The Case for Limited Government

I just received a membership to The Heritage Foundation for my birthday.  The Heritage Foundation, “founded in 1973, is a research and educational institute–a think tank–whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.”

As I was browsing through their website, digesting what seems like volumes of research and information on a wide variety of topics, I came across this article, of which I am only giving a few blurbs but you are more than welcome to read it in its entirety here.  It is about what role government should play in the life of American citizens.  It is brilliantly written and it clearly articulates some things that we, as a country, are in grave danger of losing sight of forever.  I encourage you to read it.  And now, with this new membership, there is a small chance I will be tempted to simply regurgitate information from The Heritage Foundation on a daily basis (because it is THAT good), and although there are much worse things that I could do, I will resist that urge. . .for now.

This is taken from the article called “Government for the Good of the People:  Ten Questions about Freedom, Virtue, and the Role of Government”

4. Does big government pose moral problems?  When government oversteps its bounds and begins to assume more authority, it weakens other important social institutions, including those, like the family and religious congregations, that are particularly capable of encouraging moral virtue among citizens. Big-government programs and policies also tend to confuse the lines between citizen responsibility and government responsibility. As a result, they erode our understanding of the ethical obligations we have to one another—especially in regard to issues such as poverty and economic justice—and encourage us to assume and to expect that government will provide for our neighbors’ needs.

7. How does big government weaken smaller, virtue-producing communities?  As government claims responsibility for more tasks, it absorbs the allegiance that citizens once placed in other relationships and forms of association. When the federal government assumes more responsibility for fulfilling the moral obligations among citizens, it tends to undermine the perceived significance and authority of local institutions and communities.

This encourages citizens, instead of looking to their families, churches, or local communities for guidance and assistance, to depend on the government for education, welfare, and various other services. As individuals begin to look more consistently to the government for support, the institutions that are able to generate virtues like trust and responsibility begin to lose their sway in the community. Excessive bureaucratic centralization thus sets in motion a dangerous cycle of dependence and social decay.

The power of government carries significant moral implications. The amount of responsibility yielded to or claimed by government can shape attitudes, motivations, expectations, and even the terms of public debate.

The article concludes with these words:  “Government can also influence the cultivation of character and the strength of social bonds by protecting institutions that help to encourage virtue in society, such as the family or religious congregations, against unjust interference from other institutions, including the state. In other words, there is a strong moral case to be made for limited government authority.”

So I ask, in which direction are we headed today–toward a limited government or a rapidly expanding one?

How Can We Pray for Our Kids?

“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.   Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth” (Deuteronomy 11:18-21).

This is a beautiful verse.  In Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible, he breaks it down and says “Let our hearts be filled with the word of God. . .Let our eyes be fixed upon the word of God. . .Let our tongues be employed about the word of God.”

“Arise, cry out in the night,
       as the watches of the night begin;
       pour out your heart like water
       in the presence of the Lord.
       Lift up your hands to him
       for the lives of your children,
       who faint from hunger
       at the head of every street” (Lamentations 2:19).

I have a rather compliant child, and by compliant I mean that maybe 7 out of 10 times he will do as I ask without much fuss.  The other 3 times his human nature takes over.  I’m doing my best to do exactly as this Deuteronomy verse instructs me–fix God’s words in my heart and mind, teach them to our son, talk about them when we are home and out, going to bed and waking up, and write them on the doorframes of our house.  But as involved as I am and as compliant as he is now, I’m not so naive as to believe there will never come a time (or many times) when he wants to go his own way 10 out of 10 times, even when it means walking out of God’s protection, provision and plan for his life.  So what is one of the best things I can do for him, to cover all those compliant, non-compliant, and downright rebellious times?  Yes, pray.

“Prayer alows you to enter into places where we don’t have access” (anonymous author).  I’ve had this quote in my kitchen for many years, and it reminds me that, during those times in which I feel completely powerless over my circumstances (including any involving my son), I can pray and immediately do one of the most powerful things of all (if not, THE most powerful thing).

So, what specifically can we pray for?  What are some of those prayers that we can lift up to the Lord on a daily basis and immediately know that we are employing the power of Creator God in the lives of our children?

One of my favorite authors of is Stormie Omartian and she has written a book called “The Power of  a Praying Parent.” 

 In it, she outlines 29 topics that we can pray for our kids and then gives beautiful sample prayers for each of these topics.  Here are just a few of those topics, and I encourage you to pick up a copy of her book to view them in more detail:

Securing Protection from Harm

Feeling Loved and Accepted

Attracting Godly Friends and Role Models

Developing a Hunger for the Things of God

Being the Person God Created

Identifying God-Given Gifts and Talents

Receiving a Sound Mind

Inviting the Joy of the Lord

Breaking Down Ungodly Strongholds

Growing in Faith

These prayers are perfect for daily use and tenderly address all types of issues, helping us to get at the heart of what we desperately long for when it comes to our children and their future.

Another book that I recommend is called “While They Were Sleeping” 

by Gary Harrell and Anne Arkins .  This is a prayer guide that takes you through 12 character traits that parents and grandparents can pray for on a daily basis, a few of them being:

Humility, Teachability, Obedience, Purity, Responsibility, and Servanthood

One of the things that I pray for most often for my son is that he will love God more than any other thing or person (including himself) and that he will stay open to God’s leading and teachable through His Word for all of his life.

We can’t go wrong when we pray for our kids.  May we always endeavor to make the time for it.

“From the moment we awake until we fall asleep, we must commend our loved ones wholly and unreservedly to God and leave them in his hands, transforming our anxiety into prayers on their behalf” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

Government Healthcare Proponents Attack Whole Foods

Well, the Left is at it again.  It seems that when opposition to one of their ideas surfaces, all of Hades breaks loose.  It is no secret that President Obama and the Democrat’s proposition of health care reform (that includes a public option) is not going well.  The latest Rasmussen poll shows that only 42% of Americans support the government-run health care reform option, but yet we are seeing hatred spring up all over the place because of the Left’s inability to allow dissenting views without uprising in a loud and potentially destructive way.

Carrie Prejean was vilified back in June over her honest answer to a same-sex marriage question.

Consider the number of times conservatives are called “racist” when they oppose a policy of our African-America president.

The Tax Day Tea Parties in April. . .protestors were call names with sexual innuendos and attempts were made all over the media to discredit them–pointing out the very, very small percentage of signs that were personal attacks on the president, when in reality, the vast majority of these protests have been civil and respectful.

The Town Hall Meetings over the last month. . .again, the overwhelming majority of the town hall attendees are respectful (albeit passionate) and are genuinely concerned about the direction that the Democrat’s health care plan would take them and their families, yet what gets covered?  The one or two who are completely without class who bring signs of swastikas or Obama-as-Hitler.  I oppose any personal attacks from any party or group.  But at the same time, the thousands of people who are at these town halls across America voicing a valid opinion with their Constitutional right of free speech are being discredited as “Astroturf” or “un-American.” 

And now Whole Foods CEO John Mackey is taking a hit.  Why?  Because he voiced opposition to the Left’s plan. . .not any one person in particulr, not by personally attacking our president, but by writing an op-ed piece that outlined why, as a very successful business man, he held the opinion that a public-option in health-care reform is absolutely not the answer.  He says in this Wall Street Journal piece, “A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That’s because there isn’t any. This ‘right’ has never existed in America.”

Why does Mr. Mackey not have a right to say this?  And if he does, why should he be penalized for respectfully voicing his opinion?  He did not personally attack the president.  He did not use disrespectful language, signs or imagery.  He spoke with a well-informed voice as a man with a business-mind and a history of success in the business world.  And now, his company and his employees (not Mr. Mackey, as we will see) stand to suffer because of a boycott of Whole Foods that is gaining ground (at least according to the liberal media).  Mr. Mackey takes a salary of $1 annually and donates his stock option proceeds to charity.  He employs 50,000 people, many of whom might be in danger of losing their job if the Left continues with this nonsense. (source)  It is a sad day when more jobs of innocent employees are threatened because the Left believes that free speech is only a right for those whose speech matches theirs. 

Now I know what kind of comments I might receive.  “But what about the boycott of the Dixie Chicks back in 2003 when all they were doing was expressing their opinion?” they will say.  First of all, if you can honestly tell me that what the Dixie Chicks said and where they said it is the same as John Mackey, I will question your judgment and ability to be rational.  The Dixie Chicks made a personal attack against President George Bush in London (outside the United States).  They took their right to free speech into the gutter and made it personal, just as the protestor holding the Obama-as-Hitler sign did.

I will defend anyone’s right to free speech even if I don’t agree with what they are saying.  Why won’t the Left afford conservatives that same right?

I will be writing Mr. Mackey later today because I respect the stand that he took and that he took it respectfully.  I will also be supporting him in his right to free speech and although I already frequent Whole Foods, I will do so now with the knowledge that my money is going to a company that has at its helm a man not afraid to stand for truth.  I urge you, if you believe in Mr. Mackey’s right to express his opinion without vicious backlash, to support him and his company by following the link below.

http://www2.wholefoodsmarket.com/blogs/jmackey/2009/08/14/health-care-reform-full-article/

The Left isn’t the only voice demanding to be heard lately, thank God.

Back to School Nutrition: Healthy & Quick Choices for Kids

Within a week or two, kiddos all over the country will be heading back to school.  Things will get even more hectic, schedules even tighter, and mealtimes more abbreviated.  The temptation to pack lunches void of nutrition, yet quick and easy will be magnified.  So for moms everywhere committed to good nutrition for their families, I thought I would compile some of the best meal and snack choices that I know of, serve my son, and have found from other bloggers and mothers. . .meals and snacks that are quick and easy but that do not compromise health.

Breakfast:

One of the things your mother probably always told you (and she was right) was to never forget your protein at breakfast.  I’ve been advised to have protein, even if it is just a handful of nuts, within 20 minutes of waking up.  I would think for kids, many of whom expend a whole lot of energy those first 20 minutes already, this is especially important.

In our family, Applegate Breakfast Sausages–Chicken & Maple or Chicken & Apple–are breakfast staples.

 

 

 

 

 

My husband and son also drink Jay Robb’s Egg White Protein shakes every other morning or so.  They enjoy the Chocolate flavor and mix it in organic cow’s milk or plain rice milk.  (Note:  They do not do this as a meal-replacement and I don’t recommend that.)

 

 

 

 

Turkey bacon is also an excellent choice for breakfast.  It is a big step up in nutrtional value from pork bacon (in part because of it’s lower fat content).

Hard-boiled eggs. . .or deviled eggs (both of which my son devours).  These can easily be made the night before and stored in the refrigerator until morning.

Lunches:

We make wraps in our home.  We use nitrate-free and nitrite-free turkey and ham lunchmeat in Spelt tortillas, sometimes throwing in avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, and especially some melted organic cheese for added appeal.

Almond butter and jelly sandwiches are a great-for-you and tasty lunch.  We tend to stay away from peanut butter for the most part because of how easily it turns rancid, but if you must use peanut butter, try the natural kind and be sure to follow the proper storing suggestions.

Cold smoked atlantic salmon, comes in a package ready-to-eat from Whole Foods, and is nutritious and easy.

Snacks:

We are a smoothie family.  It is a great way to hide a little flaxseed or protein powder unknowingly in your kid’s refreshing summer treat.  One of my favorite smoothie recipe books is “The Ultimate Smoothie Book” by Cherie Calbom. 

  Try her recipes for “Carob Peanut Butter Banana,” “Orange Coconut Creamsicle-in-a-Glass,” and “Strawberry Creamsicles.”  I would also check out www.allrecipes.com as they have some great looking ones too, such as the “Triple Threat Fruit Smoothie,” with berries (antioxidants) and vitamin C. 

One I am anxious to try is from blogger Raw Mom who has a recipe for a Berry-Greens Smoothie (hides spinach among berries).

We also consume a lot of dried fruit. . .apples, apricots, plums, and pineapple. . .our favorite brand is Organic Made in Nature because there is absolutely nothing else added in to the ingredients. 

Cheese sticks are also a fun snack (although I realize I’m not being tremendously original here).

Banana popsicles–peel a banana, insert a popsicle stick at one end and then freeze.  My son jumps with glee when he gets one of these!

So as we get those lunches packed next week and send our little ones out the door, I hope some of these things help you to prepare quick and healthy meals and snacks for your loved ones!

What’s God Doin’?

My 4 year old son has been incredibly curious about spiritual things over the last 6 months or so.  He asked Jesus into his heart during this time and, although the jury is still out on whether he understood enough about what he was doing, he has been asking question after question since then and developing a love for God that is simply beautiful.  One of the questions that he asks daily (and by daily, I mean multiple times a day) is:  “What’s God doin’?”

So I’m asking for help.  Help me answer his question.  There are only so many times I can say things like:

“He’s smiling at you.”

“He’s listening to people’s prayers and answering them.”

“He’s taking care of the world.”

“He’s loving you and being proud of your interest in Him.”

“He’s helping people.”

I’m reading a great book right now put out by Focus on the Family called “Teaching Kids About God.”

It lays out what kids can comprehend about God (and what we should be teaching them) broken down by age groups.  Hopefully I will have more answers to my son’s questions after reading this book, but in the meantime, does anyone have any ideas?

Health Care or Child Care?

My intentions were to write something about my son’s spiritual curiosity as of late, but then I dared to open my emails and found this waiting there.  It is a piece written by Chuck Norris. . .yes, “Walker, Texas Ranger,” and it exposes a “dirty little secret” in the Obama healthcare bill that should be of utmost importance to parents especially.

“Health care reforms are turning into health care revolts. Americans are turning up the heat on congressmen in town hall meetings across the U.S.

While watching these political hot August nights, I decided to research the reasons so many are opposed to Obamacare to separate the facts from the fantasy. What I discovered is that there are indeed dirty little secrets buried deep within the 1,000-plus page health care bill.

Dirty secret No. 1 in Obamacare is about the government’s coming into homes and usurping parental rights over child care and development.

It’s outlined in sections 440 and 1904 of the House bill (Page 838), under the heading “home visitation programs for families with young children and families expecting children.” The programs (provided via grants to states) would educate parents on child behavior and parenting skills.

The bill says that the government agents, “well-trained and competent staff,” would “provide parents with knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional, and motor domains … modeling, consulting, and coaching on parenting practices,” and “skills to interact with their child to enhance age-appropriate development.”

Are you kidding me?! With whose parental principles and values? Their own? Certain experts’? From what field and theory of childhood development? As if there are one-size-fits-all parenting techniques! Do we really believe they would contextualize and personalize every form of parenting in their education, or would they merely universally indoctrinate with their own?

Are we to assume the state’s mediators would understand every parent’s social or religious core values on parenting? Or would they teach some secular-progressive and religiously neutered version of parental values and wisdom? And if they were to consult and coach those who expect babies, would they ever decide circumstances to be not beneficial for the children and encourage abortions?

One government rebuttal is that this program would be “voluntary.” Is that right? Does that imply that this agency would just sit back passively until some parent needing parenting skills said, “I don’t think I’ll call my parents, priest or friends or read a plethora of books, but I’ll go down to the local government offices”? To the contrary, the bill points to specific targeted groups and problems, on Page 840: The state “shall identify and prioritize serving communities that are in high need of such services, especially communities with a high proportion of low-income families.”

Are we further to conclude by those words that low-income families know less about parenting? Are middle- and upper-class parents really better parents? Less neglectful of their children? Less needful of parental help and training? Is this “prioritized” training not a biased, discriminatory and even prejudicial stereotype and generalization that has no place in federal government, law or practice?

Bottom line: Is all this what you want or expect in a universal health care bill being rushed through Congress? Do you want government agents coming into your home and telling you how to parent your children? When did government health care turn into government child care?

Government needs less of a role in running our children’s lives and more of a role in supporting parents’ decisions for their children. Children belong to their parents, not the government. And the parents ought to have the right — and government support — to parent them without the fed’s mandates, education or intervention in our homes.”

Feel free to continue reading the entire article here.  Or see the 1000+ page bill from the government’s website here.  In addition, read up on the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.  Could this move by the Obama administration be a back-door way of reaching this ultimate end?

When I think of what is important to me as a wife, mother, Christian, and parent (things that are in play with myself and my family on a daily basis), these things come to mind:  my freedom to worship God, the sacred union of my marriage to my husband, my health and the health of my family, the choices I have in how to raise my son as a God-fearing young man, my schooling choices for him, the financial choices my husband and I make in order to have a worry-free retirement or send our son to a college of our (and his) choosing, and what we do with our hard-earned money. 

Then when I think of the ways that President Obama has threatened, weakened and in some ways destroyed some of those exact things (those things most important to me) in a matter of 6 months, I have all I can do to not be physically sick.  He’s threatening the union between husbands and wives all across the U.S., he is reversing the life-saving efforts others have put in place to save innocent babies from physical torture through abortion, he is squeezing God out of any and every public place he can get his hands on, he is driving my son so far into debt he will likely be owned by the government (think Orwellian) before he even graduates, he is tampering with health care in such radical ways that I can scratch my health and that of my family off my list as something I will have any control over anymore, and now he’s trying to mess with my son. 

Let me tell you, I’ll be darned before I let the government and their meddling hands, their anti-God values, and their bottom-line power-driven greed come into my home and take away those very things that I treasure so much–those things promised to me by our Founding Fathers, the Constitution of the United States, and my Heavenly Father Himself!

Go ahead and try, President Obama, but you will find that this otherwise shy and reserved housewife and mom will become a fierce lioness who has been backed into a corner one too many times by your socialistic agenda, and I will fight (legally and respectfully), but I will fight.  And based on all the town hall meetings across the country in which more people than expected are rising up and voicing opposition, I have a feeling I won’t be the only one.

Partial-Birth Abortion: Sounds “worse than it is”?

The other day I was at a library book sale. . .my heaven on earth.  I was browsing in the Politics section for that perfect find–a new release hardcover from one of my favorite authors or commentators and all for the bargain price of $2 (never found one, by the way).  A woman and her friend were across the row of books from me and I overheard the following statement:

“Partial-birth abortion is just a made up term in order to sound worse than it really is.”

I’m not kidding.

And I wanted so desperately to ask her, “Just what part of the partial-birth procedure is not EXACTLY as the name (aka “made up term”) implies?”  But I didn’t.  And now I’m blogging about it (venting about it) here.

I understand that not everyone accepts the name of this procedure–the AMA, for example, or Planned Parenthood (big surprise), which calls it an IDX, Intact Dilation and Extraction.

But what I take issue with is the complete spin that pro-choice proponents, activists, politicians and abortion providers perform here.  If you are upset that pro-lifers are calling it partial-birth abortion (upset that we are calling apples apples instead of papayas), then tell me exactly and specifically where a partial-birth abortion is NOT a partial-birth abortion.

Here is a description of the partial-birth abortion procedure, as appears of the National Right to Life website: 

“This procedure is used to abort women who are 20 to 32 weeks pregnant — or even later into pregnancy.* Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist reaches into the uterus, grabs the unborn baby’s leg with forceps, and pulls the baby into the birth canal, except for the head, which is deliberately kept just inside the womb. (At this point in a partial-birth abortion, the baby is alive.) Then the abortionist jams scissors into the back of the baby’s skull and spreads the tips of the scissors apart to enlarge the wound. After removing the scissors, a suction catheter is inserted into the skull and the baby’s brains are sucked out. The collapsed head is then removed from the uterus.”

If you would like a definition from a neutral group, rather than pro-life advocates, here is the definition put out by the Congress in the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act:

“The Congress finds and declares the following:  (1) A moral, medical, and ethical consensus exists that the practice of performing a partial-birth abortion–an abortion in which a physician deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living, unborn child’s body until either the entire baby’s head is outside the body of the mother, or any part of the baby’s trunk  past the navel is outside the body of the mother and only the head remains inside the womb, for the purpose of performing an overt act (usually the puncturing of the back of the child’s skull and removing the baby’s brains) that the person knows will kill the partially delivered infant, performs this act, and then  completes delivery of the dead infant–is a gruesome and inhumane procedure that is never medically necessary and should be prohibited.”

Wikipedia says, “The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the terms ‘partial-birth abortion’ and ‘intact dilation and extraction’ are basically synonymous” (see original source here).

Do I need to go on?  Would I have had to show this woman pictures and diagrams of partial-birth abortions to prove to her that babies really are partially born before they are brutally aborted? 

I get frustrated when people would rather believe political spin than use their God-given intellect to acknowledge the facts.  I get frustrated when I see on people’s Facebook page the day after Dr. Tiller, the late-term abortionist, was murdered, “flags at half staff in honor of a hero.”  I get frustrated when people would rather hold on to things they incorrectly think are their “rights” rather than acknowledge that these innocent babies are born in God’s image and it’s their right to be protected.  But I have to remember that God calls me to love, even those people that frustrate me.  And I know that as much as he hates abortion, and as much as I believe he wants us to stand for truth, defend life and get actively involved to varying degrees, I also know that he also (not instead, though) wants us to love.

So I press on to love, even though I’m frustrated.

The Great Commission

I think I failed to obey God today.  Not that I’m sure I do a wonderful job of obeying Him on a daily basis anyway, althouth I try, but this one was rather clear to me as I let my fears and insecurities get in the way of what God wanted me to do.

My son and I were leaving our local food pantry after having dropped something off, and as we were getting into the car and buckling up, I saw a woman sitting down on the curb right next to our car.  Her arms were full of bags of food and she looked rather weary.  I thought about how tough it must be to not have food in my refrigerator or those common “staple items” in my pantry. . .to not know where the next meal would come from if it were not for this food pantry ministry.  And then, I immediately froze.

Let me give you some background here.  In the last week, I have read two fiction books by an author I like very much named Terri Blackstock.  I picked them up at the library strictly based on the author, not knowing what they were about.  They were about evangelism–characters that felt a heavy burden to evangelize every day, many times a day, after receiving a temporary empowering by the Holy Spirit to see people’s “heart needs,” or spiritual needs.

These were the two books I read:

  The Heart Reader by Terri Blackstock       The Gifted by Terri Blackstock

And then you have to know that in my glove compartment of my car, I have several books–books that I’ve stocked up on for the exact purpose of evangelizing.  Don’t think anything special of  me, because although my desire to reach the world for Christ is bursting at my seams, and I send books and tracks out fairly easily, I have yet to have a face to face discussion about the saving work of Jesus Christ with a stranger I just meet on the street.  But I had these books in my car, just waiting for an opportunity to be used:

  He Did This Just For You by Max Lucado        The NIV Gospel of John

   Cross-Examination by Lee Strobel       The 3:16 Promise by Max Lucado

And then you have to know that I felt the Lord speaking strongly to me to go and talk to this woman. . .to share with her the hope that I have and that she too could have.  I felt it so strongly that I was motionless in my seat for what seemed like a minute or two, talking to myself about all the “what ifs.”  I did manage to open the glove compartment and pull out the books, but one of those “what ifs” grabbed hold of my timid heart and sent me putting the car in drive and heading home instead.

I can’t tell you the disappointment I felt.  God does not condemn, so I never felt that from Him, but I also knew that I had missed the exact kind of opportunity that I’d been preparing for and God had provided me. 

I say all that to say this. 

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.  No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:35-36).

“Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15).

“So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord” (2 Timothy 1:8).

So what’s my next action plan. . .a plan to get ready for the next opportunity that I’m given?  Next on my reading list is the new Lee Strobel book:

  The Unexpected Adventure:  Taking Everyday Risks to Talk with People about Jesus

And I’m getting caught up on my recorded “Way of the Master” shows (the show that Kirk Cameron is involved in that teaches how to evangelize).  And I am looking into participating in this Christmas outreach program organized by Good News Publishers, detailed at www.goodnewsofchristmas.org.  And I’m praying that the Lord will give me another opportunity, and that I won’t fail next time. 

I hope these resources encourage you to “go and preach the good news” with passion, love, and confidence.

Going Gluten Free

Yes, wheat allergies and gluten intolerances are real. . .for anyone struggling with the physical symptoms of such sensitivities, it can be discouraging to feel less than 100% and yet not know why or how to fix it. Some are even struggling with Celiac Disease. 

Dr. Mercola has this about the prevalence of Celiac Disease and gluten intolerances:

“Because celiac disease has been considered rare in this country, it often goes undiagnosed or is misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome or lactose intolerance.  My experience is that the true incidence is probably much higher still, perhaps on the order of 1 in 10 people.  The bulk of us however do NOT benefit from having wheat.

It is one of the primary reasons why people get sick in this country.  It is amazing how many people’s chronic health complaints clear up once they stop the wheat.  Some clinicians believe that no one can digest a protein in wheat called gliaden.”

I have been experimenting with a gluten-free diet recently and am eager to learn all I can in order to have a more healthy, productive life.  I have a long way to go in what I need to research as well as converting my diet wholly gluten-free (I am about 70/30 now as I am also going dairy and sugar free at the same time).  But for this blog, since I am learning right along with you, I will provide resources that I’ve uncovered and then the few suggestions I have and have been following, I will share as well.

First of all, how do you know you have a gluten intolerance, beyond just the fact that you are experiencing some of the symptoms in the link above?  The most reliable way I know of (and have come across) is to go gluten-free for a period of time (I’ve seen anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months) and compare your symptoms before and after.  This article here is excellent at giving you a step-by-step on how to do that and the supermarkets today are really expanding their gluten-free product options, and even putting them on sale frequently.  It is unfortunate that eating healthy also costs more financially, but having better health is priceless.  As my mother says, would you rather pay for your health now (proactive) or later (reactive)?

So as I’ve been going gluten free, I have found some good products out there that are worth trying and even keeping as a staple in your gluten free home.  You will find that a common replacement for wheat and gluten in products is brown rice, which has the added benefit of being a good source of fiber.

Rice Works–Gourmet Brown Rice Crisps

Whole Foods brand Gluten Free Pancake & Waffle Mix–my son has never even noticed the difference between these and “restaurant” pancakes.

Barbara’s Organic Brown Rice Crisps (cereal)–I have this nearly every morning with fresh blueberries in it (and a side of protein in the form of turkey bacon or chicken sausage).

Larabar–bars that are gluten free and dairy free and made with minimal, natural ingredients.  My favorites are Cocoa Mole, Cinnamon Roll, and Coconut Cream Pie

EnviroKidz Crispy Rice Bars–my son loves the berry flavor

These are just a few products that I have in my pantry as I write this. . .I know there are many more (including some delicious chocolate chip cookies that I get from Whole Foods that are gluten and dairy free, but I cannot remember the brand name to include it here).  If you have any contributions to this list, please feel free to send them to me, and meanwhile, I’ll be on the lookout for more. 

Wild by Nature Market has an excellent page listing gluten free products by their brand and separated out by category.  Check it out here.

And if you shop at a Whole Foods in your area, here is their list for the gluten free products they carry.

The bottom line?  Do not get discouraged if you are experiencing symptoms of intolerance to gluten.  Have hope because there ARE good tasting products out there, and more every day as awareness of this health challenge grows.  There are numerous testimonies of people who have gone gluten free and experienced wonderful results and freedom from the pain, discomfort and limitations (I am one of them).

As always, be informed and stand strong!