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Kristen Anne Glover

Five in Tow

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God Wants You to Fail

God's Vision

A few weeks ago, I was asked to be a contributing writer to the Allume blog.  I looked through the list of contributing writers and swallowed hard.

(Eep).

I was more than a little afraid I’d trip all over my prepositional phrases and flat-out fail in front of all the real writers and big-time bloggers.

As I struggled through writing my first post, God kind of hijacked the whole thing and whispered in my ear, “May you fail.”

That is not what I want God to say to me when I write.  But it was exactly what I needed to hear. 

Today, my inaugural post is up.  It’s a little raw and a little real and a little not-what-I’d-planned to write.  It’s about coming to terms with the fact that God wants me to fail.  If you read along, I think you will find that God wants you to fail too.  And it’s okay.  

Won’t you join me?

8 Ways to Eat Healthy

8 Ways to Eat Healthy

And for something completely different, I had the privilege of writing a post for the Fit2B blog yesterday.  I’ve been following Beth’s exercises to help heal my diastasis, so when she asked for some help writing a few posts on nutrition, I jumped at the chance.  I have not been writing much about health and nutrition lately because I’m trying to follow a few blogging rules (focus, focus, focus), but if you know me, you know that nutrition is a passion of mine.

But for most of us, eating healthy is hard. 

In my post for Beth, I offer 8 tips to help you get a handle on healthy eating.  And guess what?  They’re all easy. 

Enjoy the blog hop!  Tomorrow, I’ll be back here with something new.

–Kristen

Health and Beauty 3 Comments

100 Beautiful Days of Motherhood: Sickness {5}

IMG_1930

My little sickie

I knew something was wrong when I heard the doorknob turn.  I opened my eyes when the bedroom door creaked open and I heard a little person whimper.  “What’s the matter?” I asked, looking through the darkness and trying to find my wits.

“I threw up in my bed!”  It was Kya.  “I threw up all over my green blanket!” she wailed.

“Oh dear,” I said, thinking about how cozy my bed was and how much I didn’t want to wake up to vomit. “Go hop in the tub.  I’ll be right there.”

Sure enough, Kya was sick.  She threw up in the bathtub and again on the couch and once more while the older kids started school.  The twins didn’t know what to do without their mini-matriarch so they hovered near, bringing her stuffed animals and books and asking if she felt sick.

She did feel sick.  It was one of those mothering moments when I felt a little sick too, not just because I turn into a paranoid hypochondriac when there’s a stomach bug about, but because one of my little ones was suffering and I couldn’t do anything about it.

But I was thankful too.  When I saw her little body cuddled up under a blanket, I was reminded how healthy she is normally, how healthy all of my children are.  Not every mother can say the same.

Jonathan at Children's Hospital, May 2007

Jonathan at Children’s Hospital, May 2007

I remembered a day when this was not true.  We were out in the warm spring air.  Jeff was pushing Jonathan and Faith on the swings, high up into the bright blue sky.  I held the baby and laughed at their delight.  Suddenly, a rope broke and my three-year-old was hurled high into the air above my head where I could not reach him.  I ran but I could not catch him.  He was on the ground too quickly.  His little body crumpled into the winter-hard earth head and shoulders first.

“Don’t touch him!” I yelled as we ran to him.  My mother-in-law and husband and I gathered around, all three of us who had been right there but could not stop it.  All I could think about was what might be broken inside my boy—his neck, his back, his skull.

But it was his femur that sent him to Children’s Hospital in an ambulance and earned him five weeks in a spica cast.  I stood next to his hospital bed and looked at him.  I could not believe he was alive.  I could not believe he broke his leg and not his neck.

Still, I was grieved by what I saw and heard.  He was in so much pain and his lips were dry and cracked because he couldn’t have any water before his surgery.  The doctor said his leg might never grow properly.  He might walk with a permanent limp.  He might need surgeries in the future.

Waiting for surgery

Waiting for surgery

The first day home

The first day home

Just beyond the flimsy curtain on the other side of the room was another child, about Jonathan’s age.  His mother stood by his bed too, but it was not the same.  Her boy’s head was wrapped in white bandages.  His skin was all at once pale and dark.  It was a brain tumor, I heard, and her boy might not live.  There was only so much they could do, the doctors told her, and most of that had already been done.

I went into the hallway and cried.

This is how he rolled.

This is how he rolled

I thought of that little boy today when I looked at my child suffering through a sickness with a bowl by her side.  I have long since forgotten his name and I’m sure his mother has no idea how much her son touched me.  I’m just the mother on the other side of the partition, the mother with the healthy boy.  But I see his face today when I look at my daughter, curled on a couch with a bowl by her side.

And I am grateful for this stomach flu, for her body which is healthy enough to fight and was designed for that very purpose.  I’m thankful that these symptoms stand in contrast to the ordinary days and are not a definition of them.  I am thankful that she is already asking for food and needing to be reminded that sick girls can’t chase brothers.

It is a grace to be able to hug my children at the end of the day, fully expecting to hug them again tomorrow.

On this beautiful day, I am thankful for sick kids.

Uncategorized 8 Comments

Non-Dairy Coconut Creamer

Coconut creamer and coffee

Breaking news: I have given up half-and-half.

I have long since given up sugar and white flour.  I even gave up Diet Coke, though I think I’ve been drinking it since birth.  I walk right past the processed foods in the grocery store like they don’t even exist.  My counter is crowded with things I sprout, ferment, and soak in the name of better health and nutrition.

But.  I love my half-and-half.

Deep down inside, I knew my health would benefit if I gave up this dead, nutritionally void food.  So, when I came across a recipe for coconut creamer, I thought I’d give it a try.  I didn’t have the exact ingredients, but I tried it anyway.  Surprisingly, I liked it.  It was by far the best option I had tried for a non-dairy, non-soy, minimally processed creamer.  In fact, I liked it so much, I haven’t used half-and-half since, even though there’s still half a quart in my fridge.  Now that’s saying something.

Here’s my modified recipe:

Coconut Milk Creamer

1 can coconut milk*, room temperature

1 very fresh, organic egg from 1 very happy, pasture-raised hen

Optional:

Stevia (I don’t like sweet coffee, but I find a few drops of liquid stevia makes up for the lack of lactose in the coconut milk)

1 t. Vanilla

Cinnamon

Whirl the egg in a blender.  Be sure to use the best eggs because you’ll be eating them raw.  Slowly add the coconut milk and any optional ingredients you like.  Blend until frothy and somewhat thick, about a minute in my Vitamix.  Pour into a container and store in the fridge.  Mixture will continue to thicken as it cools.

Coconut creamer makes a yummy topping! Try a breakfast parfait of bananas, raw granola, blueberries, and coconut cream.

*The original recipe calls for regular coconut milk.  The first time I tried it, I used light because that was all I had in my pantry.  I thought the creamer was tasty even so.  I’ve since tried full-fat coconut milk, and even half-light, half regular.  In my opinion, the taste difference between light and regular in this recipe is minimal, especially if I add a couple drops of stevia.  Sure, the full-fat is creamier, but the fat and calories are more than double.  In fact, full-fat coconut milk is much more calorie-dense than half-and-half.  Eep!

In the end, the choice is yours.  But, if you choose to use light coconut milk, look for a brand with no additives, like Trader Joe’s (a steal at only $.99 a can).

The original recipe also calls for 2 T. of coconut oil.  She blends the egg and the oil slowly to create an emulsion, then adds the coconut milk. This creates a very thick whip.  In fact, you have to spoon it into your coffee.  She does this to keep the coconut milk from separating, but I find the lecithin in the egg is enough to keep the coconut milk from doing funny things in my coffee.  So I cut out those extra calories.  However, add the coconut oil in if you want a divine topping for a bowl of berries or a diary-free dessert! 

Questions

Won’t a raw egg kill me?  No.  But it’s important to use farm-fresh eggs from reliable sources.  See Nourishing Traditions for more about rawness.

Does the creamer taste like coconut?  No.

Does a carton of coconut milk work as well as a can?  No.

Is this coconut creamer gritty like the coconut milk creamer you buy in the store?  No.  In fact, it tastes much, much better than store-bought coconut creamer.

How long will the creamer last?  I would try to use it up in about a week (I have no trouble with that!), although it may last longer than that.

Ready to give up dairy in your coffee?  I hope you give this a try! 

Food 13 Comments

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I believe you can find grace for the mother you are and help to become the mother you long to be—a mom who has the freedom to choose the better things and enjoy her kids right now.

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