healthy body, healthy soul.
Dear friends, after 16 months of writing phenomenally made, I’m pleased to announce that I am revamping!
The new blog will focus on three categories of wellness — mind, body and soul — which are undeniably connected and effect each other.
I will continue to post the same type of content as phenomenally made (including all of the old posts) in the “soul” category, but will incorporate content related to physical health (such as the benefits of certain foods or the joy of a certain type of exercise) and mental wellness (like book recommendations or a new way to relax).
My hope is that the blog can become more interactive and that through expanding the content, I can post much more frequently.
Thank you for loyally reading this blog. I hope that the revamped version will be just as profound, if not more enjoyable and consistent. Please visit healthy body, healthy soul and let me know what you think!
In Love,
Natalie
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a real crisis.
Today, my heart is broken for Haiti. In case you haven’t heard (unlikely, but certainly possible), a 7.0 earthquake struck near the capital of Port-au-Prince in Haiti yesterday. There are hundreds of confirmed deaths, though I’d imagine that is up to thousands by now. According to the New York Times,
The earthquake, the worst in the region in more than 200 years, left the country in a shambles. As night fell in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, fires burned near the shoreline downtown, but otherwise the city fell into darkness. The electricity was out, telephones were not working and relief workers struggled to make their way through streets blocked by rubble.
My first response was sadness, devastation, and compassion for this terrifying tragedy. My next response was simple: what can I do? And I’d encourage you to ask yourself the same. We are the body of Christ. We are his hands. The fact that we live in America makes us among the wealthiest in the world. It’s easy to ignore these sort of international crises when we are far away and our lives are seemingly unaffected. And when we have a worldly mindset, I think that is natural. However, let’s take this to the next level and remember that we are part of the kingdom of God, which knows no national boundaries. These people — our brothers and sisters in the family of God — are devastated, suffering, dying.
I’ve spent some time researching the many organizations helping with earthquake relief, and ultimately decided to direct my support toward World Vision:
World Vision plans to begin assessing damage and preparing a relief response today after the major earthquake that hit Haiti Tuesday. Our team has worked in Haiti for 30 years and has some 370 staff members in the country. Downed communications, blocked roads, and continuing aftershocks slowed relief efforts overnight, with staff unable to leave the World Vision’s Port-au-Prince office for several hours due to fallen debris in the roadways…
World Vision is on the ground rushing emergency supplies to survivors of this catastrophe. Your gift now will help distribute life-saving relief supplies – including food, clean water, blankets, and tents — to children and families devastated by the earthquake and aftershocks in Haiti. “We would be very concerned about a quake of this magnitude anywhere in the world, but it is especially devastating in Haiti, where people are acutely vulnerable because of poor infrastructure and extreme poverty,” said Edward Brown, World Vision’s relief director in the United States….Please join us in praying for the children and families devastated by the earthquake in Haiti. And please send a generous gift to help them today.
Let’s join together and do something. If you find yourself moved to help out through World Vision, here are three ways you can make a HUGE difference and support the relief efforts during this difficult time:
- PRAY for the children, families, and communities left devastated by this disaster in Haiti. Also, pray for protection and guidance for those involved in emergency assistance.
- DONATE now to World Vision’s Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. Your gift will help our staff members rush emergency assistance to those in greatest need following the disaster — like food, clean water, blankets, tents, and more.
- SPONSOR a child in Haiti. Your love and support for a child in need will help provide basic essentials and help him or her be better equipped to cope with disasters like the recent earthquake.
Perhaps you’ll contribute to World Vision’s efforts. Perhaps you won’t. Either way, as a follower of Christ and an agent of his love, what will you do to help Haiti?
Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:18)
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nearsightedness.
I blogged earlier this week about effort and earning based on a passage I read from 2 Peter, and I simply cannot get those verses out of my mind this week. Specifically, I’ve been dwelling on two things: nearsightedness in my faith, and the pursuit of steadfastness. For tonight’s post, I’ll focus on the first; however, expect another post on the latter very soon!
In addition to reading 2 Peter during my morning reading time this week, I also listened to a Francis Chan podcast on the same verses. Coincidence? I think not. The Holy Spirit trying to show me something? Highly likely. Before I dive into my thoughts, here’s a refresher on the Scripture I’m talking about:
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-11)
Nearsightedness in our faith insinuates our inability to see what’s to come. It suggests that we are too focused on the present or our own immediate satisfaction, rather than looking ahead toward what’s to come. We are moment-minded, rather than eternity-minded. We want to gratify our desires right away, and we neglect to think about the consequences of those actions. We forget that what we do on a daily basis has a huge impact on our ability to connect with the Lord. We forget that we are dead to sin — not just free from punishment for our sin, but also dead to sin itself! How amazing is that, that the Holy Spirit (God himself) empowers us to be free from sinning as we walk in step with him?
Francis suggested in his sermon that we cannot even fathom how good eternity is going to be, and I must admit I completely agree. If I had even a glimpse of the glory of heaven and eternity with God, I wouldn’t even think about returning to the life I lived before I knew Christ. Calling ourselves believers while still pursuing things of this world is like this:
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. (James 1:22-24)
If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud. (2 Peter 2:20-22)
Like forgetting our face in the mirror, returning to our own mess, or wallowing in the mud, it is foolishness to return to sinfulness when we have the joy of Jesus Christ. We do not merely run from sin because it’s bad, but we run to Jesus because he’s better. At coffee this morning, Ashley Perez shared an exercise with me that she did in a small group. The leader handed out cards and asked everyone to jot down on a piece of paper something that they deeply desired and would do anything to have. After collecting the cards, she passed out another set and told everyone to write this:
JESUS IS BETTER.
Jesus is better. Jesus is better. Jesus is better. Do I believe this? Do you believe this? Do we trust that Jesus truly is better than anything your heart desires and anything you could ever have? If so, why continue to oppose what is pleasing to God? Why continue to engage and invest in what will not last? Eternity is set out before us, and God is pleased when we make every effort to add to our faith goodness and knowledge and self-control and perseverance and godliness and brotherly kindness and love.
How have you been nearsighted this past year? This past week? Today? What sort of worldly pleasures do you continue to return to?
As we begin this new year — this new decade — let’s remember: Jesus is better.
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