Reading, Writing & Pondering

I have followed Dr. Joseph Mercola via e-mail for awhile and put a few of his health tips into place in my life. I wish I could have him, or someone, like him for a doctor. Since I don't see that happening soon, I found putting his plan into practice would be helpful for me. His  new book, Effortless Healing , is a well-written, easy-to-follow manual for how to improve your health holistically.  Effortless Healing has three sections. In part 1, Dr. Mercola explains what effortless healing is and how to best follow his plan for your optimum health. Part 2 includes 9 healing principles for helping you attain your optimum health: Drink pure water, Eat your veggies, Using fat for fuel, Exercise less and gain more benefits, Enjoy the sun and get vitamin D, Let your gut flourish, Clean your brain with sleep, Go barefoot and other ways to stay grounded, and Avoid these 6 "health foods." Part 3 offers advice on making the plan work best for you.  Some ...

Our son has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism. My grandpa passed away from dementia a few years ago. I think what we eat helps fuel our bodies, which is why I want to cook foods that helps my family to take care of their minds and bodies. The Healthy Mind Cookbook has been a great resource to help me learn better how to fuel my body and my family's with foods that help "enhance brain function, mood, memory and mental clarity." (from the cover) Rebecca Katz and Mat Edelson have created a beautiful cookbook with some delicious recipes and eye-catching photos throughout the book. The book has an especially great chapter entitled, " The Culinary Pharmacy." This chapter shares some of the healthful foods used in the recipes along with what those foods can do to improve your mind. Recipes that caught my eye in this book include: High Flying Turkey Black Bean Chili, Cranberry Orange and Apricot Muffins, Apple Pie Spiced Walnuts and Raisins, Kale Quinoa S...

When Chelsea and Sawyer Chambers split up, Chelsea takes their 2 kids back to her deceased mother's coffee shop to open it up and make a new life for herself as a single mom. She opens up shop and then faces some big challenges. However, unbeknownst to her, she also has some heavenly assistance to help her face them. I  have read most of Max Lucado's books, so given the opportunity, I jumped at the chance to read this one. I started out being interested in it, but then I found myself struggling to finish it. I just didn't find some of the day-to-day parts of this book to be believable. At the same time, I also found the heavenly angel and spiritual warfare parts to be reminiscent of This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti. Even so, I liked the aspect of angels watching over the characters. I struggled with the storyline between Chelsea and the children and between her and her sister because the story felt predictable in some places and the characters or storyli...