OH THE PLACES WE SHOULD GO

VISITING THE BIRMINGHAM ZOO

(Writing and photography by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Recently I had the chance to visit The Birmingham Zoo.  What a blessed day it was!

I had not ventured out to the Zoo in many years!  My grandchildren and two of my grown daughters gave me the happy opportunity to visit again.  I must say I was impressed with all the progress that has been made at this fabulous place.    It is amazing!  I already had fond memories of this particular zoo from many years ago, memories that happened way back in my own childhood; and I was delighted to revisit some of those memories.  The zoo and I were born in the same year!  That would make this zoo about 61 years old!  You can imagine the excitement back in 1955 when the doors were first opened!  My parents visited right away and soon they were taking me along.  

I soon discovered that my old memories, as good as they were, did no justice to the zoo we have today.  So much has changed.  "Monkey Island" as we used to call it when I was a kid is gone.  Monkeys now have their own special section with the "Primates."  I heard a rumor that the City of Trussville is building a Monkey Island replica in their city park in honor of the first original exhibit from the zoo.  If all goes well that will open in 2017.   The polar bears I once remembered being a big attraction at the zoo long ago are not there anymore either; but there is a new black bear exhibit.   Alabama weather and polar bears always seemed to be an ironic clash to me; and I suspect that may be the reason for this.  There is a shinny new train (two of them actually), and so many more exhibits than before.  The whole experience was such an educational, hands-on and fun experience!  I found myself thrilled with all the “new” and exciting things that are happening in this spacious zoological park. 

As a child from the late 50’s and early 60’s the zoo holds a special place in my heart.  Back then it was called The Jimmy Morgan Zoo.  When my generation grew up; we all wanted to take our children to see the place we loved so much.   Many years after I was grown; in the 1990's, the Zoo began to go through some tough financial troubles.  Problems developed left and right, and the once happy place was almost forced to close its doors.  Funding was very hard to come by in those days, and keeping such an operation running properly was almost impossible without the needed funds.  Many concerned citizens of the city who deeply loved and appreciated the zoo began to rally together and try to come up with logical and workable solutions.  No one wanted to lose the zoo!  

In 1999 the mayor of Birmingham made a very hard decision and decided that the zoo would become a private operation and a new board of directors was formed which eventually came to be known as Birmingham Zoo Inc.  This turned out to be a very smart move.  Since that time the zoo has operated as a private, not-for-profit organization, and the new organization has seen an amazing recovery.  The Birmingham Zoo is noted among the top zoos in the nation now.  

The citizens of Birmingham are very proud of this local achievement.  The CEO of the zoo, William Foster, DVM, has charted an exciting new course in all the right directions and has initiated drastic improvements in how the zoo is managed and maintained.  His credentials are amazing and his zoo and veterinary experience has inspired much of what has happened here. Renew the Zoo is one of the newest programs that has been introduced, and it is gaining grounds for developing a new habitat for Asian species.  

Now  days there is so much new life going on at the zoo!  There are many wonderful community events held annually, such as the local favorite "Zoo Light Safari" that always fills the acres of the park with a beautiful winter wonderland twinkling, musical light show during the Christmas season.  There is also the famous "Boo At The Zoo" that happens in the fall.  These two events are only a few of many taking place all the time.    The zoo is a favorite tourist attraction not only for those who hail from the "Ham," but also for people who travel from miles away.  It is known for being the most popular tourist attraction in the State of Alabama.    

What an excellent way to spend some time with your grandchildren!  

As of this week the cost is only $16 for adults and $11 for children over two years old. Two and under are free!   There are special passes that you can purchase if you plan on returning again and again.  I highly recommend purchasing one of these plans.  Not only do you benefit from the use of it; but much of the zoo is funded from the money made from these passes.  You would be making a great contribution to the community while enabling yourself to spend the days of each season enjoying yourself.  

If you have a toddler, you will want to bring a stroller.  You WILL need it.  You could spend, not just one whole day here; but many days.  With so many events and activities, there is lots of walking involved.  Of course, if you forget to bring your own stroller, there are strollers available to rent for $9 each.  Double strollers rent for $11.  Wheelchairs are available for $10 and electric scooters for $25.  We brought our own!

I would also recommend that you fill your child’s water bottle to the brim with fresh water and perhaps tuck a few small snacks handily into your purse for short rest periods.  Bring along water for yourself too!  You WILL get thirsty.  Drinks for sale and scattered water fountains are available, but you might get thirsty in an area where these are not so convenient.  Food is also available for sale in several places.  Remember to use sunscreen and bug repellent that is healthy and not full of chemicals, and visors and sunglasses are most appreciated as you travel through the jungles here.  Wear loose and comfortable clothing; because most likely you will get hot.  It would not be a bad idea for your child to carry a small see-through backpack to hold their souvenirs’ and water

bottles in order to let their hands remain free for the hands-on adventures.  That would also keep you from feeling like the bell-boy from the local hotel while you are loaded down from carrying all of their baggage around.  

There are convenient diaper changing stations in the plentiful rest room areas.  You should remember to carry baby wipes for those sticky little hands and those chocolate ice cream smiles that you are sure to accumulate on this adventure.  

Most important of all, if you are a grandmother like me, and you cherish every minute with your grandchildren; BRING YOUR CAMERA!!!!  At the end of the day the photos were priceless!  There is also a little photo booth that you can pay for where your pictures roll out trimmed in zoo themes.  

 The Birmingham Zoo is open from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. till 7 p.m. on weekends.  The address is:  2630 Cahaba Road, Birmingham, AL  35223.  You can call them for answers to any questions or concerns at 205-879-0409.  Any information you might need can be found by using the Internet, and the location is easy to find using your GPS or Map-it.  The Birmingham Zoo's website has a very good map of what is available and the order of the exhibits.  It is well worth checking out.  It is also handy to pay in advance on-line and you can print out a schedule of what is available and going on during your visiting date.  

There is wonder and excitement around every corner.  This zoo contains exhibits for over 950 animal species and the land for the zoo covers over 122 acres all together.  So many exhibits are not just “there” to look at; but they are interactive and they give young and old alike a way to actually participate with the animals and to be educated about their habitats.  Safety precautions are well thought out and in use at every station.  You can make lots of furry friends and become a part of the fascinating world and the habitat from which they live and thrive.

My awareness of a sense of “newness” was sparked immediately upon entering.  I could see where an exciting new entrance is presently being planned and designed.  It looks like it will be magnificent when finished!  For the time being, we entered through the old entrance; and we were greeted with several lovely planters filled with bright beautiful flowers as we made our way through the fast moving line.  I apologize for the fact that my seven year old grandson accidentally picked a few of these flowers.  I made up for this in my annual donation this year.  He did not know that they were only there to look pretty!   When I explained this to him I was quickly told that his little cousin who was meeting us at the zoo needed these flowers to put in her hair!  Oh the world of a seven year old boy!  After that first little panic, and the sweet understanding greeting from the helpful attendant at the gate; we were off to a day full of excellent fun.

 We walked into an area containing The Marketplace Gift Shop and nearby was one of two cafes called The Kudzoo Cafe.  If you are into souvenirs’, and are going to let your child buy one; I recommend that you set a budget and let them look around for about five minutes before you start the days adventure.  Tell them to be considering what they want to buy when you are leaving the park, because this will be in close proximity to where you exit too (you travel in a circular motion as you walk around the zoo.  In the slightly edited words of T.S. Elliot; "the end is only the beginning.")  At any rate; if you take my advice you will not have to carry everything around ALL DAY LONG.  This would also keep you from spending an hour or two of your time with your child in the gift shop trying to decide on a ten dollar toy instead of enjoying what you actually came for.  Keep in mind that this is not the only place to buy such things.  There is the Lorikeet Aviary Tiki Hut and the Giraffe Encounter Outpost further down the road.  

I will say that the gift items I saw were of top quality and more interesting than most.  Much of it is priced around $20 - $50.  There are some small items that are less expensive though.  The T-shirts are cute and expressive.   Everything was eco-friendly and the cute stuffed animals were perfect little replicas of the ones you will be studying on your visit.  Some of them are very novel and fit right in with the zoo themes.   My little group didn't stay long here.  We were here for the experience and the memories; not the "stuff."

We soon found ourselves walking deep into the Junior League of Birmingham's Hugh Kaul Children's Zoo.  We took a turn away from this area, more toward the left and headed for the Predator Zone because we wanted to save the Play Fountain and the Carousel ride  for last.  The Play Fountain is a wonderful and nicely designed splash pad where the kids can really enjoy getting soaked in the water after a long day of walking in the sunshine.  There are tables and chairs for the adults with aching feet to sit and watch them run and play.  

The Kudzoo Café as well as the Safari Cafe were surprisingly good stops for fast food at a zoo.  The food was not cheap; but it was reasonable enough for the quality, which I thought was good and nutritious for the most part.  They had an excellent variety of foods available on their menus.  We found it very convenient to eat lunch at one of these two cafes during the middle of the day.  Food is NOT allowed inside the zoo grounds.  However, if you want to leave in the middle of the day, grab the picnic waiting in a cooler in your car and come back to the zoo after your lunch; I highly recommend carrying your picnic basket over to the Botanical Gardens just across the road from the Zoo.  It is close and most beautiful.  On this particular day, we found the seating at the Kudzoo Café to be adequate and cool with plenty of tables and chairs both inside and outside.   Everyone got just what they wanted and we enjoyed resting in the cool while we dined.

Before lunch, right at the beginning or our journey we looked at some of the large aquariums and said "hello" to some very large turtles and fish.  My grandson LOVES turtles so he was thrilled right from the start of our journey.  We headed on through a very interesting bird aviary and saw some nice exhibits of all types of winged friends.  We were able to enter a caged area and do some hands-on feeding and even able to let a bird light on our hand here.  The kids were delighted!  There were over 300 birds.  My granddaughter loved the flamingos!

 We toured an exhibit with some pretty amazing reptiles and we took in a show starring some fantastically entertaining Sea Lions.  We walked through some pretty swampy areas and saw an alligator poking his head up out of the vegetation growing over the tops of the swamp water!  We crossed over the wooden bridge in the swampy lake area.

It wasn't long after this that we saw the zoo's train station and we gladly hopped aboard and took a little ride all around the zoo.  There are actually two trains available; the Birmingham Zoo Express and the Red Diamond Express.  The train conductor navigates through the different area of the zoo and he is full of interesting stories about each area.  

 Soon we found ourselves headed toward The Trails of Africa exhibits, and along the way we stopped to let my grandson take a fun ride on this Wild Slide.

Later when I asked him his favorite part of the zoo he surprised me by telling me this was it!

Our first real physical “interaction with the animals came when we visited the giraffes.  My daughter helped my granddaughter enjoy feeding the giraffes, and my grandson who is a good bit older got to go feed them by himself.  Both children were delighted with this activity.  They took away the facts that giraffes are herbivores which means they eat only plants.  Their long necks allow them to reach leaves, buds and branches very high up in mimosa and acacia trees.  They can eat hundreds of pounds of leaves each week!  We did our part by feeding them at least two pounds of that food for the day!

After we fed the giraffes, we took off to explore the Trails of Africa.  There were elephants, rhinos and river hogs hiding out in the natural habitats of this area.  This is a quiet zone, a good place to calm down from your last adventure and just take in the awesome animals on exhibit.  

The huge crates that the rhinos sometimes travel in were open and out for display on the ground.   I would not want to be the driver hauling these crates big enough to haul the largest animals.   The kids had a blast just jumping and playing inside them and pretending like they were animals.  My granddaughter squealed with laughter when my grandson peeked in at her from outside the crate through the holes left for breathing on the side.  Who would have ever thought that large wooden crates for hauling rhinos could be this entertaining?  I have to admit this was the place where the most giggles were exchanged!  Even my grown daughter joined in on this!  Oh yeah - we forgot it was a quiet zone.  The crates stopped our laughter from echoing too far though.

The zebras were so fascinating to look at.  They were all dressed up in black and white, as if they had an important social event to attend!

 Here we encountered the majestic King of the Jungle!  There is a stately male lion and a female lion.  He is one year older than her.  They are magnificent and I could have stood in front of them forever and not become tired of gazing at them.  I think the Lion is my favorite animal at the zoo.  There was an inside exhibit too that housed various other members of the "cat" family.  

Have you ever ridden a camel?  Another one of my nephew’s favorite adventures was the camel rides.  Did you know that camels have two rows of eyelashes?  That is so that their eyes will be protected in the desert dust.

No doubt about it; camels are cool!  

We continued on down the road to the Alabama Wilds and took in the Laura Ingalls Shook Black Bear Trail.  We didn't have time for the zip-line adventure today, but we made note of it for another visit soon.  We saw the Brock Cabin area and even petted some of the more tame animals that were more local to Birmingham.

While we were visiting there was a terrific exhibit featuring dinosaurs!  The Dino Discovery Exhibit featured life-sized North American native animatronic dinosaurs.  Some of them were 20 feet tall weighing almost seven tons and measuring 85 feet in length!  The trail had these creatures that once roamed the earth 160 million years ago.  The sound effects here are very authentic, and it may frighten a few of the little ones so be sure to hold their hands tightly.  One dinosaur sprayed us good with water.  My granddaughter remembers this vividly and her eyes turn into huge pools when she speaks of it now.  She also remembers the little baby dinosaur at the end of the trail.  He was really cute!  My grandson loved getting up close and personal with these monsters.  I can hear him now telling all his friends at school about how he petted a dinosaur!   This exhibit will only be in town until July 31^st.  I’m so glad we caught it!

The dinosaur exhibit was totally awesome!  

What could be a more perfect conclusion to a wonderful day than to end your visit with your first carousel ride?  This was the case for my sweet little granddaughter.  The carousel was amazing and you don't need for me to describe it any further than to tell you to look in her eyes in the pictures.  It was magical!  My grandson thought so too, and you know he chose to ride an ostrich because he didn't think he had spent enough time with them earlier.  All of the animals on the carousel were animals we had met inside the zoo today

We finally headed home, tired, happy and full of the kinds of memories that live in your heart forever.

AN APPLE A DAY - DAY 105 - EATING AND DRINKING TO THE GLORY OF GOD

365 DAYS TO A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

I firmly believe how we relate to God as our provider is crucial to our health and well being.  I have been dwelling on this fact all week now while studying and  observing the lifestyle of the Athos Monks living on the Greek mountain called Athos.  These monks have put everything in life aside and have depended solely upon God for their substance. Their whole lives are simply lived to give glory to God.  They are among the healthiest people on earth.

Then I also consider the ancient cultures that lived such long and healthy lives without the aid of the medical professionals that we now enjoy.  Just this week I have been writing in my Thursday blog called COME AS A CHILD about The Children of Israel who were redeemed by God from the bondage of Egyptian slavery.  These people were known for being strong and healthy.  These two subjects have kept running as parallel examples through my mind as strong examples of health and endurance.  The connection, of course, is their faith in God and their trust in Him to provide for their every need.  The ancient descendants of Abraham went out to live in the wilderness.  They traveled through the dry parched desert in scorching heat and lived in tents there through the cold desert nights.  They thrived in this environment for 40 years.  Like the Monks in Athos they too were isolated from the rest of the world, set apart and depending solely upon God for their food, clothing and shelter.

 Both groups have such amazing and healthy characteristics!  These present day  Monks, like those ancient people also have very healthy bodies and minds.  Can you imagine never experiencing health problems as you grow older?  

The people of Israel used the same clothes and shoes for 40 years! They had healthy food rained down to them from heaven every day!   Can you imagine never purchasing anything, and simply trusting God to look after you day in and day out?  As a Christian I SHOULD be able to imagine that; but like most people, I have a long way to go to develop my faith to this point.  It is a desired goal.   The experiences of both of these people groups and their outlooks on life and daily living are well worth noting and many of their ways are worth observing and putting into practice in the days of our own lives. 

I am reminded of the scripture verse found in Psalm 145:15-16; The eyes of all look to you in hope, you give them their food as they need it.  When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. 

Both of these people groups have depended solely upon God during two very different times in history; and the hand of God has satisfied their hunger and thirst and brought them to a quality of life and health that has turned out to be both fascinating and amazing.  They would tell you that the foods that are natural, just as God created them, are the best foods to put into your body. 

So here I am in the beginning of the first week of my new diet plan that I hope follows the lifestyle of these Athos monks (for more details see my blog at http://dancinginseason.blogspot.com/2016/07/an-apple-day-day-104-learning-lesson.html )  I have been constantly reminded throughout this first week of the diet that God satisfies our hunger and thirst and provides all that we need daily.  

I was not accustomed to only two meals a day.  Limiting the food intake has made me more aware of how God provides just what we need just when and how we need it.  Going without food for longer intervals of time makes you very thankful for the basic natural foods that God provides to us.  Everything tastes better, and cravings change from the desire for what is unhealthy and fake to the desire for what is good, fresh and natural.   

I love studying these day-to-day miracles that God provides for us and the way He  teaches us through other members of the human family across various different times and cultures.  Most of them go unnoticed by most people almost every day.  They would quickly notice though should any of it disappear!  I don't want to miss a moment of God's awesome provision!  My desire is to learn more about healthy living from both of the above mentioned people groups. This new experiment has been a very interesting journey so far as I've started actually putting together a plan and carrying out the things I've learned in this first week. 

So far I have actually been able to follow my own imagination's version of the diet of the monks from Athos.   As a result I can honestly say I feel much better already! 

The first thing I noticed after a few days of more educated eating and exercising was the clarity I gained in my thinking.  The Monks say this is due to the fasting part of the diet.   For several weeks I’ve had what I call “brain fog.”  I attributed this to the fast pace of my life. I work full-time and look at the computer all day at work while sitting for hours at a time, then come home and pursue my writing career, which also has me looking at the computer for long hours into the night.  After awhile, so many facts and thoughts and reading and writing can give you brain fog as well as eye fatigue.  I simply can’t help this right now; it is all necessary to achieve success in the areas of my life that are very important to my personal growth and my future.  The constant sitting is very bad for you, as it slows down circulation, and I think that contributes to the cloudy feeling I was getting inside my head at the end of the day, or when I first awoke in the mornings, just a general sluggishness.  I hated this!  

After a week of eating two healthy nutritious meals a day combined with moderate exercise every 3 hours, and enough fasting time in between meals for my food to digest properly and allow me to actually become hungry again, I’ve noticed a remarkable change in the clarity in my thinking and functioning abilities.  I didn’t expect that to happen so fast!  I love it and I have to attribute it to following this new diet plan, especially in observing the "fast" days of the diet.

By the way; the food, when I was not fasting, has been very good!  At first I was hungry each day at noon time because allowing 12 hours between meals was a bit of a challenge.  I toughed it out though, and have found this change is now leaving me feeling invigorated at the end a full week.  I’m not getting as hungry in between meals anymore. 

The most challenging part of following this diet that I have mapped for myself from my limited knowledge of how these modern day monks are living, is having enough variety from the available food choices each day to keep the diet interesting.  I’ve had to use my imagination and stretch my creative menu forming talents to come up with some good new menus filled with foods that I actually liked to eat; especially on the fast days when you only eat fruit and vegetables and nothing else.   In this first week I have managed to come up with some tasty new recipes that have helped me to get off to a good start.  Changing the recipes every day keeps the diet from becoming boring and monotonous.  In a moment  I will share two of these new recipes with you, but first I want to talk about some workable breakfast and lunch routines. 

For breakfast I have alternated between fruit plates on fast days and flat bread and cream cheese with fruit and honey on top for moderate days.  On feast days I will probably have a normal breakfast with eggs, whole wheat toast and jelly, or maybe even some pancakes or waffles topped with blueberries or strawberries and a flavored syrup.

Of course there is no lunch!  The diet contains just two meals a day at regular intervals, so to curb my hunger I have a cup of hot herbal tea in the middle of the day.   I take an extra walk during lunch break to occupy my mind and keep my thoughts off of food.  The hunger is gradually adjusting to the point of just making my evening meals taste so much better when I finally do eat!  

I have to be very careful to not get carried away with the portions I allow myself in the evenings simply because there has been a long period of fasting in between meals each day.  That would be easy to do, and I have to watch it.  I can actually feel my stomach adjusting to this routine.  It feels good!  The apples I usually incorporate into my breakfast aid in digestion and the bananas help to keep me happy!  They seem to be working just the way I thought they would.  I feel pretty great all day now.  Before I was experiencing a lot of indigestion and periods of less joy than normal.  

The two recipes that follow are some I put to good to use on the “moderate" days of the diet because they do contain cheese, and salad dressing and olive oil which are not allowed on the "fast" days.  I suppose you could simplify these same recipes on fast days and just leave out the cheese and olive oil. 



ZUCCHINI BOATS

Ingredients:

1 Red Pepper chopped into small pieces

1/2 Purple Onion chopped into small pieces

½ cup of Yellow Corn Kernels

4 large Zucchini cut in half and divided again with the middles scooped out

1 small can drained Black Beans (or fresh if you have time)

1 cup medium flavored Salsa (use mild if you aren’t into spicy)

2 teaspoons Cumin

2 teaspoons Garlic powder

½ cup fresh Cilantro, finely chopped

Sea Salt to taste

1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.  Prepare a 9x13 inch greased casserole dish for baking.  I used Pam spray that is made from coconut oil.  Half the zucchini length wise and cut each one into small boat-shaped lengths, then hollow out the middles.  (If you do not want to waste the middles, chop them into small pieces and preserve in an airtight container to use in a salad later on during the week.)  Place a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet on the stove and add onions and peppers.  Saute these vegetables for three minutes, then add corn, beans, salsa, garlic and cumin.  Heat all for about five minutes, stirring as needed.  Stir in sea salt and cilantro.  Place zucchini boats into casserole dish.  Spoon the vegetable mixture from the skillet into the little zucchini boats.  Grate 1 cup of cheddar cheese and sprinkle cheese on top of each boat.  Cover casserole dish with foil and cook in the oven for one hour.  Remove foil and heat for a few minutes more until the cheese is slightly brown and bubbly.  Serve hot. . 

You will get a wide variety of nutrients from this recipe.  It is full of delicious vegetables (zucchini, onion, corn and black beans) and they combine in a very tasty way that fills you up and satisfies your hunger.  There is the added benefit of the herbs and spices (cumin, garlic, cilantro and sea salt) which are all very good for you too.  Eventually we will get around to discussing the nutritional value of all of these vegetables and herbs and spices in this blog.  Knowing what you are putting into your body is important!  This recipe will easily feed 4 – 6 people, so in order not to be wasteful I froze half of mine to use again next week.  This little trick really cuts down on prep-time for preparing healthy meals after work.  Most vegetable dishes freeze very well.   Just don’t add the cheese on top until you are ready to cook and this one will freeze just fine. Added bonus:  My husband loved it!  He is a very picky eater!

WARM CABBAGE

 Ingredients:

1 cup honey Dijon dressing.  (I bought the kind you find in the deli aisle that is refrigerated in a jar, but probably better if you prepare from scratch)

½ head of cabbage finely shredded (about six cups)

8 ounces fresh white mushrooms

4 ounces crumbled blue cheese

Sea salt (to taste)

Pepper (to taste)

Preparation:

Finely shred the cabbage, leaving out the core.  Place in a 9x13 baking dish or a large round salad bowl and sprinkle the blue cheese crumbles on top of the cold cabbage, leaving a few of the crumbles to use for garnish when you are done.  Place two tablespoons of olive oil inside a skillet on the stove and saute the mushrooms on medium heat.  Add two cups of honey Dijon dressing to the mushrooms when they are sauteed.  Heat the mix for three minutes.  Pour the warm mushroom mix over the top of the cabbage and crumbled blue cheese.  Serve immediately while the topping is still hot. 

The combination of the hot dressing and the cold cabbage makes this a very interesting dish with unusual flavors that you will love.  Season it all with sea salt and pepper to your desired taste and garnish with the leftover blue cheese crumbles.  This dish will feed about 4 – 6 people.  You can refrigerate it and serve cold with another meal later, or you can do what I did with my leftovers the next day.  I placed my leftover cabbage along with the mushroom and dressing topping in a casserole dish and put foil over it and reheated it all, including heating the cabbage (this time) and served it all hot.  It is delicious either served as noted in the recipe above, or completely cold, or completely hot.  The cabbage just takes on a different consistency according to however you prepare it.  The warm/cold combination works the best for my taste, but all three versions are good.

So there are two new recipes to use for starters if you are joining in with me on this little eating plan I hope they are helpful to you.

The good news, besides the fact that this is doable, healthy, easy and nutritious; is the fact that I actually lost five pounds on the first week!  Icing on the cake!  (Sorry – probably a bad phrase for this article) but it was a great surprise!  This tells me I seem to be  headed in the right direction.

Keep in mind I am not following anyone’s version of this diet; but simply making up my own version based on what I have read and some additional health facts that I had already factored into my days.  The recipes are picked by me and not copied from any Athos diet books that have been published. I am not specifically following anyone’s guidelines or rules here.  As I mentioned before, I have not even read the diet books (yet.)  I’ve only read several articles about the lifestyles of these monks and this is what I devised on my own as an experiment.  Read the blog I mentioned earlier for my specific details.  So far, I am liking the results! 

The other thing that the monks do is to drink herbal teas as well as a little red wine.  I have promised to write about this more, and I will eventually. 

I have not yet had the time to do all of the research needed, but I will eventually give you a few good tea recipes.  

Until I get there; I have been making myself three cups of a hot drink mix each day, one in the morning with breakfast, one in the middle of the day and one in the evening before bedtime.  During the day I have heated up water and poured it into a cup then added a teaspoon of apple cider, a teaspoon of lemon juice, a teaspoon of honey and 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger.  At night I have a cup of hot water steeped with chamomile tea flavored with a spoonful of honey.  It is very soothing and cozy to drink just before bedtime, and it helps me to get a great night of sleep.

Stay tuned to the AN APPLE A DAY section of the IN SEASON blog if you are interested in hearing more details and the actual results of this diet experiment.  I TRY to post these articles on Fridays.  I hope every week is as good and as interesting as this week has been.  Of course, don’t forget to add the most important part – time alone with God.

 

I’ll leave you with this final verse from Romans 12:2; Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 

COME AS A CHILD LESSON 126 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

The study of The Exodus is a lot like going on an archaeological dig!  It is always better if you leave no ground un-turned.  You cannot leave one part of the exodus story without looking further under the surface; where you will begin to see multi-layers of huge important discoveries.  If you move on too fast, you will miss something!  All of the things lying underneath the surface of the actual story help us to grasp the whole picture that God wants us to see. 

We cannot move on from the last plague until we consider more of its deep spiritual significance. This was so much more than just God freeing the slaves of Egypt!  

In the last plague (the plague that finally persuaded Pharaoh to really let the people go) the firstborn children of all of Egypt died.  This is a hard plague for many to grasp and understand because of the fact that the innocent suffered.  Many have asked why God would allow such a thing.  It is true that whenever evil is allowed to prevail over and over again for long periods of time; the innocent usually suffer.  It often takes this to bring about a change.  That still does not make it right!  

Look around you today and notice the innocents suffering from evil decisions and greedy plots in our own society. We are living just the same scene in so many ways.    Let's dig a little further and see what we can discover about how God let certain situations transpire.  Perhaps He had more of a reason than we can see at first glimpse.  We have already pointed out that God could have just wiped Egypt off the map completely and been done with it.  Was this last plague really the decision of God?  Didn't Pharaoh decide what would happen?   He was warned and he was given a choice over and over again.  It is terrible that innocents suffered, but let's be careful about blaming God for the decisions of Pharaoh.  God was simply, like always; planning a way to make something good come out of something very bad.  Let's also keep in mind that at any point Pharaoh could have changed the whole situation by obeying and recognizing the One True God.  

These facts go much deeper than just another one of the plagues.  This was the plague that actually accomplished God’s purpose.  This was the plague that God Himself implemented.  He did not delegate it to Moses and Aaron, but tended to it personally.  The death of the firstborn is a perfectly painted portrait that shows us the depiction of God’s sovereign power over all.  If we look closer we will begin to see that this plague displays a perfect pattern of how God brings and gives salvation to mankind.

Long before the Israelites lived in Egypt God made a promise to Abraham.  The ancestors of Abraham living in Egypt might have forgotten; but God never forgets.  He never forgets, and He never fails to keep His promises.  The death of the firstborn of Egypt was a very firm reminder to the children of Israel that God can be trusted to keep His promises.  As God kept his promise to Abraham, He was at the same time showing the children of Israel who He is.  He wanted them to wake up and remember the power and might of the God they served who was definitely NOT a god of Egypt.  He wanted them to know for sure that He alone is God.   We too can know that God is sovereign.  We too must realize that He always keeps His promises.  The more we travel into the allotted time for mankind to walk the earth, the more we need to remember these facts of the Exodus from Egypt.   They will be a helpful guide for anyone living in end times. 

Have you ever thought about the significance placed on firstborn children?  It is often through

the firstborn that God exerts His rightful claim as the Creator of the Universe. If you are a parent you might be able to identify with this.  When you first looked on your firstborn child, did it not cross your mind that only a great and mighty God could have made this child possible?  Are you not totally amazed? Can you not feel the presence of God that envelops and surrounds a newly born child?  God is always there. He attends every new birth.  He is everywhere all the time!  He is the creator of all life; the founder of all new beginnings; simply enjoying the fruit of His awesome creation.   He might be invisible, but He is there at every birth! This is especially true of any firstborn.

Even as the people were coming out of Egypt, God was instructing Moses about the significance of the firstborn.  The fact that the first of everything belongs to God is very important.  We can read it in Exodus 13:1-2 when right after the people began to leave Egypt the Lord said to Moses, “Consecrate to me every firstborn male.  The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.

So Moses was quick to instruct the people about this.  His words are found in Exodus 13:11-14; (he was instructing them early to prepare for what was to be later) “After the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your ancestors, you are to give over to the LORD the first offspring of every womb.  All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.  Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.  Redeem every firstborn among your sons.  In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt.  This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’  And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.’”

There are many things to consider in this passage.  Moses was explaining to everyone that every firstborn belonged to God.  If you had a son and it was your firstborn child, you were expected to redeem that son back from God through a sacrifice (perhaps a lamb) in order to keep your son alive and with you.  If you had cattle and they had their first calf and it was a male calf, it was to be sacrificed to God.   You were able to keep and use or eat every other calf that was born, but the firstborn was always given to God.  If you did not give it; a redemption sacrifice had to be made in the place of the firstborn.  Moses knew that for some reason this was very important to God.  Personally, I think Moses knew and understood a Messiah was coming.  I think he got more of  the whole picture of what God was doing than we give him credit for.  He instructed the people that this was important and that it should be done.

This dedication of the firstborn should always be remembered.  God said it would be like a sign on your hand and symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought the people out of Egypt with his mighty hand.  This was a vital fact that was to be remembered, not forgotten.  It was to be commemorated annually.  It was to be remembered like a sign on your hand.   Your hand could be placed over your heart as a gesture of honor, and so this basically meant you would remember it inside your heart.  It was to be remembered like a symbol on your forehead; which meant that you would remember to always think about who God is and what He did with Egypt and the offspring of Abraham.  This is something to reason out with your head as you remember that God has been good to you, and that He is sovereign forever. 

All of these things were how God helped the people to form habits that helped them to remember who He is.  I am speaking of the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the redeeming of the firstborn sons.  (This is why much later phylacteries came to be popular.  The scriptures inside the little leather boxes wrapped around the hand and on the foreheads of the ancestors of those who lived in the wilderness after Egypt held the scriptures that told them what to remember about God and how God performed the Exodus.) 

Otherwise; without these memories clearly engraved on their hearts, they would become like those who had spent so many years in slavery again.  They would soon forget about God and gravitate toward the ways of the men around them instead of God’s ways and they would turn to false and foreign gods.  There would be no salvation, no freedom, no promised land.  This was not God's will for them; so God devised many ways for them to remember the exodus and how and why He brought it all about.  

This last plague was also God’s way of beginning to explain the wonder of the plan of salvation.  He was informing all of the soon to be ‘firstborn” that they must be redeemed!  They were headed somewhere as a people, this meant they were not just “redeemed” but they were being “redeemed to a purpose.”  The story widens and grows into many stories, and much later Jesus is called by the same name;“the firstborn son.”  Luke 2:7 speaks of this; “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.”

God was showing a pattern to Israel.  Israel was to take that pattern to the whole world.  Then God was bringing about his purpose of showing the pattern; salvation through Jesus Christ.  First look at Israel; then open your eyes and see Jesus!  Israel was a type of “firstborn son.”  The firstborn Son of God is seen following the path of Israel.  Hosea 11:11 says; “Out of Egypt I have called my Son.”  This prophesy of Hosea described the flight of Jesus and his family to Egypt after his birth.  It was the path of the Son of God following the pattern that God had already laid out through Israel. 

Paul too, much later than the days of our present story, spoke of Christ.  He stated in Colossians 1:15-17; “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominations or rulers or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Can you see, like Paul looking at the lives of the people of Israel and the life of Jesus Christ, that redemption from the slavery of sin is accomplished by the death of the firstborn?

Jesus bears our penalty and satisfies the divine demand for justice.  God could not be God without justice.  What God is not just?  Yet; through Christ, God combined both mercy and justice.  God accomplished through the life of Jesus what I have come to call the “glorious impossible.” 

Jesus was perfect and sinless and that is how He was qualified to redeem us.  This is something no other human can ever imitate, no matter how hard they try.  There IS something about Jesus though that we CAN imitate and achieve.  We too can become a part of the “firstborn.”  We can come into The Body of Christ!   

When you allow Christ to live within you, this makes you a part of the firstborn!  This is yet another of those things I like to call the “glorious impossibles!”  From the point of your trust in Christ as you move ever forward your salvation comes and makes you a part of The Lamb of God.  He is in you and you are in Him and you and He are in God.  You become a part of the Body of Christ who becomes The Lamb of God.  He was the lamb who was slain; but He is also the risen lamb, the only ONE who has the power to take the scroll in the end of times and open the seals.  (Revelation 5:9-10).  If you are with Him, you are safe; no matter what happens.  You are redeemed by God’s mighty hand!  That is why when we sing of Exodus we sing “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.”  It is an exodus song of a people delivered; redeemed by the death of another; free and walking into total freedom to a land flowing with milk and honey.  All made possible because of the blood of the Lamb of God.

 

So we see with the death of the firstborn, first with the people of Israel, and later with Christ, then again when we reach the final days of this life on earth; that God was both warning us of His sovereignty and the fact that He owns everything, yet at the same time also proclaiming His everlasting love and our salvation through our Messiah, Jesus Christ.  Through this redemption process of His firstborn people and His firstborn Son, God is telling us that we are safe in His mighty protection.  He will led us home!  He will help us find our way.  He will take us to a promised land; a land like no one has ever known before. It may be a tough, rough journey, full of fearful things; but He will be with us and all will be well in the end.  

He silently proclaimed all of these wonders when he sent the plague of the firstborn, in order to create the pattern to teach us His ways so that we could be redeemed and live with Him forever. There is a way to freedom, but it involves the death of an innocent life.  It requires innocent blood.  The innocent has paid the redemption of the guilty.  It is hard, but it is just. Never, ever take that for granted.   Also remember that God has never required anything of mankind that He has not been willing to give of Himself.

God has kept His promises.  He has told us how to have salvation through the story of a people walking out of slavery in the middle of of the darkest night into a long hard wilderness journey. 

Will we trust Him to lead us too? 

Will we do our part and honor His request to keep His ways? 

Will we always remember that He is God and what He says is all that matters? 

It is very, very important.

PEN ART - SUMMERTIME PEACE IN NATURE'S SPLENDOR

(Writing and photography by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

  He leads me beside still waters

He restores my soul.

 He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls"

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge

May the beauty of the summer that God has created make His word come alive for you today.
May we rest in the comfort of His love and care
As we enjoy His awesome creation.

FUN UNDER THE SUN - MANY WAYS TO CELEBRATE ON JULY 4TH

SO WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO ON JULY 4TH? 

I've put a few You-Tube video clips together of things I've done and enjoyed in the past, as well as a few suggestions I've heard from others.  If you are at a loss for something to do to celebrate our nation's freedom and independence, this should help you out a bit.  Just know that these are not my original creations at all.  Thanks for those creative people who put them out for the public to enjoy:

Some people spend the day at their favorite park...

Some people enjoy a concert.....

Some people go to the Mall.....

Some people go to the beach.....

Some people go to a ball game......

Some people just want to dance....

Some people just want to sing.....

Some people jump out of planes.....

Some people go to the movies.......

Some people just relax on the front porch......

Some people rest and take it easy in the Hammock.....

Go ahead and do your own thing....climb a mountain, write a poem, speak your mind, shoot some fireworks!

Whatever you chose to do..........

CELEBRATE AND ENJOY YOUR FREEDOM!!!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!!!!!