My Detox

I started off 2015 with a detox.  Thirteen days to cleanse my body, soul and spirit.  Eight of those days were just liquid.  I admit, it is a bit hardcore. 

But you see, in 2011, I was diagnosed with breast cancer – 3 kinds of cancer, including the fast moving Her2 positive.  I had 8 tumors.  God healed my body through whole foods and detoxing.  I did undergo a double mastectomy; however, I didn’t have to do any chemotherapy or radiation as doctors had expected.  I took a test (Onco typeDX) that showed my body was already healing.  God healed me!  I was a medical miracle!

So my life is quite different now – my diet, my marriage, my children, my habits – pretty much most things.  I continue to eat a very healthy cancer-free diet (most of the time, but I sure love fudge at Christmas!).  Every year, I try to detox at a minimum of twice.  This year, my sweet hubby, Bruce, joined me on this quest.

Have you ever wanted to do a detox? 

                        To cleanse.                 To let go.                     To surrender.

I find these times are particularly hard, but very rewarding.  First, there is the physical aspect.  I really enjoy losing 10 pounds after the Christmas holiday since I snuck in a few too many sweets.  I love the energy that comes with a clean body.  I love waking up early in the morning – rising before the alarm.  I love fitting into clothes that I haven’t worn in awhile.  Gone is the bloated feeling of yesterday!

Next, I find that my mental and emotional health is cleansed too.  I tend to journal quite a bit during this time and write down many things.  I respond really well emotionally to long term self-control (not short term).  I identify less with food as the week goes on and that is very freeing for me.  Food has always been my emotional crutch so for 13 days, it can’t be.   I let go of things so much easier.  I find that I am less grumpy and short in the end with a clear mind for the future.

Finally, just like the Bible says, fasting is such an important part of faith.  Detox is our fancy new word for fast.  If you engage in this ancient ritual, you are among good company – Moses, Esther, Daniel, David and Jesus – just to name a few.  When I am fasting, the first couple of days are hard.  I have a headache.  I am listless.  I am barely making it.  But something magical happens on either day 3 or 4.  I have energy and a clear head.  My quiet times come alive.  I am focused, and God is able to show me his direction.  I don’t know if God is honoring the time or if I am just so foggy spiritually most of the time.  I can’t hear Him as easily most days.  But there is something powerful to leaving the food in the pantry.  I know the Bible talks about fasting for big decisions or things that you are waiting on the Lord for, but I also believe that fasting was for ordinary life, too.  As I read all the verses, it seems common and not unusual.  So for me, it is a sweet time of surrender – to give God my plans, my life, my all. Not surprising, He met me right where I was.

If you have ever wanted to detox – for your mind, body or soul – I encourage you to DO IT!  Make the time – you have to.  Otherwise, there will never be the PERFECT time.  Go on, God’s cheering you on – come to Him on an empty stomach and see what happens.  What do you have to lose?

In a land far away…

I AM a Princess…how do I know? My father called me “Princess” most of my life!  My given name is Jacqueline Johnson, and I am delighted to be co-author with Jeanna Young for the Princess Parables Series. The purpose of this new blog, is to love and encourage you wonderful mothers - working so hard to raise your children with character and love for Jesus.

I was born in St. Joseph, Missouri as our country was resurfacing from its worst Depression.  I attended parochial schools and I was baptized, “catechizemized”, confirmed and on my way to hell!  I knew something real was missing in my life and I desperately needed purpose and definition to all that was going on around me.  While attending the University of Arizona, pledging Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, I was challenged to visit a church that introduced me to a God I could know personally through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.  This was the missing piece…a person!  When Christ walked into my life it was never the same again!  I became part of a true royal kingdom!  “…He has rescued us out of the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His Son…”(Colossians 1:13).  I knew God’s hand and call was on me, and my life from that day until this moment has been filled with change and eternal purpose.

My co-author Jeanna and I had long searched for wholesome stories for our children, and God truly put it on our hearts to create the Princess Parables Series. The stories introduce a character quality in the name of the Princess and take the storyline from a Parable that was taught by the greatest teacher that ever lived.  They have been specifically written to put a functional tool into the hands of young mothers, grandmothers, teachers…that will proactively allow you to nurture the character of your little princess with a godly worldview. The Princesses are designed to inspire godly thoughts and actions in your daughters.  I can’t wait to get to know you, sweet reader, and inspire you on your journey.

Trials of Many Kinds - Big or Small!

Our 2014 Christmas card

How was your Christmas and New Years?

Did everything go off without a hitch?

Or did things go differently than planned?

Last year, Christmas Eve 2013, I was rounding up my children for bed. The clock said 10:30 p.m. and we had spent the evening opening our presents and having a family night together. The next morning we would be headed off bright and early to my in-laws house. My then eight-year-old daughter asked if she could open her Legos. I had said “no”, but my husband had said “yes”, so she proceeded to take my sharp kitchen scissors without supervision to open the box.

Both my husband and I were upstairs packing for the trip, when we heard blood-curdling screams from our other daughter, Danika. We ran downstairs to see what was the matter. Not only did my daughter, Emmi, cut the Lego box, but had also cut her thumb to the bone. Our staircase, entryway and kitchen looked like a crime scene with blood everywhere – splattering 7 feet high on the walls and all over the presents at the front door. My husband and I were out the door rushing to the ER in a matter of seconds. Most of us in our pajamas, we literally raced to the hospital through at least 6 red lights.

We left our older son, Christian, unaware in the bathroom and our other two children in shock in the kitchen. As the night progressed, the children left behind began to clean up the blood awaiting the news of their sister when more chaos hit our house. Christian found himself in charge of a brother who got terrible hives and a sister who got the stomach flu at midnight. He recalls the events, “I was standing there with a bloody rag, a bag of ice for Kenton’s face and the throw up bowl in my hand, and I thought to myself, this Christmas is not starting off the way I expected.”

Christmas 2013 did not end there. Emmi got six stitches (they saved her thumb) and two of the kids got the flu at Grandmas house. My husband threw out his back so badly that he had to be wheeled around in a desk chair from the hotel to his parents’ house. We were definitely a sight to see!

And we had a story to tell!

While the events of that fateful Christmas happened one right after the other, God knew that all these things were part of the Young’s family plan for the end of 2013. He used them. While the events were occurring, we were just trying to make it through. And in the end, we just had to laugh at the list of “tragedies” that we lived through and the lessons God had taught us.

This verse comes to mind:  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” James 1:1,2

You see, Christmas 2013 will live on in infamy because each person remembers it differently and learned something different from it. My daughter, Emmi, was the “star” of that infamous day; she learned a little about bravery as she faced struggles previously unknown to her in the ER. My husband was humbled by his aging self and even wrote about the story in our Christmas card for 2014. My son, Christian, has told a humorous version of the story from his perspective in his Speech and Debate tournament this year and has confessed to learning much about God from the experience. My daughter, Danika, remembers that her mom stayed home from Christmas to nurse her, teaching her that she is not too old for the much needed Mommy-time she craved. My son Kenton remembers how his big brother took care of him when Mom and Dad were gone and learned that his brother is trustworthy in times of trial. All in all, our family is definitely closer and more mature because of that crazy week!

I learned that trials don’t always have to be big (like cancer or miscarriages) to teach us the things God wants.  There are trials of many kinds, each has it’s own purpose no matter how small.

So Christmas 2014, in comparison, went off without a hitch. We celebrated Advent, had family time, opened presents, had many guests, and we laughed a lot. While Christmas this year was a blessed time, it will go down in the books as “forgettable”.

Yet 2013 will live on in our minds because it was different. It was hard. But God used it to draw us closer and build our character.  I bet if you look in my journal for 2013, you will find I prayed for those exact things for my family! 

What ways has God answered your prayers unexpectedly this past year?

~Jeanna

Once upon a time...

There were two women that God called to write His books,

 The Princess Parables Series . . . 

Please join us as we delight in introducing our new website, blog and store.
It is our commitment to you for this New Year, 2015!

Jackie (left) and Jeanna (right) with a gaggle of princesses.

We’d like to welcome you to our blog by introducing ourselves. 

My name is Jackie and I am a co-author of the Princess Parables. I am a missionary and Pastor’s wife, a mother of two and grandmother of seven.  I have had the privilege of serving the needs of people in the United States and in Central America.  I have worked in an orphanage and taught in the government projects in the darkest corners of South Carolina and Georgia while attending University.  As I was serving as a tribal missionary and raising my girls in Central America, I would often read to them and long for good stories that would help them build their character and learn about Kingdom principles. Imagine the blessing when numerous years later, the Lord called me to join hands with my co-author, Jeanna. It has been a privilege and delight to see God bring us together and bring these books to life!  We came to the task with God's directing and leading every step of the way.  We have merely stepped into the footprint that He left behind, as He has led us to this point.  My passion is mentoring dedicated young women with the goal of seeing them more successful than I could ever be.  Although I have never blogged before, I look forward, with great anticipation, for the moments we will share together, as God continues to teach me in this journey of life and ministry.

My name is Jeanna, also a co-author of the Princess Parables.  Jackie and I blindly stepped out in faith when God called us to write the books, and what a journey he has taken us on! As an event planner for 20 years, I see how God orchestrated my life for just this moment - from the creative writing class in Jr. High to the event proposals I wrote for the entertainment industry.  God was preparing me! I have had the opportunity to share my life mentoring and speaking to women for the last 9 years.  Now I consider it a privilege to write for you each week.  My passion is encouraging women to live intentionally in all that God has for them - in mothering, in marriage, in adventure and just in plain old day-to-day life.  I have had many life challenges that I will share in the upcoming months. God has given me the opportunity to make choices and to live to the fullest in those decisions.  I am excited to share with you the lessons I’ve learned from these choices.

So, we welcome you to the blog and invite you to join us each week as we venture into this new world of blogging!

~Jackie and Jeanna