♥Hi Friends!
“There is hope in HEALING.” One day, not too long ago, as I was out laying on my grass doing the sun/earth hippie thing, those words popped in to my mind. And I’m pretty sure I know where they came from. (Thanks Father!) So I got up, ran in to the house, and started typing some thoughts on my computer.
There is hope in HEALING. Not “there is hope in perfect HEALTH” or even “there is hope in good HEALTH.” I think what the Lord wants us to know is that no matter where we are in life, no matter how SPIRITUALLY, PHYSICALLY or EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY or even UNHEALTHY we are, there is always hope! As long as we are moving forward on our path to HEALING. And not necessarily always gracefully.
“Hope” is a powerful and HEALING word. It speaks of Christ and the Atonement. Of the “Good News” of the gospel. And of peace. Super cool how just one word can change the way we look at things. But hope requires faith which requires answers which require action and change. Whether it’s SPIRITUAL, PHYSICAL, or EMOTIONAL change. And changing is hard sometimes. Oftentimes. It may require a paradigm shift to leave the safety of what we’re comfortable with and have known most of our lives.
Why do we care about SPIRITUALLY, PHYSICALLY or EMOTIONALLY HEALING? So we can better hear the messages sent to us from our Father in Heaven through the Holy Spirit. I think there is something innate in all of us that wants to know who we are and where we came from. And because of Whose we are, we can feel hope as we recognize and move toward our greatest potential. I think all of this must be a part of the definition of HEALING.
I strongly dislike “despair”. In fact, even though I don’t like it when my kids use this word, I’m just gonna say it…I HATE despair! It’s the complete opposite of hope. I’ve experienced it a couple of times before in my life and it’s one of the darkest places there is to be. I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about. It’s that feeling when fear consumes you and all light in your life seems to have diminished. Where you feel completely and utterly hopeless and void of any comfort from the Spirit or feelings of peace. You don’t know how to express what you are feeling and so you feel alone and scared. Despair is one of Satan’s tools, one of his toxins. He wants us to feel hopeless. But, we have the safety of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, given to us by our Father, where the knowledge of the Atonement and Resurrection assures us that we have HOPE and PEACE! That we can HEAL.
Please remember the hope in HEALING. And always keep in mind the analogy of “how to eat and elephant” so that you can continue to move forward.
♥Love you!
Click here for a little message on hope, and moving forward, and “eating and elephant”, and HEALING, and the Atonement! It’s a good one.
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One of the hard things to give up (and we didn’t do very good job of it) when we switched over to a HEALTHIER way of eating, was freezer jam. Really, just jam in general, since they are all loaded with sugar and therefore hard to find any that is truly good for you. There are lots of recipes floating around the internet for freezer jam made with chia seeds used as the thickening agent. And since I just got a bunch of blackberries this week from a co-op, and strawberries from Costco, I decided to finally put together a recipe for HEALTHY freezer jam. Here is an easy, delish and completely raw freezer jam full of fiber, antioxidants, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. YAY!
BERRY FREEZER JAM
- 12 oz blackberries or raspberries* or 1 1/2 lbs of strawberries**, prepared
- 2 cups agave nectar***
- 1 cup chia seeds
- 1 tsp Real Salt**** or 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Place prepared berries and rest of ingredients in bowl and mix well with wire whisk. Leave on counter for 1 hour, mixing every 15 minutes with whisk, and scraping sides with spatula, so it can thicken up and the flavors can mix. Divide the blackberry or raspberry jam between 3 pint jars, or 4 for the strawberry. Secure with lids and place in freezer. Or, if you want to use them right away, chill in fridge for at least 2 hours. They should last about a month in the fridge and 9 months in the freezer.
*I like to put my berries in a colander, spray with white vinegar, and let sit for 3 minutes, then rinse. If using blackberries or raspberries, mash them in a pie plate with a pastry cutter or potato masher until smooth and there’s no more form to the berry. This will make 2 cups prepared.
**For strawberries, place whole berries (since the leaves are good for you too) in Vitamix (or any blender or food processor), ALONG WITH CHIA SEEDS, and using tamper blend on medium speed about 15 seconds until mostly smooth and leaves are chopped up. This makes 3 cups prepared.
***I like to use Xagave Organic Agave Nectar. I found my gallon at Gregory’s in Bountiful, UT, but you can order it here for a pretty good price.
****You can buy Real Salt in bulk at Good Earth in Utah. Or try Amazon to order it online in different sizes. Real Salt is full of naturally occurring minerals (it looks like there is dirt in it and there probably is) and is less salty tasting than other salts so I use twice as much of it in my recipes.