Getting Healthy

Ben and I made a choice in our lives back in mid September. We cut out gluten, dairy, and sugar for 6 weeks. After that cleansing and breaking of addictions to sugar we felt much better. We have chosen to keep most processed food out of the house. We have found some balance in our eating habits that we can live with for the rest of our lives. Read an earlier post to learn more about how we have made the changes.

Not only has our eating changed but we have both added exercise into our routine.

Another change we have made is by joining Melaleuca. This company mission is "To enhance the lives of those we touch by helping people reach their goals."

The company has helped us continue in our journey to health by providing products that are healthy for us and the environment. Products that work. Over 300 products including, household cleaning, makeup, snacks, sports nutrition, vitamins and much more.

A friend or ours who is also part of Melaleuca is giving away tough and tender wipes. I thought I would do something similar.

Share a story with me by commenting on this blog, about a struggle you've had with your health, or a story about a mess in your house, or maybe a makeup/hair crisis. OR just tell me why you want to get a free product!

I'll send you a surprise product from Melaleuca for you to try for free! Winner will be chosen on March 3rd.

Below is a picture of AFTER I cleaned up Max's vomit with Resolve Pet Oxi Advanced Carpet Stain Remover. I went through the process twice with the Resolve.

Below is the same spot in the carpet after using Melaleuca's Sol-U-Mel Stain Remover. Took the picture on a different day so the lighting is different.

Here is an older video explaining the company. The information is still accurate. The only differences are they now have more products and have more patents on their products.

http://youtu.be/pqkQFvLrR5s

Heading Back to Haiti

Please take the time to go to this link. I would appreciate your prayers and support! I will need half of the funding by mid March. I look forward to helping lead another trip this Summer and introduce people to international mission's for the first time!  Thank you for your prayers!


http://www.youcaring.com/mission-trip-fundraiser/Haiti-Mission-Trip-/42328

Part 2 of our Online Parenting Class called How To Leave a Legacy that Matters

Dear Parents,

I hope you enjoyed our last lesson. I really appreciated your responses to the email and the feedback you gave me. We are really beginning to build an online community of parents!

If you didn't get a chance to read it, I have posted our last session online. You can get it by clicking this link: 

http://suzier.blogspot.com/2013/02/online-parenting-class-how-to-leave.html

Today we are asking the question, “How do you pass down faith to your teenager?”

Let’s begin by watching this 3 minute video… http://vimeo.com/parentministry/review/43519296/a13f91ff3d

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 gives us our mission from God as parents:

“Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

I want to quickly unpack this job description for parents into 3 action steps that you can do today to begin passing down faith in your home:

1) Put it in your Heart First- “these commands…are to be on your hearts” You can’t give away what you don’t have. You can’t inspire someone else to do something unless it inspires you first. If you want your teenager to be fueled by their faith than make sure that is what is fueling you.

ACTION STEP: Consider planning a spiritual retreat for yourself. You could get away for just a few hours or you could invest a whole week in a focused time with God. It may feel selfish, but filling your own heart spiritually allows it the ability to spill over into the life of your family.

2) Infuse Faith into Everyday Life- “talk about them when you sit at home” The center of spiritual activity for your family should be your home. Many times we believe that should be the church. In God's blueprint for passing down faith He sets up parents to be the leaders and the home to be the main stage. 

ACTION STEP: Brainstorm ways you can discuss faith with your teenager daily. Practice intentional conversation about spiritual matters this week. It could be as simple as leaving your teenager a note with your favorite verse and an encouraging word. It makes a difference.

3) Use Symbols and Ceremonies to Pass Down Faith- “Tie them as symbols on your hands” If you read the Bible you will quickly see that God values symbols and ceremonies as a way of giving faith away to the next generation. The Hebrew word for “impress” in verse 7 literally means to “tattoo”. God made the hearts and minds of children and He knew that the way to “tattoo” faith on their hearts was to give them symbols they can touch and ceremonies they can experience.

ACTION STEP: What are some Christian symbols and ceremonies you can bring into your home and lead your family to experience together. Our Student Ministry has created these kinds of experiences you can do with your teenager. Go check out the Rites of Passage Experience materials we have available for you by clicking this link:

http://www.blueridgefellowship.com/#/ministries/swap-parents

God sure did give us an important job didn’t He?

The encouragement we have for you today is that you are not alone in this task.

God Himself will give you all that you need to accomplish His will as a parent.

Also, SWAP Student Ministry stands ready to partner with you in this task. This is why we started this Online Parenting Class and we are making the Rites of Passage

Experience available to your family.

I would love to hear your questions, thoughts, or continued discussion.

P.S. Feel free to forward the emails from this Online Parenting Class to any parents of teenagers that you know.

Your Partner,

Suzie Ralph 

Online Parenting Class How to Leave a Legacy

Incase you didn't get the email here it is: 

Dear Parents,

This is a BIG DAY in our ministry.

I am starting our online parenting class in this email. I hope that you will find this experience extremely helpful and informative.

Today we are going to begin by talking about your will….

Do you have a will? You know, the paper that they pull out when you die to see who gets your stuff.

The process of preparing a will is not fun. The lawyer asks you, “If you die who will you give your stuff to?” You say, “Give it to my spouse.” The lawyer quickly responds, “and if your spouse dies who will you give your stuff to?”

This goes on and on until it seems like everyone is dead and you are so frustrated you consider telling the lawyer that they can have it!

When you write a will you figure out how you are going to leave your stuff, but what about the stuff that matters most?

What values are you going to leave your teenager?

What will you teach them about what is right and wrong in this world?

What will your teenager know about faith?

Our student ministry wants to help you leave a rich inheritance to your teenager of the stuff that really matters.

That is why we want to introduce you to the Rites of Passage Experience. We are going to help you have the conversations with your teenager that matter the most.

We are going to give you the tools to infuse faith into the most import moments in life.

Here are the 7 Rites of Passage we are going to encourage you to lead your teenager through:

• 6th Grade – Preparation for Adolescence
• 7th Grade – Blessing Ceremony
• 8th Grade – Purity Weekend
• 9th Grade – Driving Contract
• 10th Grade – Money Matters
• 11th Grade – Family Tree
• 12th Grade – Manhood/Womanhood Ceremony

I want to finish today’s class by asking you to watch this 3 minute video. It explains the Rites of Passage Experience we are launching as the foundation of our Parent Ministry.

You can see it by clicking this link… https://vimeo.com/parentministry/review/42874938/c9b551a865

As always please feel free to reply to this email with any questions about the Rites of Passage Experience or prayer requests.

Your Partner,

Suzie Ralph

I plan to tweet encouragement to parents at least once a week please follow me on twitter @SuzieRRalph 

--Youth Director 

Blue Ridge Fellowship

5357 Glendale Rd Woodlawn VA 24381

276-238-8800