First I was crunchy, and then I wasn't

     I like to think I am pretty healthy, eating wise. Well everything wise I guess but I particularly think I and our family eat well. We have done organic as much as possible, steer clear of the Golden Arches of Death, and of course take a highly recommended vitamin supplement everyday without fail. Every once in awhile we would let a bag of Doritos or Oreos fall in the shopping cart. But for the most part it was clean eating for Weir,Tx.

    Imagine my shock that Zion got cancer. I mean, besides the obvious reason for shock. We don't eat foods that give cancer! We eat things that prevent it.

You might imagine I went a bit crazy in the health and wellness department during our stint down the cancer trail. Nothing, I mean nothing impure went into that boy's body. He has 2 glasses of carrot and orange juice daily, besides the green smoothies he was chugging down. We all ate that way BTW, in case you thought us heartless and we ate Big Macs while he gagged down carrot juice. I had done my research and cancer grows crazy amounts  with sugar. ( ok, that's a lame way to put it, but basically sugar helps it get out of control)

    Fast forward a few months after the dust has settled and I have been able to pray about other things besides, "MAKE MY BOY CANCER FREE!!".  It's funny when things settle you think a bit clearer. One night Zion and I were at the market and he started to cry. When I asked him why he said he was sad because I don't let him buy the things we used to eat. Never any treats or just regular Sun Chips even. I was sort of harsh and said, " well if we eat that way you could die.". He didn't say anything else. Wow, good job mom! Not one of my finer moments of explanation.

    The conversation was a tool used by God over the next few weeks to get me thinking. God so lovingly showed me I had become obsessed with healthy eating. I had already been a bit over the edge by now I had jumped over the cliff and never looked back. I realized my sweet boy and the other sweet members of Weir, Tx had been suffering a little.

    God gave us foods to enjoy. No one loves food more than the residents of this house, I promise! By making it so intense and so important to eat the exact right things at the exact right time I had taken the very joy out of eating. The tension I felt at the market, reading every label, wondering if that little bit of cane sugar would make the melanoma come back. In case your wondering, yes it is exhausting being me. Imagine being married to me. :-/

    As I began to pray about the crazy making in my brain and the results in the pantry God began to show me some fantastic truths about Himself and cancer.

First, this all happened in spite of great eating habits. In fact most of my McD lovin' friends have never had cancer nor will they. Ha! Slap my face! The average American kid never touches a veggie in a single week! Not every kid gets cancer either.

Second, every bit of healing that occurred in Zion was only a result of God Himself. Not because of any new habits we implemented. He alone can heal only, period. I can't stress enough this point. It was nothing we did. I'm stressing this point mostly for myself but also for so many of my crunchy friends that stress about healthy habits just in daily life.

Being crunchy is exhausting. I realized also I could never do enough to prevent every type of cancer. I could never eat enough veggies, take enough oils, detox my home.

    Third, there is an emotional healing that comes with food. Shut up Biggest Loser! Food feels fantastic! You are lying if you say you feel empty after eating something delicious. The key here is to put down the tub of ice cream, have just one bowl. Oh, sorry, I digress.

    After all the research I have done I had become overwhelmed and distraught. Seeing Zion's reaction at the market that day showed me I had been making them distraught also.

Remember when McD's was a magical place? Come on, I know if you are really honest you will think back fondly on the happy meal burger with the little onions and the prize you got. It was a fun place to go. It was where my gramma took me after a day of shopping. See, there's that emotional connection. Good times with gramma. I had made it the axis of evil. Never will MY children go to a place like that! Why? Because it might give them cancer? Well that ship has sailed baby!

    So you might be wondering where I stand now on granola habits. The truth is I look to the Lord for balance. We still drink green smoothies, though not daily. we still take the supps, and apply the oils to the healing skin graft on Zion. I make my own laundry soap. (because I'm turning into a cheapy) But... there has been an obscene about of Girl Scout cookies lurking in my pantry, and the bread I just bought at Costco was not organic neither was it homemade! *gasp!*

    God has graciously shown me a balance I so desperately need. We may not eat fast food very often, let's face it, it really is crap now isn't it? Taste I mean. But you might be surprised to see a little remnant of Oreo scattered across Zion's beautiful face next time you visit Weir,Txhealthy friends, I hope you won't look askance at me, for my friends who are less incline to dis the fast food, I hope you won't mock me for buying the cookies either. It's funny how both sides of the camp can criticized, both for the same reason. Though I really don't care. :-) I just figure it'll give everyone something interesting to talk about.

    Now, go grab a bag of Cookies!!