Greetings from a married mother of two teens!  I am so pleased that you are interested in learning more about health and wellness.  I hope you enjoy reading my experiences and find encouragement in what is share here.

I wish I could say that I have always enjoyed “the abundant life” promised in God’s Word, but like many of you, I have not always been diligent to take good care of myself.  It has been an interesting journey that has brought me to this place where I now have the opportunity to share what I have learned over the years in order to help others achieve a greater degree of overall wellness. 

Although I now have a published book to help substantiate the Biblical premise for my lifestyle, sometimes an effective teaching tool is the telling of personal experiences. So this section includes my personal story with respect to my physical health and how I arrived at my present state of wellness. 

I have always been a “driven” person looking for ways to improve myself and my life. As a teen I was prone to reading non-fiction or “self help” books. I graduated from High School at the top of my class and then from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. After four years of academic “drive” I walked away with a business degree in accounting and a degree in finance with a concentration in statistics.  I wasn’t satisfied with just one “major” and would have secured a degree in statistics as well, but I ran out of time.

Despite my heavy workload and being active in several academic fraternities and campus organizations, I also managed to secure a very fine specimen of a man at the conclusion of those four years in college. 

Immediately upon graduating from college, I married that fine man and we moved to Charlotte, North Carolina.   I spent the first few years of my professional career working with one of the “Big 8” public accounting firms in downtown Charlotte.  I became a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) and spent the next few years working for a Fortune 500 Textile Company.  My husband, Russ, having secured a degree in Mass Communications, was well-entrenched in his radio career as well. 

After six years of corporate accounting my career path shifted when God chose to bless us with our first child.  As a Christian woman my professional aspirations suddenly paled in comparison to the task of caring for this treasure from God. I really wanted to do what was best for my family and after praying and conducting some research on the matter, I believed God would want me to be a full-time wife and mother.

This conclusion contradicted everything that had been instilled in me as an aspiring professional.  Few women in my position were making this choice and those who did were disdained for throwing away a "good education."  But I was determined to follow God’s leading because I trusted that it would make our lives better.  The drawback to this choice was that I would be walking away from a salary that was three times my husband’s earnings and we would be giving up the only medical and retirement benefits that we had.

After months of agonized deliberation, I decided to leave my job and open my own CPA practice.  I began doing taxes and bookkeeping for the general public and was hired as a consultant by my previous employer.  God blessed me with a more flexible schedule and the joy of working from home where I could better care for my daughter. It was quite demanding juggling mother-hood with career, but it was a stepping stone to my ultimate goal of becoming a full-time wife and mother. 

This career change was a bold step of faith because we could easily have gone bankrupt; but I learned that God’s economies are not man’s economies.  Where I could not get the numbers to “work,” God could - supernaturally.   I did what I felt God wanted me to do and He took care of the rest.  That was a big revelation for me as a professional “number cruncher.” 

I discovered that to really trust God in the financial area of my life, I had to take the first step and show Him I was serious. For me, that was turning in that letter of resignation.  As I obeyed, God rewarded with financial blessings through my new adventure as well as Russ’ job.  His income gradually began to increase and he received promotions and career opportunities.

Several years later our second child arrived and I decided to turn my clients over to a CPA friend.   I knew that I needed to completely close my accounting practice in order to meet the demands of parenting.  Our second child had some complications at birth that opened my eyes to the brevity of life. I also came face to face with some disenchanting realities of the medical industry and the health insurance industry. 

After years of paying huge premiums into a good medical plan, we were left with a $10,000 bill that insurance would not reimburse and piles of paperwork that took two years to “put to rest.”  I learned that it was not wise to rely on insurance or the medical industry to look out for my best interests. I was determined to do everything in my power to avoid any reliance on either one of them.  Unfortunately it was about that time that I began having some annoying health issues myself.

As a teen I was known as a health fanatic but after years of marriage to a person who did not share my views I had become negligent in properly caring for my body.  Living on a tight budget also resulted in our making poor selections at the grocery store.  And on top of that I had adopted the erroneous theology derived from a misinterpretation of I Timothy 4:3. I believed that if I would “give thanks” or pray over my meals, then God would bless it and it would be good for me – no matter what it was.   I had foolishly abandoned common sense and trust in what I had known to be true. 

Truth was revealed to me at age 16 when I read the book “Sugar Blues,” by William Duffy. This author opened my eyes to the ills of the food industry where profitability was more important than the health and well-being of this nation’s population.  Most of the “goods” sold in our grocery stores were really not good for us at all and no amount of prayer was going to change that.  Once again I was reminded that the “love of money” was truly the root of all that was evil in the food industry. 

Sadly, I had fallen back into my adolescent sugar addiction and conformity to the meat based, mostly cooked and highly refined Standard American Diet (SAD).  And now I was feeling the effects of it and so were my husband and two children.   They did not have any serious diseases but were afflicted with recurring and annoying illnesses.

As a full-time stay-at-home mom, I strove to be a thrifty shopper to stretch every penny my husband earned. However, my “thrift” was costing me more money in doctor visits, prescriptions and over the counter preparations just at the time I was trying to eliminate our dependence on these things.

I believed in Biblical healing and trusted that God could heal me if He so desired. On one occasion I watched a deep wound on my hand stop bleeding and close right before my eyes and within a day there was not even a scar. It was an awesome miracle which bolstered my faith that God would indeed heal injuries. But would He also heal sickness and disease as well? I had knowledge of people who experienced miraculous healing from cancer and other ailments. But would He heal me? After much prayer and seeing no resolution to my illnesses I asked God what was taking so long. I was shocked at the response to my inquiries.

God told me that there would be no miraculous healing for me. I knew too much about wellness and He was going to hold me accountable for my understanding … even if I had turned away from it. So instead of the quick fix I was hoping for, God said I would have to walk with Him through this difficulty. He wanted me to learn something so I could share what I learned with others.  That was not the answer I wanted but I trusted Him enough to know He would not abandon me and I would eventually overcome my present troubles.  Through it all I would realize how very important it was to God that we take care of these bodies that He gave us. I also learned that if we mistreat this gift, God expects us to make an effort to correct our ways.

So I promised God that I would reform my dietary habits starting immediately. I was going to need His help since our single-income status posed some serious financial challenges.  The reality of the matter was that healthier food cost more money!

The first step was to once again eliminate sugar from my diet and that of my family. We substituted with honey even though it was much more expensive with the understanding that we would just give up sweet stuff altogether if God chose not to make provision for it. We showed God that we were serious and committed by not even accepting candy, mints or gum from anyone or indulge in desserts when opportunity outside of our home presented itself.   Eventually, it was no longer a financial hardship to buy honey and we enjoyed this wonderful substitute more often.

Because I had promised God that I would keep making improvements to our diet as He made a way, we gradually cut out refined flour products and replaced it with the more expensive whole grain items.  Then we began to replace highly processed oils with the pricey extra virgin olive oil… and so it went for six years. 

Soon our visits to the doctor ceased and we no longer needed drugs or over-the-counter preparations.  The money we saved from eliminating these medical expenses could now be put toward better food selections and other worthy causes.

One year I noticed that we no longer had medical deductions on our tax return and the amount we usually claimed was the same amount that our charitable giving had increased. What an amazing phenomena! I wondered what our world would be like if every family could do that. There would probably be no lack in the Kingdom of God and believers would be strong, healthy and fully equipped to fulfill the “Great Commission.” I was so very pleased with all the positive results of our dietary discipline and the trend of blessings we were enjoying. God was leading us to higher levels of health and wellness.

It was around this time that God spoke a word of revelation to me regarding this re-allocation of our financial resources. He said, “people can pay now or they can pay later.”   

In other words, God was pointing out that His children could pay more money now for wholesome foods or they could pay the doctors later to treat the illnesses resulting from buying cheaper and less healthy food.   God told me, "Eventually all those pennies saved by being a thrifty shopper would most certainly end up in a doctor’s pocket. So, in effect, the thrifty person will have saved nothing at all. In fact, she could end up losing more than she bargained for – like her health or even her life.  Sometimes it is too late to reverse the damage caused by a poor diet."

That was a sobering revelation and it motivated me to do all I could to secure good health today so I was not paying for bad health tomorrow. After six years of gradual diet modifications we thought we had achieved an admirable level of wellness by eliminating all the junk in our diets. I had even begun juicing carrots!  However, we still consumed animal-source foods, believing the meat and dairy industry propaganda that we had to have animal-source protein in order to build and maintain strong bodies.  

At this point my overall health was decent but I knew I was far from where I wanted to be.    I studied and read everything I could find about diet and nutrition. I kept records and journals of my own personal health progress.   I experimented with vitamins and supplements, and I even received treatment from a few homeopathic doctors to correct the damage I had caused by years of dietary abuse.  I discovered that I had Stage Three Candida which was causing severe food allergies, environmental sensitivities and digestive difficulties.   All the diet changes had made a significant improvement and now I had to work on rebalancing my entire system.

It was about this time that I visited Hallelujah Acres in Shelby, North Carolina, a Christian ministry teaching the merits of a wholesome plant-based diet and the dangers of animal-source foods.  Although I completely agreed with everything else taught by the president and founder, George Malkmus, I just could not believe meat and dairy products were a health risk.  But since everything else I heard that day, was in alignment with what God had already shown me over those previous six years, I decided to eliminate animal-source foods from my diet as well.   Within a few days I noticed a reduction in joint stiffness and pain from physical exertion.  That was all the evidence I needed to begin working animal-source foods out of my diet and that of my children.  

Before our gradual diet overhaul we all suffered from the flue every winter. After cutting out all the refined sugar, flour and oils in our diet we no longer had the flue but experienced occasional sniffles and cough. Once we cut out all meat and dairy we had no more sickness at all even when exposed to really sick people.

I am so pleased to share that my children have not been sick for twelve years! Now a lot of people like to say their children don’t get sick but can they say that their children have not taken even one over-the-counter preparation or prescription drug in over a decade?  I think that is pretty amazing proof that a wholesome plant-based diet is worth the investment.

Also, my children have never had a broken bone (and they have both taken some serious tumbles) and neither one has had a single cavity in their teeth.   They both wear eye glasses but the rate of deterioration in their vision is markedly slower than the norm (If I had only known about a plant-based lifestyle before I had children I could have avoided passing this genetic weakness on to my children).

Because of the Lord’s faithfulness and our commitment to obey His instructions we now have the financial resources to  follow this diet in its fullness and buy 100% organic if we so choose. What a blessing!

I was so excited about the amazing results we were enjoying that I wanted to share it with others. Russ and I became Health Ministers through Hallelujah Acres and I set out to teach this lifestyle to anyone who would listen. I started an on-line newsletter called “Back to the Garden Briefing” that was mailed to friends, family and Christian associates. I was not prepared for what happened next.

Fellow believers angrily rejected what I had to say. My character and intelligence came under attack and I was at times shunned for my beliefs. The recurring rebuke was that a plant-based diet was not Biblical. Yes, it may have merit but I was exhorted to consider the “whole counsel” of God.

In order to come to an understanding of exactly what the Bible said I began to read every book about Biblical diet and nutrition that I could find. There are probably thousands of published books that address the issue of diet and wellness. Of those, there are many that claim to have the formula for a Bible-based diet. However, there is quite a bit of disparity among authors resulting in much confusion in the Church. Of all the various diets being presented “from a Biblical perspective” I was left wondering who had the right perspective?”

Initially I became confused; but, knowing that God is not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33) I decided to dig in and find out for myself exactly what God’s Word had to say about this subject. As a Bible-believing Christian, I recognized that there was a thread of truth running throughout all the various Biblical diet plans published over the last few years; yet the end result was divisive contradictions. I wanted to know where God stood on all of this. Finally, after much prayer and reflection, the Lord gave me a revelation that removed the confusion and doubt from my mind. I had clear direction at last and was content to go about my business enjoying greatly improved, health, vitality and peace of mind. Then the conviction set in.

I sensed that God wanted me to put this revelation in writing for the benefit of others. That was a huge challenge and I was not sure I was ready for it. Although the Back to the Garden Briefing was very well-received by my readers and helped dispel some of my reservations regarding my ability, it just did not fulfill the commission to write a book.

I prayed often about this venture and found that the burning passion to share my revelation proceeded to grow and actually overpowered my dread of starting such a massive endeavor. I realized eventually that this driving force within would only be satisfied when I obeyed God’s command to sit down and write. So just at about the time I finally said “yes” to God, He instructed our family to have a new home built.

I have learned not to balk when God says to move so I just had to trust Him throughout the two-year process as the book idea was placed on “hold.” I was then able to pour my efforts into this project for one full year before our family was compelled to make yet another Spirit-inspired move. This time it was to a new state! We had lived in the Charlotte, North Carolina area for nearly 25 years and now we were relocating to Louisville, Kentucky.

Looking back, it all makes sense having to experience the fires of refinement that come with change – all of it was necessary to complete this book. Although, I must admit, at times I hoped someone else would write this thing so I could continue minding my own business. Life was full enough preparing healthy meals for my family, conducting food prep demos and sharing information one-on-one with friends and family. But I have concluded that God has a divine purpose in my penning these thoughts and I am determined to obey. Especially since I had yet to find a book that presented, to my satisfaction, the whole counsel of God regarding diet and wellness.

When I decided to follow a diet void of processed sugars, grains, oils, salt and flesh sourced foods in favor of a strict plant-based diet my decision was based on a number of influences. I considered Biblical references, personal experience, testimonials from others as well as scientific evidence. However, I was willing to change this protocol if the Biblical record proved to me that flesh foods were necessary for health and fully endorsed by God. That would have been difficult given the wonderful results I was experiencing from a plant-based diet, the incredible testimonies being reported by others and the volumes of scientific evidence I continued to compile. But, again, I was willing.

However, a change in my position would require undeniable Scriptural proof. What I needed was a book that would examine the Bible from cover to cover and provide an unbiased answer to all of my questions, and those posed by the most ruthless skeptics. But, since that book could not be found, I have counted it a privilege to be the one penning the volume that will attempt to meet the criteria I have set forth.

And although the firestorm of questions exploding in my mind initiated my efforts to accurately divide the Word of God as I sought truth with regard to this subject, the Holy Spirit, has been the primary driving force behind my work over the years. I will forever be amazed how He persistently unveiled answers to questions I had not yet thought to ask. This was an amazing phenomenon and confirmed to me the importance of this project. Finally my reverential fear of Father God and my deepest desire to hear Him say: “well done my good and faithful servant,” kept my spirit focused when my flesh wanted to give up.

I present the book – Healthy, Wellthy and Wise - as a comprehensive analysis, however, it does not address every single Scripture reference to food. I am confident that what is presented, will support the revelation I received from God in a fair and balanced manner. Admittedly, scriptures can be twisted and taken out of context to prove any point of view; but it is my prayer that what you read here is truly inspired by the Holy Spirit and represents the whole counsel of God. And although I do not claim to be a Bible scholar, I do believe that I have been given a present day word from the Lord for those with ears to hear and a humble heart to embrace a passionate message about Biblical diet and wellness. And if anything I have written makes a difference in anyone’s life, I must give all the credit to the Spirit who leads us into all Truth.

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” III John 2-4

So that is my story. You may have thought of some questions as you read along so we have included some answers to the more common ones under our FAQ section.

 

Hopefully this information will help you as you make plans to shift from the SAD to a plant-based diet.  If you have any more questions I would be glad to answer them if you would like to send your email to:

info@trilightenterprises.com.

Here are the highlights and “take away” points from my testimony.

The word of the Lord is:  “you can pay now or you can pay later!“   Do not make short term quality cuts in the grocery budget because your thrift will only buy sickness and disease in the long term.   Trust God to provide the resources necessary to sustain good health. That kind of faith is more pleasing to God than faith that a medical professional can fix the resulting negative consequences of poor choices.  And then:

1) Show God you are serious by taking the first step and staying committed

2) Realize that anything you do to follow a plant-based diet is a move in the right direction

3) There are other families doing this so be encouraged that it can be done and it really pays off

God bless you in all your endeavors!