Tales from the Vineyard: Food

The church I attended for over a decade recently closed. I feel like God is inviting me to remember and share some of the good fruit that was produced during my time there.

If you're reading this and you ever attended Vineyard and God showed up for you there, will you share your story?

4 Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. 5 And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” Joshua 4:4-7

Truly, I mean this: The time I spent with God and God's people at Springfield Vineyard Church for the past 13+ years was not wasted.

(Originally published 5/27/12 but added to the Tales from the Vineyard series).

Everything in this post is based solely on my experience and is not intended to be preachy or judgmental. However, I do hope it is educational and you are welcome to take advice from it if you want! I think my diet rocks and I am excited to share about it.

Anyone who spends any time with me knows I'm different. Here's my explanation, in varying levels of specificity.

1. I don't eat dairy. Three years ago, I stopped eating dairy. The decision came during church (one of our first Sundays at the Vineyard). I will forever believe God is concerned about my health. It is evidenced by the fact that when I pray, "God, I don't feel well. Please help me." He tells me to cut something out of my diet. This is a pretty basic example of one of the most challenging aspects of the Christian life. God often tells us to cut things out of our life for our own good, it just isn't always so straightforward and practical as a type of food. ANYWAY. Here's why I cut dairy:

-contsant fatigue
-malnourishment
-indigestion (that's putting it mildly)
-constant bloating and discomfort
-moodiness

After cutting dairy, I felt better for a couple of months. But over time, about two years, I continued to experience the symptoms listed above. Finally, two years after my first prayer, I asked God again (while at the Vineyard, of course), "Why don't I feel well??!!??!?" God told me to cut gluten.

2. I don't eat gluten. Cutting gluten was way more challenging than cutting dairy, for obvious reasons. But the reward was worth it. I feel a little silly because Matthew told me years before about other people we know who cut gluten but I shrugged it off. This just goes to show that we need a little Godly intervention to make real change in our lives. Cutting gluten resulted in relief of the same symptoms I listed above with an emphasis on moodiness. Let me expand on that a bit.

I've mentioned before that I'm an introvert. I am. But I used to be way more shy and overwhelmed in social situations than I am now. I owe a big part of this to a couple of things:

A. Spiritual Healing from God
B. Counseling
C. Gluten

I put them in that order because just cutting gluten would not have given me insight into my personality. And, just having insight into my personality wouldn't have healed me from past hurts. However, by the grace of God, I was able to confront some personal flaws and hurts and move past them. This opened the door to embrace life in a more open and relaxed way.

The best I can describe it is gluten fogs my brain. Under-the-influence of gluten, I have less patience, I feel more angry, I get over-stimulated (lights, sounds, people) and am just not as functional a human being as I would like to be. Without gluten, I feel I can process better and feel more relaxed in general. I have struggled with anxiety my whole life (social, situational, general fear of life, etc . . .) and now I feel I can CHOOSE whether or not I will worry about something. This, to me, is true freedom.

(Side note, after cutting gluten, I found some dairy to be tolerable again. Welcome back, cheese and yogurt! (Goats' preferred.))

3. I don't eat cane sugar. The week before my brother's wedding, I cut cane sugar because of something I read on the internet. This wasn't actually inspired by prayer as far as I can recall. However, by this time in my life, I had experienced positive change enough to know that it was possible and to be more willing to try new things. God changed that in me and where, a year ago, I might have hesitated or fought the sense to cut something else out of my diet, now I embrace the opportunity to live better.

Cane sugar, as was described to me, is similar in form to birch trees, which are one of my biggest seasonal allergens. Sugar is also an irritant to people with sensitive digestive tracts, which I most definitely have. So, since I have little to no self control, I found cutting it out completely to be the best option. And, as it turns out, I don't really miss it. (Because: fruit, chocolate, honey, maple syrup, banana pancakes, fudge babies, frozen stuff, walnuts dipped in things, om nom nom . . . .)

4. I try to eat paleo as much as I can afford and is practical. What's paleo/ primal? Check this out: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz1w6em01nu. This decision was not because of an intolerance, per se, but because I have become very aware of how my body responds to food and I want to make my body feel as gosh darn good as it can. Thus, the more protein/ fat I eat and the less sugar, the better I feel. Sugars, also, are found in way more foods than we think. Also, lots of grains/ carbs are processed as sugars and make us feel the same as eating sugar (rice, potatoes, corn, beans, etc . . . I know, right?)

Well, that's about it. Like I said, I feel really happy about my choices and it no longer feels like a burden or something to feel sorry about. Keep in mind, though, that this has been a three year journey. I don't take any of this lightly and when people react with shocked tones or disbelief, I don't blame them, because I would have done the same three years ago.

Feel free to ask questions. If you want to read some of my references, I can try to dig those up for you. Really, though, just Google the paleo/ primal diet and you'll know my food philosophy. Also, I might write a blog containing advice for living this way in a modern society and while traveling. Man, that's tough to do.

7/16/22: I praise God for how he healed me at Springfield Vineyard Church.