Intoxicating Grace

Some very good things that are happening in my life right now related to my journey towards better health and well-being:

1) Tomorrow I finish with therapy for the lymphedema! My lower legs are smaller than they have been in ten years. I have shin bones! Really. It's true. They are beautiful! AND if that isn't good enough, I wore shoes today for the first time in about 8 months! Glorious, glorious, glorious shoes off-the-rack from the store.

2) I'm getting a 1/2 bushel of organically-grown produce once a week from a nearby farmers co-op. Every week, we pick up the produce at a drop-site in a nearby neighborhood. There is something primal about this and I feel this odd connection with ancient ancestors who foraged for herbs and berries. It is so cool to eat what nature is producing during any given week. Straight from the ground without preservatives,waxing and trucking across the country. In the past few days I have eaten fresh spinach, baby lettuce, breakfast radishes, green onions, strawberries, lemon balm, basil, oregano, and some other delicious green things that I couldn't identify! From the grocery, I've also had sweet potatoes, white potatoes, honeydew, apples, oranges, bananas, cabbage, avocado, peppers, cucumber, blackberries, raspberries, and carrots. I'm rounding out my diet with yogurt, peanut butter, 9 grain bread, oatmeal, salmon, and chicken. (Oh, and not to forget fairly frequent grilled chicken salads or sandwiches from fast-food joints.)

3) I am exercising for 60 minutes a day, 9 days out of 10! I've exercised more in the past 2 months than I did in the previous 5 years combined.

4) Spa Day. Ahhhh. Spa Day. There aren't enough words to describe the JOY I've experienced in planning this ministry event. As I'm beginning to recognize (finally) that my body is the glorious temple that it is, I'm so excited to share this perspective with other women. The synergy of taking care of myself while planning this event has been intoxicatingly wonderful.

These first few months of 2009 have been some of the most special of my life. Made all the more special because this comes on the heels of a very low valley. Grace so concentrated that my spirit is dazzled. Did I mention I wore shoes today!!!! Grace, I'm telling you, pure, pure grace.