Saturday, January 30, 2010

Psalm 3- Praying the Psalms

Jenny has begun a journey of praying her way through the Psalms that I have decided to join. Each weekend, we will pray through one psalm and post our prayer and/or meditations on that psalm as the Lord leads. Check out her journey: Praying the Psalms

Psalm 3

Lord,
When my cares and anxieties press in to crush me,
and the world watches to see if You will save me
and to examine if I will remain faithful to You,
Be my shield, my glory and the lifter of my head.

When I cry out to You, give me ears to hear Your answer.
Cast out my fears and my cover my insecurities.
Deliver me from the Enemy and from my enemies within.
Crush my strongholds and eradicate my chains.

Bless me with Your freedom, O Lord!

In Jesus' Name. Amen.


Thursday, January 28, 2010

Oh, what a day!

So, I realize this post is a departure from the meditations I have been sharing on this here blog. But, I have been feeling like I am coming across as a very serious person here. It seems this place has become a depository for my serious thoughts
and meditations and I do love it! Again, though, I feel as if the part of me that is light and loves to laugh and be quick witted is missing here. So, I will probably be interspersing my "deep thoughts" with silly stories or one liners that make me laugh. I hope you don't mind. That is, if there is anyone out there! If it is just me, then I don't mind, do I? lol

This past Monday was a doozy. When the alarm when off at 6 a.m., I was really tired and decided that instead of hitting snooze, I would reset it for 6:30 a.m. because let's face it, there are times when 9 minutes of snooze just isn't gonna cut it and this was one of those times! I had a very busy week ahead of me (you know the ones where every activity is neatly packaged into a 30 minutes time slot on the calendar?) and did not want to start it out feeling exhausted. I went back off to dreamland and awoke with a start sometime later. When I looked at the alarm, it read 7:22 a.m.!!! I jumped out of bed and woke all the kids (they should be up and at 'em by 7 a.m.) I started rushing around getting dressed and barking at the kids to do the same. That's when my glance fell on the clock on the cable box, which read 6:52 a.m. So, while yes it was later than the 6:30 a.m. I intended to get out of bed, it was 8 minutes early for the kids. I had gipped myself of EIGHT ENTIRE MINUTES OF PEACE AND QUIET!!!

Well, we carried on and made it downstairs in record time. We ate breakfast as normal and just as the kids started their morning chore of emptying the dishwasher, I checked the clock on the stove to make sure we were on time and it read 8:01 a.m.! (We are usually almost out the door by 8 a.m.) "What is going on? I don't get it," I whined and promptly resumed rushing everyone along. We abandoned the dishwasher chore and hurriedly got dressed and out the door. Into the pouring rain and gusty wind- FUN!

After everyone was safely buckled in, I began to back out of the driveway, glancing at the clock to see how late we were and it read 7:57 a.m.! So not only were we three minutes EARLY but I was going to have to do that darn dishwasher myself when I got home- GRR! I listened to the radio before I believed the car clock, but it was right. We got to school so early that many teachers had not even arrived yet- lol
After a few errands, I arrived back home with my 3 year old in tow. I parked her in front of the electronic babysitter so I could shower since I did not have time for that upon waking (can you hear the sarcasm???). Just as I finished getting dressed, the lights flickered and went out. My three year old wailed that she could no longer see Princess Aurora on the TV. I wailed, too, when I realized that a power outage meant no internet access and that my iPhone hadn't charged the night before (even though I had remembered to hook it up to the charger, somehow the charger cord had come out of the wall socket?!?)
So, we had a snack and a nap. (I did lay down for awhile, too. There was nothing else for me to do but clean in the dim light of the dreary day. And that was not going to happen!) We spent the rest of the afternoon at daddy's office so the boys could do their homework with real, live electricity!!! We all headed home around six to find that the house was still dark. We lit candles and grabbed flashlights. The kids loved it! Me? Not so much. Daddy ran around and set up the generator so that there would be light for the bedtime activities. (Our power company said that there would be no power until 11 p.m.)

After we were all set up, I grabbed my stuff and ran out the door to attend my new women's Bible study at church. Just as I was leaving my oldest turned to me with that ominous look that every mother knows and said, "I don't feel so good!" My husband told me to go, he could handle things from there and I did. He called a few minutes later to report that the power had been restored- a mere 30 minutes after he had set up the generator! He also said our boy was ok but resting.

I got home at about 9:30 p.m. to a quiet house. Just as I had settled into bed, my big guy started wailing from his room. It seemed the dreaded Vomitus Maximus had waited for Mommy to get home to proclaim its arrival to our abode. So I did my mommy duties and crawled into bed remembering that old saying attributed to Robert Burns, "the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray."
Oh, what a day!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Learning to Be Slow to Wrath

These two posts really resonated with me today. I struggle with anger and have to battle my flesh in moments like the ones these two ladies describe so eloquently. Do you appreciate, like I do, when Godly women are real and bare their struggles so that we can all learn and grow in Him?

Just a Minute
A Holy Experience

Oh God, give us grace to parent our children with love and mercy, just as You parent us!

James 1: 19-20 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Simple Woman's Daybook- January 26, 2010

FOR TODAY...January 26, 2010

Outside my window... Kids heading off to school, bright sunshine and the drying earth after a day of downpours
I am thinking... about how to better order my mornings so that they are less stressful
I am thankful for... second (and third and fourth...) chances
From the kitchen... my first cup of coffee awaits
I am wearing... a comfy sweatsuit that will be swapped for another (clean) comfy sweatsuit after a shower
I am remembering... James 1: 19-20
I am going... nowhere today- have my big guy home sick with the stomach virus
I am reading... Beth Moore's A Woman's Heart God's Dwelling Place
I am hoping... I can learn how to be "naked" before God and let Him cover me rather than trying to cover up my sins before Him
I am hearing... a Disney movie from the living room where my sick guy is camped out on the couch
Around the house... there's lots to do- cleaning, laundry, etc.
One of my favorite things... is to create photo slideshows. I am working on one right now for a friend of a recent mission trip to Cameroon, West Africa. It will be presented at reporting meetings for the ministry that organized the trip.
A few plans for the rest of the week: Since Monday's and Tuesday's plans were derailed by power outages and sick littles, I am trying to be flexible with the rest of the week. Generally speaking, my goals for the rest of the week are: to get some work for church done, get the bills paid at home, finish a photo slideshow for a friend and keep up with my bible study homework.
Here is picture for thought I am sharing...
Read some more daybooks here...

Monday, January 25, 2010

Mama Monday

My dear friend Andrea at The Flourishing Mother blog invited me to be a guest on her weekly post called Mama Monday. You can read the interview here. And check out the rest of her blog, I am certain you will love her honest and wise posts!

Multitude Monday

holy experience


Here are some of the things I was thankful for last week:
-Slow paced Saturdays
-Sore muscles
-A peaceful bedtime routine
-Getting to Day 13 of my Read the Bible in a Year(ish) Plan
-Reminders to CHOOSE joy
-A peaceful morning routine
-Life is worth the living just because he lives
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
-Starting a new Beth Moore bible study

You can find my running list of 1,000 gifts in my sidebar and why and how I got started here.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Psalm 2- Praying the Psalms

Jenny has begun a journey of praying her way through the Psalms that I have decided to join. Each weekend, we will pray through one psalm and post our prayer and/or meditations on that psalm as the Lord leads. Check out her blog: Praying the Psalms


Psalm 2
Father God,

I praise You for removing the scales from my eyes so that I am saved from Your wrath. I spend so much time meditating on Your love, mercy and grace that I often forget about Your justice. You are not willing that any should perish BUT many will because of their unwillingness to "kiss Your Son." And though there was a time when I was foolish enough to live a life that stood against You, You have changed me and forgiven me! Thank You, Lord! Jesus thank you taking my sins upon You and saving me from the Father's wrath. Thank You for the freedom I now have to take refuge in You.

I pray for those who do not yet acknowledge You, Lord, that their eyes would also be opened. I pray for the rulers in this country and around the world who conspire against You that they would receive Your wisdom and begin to serve You with fear and trembling and come to accept Your Son. I look forward to that day when You will restore Your kingdom on Earth.

In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Where are you?

I started attending the new women's bible study at my church on Monday night. It is Beth Moore's A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place. In the first day's homework, Beth asks the reader to consider for herself the question God posed to Adam and Eve in the garden after the fall. Where are you? What season of life do you find yourself in? Wherever you are, God is seeking you. God is seeking me. His desire is to dwell with us, to walk with us in the cool of the day. I love how Beth Moore describes this as "God's glorious, incomprehensible desire to meet with humans."

Obviously this is not a new concept to the believer. But sometimes, for me anyway, I find that knowing something is one thing and meditating on it is quite another. Yes, I KNOW God loves me and that He wants fellowship with me. But when I stop to meditate on the truth that a holy God not only loves me but He likes me, too! He delights in me. I bring a smile to His face. Me? This woman who is too often angry, cranky, harried? WOW!!! He is truly amazing and beyond my comprehension.

So, where am I right now? What season of life? I am wife to a wonderful man who works long and hard to provide for his family. We spend as much time together as we can as a couple and a family but the demands of his work are limiting. I am a mother to three young children who are still quite dependent on me for their basic needs. I am daughter to a wonderful mom and dad with whom I enjoy a close relationship. I am a sister, cousin and friend. I am in a season of learning about myself and growing in the Lord. I am clawing my way out of a season of failure and I am believing God for the total victory He has for me. I am learning to come out of my comfort zone to grow.

I am excited about a new opportunity for growth through this study. I am praying that God will use it to teach me to consistently and deliberately choose to serve Him each day. I pray for Him to empower me to walk in habitual fellowship with Him and away from habitual failure!

Today's Mantra

James 1: 19-20 "So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God."

Lord, help me to remember today that my wrath will not produce the fruit I hope to see in my children. Help me to understand that my refusal to hear their need through the whining and bickering with one another is an act of disobedience to You. Help me to be slow to speak, and when I do speak to do so with wisdom and faithful instruction. And, oh God, pour out Your Spirit on me to make me slow to wrath, for my wrath will produce nothing but broken spirits! In Jesus' Name, amen.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Multitude Monday

  • Here are some things I was thankful for this week:

  • -Having a place to sort out my thoughts
  • -Deep friendships
  • -Remembering to breathe
  • -The ability to pray and have hope for Haiti and its people
  • -Little T. got up early, made his bed and got dressed for school without one reminder!
  • -Warm January days
  • -Cheering on my son's third grade basketball team
  • -My husband did all the clean up after company left!

You can find my 1,000 Gifts running list is in the right hand sidebar.

holy experience

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Psalm 1- Praying the Psalms

Jenny has begun a journey of praying her way through the Psalms that I have decided to join. Each weekend, we will pray through one psalm and post our prayer and/or meditations on that psalm as the Lord leads. Check out her blog: Praying the Psalms and her prayer on Psalm 1.

Psalm 1
Bless me O God and keep me from seeking or heeding the advice of those who do not know You. Remind me that Your ways are higher than our ways and that even counsel that seems good can be the way of death. Help me to seek Your will in Your Word first! Keep me from sinning and deliver me from my personal temptations. Help me God to refrain from scoffing and mocking others. Remind me to remove the log in my own eye before I point out the speck in someone else's.

Lord, I do delight in Your Word! I thank you for it and ask You to give me the discipline to meditate on it day and night.

Make my roots grow deep into You Lord and refresh me with Your living water. May I receive the fruits of Your spirit. May I abide in You and live abundantly.

Lord, I recognize that much of my life is chaff. Refine me, Lord. Burn away the impurities in my life and show me how to live for you. Make my life an offering of love to You! Remind me, Lord, to pray for those precious people in my life who do not know You that their eyes may be opened to Your truth and they will be able to stand in the assembly of the righteous.

Thank You for watching over me, for loving me, for being my Abba Father.

In Jesus' Name.


Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Slowing Down

I have been having a rough week emotionally. Feeling very overwhelmed. Less able to handle the everyday annoyances or typical kid issues than usual. Feeling like am sliding backwards into old and ugly patterns of behavior. Feeling discouraged about that.

It all started with a blessing, actually. I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with a dear friend who lives overseas now but is home for a short stay. L and I have been friends as long as we have been moms- met at a baby group- and carried each other through the long, hard days of first time mothering. Our babies grew up together, playing together several times a week, until L and her family moved about an hour away. We still spent time together when we could, especially in the summers when school was out. This summer, L and her family moved overseas. They returned for the holidays and so the kids and I made the hour long drive to spend the afternoon with them this past Saturday. It was a wonderful day. A true blessing! The kids played so nicely together the entire time. I don't think we refereed even one conflict! And that is saying something as L and I have 7 kids between us, ranging in age from 8 to 2. And 5 of them are energetic boys. We all gave warm hugs as we said goodbye knowing it would be a long while before we could do that again.

After that, I just felt sad. It sounds strange but the best way to describe it is that I felt homesick for that time when we all passed so many afternoons together and life seemed, in retrospect, simpler, slower, less harried. And as the new week began on Monday, the sadness turned to feelings of stress and grumpiness. There was no more time to feel sad. I had kids to get ready for school, appointments, food shopping, work (which I do a few hours a day from home), dinner, school events, etc. So, without realizing it, I traded the sadness for irritation and impatience and stress.

But today, as I slowed down to examine my emotions, I began to realize what I had done. In taking a few moments to acknowledge that feeling of sadness and brainstorming about how to handle it without denying or minimizing it, I felt the heavy weight of stress and irritation begin to lift. It was an important reminder of the need to simply slow down, allow myself the opportunity to experience my emotions (good and bad) and resolve them productively so that they do not spill out carelessly and hurt myself and my family.

I have many more thoughts about slowing down as I know the Lord is calling me to do just this in my life. I will save them for future posts as He reveals more of His plan to help me to slow down. As the Lord would have it, these two posts today helped me to order my thoughts on slowing down as well:
STOP
Prayer






Self Care

I have been a mom for almost nine years- more than that really, if you count the time I carried my first baby in my womb! By God's grace, I have done some things right during these years. I have also made many mistakes. One of the biggest mistakes I made is one that I see many women who are mothers make- I became Mommy. I gave up Natalie and much of who God had created me to be. I believed that Mommy was the new me and my prior interests and inclinations had to be forgotten so as not to interfere with the new me. I never thought about any of this, mind you. Oh sure, I was frustrated and resentful, at times, but I never consciously considered this transformation from Natalie to Mommy objectively. I rarely examined the feelings of frustration and resentment as warning signs of a problem, I just did what I thought I was supposed to do.

As my children grew and entered school, I added more tasks to my long list of responsibilities such as Sunday School Teacher, Class Mom, PTO board member. Whatever crossed my path that would make me a better Mommy, I did. And the truth is, I did not begrudge these things. In fact, I even enjoyed them most of the time.

Over this past year, however, I have begun to see that this abdication of the unique person God had created me to be was not wise. It was not unselfish and sacrificial, as was my intention. In fact, losing myself was detrimental to the very people I was trying to serve- my family. The problem was not the roles I took on but the things I neglected. The problem was not the tasks I engaged in but the manner I entered in to them- without consideration and prayer. The problem was not that I wanted to be the best Mommy I could be but that I forgot all about Natalie in the process. I stopped honoring the unique gifts, inclinations and desires that God had so graciously bestowed on me. In clumsily crucifying my flesh, I trampled my spirit. Instead of taking on a new and precious role as mommy, while honoring the rest of me, I became Mommy and forgot about the rest of me.

When I started to consider these things, it was out of necessity. I found myself in a very precarious emotional state at the end of this summer and it was scary. Our family had just suffered the unexpected and painful loss of a loved one and the added pressure from that experience was like the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. I was stressed to the max and felt unable to relate to my family appropriately anymore. The high paced schedule I had developed for our crew was now too much for me to bear.

With the help of godly counsel, I began to see that if I did not start to take care of myself, I was hurting everyone in my family. I also began to realize that I was actually disrespecting my Lord by ignoring the special way He made me. It took awhile for me to understand and believe these things. It took a clear mind to see that a woman who desires to be a wonderful Mommy must also be a woman whose personal needs are met. I cannot pour myself out for anyone if I am empty and dry!

I began a prayerful process then that continues to this day of self-reflection and self-understanding. After some prayer, I excused myself from a couple of on-going commitments and refrained from taking on new ones as the school year began. I learned to balance the needs of my family with my own needs. As I saw the dramatic difference in my mood and parenting and the positive effects on my husband and children, I finally began to believe I was doing the right thing for everyone.

It is still difficult to choose something for myself over something for one of the children. I try to make these decisions with the Lord's help and guidance. I also remind myself that just because a decision is hard does not mean it is wrong and that almost nothing is irreversible. Just knowing that I can choose to take care of one of my own needs even if it will preclude meeting a want of one of my children has given me such a sense of freedom. My desire on this journey is to "live as a free woman, but not use my freedom as a cover-up for evil; to live as a servant of God." (based on 1 Peter 2:16)

Monday, January 11, 2010

Multitude Monday

15. Sharing laughs over morning coffee with two friends
16. Staying warm on a very cold day
17. Enjoying the clear, sunny day
18. Stealing a few moments to organize the week's activities
19. Experiencing God's grace and forgiveness this morning
20. Stealing a few moments to pray and read His Word


holy experience

Thursday, January 7, 2010

1,000 Gifts

I am not one for New Year's resolutions. I guess I have learned from experience that while I can make the resolutions quite easily, I find it hard to keep them as the days and months march on. Yet, I can't shake the feeling that, this year, I should be making some resolutions. Maybe it is because it has been a year of change and growth for me and I don't want that to stop? The thing is we are a week into the new year and I have not been able to come up with a resolution that seems to fit me and satisfies that feeling I just mentioned.

But today as I was perusing a blog that is new to me, I got a vision. Way back in 2003, Ann at A Holy Experience invited her readers to join her on a journey to give God thanks for a thousand graces and in the process transform their lives into ones that continually glorify Him. Now that sounds like a resolution that I want to make! As Ann advises, I am setting a time goal for giving thanks for 1,000 gifts. I am going to try to reach the 1,000 point by April 29, 2010. Ann posts some of her thanks on Mondays along with a group of other bloggers working toward their gratitude goals. I hope to do the same each Monday.

But if I want to reach 1,000 by April 29th I had better start now... I am thankful for the opportunity to be transformed by gratitude and to glorify my Lord by offering my love and appreciation to Him each day!

holy experience

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Have You Ever?

Have you ever been in a situation that you just KNOW that God Himself orchestrated? Heck, it might even be a place you prayed for, longed for, dreamed of. Have you ever arrived in that situation or received that answer to prayer and felt all those wonderful feelings you knew you would? The joy, the peace, the contentment, the lightness of spirit?

Have you ever watched in sadness, shock, confusion and dismay as those feelings waned? Have you ever experienced the cold reality that sometimes your initial happiness does not last but gives way to darker, more disturbing feelings? Have you ever been disgusted with yourself for being given a blessing and wishing you had never received it? Have you ever pondered how your rejection of God's gift makes Him feel?

I have. And it is not a pretty place to be. I have even questioned whether the situation I longed for and carefully waited to hear from God about was really from Him. I have gone so far as to even doubt the times I KNOW I heard His voice, the times I KNOW he orchestrated the events to try to make sense of my negative feelings. Just to be clear, that is not a very pretty place to be either. Just in case you've never been there.

But as I mentioned before, I've been there and I am sorry to say that I have made that ugly place my home at times. Struggling with my flesh, wrestling with God, self-condemnation, shame, denial, anger, disgust, loneliness- these are but a few of the decorations that adorn this home. Actually a more fitting description for this "home" would be war zone. A war zone in which the Enemy has been allowed to be victorious and I have been resigned to defeat.

After struggling internally and wrestling with God, though, I have come to realize some things over the past year that have begun set me free from this cycle of defeat. I am still learning and it has been a process of moving forward in victory and sliding back into defeat. But as I look at the big picture, I can see that I have moved forward in victory more than my Enemy has reigned over me in defeat this year. I have learned many things but one of the most life changing for me has been that just because my feelings don't match the expectations I had about a situation or if they have waned or changed, the fact that GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL of it remains. Simply because I am not experiencing the feelings and reactions I wanted does not change the truth that GOD ORCHESTRATED even this. And that He is allowing me to experience this disappointment, this confusion, even this despair, FOR A REASON. His plans for me are to prosper me and to give me a hope and a future. He who started a good work in me STILL INTENDS to bring it to completion.

Why has He allowed this season of defeat? Why didn't He just rescue me right away? Why am I still struggling at times, still learning? To produce in me those character traits that are lacking, of course! Why is it so easy for me to see that this is what God is doing when he allows trials in the lives of my husband, my children, my friends and to be so blind to this truth when it is at work in my own life? I was blind but now I see! Now I remembering more often and more quickly the exhortation of James, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."

I have not yet won this battle. I am still struggling in the fight. However, I see that I am more and more frequently able to push aside the negative feelings and believe that God has orchestrated the situation. I am more equipped to operate in spite of the feelings, believing that if I keep myself from sin and change my mind about the situation, He will change my heart. I look forward to the day when my feelings match my actions in every situation. I put my hope in a future in which I can enjoy the blessings of God in my life in every circumstance. Thus far the lord has helped me! I'm sticking with Him.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

Saturday, January 2, 2010

What's for Dinner?

I watched a film from Netflix the other night and have not been able to stop thinking about it since then. It was a documentary, actually, called Food, Inc. Before I get into my musings about the film, here's something you should know about me so that you can understand the context of my thoughts about the movie. I am very conservative, politically and ideologically, so I often view any movie with even a hint of liberalism with a wary eye. (Not saying that is the best way to approach things- just that it is true for me.) The premise of Food, Inc. is to investigate what is in the food we eat and how that food gets to the supermarket shelves. Because such a topic is wrought with controversial issues ranging from health concerns to politics to immigration violations to the environment, I expected to be inundated with overt and gratuitous bashing of big business, and radical environmental and animal rights agendas. While these issues do emerge in the film, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that they were raised only as they were relevant to the focus of the film, did not seem gratuitous and never overshadowed the main subject matter.

So, as I mentioned earlier, the premise of the film is to investigate what is in the food we eat and how that food gets to the supermarket shelves. It describes how most processed food found on supermarket shelves are made primarily from corn and it's chemical by-products. That's not so bad when you consider that corn is a vegetable. Sure, it is deceiving when you grab a box off the supermarket shelf with the intention of simply buying "mashed potatoes." And it was interesting to learn that the addition of corn and it's by-products to just about everything we eat has changed our taste preferences. The real thing, the whole food, just doesn't taste as good. So, while I was a bit surprised to learn this, I was not really alarmed.

It wasn't until the film began to delve into the way that meat and poultry go from animal to a product in the meat department of the local supermarket did my concern begin to mount. When I learned that 80% of the beef found in supermarkets today are processed by 4 beef companies and that their biggest customer, by far, is Mc Donald's corporation, I knew things were about to get interesting. (Please don't misunderstand me, I love me some Mc Donald's as much as any other red-blooded American!) Because McDonald's wants their hamburgers to be cheap and to taste the same no matter where in the world they are being sold, the beef companies have created a fool proof system to bring an inexpensive and tasty product to market. And they use this system on ALL their beef, not just the beef produced for Mc Donald's. In short, cows live in feeding pens where they are literally on top of one another and knee deep in manure. As a result, they are more susceptible to disease. They are fed corn and other grains not grass, the sustenance they were created to ingest and digest. Their digestive tract and its natural processes are therefore interrupted so the cows are more likely to harbor disease rather than clear their system of it naturally as they would more likely do with a grass diet. After the cows are slaughtered, the meat is all processed together so a product such a ground beef will always contain meat from many different cows. Finally, some companies "wash" the processed meat in ammonia to rid it of E. coli and other bacteria and disease. I was flabbergasted and horrified. I really did not know any of this.

Food, Inc. goes on to describe the process for chicken and pork as well. I'll leave that for you to discover after you rent the movie :) It also delves into the organic industry and how was birthed and has grown.

As I have thought about the content of the film these past few days, I've done a little research at my local meat market and online. I have found that making the switch from supermarket beef, for example, to grass fed, free range, organic beef won't be easy on our time or pocketbook. I am on a mission, however, to learn more and hopefully find better alternatives for our family. I'd love to hear if you have found some good ones!

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