Secrets, Secrets Hurt Someone by Deborah Winkler

April 24, 2013 By 4 Comments

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There’s a little rhyme that I think most of us are familiar with.

 

Secrets, secrets are no fun.

Secrets, secrets hurt someone.

 

I immediately began to think of this lyric during this past weekend’s church experience.  Pastor Carl talked for a bit about secrets.  He talked about how secrets that we hold on to hurt us and keep us from experiencing true freedom and joy.

My heart was racing because I wanted to share something that is near to my heart with every woman in the audience.

I actually wanted to gently scream:  “You can surrender your secret in a safe place!”

Why scream?  Because I didn’t want to miss anyone…

I want them to know that there is help.

Why was I so emotionally compelled to reach those in my midst that day?  Because my heart aches for those who have been hurt by abortion.  I want to help them.  At Heartline, we provide a private and confidential abortion recovery program called: Surrendering the Secret.  It’s a phenomenal journey of healing for women to overcome the heartbreak of abortion.  I think it is so important to share this ministry so that everyone who needs hope can find it.

I don’t know if you know this or not, but this month is Abortion Recovery Awareness month.  According to statistics, 43% of women have experienced an abortion (it’s that real, and so is God’s healing) – that means you might run across someone at the grocery store, Lifegroup, or she might be staring at you in the mirror.

We passionately care about women who have been hurt by abortion.  We are dedicated to minister to those who are ready to walk this faith journey – because we care for you!

We’ve all had secrets – personal details of our lives that we hope no one ever discovers.

Secrets take many forms:

A lie.

An addiction.

A transgression.

A weakness.

 

Secrets can control us with shame, guilt, despair, depression, and pride.  Secrets hurt us!  BUT you are not ALONE!  God wants to heal your heart – take that step towards restoration.  Heartline can help.

 

Don’t start to believe these lies:

 

“No way they will still be my friends if they know that part of my life.”

 

“I will never share that story, people will think I’m a fraud.”

 

“God will never forgive me.”

 

It’s not true – you don’t have to live that way!  Everyone falls short.  We all have a past.  Yet there is always redemption when we have a heart of repentance.  God wants us to come to Him – with all our cares and He takes them on.

If you are ready to surrender your secret of a past abortion, contact Heartline today.  Our ministry team loves you and will care for you during the journey of divine healing.

 

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Helpful Links:

Pastor Carl’s sermon from 4/20/13 referenced above – Nehemiah:  It Takes a Leader II

Heartline Women’s Clinic  (806) 788-0500

Surrendering the Secret

Abortion Recovery Awareness month

 

 

Deborah Winkler

Deborah Winkler is the Director of Heartline Women’s Clinic, a ministry of Trinity Church.

Deborah can be reached at the Heartline phone number listed above or at deborah@heartlinelubbock.com.

 

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Just the way you are… by Sarah Nichols

April 19, 2013 By 10 Comments

 

Mirror Reflection, just the way you are

 

I was in the midst of attempting to write my Senior Capstone with the worst writer’s block ever.  I was frustrated.  I was tired.  I was disappointed.  Then it happened.  When I least expected God to reveal something to me, He did.  Not only did the timing shock me, but the location was completely random.  This moment was so unique that I knew I had to share it with you, ladies.

The Monday after Easter I woke up late for class and had very little time to get ready.  I left the house with unclean hair and no make-up.  I ended up missing class and showing up late to a meeting.  As you can tell, I was having a successful morning.  If you’re feeling sorry for me, don’t worry.  My morning is about to get much better.  I was washing my hands in the restroom when I saw myself in the mirror.  It was at that moment when I heard the words, “You are beautiful.”  I turned the water off and just looked at myself.  It was at that moment, in a women’s restroom, when God began to change how I saw myself.  I feel like I got a glimpse of how He sees me.

Like other women, I had allowed my definition of value and beauty to get all mixed up.  I only saw myself as beautiful when my outfit was perfectly coordinated, hair fixed, and my blemishes covered with make-up.  With school being my focus, I began to define my worth by how well I did in school.  Obviously, that’s not healthy.  It is not how God desires His daughters to see themselves.  It was at that moment God destroyed the definitions I had been applying to myself and wrote new ones.  I left that restroom filled with joy.

I knew I had to share this with you because there is at least one woman out there that needs her definitions of beauty and worth shattered.  Make-up, cute outfits, and fabulous hair does not make us beautiful to our Father.  Good grades or accomplishing everything on our to-do lists do not make us more valuable.  God sees His daughters as beautiful and worth more than rubies.  He wants us to look in the mirror and see what He sees.  I’m glad that in the most desperate time and random place God opened my eyes to see beauty.

 

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Blogger ID:

Sarah Nichols

Sarah Nichols

Were you able to finish your paper?   Yes. I finished my paper on time!  I’m in the process of editing it and preparing to present it. One step closer to graduation!!

Are you ready for graduation?  Hmmm…YES!!!!!  The next few weeks will be crazy busy but I am ready to celebrate.  I am so looking forward to what God has in store after I walk across that stage.

What will you do with your free time?  Read.  I have a stack of books waiting for me to crack their covers and dive in! It will be so nice to read for fun.

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The Call by Anne Zachary

April 10, 2013 By 3 Comments

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What’s your calling?

Do you have one?  Are you living it out?

Do you even know what I’m talking about when I use that bit of Christianese?  If you’ve spent any time in church circles, I’m sure you do.

 

Let me share a few of my callings as examples.   Before I was married with kids, I worked with kids in a residential psychiatric setting.  I loved my job and was passionate about it.  It was a calling.  Then I got married and had kids.  I am called to be a wife and a mom.  And there was a large chunk of years there at the beginning when that was all I was called to be.  Homeschooling is how we are called to educate our kids.  Our family feels strongly and specifically called to serve those in our community who are in need.  I am called to share on this blog.

Now, none of those things are particularly glamorous.  I could downplay all of them and shrug them off as not a big deal.  So many people do all of those things and others that seem much more important.  I am not the most important person in these scenarios, but the act of doing them is important because I was/am meant to do them.

When we run in church circles, it’s easy to think of callings as something for those in ministry.  In and outside of the church we look at those who have Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and blogs with huge followings and want to be like them.  We look at those who do big things like start world-changing campaigns, live as missionaries in third world countries, adopt internationally, or have the word Pastor in front of their name and think of those as the called.  And they are.

But so are you.

Kids need parents to raise them in loving, Christ-centered homes.  You’ve been given talents, gifts and passions to put to use. Your coworkers or classmates need to see and feel the unconditional love of Christ in action on a daily basis.  A friend needs your companionship and kind words.  Campaigns, missionaries, adopting parents, and pastors need people supporting them in big ways and small.

It all matters.

 

My message to you today is short and simple.

Yes.  You have a call on your life.  It doesn’t matter who you are or what’s in your past or present.  It may look small to you or in comparison to others.  But there is a purpose for your life.

Answer your call.

 

And if you have, share with us what your call is right now.  I’d love to hear!

* * *

anne

 

 

 

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Pounding the Pavement…a running tale by Deanna Duncan

March 22, 2013 By 1 Comment

running

My finger hovered over the keyboard.

One click.

One click and I would be committed.

Click.

So that is how I found myself up at the crack of dawn on a dirt road in 25mph winds surrounded by runners…real runners.

For the last several months, I have been silently pounding the pavement–just God, a great iTunes playlist and myself.  With this little trio there was no judgement.  If I got a little tired and walked, there was no one to laugh.  If my pace faltered, there was no judgement.

However, there also wasn’t any cheering.

Community is the basis of who we are.  You remember the very beginning when God said, “it was not good for man to be alone.  I will make him a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18)  He knew we needed more…

So, with the blast of a horn, I got more.  The group surged forward and I went along.

Ok, so I have to confess my fears.  I really struggle between miles 2-4.  I have to power pack my playlist with songs such as Tenth Avenue North’s You are More.  I was afraid something would snap and I wouldn’t be able to push through.  I was really afraid others might judge me if I walked a bit.  Most of all I was afraid I might drip something more than sweat–you mommas know what I mean.

As the road stretched on, I heard God’s comforting voice.

“Sweetie, you remember the instruction I gave in Titus 2:3-4?  The older women are to train the younger ones.  They are to teach what is good.  You have seen this your whole life.  Don’t you think that I have placed some of those same women here?”

At the first water station I saw this–a sweet faced woman who handed me a cup and a smile.

The miles went on.  At mile 6, I hit a wall.

Literally.

It was a wall of nasty west Texas dust.

I was in a real life video game.  Tumbleweeds were flying at me at shoulder level.  The dust was blinding and I started thinking that it would be lovely to just curl up in a ball and stay there.

About that time LeCrae started shouting that I was a saint and the words of 1 Thessalonians 5:10 flooded my mind:

“He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.”

I’ve spent years being “asleep” and what distance running has taught me is to push through the things which we think are impossible and really be “awake”.

As Christians, we know the value of perseverance (James 1:12), but many times we quietly persevere–alone with God.  At mile 6 a girl about my age came up beside me.  She smiled.  That is what I needed.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up.” (1 Thes 5:11) 

Encouragement through community was the final piece to the puzzle of living abundantly.  

The next few miles flew by and before I knew it the finish line was in sight.

When you passed through, people cheered.  It felt wonderful and it made you want to stay to cheer for all of the others.  You see, God always knows what He is doing.  He created us to have helpmates and to be helpmates to others.  As a female, I feel it’s in our DNA to encourage.

However, that can’t happen if we just silently pound the pavement.  I am encouraging you today to GET OUT THERE.  If you have a need, share it so we, as the body of Christ, can encourage you and then cheer together when you obtain victory.  If you need community, find a group and then have the courage to go.  As I learned at the race, you won’t be alone for long.  The body of Christ…it’s a pretty welcoming bunch.

Come on.  Let’s pound some pavement TOGETHER.

 

* * *

deanna

 

 

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Hurry Up, Lord…You’re Late Again! by Denise Dietz

March 11, 2013 By 11 Comments

 

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Have you ever found yourself restless in a waiting room?  The clock on the wall seems to stand still and the people around you gnaw at your nerves with annoyance.  Waiting is a human pain that tests the core of our character.

The longest wait of my life was for children.  The waiting room was filled with a mix of people.  From the good-intentioned, well-meaning friends who just knew if I had enough faith I would get pregnant to the co-laborers in my suffering who were also waiting for…

spouses, promotions, justice, career opportunities,

financial breakthroughs, healing

– they too, were waiting!

The process of waiting created a need for me to deeply seed my heart and emotions in God’s Word.  It helped move the focus off myself and find meaning in the wait.  Self-doubt tormented my thoughts.  I wondered if I was just not meant to be a parent.  Maybe I wouldn’t do a good job or maybe I needed more faith. Could it be a sin from my past?  These lies created tension – but kept me fighting for truth.

Thankfully, my wait was intimately shared with my sister, Terisa, who was also on a long journey of waiting for her spouse.  We were able to affirm, encourage and challenge each other.  Through the years of waiting we came to a strong resolve that our lives were not about getting what we wanted, but rather…

an expression of God’s love on the Earth 

so people would know Him better.

 

The more we leaned into this, our joy and satisfaction greatly increased.  We had contentment, even to the point that if what we hoped for never came to pass, we were satisfied.

 

Ironically, what seemed like forever – happened in the twinkle of an eye.  Our family came together through adoption, and my sister’s long awaited spouse became a reality.  Our human hearts crying, “Hurry Up, Lord… You’re Late Again!”, learned to sing a new tune that sounds like this, “Lord… You are worth the wait!”

 

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We offer this hindsight to brighten the path on your waiting journey.  You’ll have to take them to heart by faith.  Somehow our emotions want to trick us out of believing them:

 

- After your wait is over, the time you waited will seem really short.

- When God’s answer comes, you’ll understand why it was better to wait.

- You’ll enjoy what you waited for so much more.

- An eternal perspective about life will develop in you through the wait.  This will make everything else in life seem minor.

- You will gain a lot of strength and confidence.

 

My friend, you are not alone!  May you find pleasure in the wait and be encouraged by Isaiah who reminds us…

”Blessed are all who wait for Him.”

 

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A God’s Eye View by Nita Kuehn

March 4, 2013 By 2 Comments

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Mountains or molehills?  Hmmm…I think it may all get down to perspective.  To an ant, a molehill looks like a mountain.  To God, a mountain is just another thing to be moved!

I’m afraid that during much of my life I played the role of the ant.  Most every obstacle looked like an immovable mountain to me.  I worried incessantly and completely blew things out of proportion.  I constantly used my imagination against myself:  What if this happened – or didn’t; then my plan would completely fall apart – or not; and if it did, then the result could be disastrous – or worse!

I’m probably not the only one who thought that if I didn’t get invited to the prom my life would be over or if I went with the wrong guy my reputation would be shot.  Later – if I had children too soon it would ruin our finances; but if I had them too late I could be at high risk.  On and on – I think you get the picture.

Beth Moore puts it something like this:  Do you believe God, or simply believe in God?  Somehow I had never applied that principle to my daily thought processes.  If I was going to have any joy or peace in my life, I had to make a change in my thought processes and in my ways.

I had to laugh at myself as I read Numbers, chapter 11. Moses is in despair as Israel is complaining to him once again – this time about their food.  God, frustrated with them, promises to give them meat for a whole month.  Now Moses is frustrated with God!  If he slew all the flocks and herds or caught all the fish in the sea, he could not possibly fulfill God’s promise.  (I can so relate to Moses!)  To which God responds, “Is the Lord’s arm too short?  You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”

I laughed because I realized that by looking at things with God’s eye view, mountains became molehills.  In my eyes, things looked impossible; or as if I had been undone; or even hopeless; but through His eyes everything became a tool that He could use for my good – just another step along the journey of life.  He says that He can even take that which was meant for evil and turn it to good.  How much do I really trust Him?  Do I believe Him or only in Him?

When I come into agreement with His Word and His power – when I see things through God’s eye view – mountains become molehills!

 

* * *

 

Nita Kuehn

 

 

 

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Chuck the Junk by Deanna Duncan

February 11, 2013 By 9 Comments

purses

I have a confession.

I think I have an issue with closure.

That issue became very apparent last week as I was searching in my closet for something to wear.  As I shifted a jacket, a pile of purses came tumbling down.  Now, I like purses and well, I have a few.  The problem with the tumbling purses was everything that came flying out of them.

You see, when I get a new purse,  I grab the essentials out of the old one and put it in the closet to “sort through” later.  I will do a quick sort–throw away a few receipts, move some lipstick and grab the change. However, to truly clean it out seems so…final.  I’ll have to find a place for everything, commit to getting rid of some of it and then vacuum out all the whatnots.

Instead, I just put it in the back of my closet and move on.

I am sure the parallel is just going off in your mind like the full blown light up billboard that appeared in mine.

I have several relationships and situations that have ended.  Instead of fully cleaning out the purse, I dealt with most of the emotions/issues and then left the really hard ones there and put it in the back of the closet.  It doesn’t face me in my daily life so I start to think that everything is all good.

Until I see that person at the store..  You know the story, energy is drained from you, Satan starts whispering lies in your ear and then suddenly you are back where you were all those years ago.

 The Lord God says to us, “You have dwelt long enough on this mountain.”  Deut 1:6

I grew up hearing the story of the Israelites and their 40 year journey from Egypt to Caanan.  Did you know that the two spots are a mere 250 miles apart and at that time were connected by a wonderful, wide road?

Last week, I made a decision.  I will not “wander” anymore.  It’s time to clean it out.  Everything.

Step 1–Set a time.

This may sound silly, but it took me several hours of focused time to go through all the purses.  I had to put it on my calendar.  With our emotional baggage, it is the same.  Clear time to talk to God.  Ask Him to show you where you hid all the purses.  (I actually found three more after I snapped the picture.)  With a pen in hand, read all of His love notes to you.  

Step 2–Shake out the purse.

As much as we like to think it’s all someone else’s fault, in every relationship/situation that goes awry there is probably a bit (or more) of sin on our part.  We often focus on their splinter and ignore the huge log in our own (Matthew 7:3).  Just confess it.  Repent (that means truly being sorry).  That’s it.  Except…

Step 3–Don’t empty one purse into the next.

We tend to forget that this is a game of 2 on 1.  Our sneaky opposition (Satan) likes to whisper lies and tries to get us to believe false condemnations.  His biggest tool is our own emotions.  However, we have the guy who wins every time on our team.  For me, I have to speak some things aloud:  ”Satan, what you are saying is a lie.  I have been bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus.  (Acts 17:11, 1 Cor 6:20).  You have no authority over me.  I am a new creation–holy and dearly loved.”  I then start singing a praise song.  It changes the focus of my mind and then I can walk again in forgiveness.

Step 4–SHINE!

“Now before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.  Before you were born, I set you apart.”  

Jeremiah 1:5

You are destined to be amazing and do amazing things for God’s kingdom.  Guys, it’s time to get off that mountain, chuck the junk and move into all that God has promised.

Who is joining me?

 

* * *

deanna

 

 

 

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A Re-Do, Please! by Nita Kuehn

February 4, 2013 By 3 Comments

 

diaper-rashI was hurriedly readying myself to attend a Prize31 author’s dinner at the Toti’s house.  All I needed to do was brush my teeth, and I would be out the door.  John was asking me a million questions as I stuck the toothbrush in my mouth.  Something was very wrong! No foam on the toothbrush - more like the feeling of Crisco and the taste of fish oil!  I looked down in my hand, still holding the tube – it was Desitin! *&%#  (I have two, one-year-old grandbabies, and I keep it in the same drawer with my toothpaste – same shape – same size.) Only having a few moments left, I grabbed another toothbrush and tried unsuccessfully to undo the damage with Crest.

I arrived on time, and we had a wonderful dinner in the flavor of Mexican cuisine.  Surely it would wipe out the residual taste of grease and fish oil that was still lingering in my mouth – especially if I added lots of salsa!  And it did, that is, while I was eating.  Unfortunately, as I sat in the living room chatting, laughing, and visiting after dinner, the greasy feeling and the taste of fish oil began to return.  Soon it became intolerable and I had to excuse myself to find some gum.  Girls, I want you to know that Orbit Misty Mint did the job!  (Just in case you ever end up with a mouth full of Desitin!)

So, what did I learn from that experience?  Several things, I think…

  1. We can mess up big time when we are in a hurry and we are not paying attention to what we are doing.  Or perhaps when we are multi-tasking???
  2. Some messes are not cleaned up as quickly or easily as we would assume or like.
  3. The clean-up can be made more difficult because we are using the wrong tool.
  4. Although we would like a “re-do,” in life, that is not always possible.
  5. Sometimes it is necessary to go to the right kind of external help to complete the clean-up job.
  6. It sure feels good when it’s done!

I think that summarizes the totality of my life pretty well.  I, personally, have made a mess that only the righteousness of Jesus can cover.  But sometimes He sends me people with real skin on to help me with that connection and the clean-up job.  They have just the tools I need for that moment in time and I feel so much better when the job is done.

Thank goodness, that in my life, He is always willing to give me a re-do.

 

* * *

Nita Kuehn

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It’s just an inch! by Deanna Duncan

January 21, 2013 By 6 Comments

inch
The day started out so beautifully.  I woke up–without the alarm clock–and smiled.

I walked over to the dresser, pulled out the tape measure and immediately stopped smiling.

An inch.  Up.

I looked into my closet and mentally color coded everything.

Red–Don’t even try sista’.

Yellow–Possible with the power (and pain) of spanx.

Green–good to go

As I saw my closet awash in yellow and red I wanted to scream out, “It’s just an inch!”

Ooooohhh how powerful that inch is when it is at your belly button…

Now, this is the point when I have two choices.  I could either wallow in self pity and then try to attack the problem on my own or I could lift it up to God.

“So sweet Jesus, what message do you have for me?”

I heard my mother’s voice in my head repeating her favorite cleaning day mantra–”Inch by inch, it’s a cinch.  Mile by mile, what a trial.”

I always start each day with great intentions.  I live for huge ideas.  However, as the day progresses little things seem to chip away at those intentions and my grand idea of fostering new friendships (or even maintaining existing ones) is shrunk to checking Facebook for 2 min while at a stoplight and “liking” a post or two. It seems so insignificant.

But what my tape measure was screaming at me was clear.

An inch is powerful!

With this new year and great intentions, I search for the “inches”.  I challenge myself to send 1 text a day to a friend.  I try to call 1 person a week.  Instead of going for the full-out hour long study with God (and feeling like a failure when it doesn’t happen) I allow myself to inch along.  Reading Joyce Meyer’s Daily Devotional and then spending 3 minutes lifting up the day is one power-packed inch.  And all throughout the day (as we have learned from Jillian Michaels’ encouragement on “The Biggest Loser”) those inches add up.

This isn’t anything new to God.  In Song of Songs 2:15 we are warned about the tiny foxes that may appear harmless on their own but as a pack they will destroy the vineyards.  In James 3:4 we are reminded that the ships, “so large and driven by strong winds are steered by a very small rudder.”

Tiny counts!

According to my math teacher, it works both ways.  We can add in the good inches and subtract the bad.  It’s cumulative (another big math word).  That means that the good inches we add today will only build upon the good ones we previously added yesterday.

Today, people as a whole really struggle with “not counting”.  We see mega churches or women’s leaders that write a bazillion Bible studies and have a gazillion posts on their site saying how without them, Suzy Q would have never known the Lord.  We look around at our toy scattered floor or our tiny apartment or our cubicle piled with papers from floor to ceiling and say, “Nothing I could do now would really matter to the God.”

WRONG!  WRONG!  WRONG!

The empowering thing to know is that all of these people started with an inch. Smile at someone today.  Hold the door for someone.  Tell someone they have beautiful eyes.  It’s tiny, but it’s an inch that will encourage you to go another and another and another until you realize the full calling God has put on your life.

So today, what inch will you add?

 

* * *

Deanna Duncan

 

 

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Permissive vs. Profitable by Deanna Duncan

July 16, 2012 By 1 Comment

 

“Here sweetie, you should try this,” a sweet white haired lady says as she places a cup-full of goodness in front of my face.

Strawberries swimming in sweet juice sitting on a fluffy butter yellow cake and topped with frothy, light as air cream.

I take a deep breath.

“No, thank you.”

I turn around.  There is another man handing out crusty, whole grain bread and yet another smearing creamy goodness on some toast points.  I look to the bakery section and then the tears really start welling up.  I really think I am going to lose it right in the middle of Market Street.

You see, less than a month ago I would have been gladly sampling the wares and then loaded all the baked goodness into my cart.

Then, I discovered some things…

” ‘Everything is permissible for me’–but not everything is beneficial.” 1 Cor 6:12

It appears this thing called gluten had been slowly tearing me apart on the inside.  Actually, it’s just poking holes, but “tearing apart” sounds more impressive.  So, to let my body heal, what is good for everyone else can’t be on my plate anymore.

You may not understand the impact of wheat-free eating for me.  You see, I LOVE baked goods.  I plan my errand running days around bakeries.  I plan vacations around my favorite bakeries (Can you say, “Village Buttery in Ruidoso?”)

However, now that I have to say, “no,” to it, I am hit square in the nose by the second half of 1 Corinthians 6:12

” ‘Everything is permissible for me’–but I will not be mastered by anything.”

It seems so harmless.  In fact, God gave it to us.  However, scales have fallen from my eyes as I have realized that I was a “slave” to baked goods.

I started to ask God about other areas that were “permissible” but were silently attacking me on the inside.

“I will set before my eyes no vile thing,” Psalm 101:2

I got the vile (or evil) part, but He started to show me that sometimes we have relationships with people or things that while “permissible” are not “profitable.  It can be subtle.  Every time you talk to this friend, you leave slightly down.  Every time you watch a particular show, you find yourself snapping at your friends and family afterwards.  You may not even make the connection, but something about this relationship is poking holes on your inside.

Oooohh, but you say.  ”I can’t help myself.  I know it isn’t good, but I just keep answering when they call…”

Now, you may laugh at this, but this is literally what I have to do as I walk past fragrant crusty bread.

1.  ”I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Phil 4:13.  I say this aloud.

2.  Redirect my thoughts.  Now, I used to start listing here the reasons why I should walk on by.  However, with this tactic, I was still giving gluten power.  It had my thoughts.  Instead, I grasp onto the concept that where God is enthroned there is room for no other.  That means I start praising Him.  He fills my mind, and the power of the bread is broken.

3.  I am prepared with alternatives.  I make gluten free brownies and freeze them in single serving sizes.  When temptation hits, I know that there is a “good for me” solution.  If TV or movies are your relaxation, hang out on Pluggedin to find some shows that would be “profitable” for you.  God says, “where there is no vision, the people perish.” Prov 29:18.  To me that says, have a plan when attacked and you will know how to proceed.  For me, it’s Glutino’s yogurt covered pretzels in my car.

So, let me encourage you, if you have an area that’s “permissible,”  but not “profitable” – please know that God’s heart is for you to be healthy and whole.  With Him, the healing can be complete.  So…let’s get healthy together!

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What does a gluten intolerance or sensitivity look like?  You can find out more here.

Is it common?  According to some research, as much as 15% of America has some level of gluten sensitivity/intolerance.  Many of the outward symptoms seem so common–gas, bloating, headaches, etc.–that people never know what is going on on the inside.  It was crazy to find a connecting line between what seemed like such unrelated things–low bone density, anemia, eczema, a “leaky gut” etc.

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