Our Journey to Nourishment

I am officially on the countdown now for a sibling for John (now 23 months).  A thorough fine tuning of my diet with our dietician has me very encouraged.  He was really pleased to see the difference in both John and I in regards to stress and in particular to the freedom John now has.  He is a significantly more peaceful child, able to go about the normal nearly-2-year-old activities of a nearly-normal nearly-2-year-old.  It is hard to believe he is nearly 2.  And we have come so far and learnt so much that we’ll have plenty to celebrate.

In describing to others recently what we have learnt and what we have changed, the most frequently used word has been ‘conversion’.  To my church-going friends I say “It’s like I’ve had the nutritional equivalent of becoming a Christian in that it is a conscious, deliberated decision that involves every aspect of our life changing, and a constant learning of what the initial decision actually means in our day-to-day existence; a weeding out of the ungodly undesirable aspects of our life and living closer to the way God wants us to, with the humbling realisation that it will never be perfect”.  And to others I say “It’s like returning to Eden, the way the world was designed to work before our modern methods of farming, harvesting, selling, cooking, eating – and living as a whole – mucked everything up and got out of balance; changing as much as I can but realizing that I really cannot do enough as it seems we have already gone too far away from the way things were meant to be”.  I get strange looks and skeptical comments from most people, but I also sometimes get guarded interest and even curious questions.

John still has eczema.  He still shows occasional but very mild hyperactivity.  We still have to watch him when we are out because he tries to eat things we don’t want him to but it is no longer a dreaded fear of either short- or long-term dire results.  I still have to watch our diet, and so many people think this is a shame that we can’t just rock up to a drive-thru and feed ourselves whatever we like… but actually that’s where I always make the point that I wouldn’t want to eat what they sell there because I know better.  What we have learned has enlightened us in more ways than one, it relates to everything (not just John’s condition) and it is a completely new way to live, and despite the negative comments and the strange looks or concerned pity we get, I intend to live this way to the best of my ability, and not just until John is well but for all of us forever.  Again, to my church friends who respond this way, I say “Would a reformed alcoholic return to drink?  Or would you hope that a new Christian would give up coming to church or reading the Bible after they’ve discovered the blessings of our faith?”  To others I say “Would you expect me to spend so much time and energy and money researching and learning and changing everything to return to a way of life that caused the problem that was the catalyst for it all in the first place?”  It seems so illogical to me, but I realise that our western way of life has so insidiously transformed our day-to-day life that when someone like me reforms to this seemingly impossible or unnecessarily difficult way, the skepticism is inevitable.  But I keep thinking “Just wait until the next baby and then they’ll see!”  Then I’ll be a Nourishing Evangelist on a mission to lead others to conversion.

About the Author...

I am a princess. I am a daughter and sister and wife and mother and friend. I am very creative and have always wanted to be a nourisher but only recently discovered what that truly means, especially following my most important creative endeavour - my son. I continue to learn more about it and in relationship with my Creator I am confident I will become the nourisher and nurturer that I was made and meant to be.