Transformational Tuesday: After the Sabbath

Here's our report on our day of ceasing last week...it was truly a transformational experience that we highly recommend!

Since this was our first time doing this, it actually took quite a bit of planning and effort, but it was well worth it. The days leading up to our day of rest took a few runs to the thrift store (for candleholders, centerpiece accessories), the grocery store (traditional food items, candles), and making sure to grab some flowers to remember creation. Everyone in the family pitched in to make sure that all the work was done so it could truly be a restful day. The house was cleaned, kids made sure their "chore sticks" we're completed early, technology was tucked away where it wouldn't be a distraction from each other, and our table was set as if we were expecting a very special guest (which we were). 

So lucky to have these gals to myself!

An extra setting was placed at the table to visually remind us of our true Guest of Honor. When Sy found out that God was going to be in that seat, he asked to take a picture with Him... What a fun picture to have.

I think the big G man was definitely enjoying this hug from Sy

As the beginning of our Sabbath began, we all were more than ready! I will admit that trying to have a nice leisurely meal with that guy in the back of this picture was not exactly restful. We couldn't keep the food coming fast enough! Regardless, we gave it our best shot and had fun.

Getting ready for 24 hours of focusing on what's important

Our meal was full of traditions, prayers, and blessings over each member of our family. It was a time to really stop and realize that we have been given so much. Essi got to light one of the candles and say the Redemption Prayer. Sy got the big job of praying and passing the handwashing bowl before our meal.

Phoebe did a good job of not splashing her brother

Our entire 24 hours took work to not get drawn back into old habits like getting sucked into media or checking our phones. In fact, we turned all that off so we could focus on each other. It is going to take practice to really get into the groove of this, but our part is just to remain faithful to the instructions we've been given. I can see that it will take a while to undo all our years of rushing around seven days a week, but we will continue to practice this fantastic day.

Please comment if you have any questions about our day!

Btw, a quick shout out to My Father's World for providing the practice of these traditions in their curriculum!

My Own JOURNEY to Wellness

So about 10 years ago, I was a super health nut! I typically ran 60-80 miles per week. I ran marathons, ran road races competitively, did weight training, was a coach, had a coach, was a vegetarian, etc. The highlight of my week was my long run! Can you imagine?! It blows my mind when I think about it now. Needless to say, those days are long gone...

God has since blessed me beyond my imagination with the incredible gift of raising 4 small children (ages 8, 7, 2, and 14 months) and one with a major medical condition. Anyone would agree that as a mom, your kiddies come first. Of course! However after a year of having Silas on the Gerson Therapy (and within that year I also was pregnant, had a baby, and then later miscarried another), I realized that I was living my life so "sacrificially" that I almost became a martyr to the therapy. I'll post one of these days about the typical day in the life of a Gerson Person. It's fascinating... Anyway, I was recently talking with Jordan and realized that I had pretty much forgotten who I was. That runner that I used to be and who my identity was tied up in, no longer existed. For the first time in my life, I was terribly out of shape--and I mean terribly! I wasn't quite sure what I enjoyed anymore... I realized that I've somewhat isolated myself in the past 16 months which is virtually necessary to get the day's work done, but I've missed out on many social events and even surprisingly some friendships have changed. It's been at times lonely doing this therapy... It's no one's fault, but some people don't tend to understand and often don't seem to validate the work of the therapy because it's not through conventional medical methods. It's okay, but it doesn't take away from the seriousness of Sy's disease and how imperative the therapy is to his health. I always knew and rejoiced in the fact that I was God's Beloved... but for the first time, I wasn't sure how much I was loving myself.

Anyway during this past year, I had some blood work completed a couple of times because I was having a few medical issues and in general, not feeling great. Finally my doctor sat down with me and said that as much as I want to be there for my husband, kids and others, I needed to make some radical lifestyle changes or I may not be around for them. Whoa... What?! So here I am busting my chops to do this amazing therapy for my kid and ironically, my own health is starting to deteriorate. How many times do we do that as moms? We give our all to our family and leave nothing or at best, the leftovers for ourselves. It took a little while to sink in but the reality finally hit that it was really time to turn my life around. I had the head knowledge since I'd been studying natural therapies for almost 10 years. I had implemented loads of what I learned but definitely still had my own vices and used some of them as a crutch to get through this last year. After spending hours and hours in the kitchen prepping for Sy, the last thing I usually want to do is to cook a healthy dinner for myself!

So I found this amazing kickstart for my life--ironically from a person who healed herself from cancer through the Gerson Therapy! When I find out more about her own story, I see so much of my own. Jordan and I both decided to challenge ourselves and felt that if we're going to speak publicly about Gerson and Sy, then we needed to understand exactly what it was like for ourselves and to better understand how Sy feels each day. We want to be the real deal. And Wow! All I can say is that it completely changed my life! In those 10 days, I found freedom! I realized that we give food--whether it be specific foods or sugar or caffeine, such power in our lives. I don't want food to empower me... I want God to empower me! There is such freedom in letting go and truly eating to live and not merely living to eat. It's amazing how quickly even my taste buds have changed when you take out salt and sugar. Not only did I cleanse through the liquids but I also started cleansing through a new morning regime for ME! Not in a selfish way but in a loving way... I've been convicted that I need to serve others, including my family, out of an overflow of what the Holy Spirit is doing in my own life. If we constantly give to others out of chaos and depleted reservoirs, then over time we will feel the effects of that on our bodies... So I've been really challenging myself these days and constantly asking myself, "What do I love to do?" and "What will bring me the joy I once knew?"

So that leads me to my new morning routine... It includes quiet time with God, prayer time through meditation, oil pulling, coffee breaks (not what you're thinking!), dry brushing, listening to beautiful music, and juicing. I no longer resent the therapy and think about what I'm missing out on but instead focus on the life and healing that God is doing through the therapy for Sy. Instead of thinking of restrictions, I'm focusing on the great things I do have and enjoy! It's all about perspective. I've found the gift in Gerson... It's more than just healing our boy... It's healing ourselves and reconnecting our spirit to our ultimate Healer. As moms, we absolutely have to take time for ourselves--quiet retreats for our own soul care. It's so important. So as I mentioned before, this is a journey for me. I'm not there yet but I'm learning and implementing all that I can. I'm even starting a course to bring about even more transformation and I'm pretty stoked about it. My life sure looks different than it did 10 years ago and I'm sure it will look even more so 10 years from now. So who knows?! Maybe, I'll even be back to running... :)

What about you? What things do you implement in your life for your own soul care?

A Big Walking Tour for Little Feet!

Ok, ok, ok...so I'm a little behind on updating y'all. WiFi is crazy expensive in NYC. Also, with all the navigating I was doing on my phone, I was actually running out of data on our plan. So let's get started!

On Wednesday, we started our freezing rainy day at the 9/11 Memorial. Absolutely amazing! It was such an honor to be there and see it in its early stages of development. The kids asked a lot of great questions.

Our next steps were visiting the super historic St. Paul's Chapel (near the Freedom Tower) that was used as an emergency worker rest spot during 9/11.

Our hotel was near Madison Square Garden, so we got to see the waves of people that continued to pour out of that place.

We took a quick tour of 30 Rock and tried to sneak Heather into a show, but we missed the cutoff. Bummer!

On our way uptown, we stopped off at St. Patrick's Cathedral. With the amount of beauty in the structure, it's kinda sad that we've lost this form of worship in most of our churches today.

Heather's sister came to NYC to see the Anderson Live show, so we were later off to meet them at FAO Schwartz. The kids were okay with that meeting spot!

Since Sy is such a big fan of Apple (the food, silly), we had to take one cool elevator ride and snap a quick photo of his lighted up treat!

More posts to come! We love y'all!

Our First Bite Of The Big Apple...

Ok, so day number one has been a success! We have packed many things in one day! Here are a few highlights:

Although my navigating skills were a little off and we ended up heading in the wrong direction a few times, we still got to enjoy our first NY subway ride.

We had a great opportunity to see much of the city because we spent most of the day on foot. Both the kiddos were real champs about walking several miles today.

We were able to secure Sy's fresh made juices and we were relieved to know that he wouldn't miss a beat.

A cruise through Times Square gave us a chance to snag a New Yorker for a quick and memorable pic!

This city a also a great place to run into celebs! Look who we bumped in to! (I never knew he wore patented leather shoes with his armor.)

We had to ship many of Sy's food prep supplies up from Florida, but we also had to get our hands on all the produce. We happened to find this sweet little corner organic market that beat the pants off any place at home. Believe it or not, the prices were even better!

We needed a way to get all this produce home without lugging it for miles, so we were able to hop in for our first NY taxi ride. I did my best to be annoyingly chatty with the driver, but he wasn't much of a conversationalist.

And lastly...

How could we call it a day without staying up late to throw together a fresh batch of soup, mill it, and clean up everything in a mini kitchen?

Thanks NYC! We are looking forward to our next day tomorrow...

Things Are Suddenly Moving At Light Speed!

So, today marks the beginning of an exciting week! We are still coming off the high of the Snowflake 5K and we now are looking forward to hosting some cool folks in our home today. A camera crew and reporter from a popular, national talk show will be coming to spend the entire day with us to get a glimpse of our family's routine and Sy's God-authored story. As some of you know, there will be plenty of energy from this household for these folks to capture. We just hope that these peeps like the smell of veggies simmering, the aroma of fresh carrot juice, and seeing every Lego creation in our home!

Today will be a big day and we hope to clearly portray the way that God has blessed us with the immense challenges and miraculous times of provision through family, friends, and even those we don't even know. Anyone can easily see the incredible power of love and support poured on our household as we struggle through healing our son.

After this experience, we will step onto a plane early next week and find ourselves in the midst of the Big Apple for his national TV debut. (Is America really ready for such a handsome and lion-hearted boy?) With the help of our hosts and countless logistics, we have made arrangements so that Sy's therapy will hopefully be seamless and without interruption. We will keep y'all up to date as we encounter these unique and fun changes. (We promise lots of pictures to come!)

I'm not exactly how much we can share in the digital world yet, but we promise to provide whatever details we can when we can... Stay tuned for more!

One last thing before we embark on this journey... Please pray for us and that the true reason behind our family's adventures shine through Sy's smile, Heather's smokin' hot looks, and my buffoonery. For all of you who know us, you know that all of this could not be happening on our own efforts. We ask for the right words to express the events and emotions that have emerged over the years. We love all of you and know that our bottom line is to bless those who can benefit from our experience and our desire to reach out to those in need.

And away we go...

Our Tribute

Happy Father's Day! 

It's a bit of a bummer that our family is not together today so we wanted to send you a little blog card. :)

First of all, we love you so much!!! Essi, Sy, Phoebe, Ash and I are talking all day today about all of the things that we love about "Pop!"

We said how you are constantly serving... both us and others. You've made it your livelihood to risk and sacrifice your own life for the sake of others.

Essi said that she loves your "bear hugs" and Sy said he loves you "through the world and back!" :)

We all said that you make us laugh... all the time!

You are always an adventure!

You love with all of your heart...

even when it's hard.

You teach us all about life...

 and we trust you...

as does everyone else.

You are our spiritual head...

and we honor and respect you.

We just love you so much... especially me.

Happy Father's Day to the greatest father we know!! We love you! xoxo