The Holidays and Cooking with Intention!

It's crazy to think that with Halloween behind us, the holiday season has begun! I don't know about y'all, but my mind is racing coming up with ideas for holiday meals that will support my health during the season of cookies and turkey!

Side note, Halloween was a blast. I avoided most of the temptations of the season (except for these ridiculously good Curtis Street gluten-free dairy-free pumpkin muffins my coffee shop carries... ate about ten of those). Here's a picture of me and May at the Halloween party we... WON THE COSTUME CONTEST AT! I mean... we're macro-bots. Consider that pun. I just came up with it. It's pretty good.

For many macro people, this is the season when the MOST people think that we're limited in our diet. It's glaringly obvious when we pass on the turkey, stuffing, and pies that we are living with a "restricted diet."

But to me, this couldn't be farther from the truth. This is the season in which we're reminded of blessings, and my heart is so joyful going into it aware of how far I've come!

The thing about illness, especially deep, digestive or organ illness is that it rarely exists in a bubble. I mean, if you're having problems that are bad enough that you're in the hospital for Crohn's, celiac, hemophilia, etc., chances are, there are other members of your immediate or extended family who are having health problems as well. I have a cousin, an amazing girl who really lives life to the fullest, who suffers almost identical health issues as I do. Last Thanksgiving, she and several other members of my family ate the macrobiotic menu I prepared with me!

I don't know about y'all, but I know I've been so lost lately in the anxiety of preparing for graduate school, budgeting for six months of unemployment, and getting ready for the holiday season, that I've been all anxiety and have forgotten to center myself.

The other day, I was preparing to meet with some professors from school who were going to evaluate my work and (hopefully) write me letters of recommendation, and I was so anxious that I cried. This happens a lot lately. Lots of things make me cry. Country music makes me cry. Ironic bus rides make me cry. Basements make me cry... I wonder if it's Freudian. Everything I learned last year about taking care myself flew out the window, and I had totally forgotten that God's grace is subtle and constant. Looking back, I hear Mark 4:40, in which Christ stands among His disciples and says, "And still you do not believe?"

Many people in my life are quite ill this year. When I come home, I know that at least three of the people who I'll cook for among my family and friends are contending with serious, life-threatening illnesses. I don't have the knowledge or ability to cook a macro meal that will heal them the way a counselor will, but I know that I can cook something beautiful and nutritious, so I'll put all my intention and care for them into the food.