Foods To Grow Healthy Hair

I did a hair update in September and you can see my ends were thick.  However, since using my curling wand more the past few months, my ends have become thinner and my hair drier.  I've been doing a lot more coconut oil treatments as well to try and help some of the damage.  I did it today since I curled my hair on Thanksgiving and here is how it looks fully coated with 1/2 cup of coconut oil!  Yes, it took 1/2 cup because my hair literally soaked up the first layer I put on and that is when I knew it was very, very dry.  I don't know if I will stop using my curling wand because I love how it looks, but I also don't want my hair to look dried out - so I will just keep a watch on it.

I was reading The Hair Bible and noticed that the list of foods that help you grow healthy hair is basically what I eat already.  They mentioned that calcium is really good for healthy hair and as you all may know, I'm a dairy queen - I love milk and cheese and get 3 servings daily usually.  So for all those that have asked me what helps my hair grow healthy, the ones I eat from their list are salmon, sardines, eggs, lentils, kale, spinach, brown rice and seaweed.

They also listed the top 12 snacks for hair in this book and some that I eat are sunflower seeds, bananas, oranges, strawberries, milk and whole-grain cereal.  From their list of foods for shiny hair, I use flax seed, sunflower seeds, olive oil, apples and chickpeas.

So if you want to grow healthy hair from the root, eat those foods and stay well-nourished and hydrated!

The Cost of Distraction

I read a moving article today on the Huffington Post, now I don't usually read there but this was a recommended read from someone that usually passes on great articles.  I cried because this was just what I was blogging about in that, we must live so that we don't regret it later on with our children.  However, she takes it further as she was hooked to electronic devices, namely the cell phone.  I know I would probably be hooked to one and that is why I don't have one.  I know I have the potential to be addicted to something like Facebook, so I don't have one (mind you, I don't want everyone's business in my head either).  I know myself - I know how easily addicted I can be to electronics - so I decided years ago to NOT be THAT woman.  I want to be present in my husband and children's lives.

I also don't commit myself to every activity because I know for each activity I commit to - that is more time, energy and distraction that pulls me away from my priorities - my family.  I see a lot of moms who do a lot outside of the home and over-commit themselves to the point they give their husband and children the scraps from the table, so to speak.  They try to do all this "good" and the forsake the best.  In the end, whether you sang in the choir, taught other people's children, or cooked for 50 people every week, won't matter much when your children decide to leave God and you because mom didn't count them as her greatest ministry.  Women without children are the ones who have the time to devote to those things, but women with children have a ministry that they should not forsake - and it is at home!  Getting the praise of men seems to be more important these days than getting the praise of our family.

Pro 31:28  Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. 

You all have to read this - if it doesn't make you search your heart and change a few things in relation to your family then check your pulse!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rachel-macy-stafford/taking-away-my-daughters-smile_b_4099438.html

"Mentally, I could acknowledge my life's abundant blessings, but I didn't really see them or feel them because I was too focused on my life's abundant distractions. Too many commitments. Too many screens. Too many self-induced pressures to be all and do all. Too many unachievable standards. Too many to-do's and never enough time.
And when you're overbooked, hurried, and clinging to the electronic device, there's very little time to laugh, rest, play, and simply BE. And that's when the smile on your face tends to disappear.
Although I managed to plaster on a smile in public, my face wore a frown in the privacy of my home. You see, when you are living a highly distracted life, nothing -- not even the beautiful faces of your loving family -- can bring you joy."

What Way Are You Going?

"Train up a child in the way he should go – but be sure you go that way yourself." - C.H. Spurgeon
I saw this quote at the bottom of an email from a friend and WOW, ain't that the truth!?  What way are we teaching our children to go?  Children are a mirror of us and as my daughter grows older, I've seen things in her that really irk me but upon close inspection, I realize it is because it reminds me of myself!  God uses children to make us better IF we let Him.

I've heard mothers say they couldn't homeschool because they can't stand to be around their child all day or they don't get along.  However, that is the reason WHY they should homeschool - to get along with their child(ren) and to learn to "stand" them.  Sending them off all day just because you can't get along, will only push them further away from you and you will lose their heart.  I want my children's hearts and I want them to be trained up in the correct way of living and life and I want them to see God work in me by using them - and believe me, He does!

I don't want to look back 15 years from now and realize this way too late.  We can't afford to live for ourselves in selfishness and lose our children's hearts by letting them be trained by those who teach them opposite of what we do.  The time to care isn't when they have left us and the house of God.  The time to care isn't when they are pregnant out of wedlock or hooked on alcohol and drugs.  The time to care is when they are growing up.  That is the time that we sacrifice what WE want, what WE want to do and serve others in our home - husband and children.  You won't be able to get those years back.

I've had many women tell me over the years and even recently of their regrets with their children and/or lack of children.  For them it is too late and they have to live with that day in and out.  They warn me to not follow that path - the one of putting off having children and the one of being too busy to actually "be" with your children.  They are living examples for me to look at it and they grieve for the choices they've made.  Some of them have children who have been out of the church for years and it looks like they may never return to God.  Some of them had a tragedy happen and lost their child and they wished they could go back and have more children but it is too late.  I hear these stories in person, in email and by comments left on my blog.  Women hurting and living in regret for listening to the anti-family culture and sadly, even some preachers that spread this filth.  That is hard to hear but it is something that I'm a voice against to warn other women from making the same regretful choices.

What way are you going?  What voices are you following?  Think 20 years ahead from now, will you regret the choices you have made or are making?  What are the lifelong consequences of shoving your kids aside because you can't stand to be around them?  When instead, you could have let God have his work and learn to get along with them day in and day out.  If you don't have their hearts, someone else will!