Meat loaf is not one of my favorite dishes. The only kind I ever really liked was made in the microwave, and since we don’t use a microwave any more I’m back to the old sort of liking some meat loaf. ;-)
And, for those of you who really like meatloaf:
My Gramma and mother with an African woman who learned to read the Bible (probably through Gramma’s help.)
March 20, 2006
For All Nations
Psalm 117:1 O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. 2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.
It struck me for the first time recently that this Psalm is truely "international." Notice that it is addressed to all nations and all people.
Thus we see that even in the Old Testament, with the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants in place, all nations and people were still invited to praise the LORD. The reasons are that His merciful kindness is great toward us and His truth endures forever. (We can see in Naaman and Nebuchadnezer that all nations were welcome to praise Jehovah, and believe on Him.)
But, these things are true in any era and under any covenant. They are timeless and eternal. How great they are now through the blood of Jesus Christ which places us in the beloved and makes nigh those of us who were far off! Praise ye the LORD!
Ephesians 2:11 ¶ Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
My sister-in-law with a friend, and no she wasn’t giving him the Coke. :-)
(Note: I do not necessarily agree with every conclusion or idea that these people put forth, but the overall message is sound and we have found it to be true on a number of levels for adults, let alone children.)
Nourishing Our Children – Timeless Principles for Supporting Learning, Behavior, and Health Through Optimal Nutrition – This page has a wealth of information that is essential for the modern parent to know. There are so many lies being put forth about food and what we should eat, and yet children are looking malnourished – their eyes may be more or less sunken looking, they may be super thin or obese, their skin may be pasty looking or they look anemic, they may lack a look of vivacious health even when they are active, their hair may be limp and lusterless, they may have learning disabilities or thinking and emotional problems related to lack of proper nutrition – or, even worse, from the introduction of dangerous additives in their food.
The parents are not always at fault. They think they are feeding their kids a “pretty good diet”, not knowing that the food they think is “good for them” is so processed and stripped of nutrition that, although their bellies are full and they are sometimes even fat, they are not healthy. Only if it gets to the point of serious brain malfunction or physical problems do they realize that there is a problem. It is time to Wake Up, as this page says. There is much information here, but when you stop and think about what they are saying much of it only makes sense; after all, this is the way people did eat in the past before “super-processing” of food came into common practice.
Be sure and read this page at their site for the basics on good-for-kids-and-you foods that are lied about by the present food cartels: Top 10 Facts You May Not Know About Your Diet –
A few to get you interested:
3. Saturated fats and cholesterol are vital for optimum health… (Yes, it’s true!)
6. Modern soy products are dangerous…
4. Foods from grass-fed animals are important for good health…
9. Not all “organic” foods are healthy…
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By the way, if you can’t imagine how food can make that much difference in a kid’s behavior I’d like to tell you about a cat.
Some friends of ours had a cat that had a nasty temperament - was ornery and mean and probably “violent”. The wife/owner read about the proper way to feed dogs and cats on raw meats and vegetables rather than the highly processed food product sold as cat food, and decided to try it. That cat calmed right down and became a pleasant and respectable member of their pet population. How much more important do you supposed a proper diet is to the development of a human baby and child?
Proper nutrition is really of vital importance for anything to be healthy, and as with animals, small kids and babies cannot always tell you that they don’t feel right. If proper eating could help the behavior issues of a cat don’t you suppose that it might make a difference in some children as well? This is not to say that they will stop being sinners. They won’t. But, there may be things in their diet that are irritating their bodies and brains in ways that God didn’t intend and thus causing emotional disorder that leads to behavioral problems. It is something to think about.
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CONCLUSION
These things are very thought-provoking, and in light of the present world situation I think it is of interest that there is a grass roots (no pun intended) movement toward growing more of our own food needs; buying local, grass-fed, raw and otherwise more healthy food products; and learning to enjoy less more. World situations make it seem that the Lord’s return is imminent and this turning toward older more simple ways makes me wonder if there is not a desire rising up in some people for the very thing that God Himself will shortly bring to pass. I certainly know that the Kingdom is a time when agriculture will be emphasized and personal ownership of food sources will be the norm. And, that food will be wholesome and pure as God intended it to be! No more GMO, praise God!
Micah 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
If that doesn’t make you want to shout for joy after what you read and heard in these two posts on food, you might want to check your pulse and see if you’re still alive. :-) (Unless you are not a Christian born into God’s family through Jesus Christ. Then you need to go here and do some reading: The Gospel of Jesus Christ.)
An East African boy enjoying traditional Tanzanian food. Original photo taken my by my grandfather, Glenn Hoover.
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Is this how meal times in your house sound? Fake, Fake, Fake
Here are some very important links regarding the nutrition of children’s food. Please, please read this if you are a parent or help with the feeding of children in any way! Our food supply has been terribly messed with and corrupted. The babies and children are going to pay the highest price for that because it is effecting their health and their development. You may not be able to make a lot of changes at once, but it is important to know what is good and what is not and to make strides in the right direction in the area of feeding your family and loved ones.
(Note: I do not necessarily agree with every conclusion or idea that these people put forth, but the over all message is sound and we have found it to be true on a number of levels for adults, let alone children.)
What Are You Feeding Your Children? – One woman’s journey from “healthy” junk food to nourishing foods for her family, here is a video discussing the additives and things in food that can actually harm your children or cause allergic reactions. Please consider doing what this lady suggests - changing you family's eating habits gradually for the better. Some people make this process unnecessarily hard by demanding or thinking that all these changes need to be addressed at once. They do not. You CAN change the way your family eats one step at a time. And, may I suggest that, as Robyn obviously did, you include your kids in the process. Tell them why you need to make the changes and educate them so they will understand 
and hopefully agree! Kids are lot smarter about these things than some parents think. When they find out there is trash and bug killer in the food they may be more angry than you are. Who wants fish genes in their tomato anyway? Make it a family project to improve the diet and find out why. (Be forewarned, though; as one friend of mine found out, the kids may be more diligent at checking ingredients than you are!)
In case you think the kids can't get excited about this subject, check out this lecture on the subject from an 11-year-old homeschooled boy: What's Wrong with Our Food System.
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Watch for PART 2 coming soon.
Here is a little humor to lighten your day (hopefully). :-)
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Silly Cakes – Some people have too much time on their hands.
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Baby Blues
Table Clearing Dilemma (This reminds me of my brother. haha He thought it was terrible to touch the “gunk” on someone else’s messy plate.)
Tonight my husband and I had:
Chicken breast with garlic, onion and sage seasoning.
A few pieces each of homegrown okra – cooked with the chicken.
A few black olives that needed to be finished off – also cooked with the chicken.
Tortillas, warm with butter. (Tortillas were bought raw and home cooked, which is still way better than pre-cooked.)
Sugar baby watermelon – also homegrown.
It was a bit of an unusual combination, but I was busy baking, which overlapped the dinner preparation time somewhat. I really needed to get the tortillas cooked and used up, as well as the okra. The watermelon also needed to be finished off. So, it was a little of this and a little of that. :-) But, it was turned out well. Warm, freshly cooked tortillas and butter are really good together too, by the way.
What was for dinner/supper at your house?