Glorify God In Your Body

You both are in the food industry. You have been educated on how to cook, what tastes good, what goes together, how to make it look amazing and, most importantly, what's healthy. And that is what we want to focus on today.

My mom is in the hospital with intestinal issues. She's had these issues for more than 20 years. Some is genetics and some is poor eating habits. Now you can't do much about genetics, but you can do something about eating right.

Aunt Jodi and I were talking yesterday about how schools do not make nutritional eating a part of education. Not just teaching about the food groups and the number of servings you should have, but what exactly is healthy and unhealthy. There are so few folks who read labels on food, not realizing they are putting chemicals, and in some cases poison, in their bodies to eat. Your Daddy and I did The Daniel Plan last year (we continue to implement its teachings) and learned what we need with regards to good metabolism, what carbohydrates, proteins and vegetables enhance health and what we should avoid. Now if a product has more than five ingredients in it, we put it back on the shelf. If sugar is one of the first three ingredients, we consider it a dessert.

And if we see any ingredients we cannot pronounce, we will not purchase it. Let me tell you that makes grocery shopping more of a scavenger hunt. To find even one jar of spaghetti sauce with around five ingredients is tricky. But it can be done. And it can be delicious. When we eat right, we sleep better, have more energy, look better and feel better. When Daddy first started The Daniel Plan, he cut his insulin intake in half, so that is saying something. But it takes constant, every day planning. We only have one day at a time, so that's how we tackle it. But it is so important if you want to not only live long, but live healthily. 

Genetics already give you a disadvantage in some aspects - in our case diabetes from your Dad, diverticulosis and high blood pressure in my family - so eating healthy should be a no brainer. We want you both, at this early stage of life, to take care of yourselves. To eat right, exercise and get enough sleep. If our job is to further the kingdom of God, and our bodies are a temple to the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), it is important to keep that temple in good working order to effectively do the first part. Scripture says in verse 20 after the above, "For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body." That was a very high price Christ paid for us. Don't we owe it to him to take immaculate care of what He died for?

Doing it right at this stage of the game will help you immeasurably later. When I learned of my mother's diverticulosis, I made a decision that I would have 25 grams of fiber every single day. It means I eat Fiber One - a cereal not exactly known for its tastiness, but certainly for its fiber content - every day. Like Mr. Smooshy, my pillow, Fiber One goes with me on vacation. It's that important.

We are "fearfully and wonderfully made," Scripture says in Psalm 139:14. And in 1 Corinthians 10:31 "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Before anything gets to our mouths, we need to ask if it will aid us in glorifying God. (And before you ask, yes, chocolate indeed helps me glorify Him; I just can't eat a zillion pounds of it.)

Take care of you. Take care of each other. Don't bring home foods that you know your loved one has little self-control with in regards to eating and drinking. Be supportive. And be healthy. You know how to do it, so do it well.

Discussion: Are there foods that are difficult for you to eat proportionately? Is eating healthy difficult for you? What are things you can do together to take better care of your bodies?

Prayer: Lord you have created us in Your own image, and how we abuse this body we've been given. We pray for help from the Holy Spirit as we face each day from a health standpoint. Inspire us to eat healthy, exercise and get plenty of rest, so that we may glorify you fully. In Jesus, Amen.

In Sickness and In Health

Before Brad and I got married, Pennsylvania law required that all couples have a physical before marriage. I am not exactly sure why that law was created, but we complied. It was there in September 1987 at your Daddy's physical that the doctor said, "Oh I didn't know you were diabetic," to which your Daddy responded, "Neither did I." Brad's blood sugar was apparently high. The doctor commented that maybe it was nothing, but to keep a lookout for certain symptoms of diabetes: excessive thirst, exhaustion.

So fast forward to after the wedding at the end of the year: We had just gotten back from celebrating Christmas with Brad's family in Cape Girardeau, MO. We had feasted on any number of cookies and chocolates. On New Year's Eve we were planning to go to a party in Indiana with friends. Brad noticed the symptoms above and scheduled a doctor's appointment for that day. He came home that morning, woke me up and said, "Jill, I have to go to the hospital," to which I responded, "You can't! We have a party tonight." Chalk that one up to sleep stupor. Brad's blood sugar was over 500. We learned, of course, he was most definitely diabetic and more specifically, Juvenile or Type 1. He would need to inject insulin to live for the rest of his life.

Brad did not like shots. And now he was being told at the age of 22 that he needed to learn how to inject himself and check his blood sugar upwards of six times/day. We were warned of potential future problems with eyesight, touch, feet, kidneys and the like. We were scared to death. Especially when the nurse said to us, "If you do as I instructed, I can't guarantee that you won't have the problems I've just explained to you. But if you don't, I can guarantee you will. Without insulin, he will be dead in two years."

I remember leaving my husband that night in the hospital, going home and doing a whole lot of crying and praying. I also inhaled a bunch of chocolate. I think I thought we could never have sweets in the house again. Diabetes, of course, changed our lives forever. There have been scary moments for sure - and thousands of dollars spent in medical care - but Brad has been meticulous about caring for himself. His A1c (average blood sugar levels) are near normal.

I don't ever remember thinking that just two months prior I'd said "in sickness or in health," but we were certainly getting a true test of those vows quite quickly. And I'm grateful to God that, for the most part, "health" is what we've dealt with throughout our marriage.

Years ago when Brad and I lived in Wisconsin, we attended a marriage seminar called "Laugh Your Way To A Better Marriage" by Mark Gungor. Friends gave us tickets to attend. It was hilarious. He gave us both incite into how the female and male minds worked. We learned and laughed a lot.

Mark started this ministry in 2003. He is the senior pastor at Celebration Church in Wisconsin and started the marriage seminar because no else in the area was. He has spoken all over the country, is one of the most requested speakers for the military, has a radio show and internet show and has authored several books. He married his high school sweetheart Debbie who has been married to for over 40 years.

The other day, Mark posted that his wife had stage 4 breast cancer that had spread to her bones. She is in so much pain, that medication cannot touch it. Here is a man who has helped make countless marriages stronger now watching his beloved wife struggle through an unfair, ruthless disease. In sickness ...

It is not a fair part of life, but it happens. You will face many things throughout your marriage that will test the "in sickness" portion of your vows. Some as simple as a paper cut or cold. Some not so simple. But you will do it together, through prayer, through grace, in strength, with God. Take good care of yourselves. I can't guarantee bad things won't happen if you do, but I can guarantee they will if you don't. So be good to your bodies. Give the rest to the Father.

Discussion: Do you know of married couples who have had to deal with sickness? How have they handled it? What are ways you both would approach changes in health?

Prayer: We thank you, Father, that we are tenderly in your care. Give us strength and courage to deal with whatever health concerns may come our way. We pray for health in our marriage, spiritual, mental and physical, that we may be at our best to serve you. And pray in sickness we continue to glorify your Holy Name. In Jesus, Amen.