I love Taco Bell. I am not ashamed to admit it. When asked what type of food or meal or restaurant would I never say no to it would be Taco Bell. Yes, I know it’s not real mexican food, but when you grow up in the Midwest you don’t know any better. What a wake up call I received after moving to San Diego! I have since discovered that I don’t care for mexican food all that much, it’s too spicy, much to the chagrin of my hot-sauce-on-everything husband. When asked what he’d like for dinner he most often responds with “Mexican” which I then counter respond with “Taco Bell?” I love Taco Bell.
Why all this talk about Taco Bell? Because I wanted to paint a little picture for you of where I’ve stood all my life with food. Mainly, I didn’t care. Care about what? About what I ate. For those who know me, you may be thinking that that’s not a big deal. I’m young, I’m fit and I’m active. I’ve never had a problem with weight and I’ve never had any major health issues. That’s what I thought too. ‘I’m not overweight and I’m active so who cares what I eat…hasn’t hurt me yet!’ That has been my thinking for the last 29 years. In fact, it’s something I prided myself in. Sounds strange, but I greatly disliked all that talk about healthy eating habits, organics, juicing, etc. I literally thought for a long time that those things were for hippies who were trying to prove something to corporate america. I was defiantly against anything that was against my Taco Bell. That is, I was until my mom got sick.
It’s amazing how stubborn we are until something finally hits us close to home…until it becomes personal, and then many times it’s too late to do anything about it. Well, it was about a month before my wedding and I flew home to MN to pick up my dress and spend a week with my family. The first night I was there my mother told me that the next morning she’d be going in for double bypass surgery. I was shocked. Thankfully my mother was at full peace about it and the Lord granted her serenity, but I was a wreck. My mom has had lots of health issues in her lifetime but none as serious as that. I spent the next day praying, crying, sleeping, praying, crying, sleeping. Seeing your mother, the one who has taken care of you, been your support and your rock and your comforter, lying helpless with a tube down her throat, her chest scarred and her weakened body in ICU is dreadfully painful. Personally one of the hardest times of my life. Thankfully the surgery was a success and she was released for home not long after. The recovery, however, didn’t go as hoped and she was just as quickly back in the hospital with an infection. Now, I won’t go into details about my frustrations with the hospital care but I will tell you that my aunt and I became my mother’s nurses. I extended my stay at home for another week and spent about 12 hours a day with my mother making sure she did everything the doctor ordered. I was going to do whatever it took to see my mother recover. And you know what? She did. I praise God for His brilliant timing. He brought me home in time to be with her through her surgery and to see her through her roughest days. I am forever in awe of His plans because those days are so precious to me. Even though I know she doesn’t remember most of it now as she was often on lots of meds, being with her, beside her, watching her sleep, her holding my hand when she’d awake and telling me how glad she was I was there, are moments I treasure.
After the surgery my mother recovered as far as her scars went, but not her health. Initially, she was back to her old habits of eating sweets and no exercise. (Hopefully you don’t me sharing this mom!) My husband and I became frustrated because we saw her gaining weight again and feeling overall generally cruddy. I didn’t want to see her in that hospital again! The final breaking point for her was when she went to the doctor and he told her if she didn’t do something soon, her body would continue to deteriorate (she has arthritis) and she wouldn’t be around very long. That was it. Next thing you know, my husband and I are visiting again and she’s booked us and my dad and brother in a stretching class! She then had us go with her to enroll her in the local Y and she started seeing a nutritionist. Things have never been the same since. My mother is a new woman. My mother is the woman I knew when I was a little girl. She’s vibrant, full of energy and loving life. What’s the biggest reason or cause of this change? Her eating habits.
It’s that old saying…you are what you eat!! It’s so true and I NEVER believed it! Until now! My mother is living proof! Not only has she lost weight but she’s starting to get off medicines she’s been on for years and her nutritionist says eventually she’ll be off all of them! I am inspired by her and thankful to our Lord that it’s never too late. I feel so foolish for how prideful I’ve been in my own naiveté and stubbornness. Pride about not eating well! How ridiculous is that? I haven’t been taking His Word seriously when He said, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Some sort of temple I’ve been giving Him. One filled with processed foods and fried this and that…little to nothing actually nourishing. I have been deeply convicted.
Now, this isn’t to say I’m going to be a health fanatic. You won’t see me counting every calorie and protesting at every fast food place. But what I am saying is that I greatly desire to nourish my body the way He intended…with the natural nutrients He’s created for us. Doesn’t that just make sense? Doesn’t it make sense that many of the sicknesses people face in America are from their own choices of processed, fried, fattening foods? How do we expect our bodies to be healthy when we feed it that junk? I know most of you have probably heard this stuff before, and maybe I’m preaching to the choir here, but for those of you who don’t believe it or think it’s worth it I highly impress upon you to watch the documentary I just finished Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It’s available on Netflix and that one, coupled with FoodMatters, has utterly convinced me that we were meant for so much more.
God has created us with an extraordinary capacity to heal. He’s created bodies with brilliant mechanisms to fight off sicknesses and diseases of all kinds but He’s given us the choice to help or hurt such mechanisms. For too long now I’ve been hurting mine. For too long our pills and medications haven’t been working…instead they’ve been taking our money and our quality of life. For too long we’ve been victims to our own lack of knowledge. It’s time to act. It’s time to heal. It’s time to be our own best adversaries and not be “fed” the lie that it really won’t make much of a difference. Ask my mother if it made a difference. It’s made a difference for me knowing she loves getting up in the morning now. It’s made a difference for me seeing the light back in her eyes. It’s made a difference for me that my mother has now influenced my dad and he has lost weight and they can now do things together with us that they couldn’t before. We can go on walks, we can climb through submarines, we can do a scavenger hunt in Balboa Park for 3 hours! These things were impossible less than a year ago. It’s made the difference of simply being alive to now living life!
Check out these before and after pics:
What does this mean for my old pal Taco Bell? Honestly I can’t sit here and tell you that I’ll never go there again. I undoubtedly will fall victim to the call Yo Quiero Taco Bell. That is ok. I am not expecting perfection from myself, but what I am expecting is to act wiser with the knowledge that I have. I am expecting to love the taste of real living over that of a half nourished life. Doesn’t that just sound delicious?
Oh, my, Miki! I STILL don’t remember a lot of what went on with my heart and healing! Reading it does jog some of the memories. Hearing it from your side is helpful. Thank you for sharing all your fears and fierce love for me. I will continue on my road to good health with the support of friends and family! Before heart issues I would eat anything and anywhere. And drink as much Pepsi as I wanted. (Notice the “I”!) Now, I carefully check things out. Taco Bell is MY fav place to eat fast. (Sorry…) My favorite item is a cheesy rice and bean burrito. Thinking each item in it is fairly good for me, I thought it was ok to eat 2 or more a week!!!! Now I research before I indulge…and found out that they only rate a C-. Ha! So I have cut back to maybe once a month. Completely prohibiting myself from foods as the burrito, or Pepsi, just makes me crave it more. So I am just now more aware of when and how much I have. WATER! Soo very important. We are 70% water and if we are not replenishing it…what is happening to us? I have felt such a significant difference drinking 1/2 my body weight in water on a daily basis, that I won’t go back! I don’t always get it all in, but I sure do try.
Thank you, Miki, for sharing how important our temples are and how it is up to US to keep them in top shape for the Lord! Can’t wait for more time spent with you, Ashley, Kora and the great California sun! Love you forever, princess.
Mom
Miki, beautifully written and what an honor to your amazing mom! If I had gone through thousands of applications for someone I would want my son to have as a life partner, a Godly wife, I never could have picked so well as our Lord did with you! Of course, I believe you got the same with him! So, I am blessed as I read your blogs and spend time with you and learn more and more of your heart, of who you are, and of who you are becoming. Physical health is important to our spiritual well being and many don’t see that. I am truly grateful that you do. It is an inspiration to me how well your mom has done and now your dad. I have been on a bit of a journey off track myself and I am motivated to get back on it.
Love you much,
Fawn mom
PS. Shh, but Taco Bell is my favorite, too, though I love Rubios fish tacos!