want to add to your pantry or fridge: Coconut milk (Careful, most inexpensive brands have guar gum. This can be EASILY homemade - recipe in the next post), coconut yogurt, tapioca and arrowroot flours, beef gelatin, carob powder, nutritional yeast, bone broth.

Here's what I found helpful and affiliate links to the products: (*NOTE: As far as I can tell, carob powder and cacao powder are the same thing. I'll let you know if I find out differently!)

Beef Gelatin

Cacao (carob) Powder

Nutritional Yeast (good replacement for cheese)

Shiritaki noodles 

(I've been tweaking a recipe for bone broth and these noodles that tastes like Ramen soup.)

Fruits and Veggies: If you haven't been eating fruits and vegetables, it's time to start. They started tasting much better to me once my addictions went away. I love avocados, spinach, mixed greens, broccoli, cauliflower rice, asparagus, and leeks. Onions and garlic flavor otherwise bland dishes. Enjoy berries and fruit in season. Bananas are a new favorite part of my diet - when I was doing keto, I wouldn't have considered eating a banana. 

Meat: I found I had to be careful with poultry. I am avoiding it for now. I eat grass-fed ground beef and beef sirloin (you may be able to find more grassfed choices. I shop at Aldi mostly so the selection is limited.) I also eat a lot of salmon, cod, tilapia and tuna. Prepared correctly, these are tasty choices even if you previously thought you didn't like seafood like me. 

Bread: If you are used to a lot of bread, even gluten-free or paleo bread, this will be your biggest adjustment for the next month. I have tried a couple recipes. (I was pretty obsessed with these dinner rolls the first couple weeks) and now I live on my own version of these crackers that I will share with you in the next post. 

Spices and herbs: Admittedly, it's a short list. But you can do a lot with these additions. I found a great recipe for taco seasoning that actually has a bit of a taco taste to it. I'll give you my own version in the next post. Your go-to spices for the next 30 days: Onion powder, garlic powder, cilantro, parsley, thyme, rosemary, sea salt, ginger, turmeric, oregano.

Drinks: A lot of people have a hard time coping with the thought of giving up coffee, soda or alcohol. Mostly, we have this response because of our addiction to them. It's a good idea to let your body rest when it gets to the point that it needs something to survive. But there are fun replacements. For coffee - try a mix of dandelion root, chicory root (I just get the tea bags) and carob powder for a coffe-ish drink that tastes great. And I love my sparkling water. So many different varieties and flavors, even at Aldi where I shop. When you lose your addiction to sugar, it tastes just as refreshing as soda. And while I'm looking forward to my first glass of wine in a few weeks, I'm not desperate for it. It can wait, because right now I'm healing.

Sweets: There are actually a lot of recipes for AIP sweets out there. Some work, some don't. I've tried a few and found two so far that work for me, these  blueberry muffins and these cinnamon cookies. I'm also working on finding a good carob sweet for a chocolate replacement.

One other thing to add to your daily routine if you don't already - exercise. As much as we hate the thought when we haven't been in the habit, moderate exercise will speed up the healing process. And I've found that once you get in the habit, you enjoy it and look forward to it. Our family joined the local YMCA for the summer and have been having a blast working out together and swimming at the pool. Likewise, if you have a dog you have a perfect excuse, like I do, to take to the streets with your tunes for a vigorous daily walk. 

There you have it. The basics for beginning the Autoimmune Protocol. If you get these things right, you'll see something happen. But give it time. I was convinced I was only making myself sicker for two good weeks before I started to feel much better. Be patient and forgiving with yourself and pursue it until you get it right. 

Next post: 10 Stress-Free Recipes that will Save your Life during AIP Elimination

Is Autoimmune Protocol really for Me?

If you have followed this blog for a while, you know that sometimes I post about health issues and answers. There have been times before when I thought I had found all the answers and would never have to struggle with autoimmune disease again. I've come to a more realistic outlook, seeing that these struggles have a way of returning. That being said, I think I've made a breakthrough.

I am coming out of my blogging hiatus because my health is in the process of turning around, and that's worth mentioning. It's also worth providing information to others who may be in need of the same answers. It's not an easy answer, but my goal is to make it simple and straightforward for you.

By you, I mean those of you who struggle with autoimmune disease. Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohns, Ulcerative Colitis, Lupus, MS, Hashimoto's or Grave's, Psoriasis, Type 1 Diabetes, and many, many other disorders that plague so many of the modern population. Those of you who have seen multiple doctors over a period of years and have had no answers or long-term solutions to the symptoms that cripple you. I know you well, because I'm one of you.

This has been my life since childhood. As an ophthalmologist told me several years ago when he saw me for a recurring case of iritis, "You have to be really careful, because your body wants to be in a constant state of inflammation." And it's true. No matter what I've done, from gluten free to paleo to THM to keto, I can't seem to stay on top of my health for long. 

It's the most frustrating dilemma I've ever faced. I know what it's like to deny yourself most of the food everyone around you is eating, to walk and work out to the point of exhaustion, and still have the scale creep up on me or the symptoms return out of nowhere and knock me over again.

It would be easy to give up.

For years, I have had the recurring thought that this all must come from one place. All these symptoms, all these different diseases and syndromes must have a common source. That's why it frustrated me so much to go to doctors, because the current medical protocol for autoimmune disease is simply to visit many different doctors who prescribe medicine for the vast array of symptoms. Alternately, you might be offered immunosuppressant drugs which come with a whole new set of side-effects and concerns. Neither of these solutions were acceptable to me. But I didn't know where else to turn. I had even been seeing an integrative doctor for several years, but it was almost the opposite of the traditional medical approach. She overwhelmed me with information to the point where I couldn't wade through the mud to find the answers I was hoping she'd give. She definitely never told me simply that I have an out of control autoimmune response, and that there is a simple approach to heal it and move on with your life. An approach I can revisit anytime I need to do so. 

I just happened to hear about Kelly Clarkson losing weight recently and claiming that she didn't do anything but eliminate a few foods from her diet, and that her autoimmune issues had been resolved. I didn't believe it was quite that easy, but I researched the book she had read, called The Plant Paradox.

It seemed a little fantastic, but I grabbed on to one aspect of it that made sense to my brain. Plants have chemicals that resist being eaten under certain conditions. And if your system is already a train wreck, this chemical (called a lectin) will easily send you spiraling. So I made a note of the things I was eating that would have a high amount of lectins, like tomatoes and peppers, and I stopped eating them to see what happened.

Never one to under-do anything, I kept researching and eventually came to the Autoimmune Protocol. It was somewhat related to Plant Paradox, only way more involved. I had heard of AIP before, but I'd never been willing to take a closer look because it sounded SO. HARD.

I'm not going to sugar coat it (because sugar is on the no list!) because you need to be prepared for the truth. Autoimmune Protocol IS hard. When you first start it, it seems impossible. Your body, while suffering under the effects of many foods, demands those very foods and craves them and makes your life miserable when you stop eating them.

Here's the thing. If you want to be able to live your life without autoimmune responses or the side-effects of drugs, this is the end of the road. It's this, or survival mode. And who really wants to live long-term in survival mode? And while it is hard at first, after two or three weeks, your body accepts it. Calms down. Starts to feel better. And at that point, you realize it wasn't really you saying you could never eliminate so many things from your diet. It was the addiction you had to foods that were hurting you. Consider this approach rehab. You will feel better eventually.

I'm planning a couple more posts. One will be an introduction to AIP. I intend to make these posts easy to follow. I'm not going to get into complicated science and explanation. From what I've found, that's the only information available on the subject. I will bring it home, and only tell you what you need to know. You're busy. You have a life. You don't want this to become all you think about or do. So I'll make it simple. What do you have to change? What do you need to eat? 

The second post will be the recipes that have saved my life and helped me persevere through the hardest part. I will share the snacks and meals that have settled my cravings and helped me realize there is good food apart from junk and convenience food.

Bottom line - how does an average person survive AIP? Truth be told, we may start out average, but when you make a decision to go off the beaten path and do something very few are willing to do, you're making a choice that could benefit you for the rest of your life. Just like Robert Frost said:

MY BROTHER THE KING

MY BROTHER THE KING

Their time is marked by oppression, their home by conflict. Within a humble Nazareth dwelling, four siblings share a secret. Their people pray for a freedom fighter who will shake off their bondage - the great M'sheekha. But he's already here, and he's not who anyone expected. 

Take a journey into the stories of the brothers and sisters of Jesus. Ponder the experience of growing up in the same house as God. Follow him on the road of ministry. Stand back and see him give his life - a ransom for many. 

Even the ones who didn't believe.


Nearly fifteen years ago, I knew I wanted to tell the story of Jesus through a fresh perspective. I didn't realize the long road ahead, and the many tries and failures over the years to get it right.

What my vague original idea became was the story of four Jewish siblings, Ya'achov, Y'hud, Talia and Hannah, sons and daughters of Joseph and Mary of Nazareth. They are as common and poor as the lowest of their time and place, with one exception. Their brother is the promised king.

What would have Jesus's childhood home looked like? Would it be peaceful because Jesus lived there? Perfect? Idyllic?

The more I thought about it, the more research I did into that society, the more certain I was that it couldn't have been that way. Jesus wasn't there to do what his people expected. Jesus wasn't about following the rules. Jesus was radical. And to a lowly Jewish household and community, he stood out too much. The Bible clearly explains that he had enemies ... even in his own family.

So these many years later, I am ready to share their story. I hope it will inspire you to go back to Scripture with your heart engaged, ready to see Jesus for who he was and is. Not so much the wise, compassionate teacher sitting out on the hill, but the revolutionary, bleeding divine blood up the hill of Calvary to buy the freedom of an entire universe.

Let's not think of him as any less than what he really is, even if it scares us, even if it isn't comfortable. Let's meet him at that hill and see what he is able to do in us as a result.

Let us not live in unbelief any longer.

MY BROTHER THE KING is available in print or electronically for your phone, kindle or computer. Please don't forget to leave your review on Amazon. It doesn't have to be long, but the more reviews there are, the easier it will be for potential readers to find it. Find it HERE.