Nutrition and diet changes for heart health

When the cardio rehab from Ohio Health called to discuss Bob's diet, I had to be on the phone since I buy, plan the menus and prepare the food. Slowly we're making changes--more for me than him, since he's always been careful and disciplined. 

So the other day I was reading about heart healthy goals, SMART, which are 

Specific, 

Measurable, 

Attainable, 

Realistic, and 

Time-oriented. 

We can hit all those. I've lost 6 lbs., my blood pressure is down, and haven't had the salt shaker on the table for five days. Salty crunchy is my go-to comfort food. However, I recognized that's how my former boss (now deceased) Jay Ladd told me to write my goals for my annual report. For instance. Attend 3 professional conferences--national, local or state, meet with the faculty library committee once a month and send him a report, answer 2 letters a month from school children (two was a good achievable number because there would be many more). It had to be specific, measurable and attainable. That way when he'd visit my library the next year, all he had to do was check, check and check. I hate setting goals, but being specific and measurable helped a lot. Same with health changes.

Since I'm now checking my blood pressure, which I'd never done in the past, I also read an article on how to do it.  

Empty your bladder.  

Sit with feet on the floor and don't cross your knees.  

Sit quietly and relax.  

Lay your arm on the table.  

Apply the cuff correctly (which is difficult for me without help).  

Proceed. 

Some days the high number is over 130, but more and more, it's in the teens as I give up salt and do it correctly. Today it was 112/65 pulse 64. On Feb. 20 it was 116/67 pulse 79. 

About salt.  I don't like adding artificial things if I can just do with less of the natural (such as "lite" salad dressing or "low salt" anything), so I poked around in the cupboard and found a shaker of "The Avenue" signature steak seasoning. The Avenue Steak Tavern  We'd gone there for my 80th birthday before Phil became ill.  The ingredients are granulated garlic, granulated onion, dried parsley, pink peppercorn, black peppercorn, and Kosher salt.  Since salt is the last ingredient, I think I'll use this on some things that are just tasteless. Ricotta, for instance, is as tasty as school paste. The main ingredient is whey.  I browsed the internet for other steak seasoning, and found most listed salt as first or second ingredient. 

The Small Christian Community (SCC) in India

This morning I watched a program on EWTN called, “Where God Weeps,” which focuses each week on a different part of the world where God is working to grow the church. Where God Weeps – A weekly catholic TV programm  I’m not sure when the program I watched today was recorded, but it was an interview of Sister Christin Joseph of India. 

She described traveling into the interior mountainous jungle to reach a group of Christians who had been attacked and dispossessed of their homes and churches in 2008, and also more recently. A Hindu politician had been assassinated, and the Christians were blamed, so their neighbors (all Hindus) had turned against them and stood by as the followers of that leader destroyed their homes. These people were already of the lowest caste, yet as Christians, there is no caste system for them.  Each one is equal.

She described terrible deprivation such as several thousand people using 10 toilets, and the horrible sanitation in the camp.  Also, her religious order/church had contributed a tent which was housing 23 families with hardly room to sit down. But she found her own faith strengthened by their faith and refusal to reject Christ as demanded by the Hindus.  They didn't ask her for anything like food or clothing, only that she go back and tell other Christians about the importance of taking care of their own neighborhood churches and to pray from them.  “Stand by us,” and “Pray for us,” is what she heard.

She then went on to describe for the host the SCC, Small Christian Community movement (now world wide having been started about 40 years ago).  These are house churches which care for the neighborhood and use a leadership style called “servant leaders.”  The foundational unit is called BEC, Basic Ecclesial Community, and that begins in the home.  I found a YouTube channel that Sr. Christin Joseph uses to do training sessions for the leaders of these small communities. It sounds very much like our UALC SALT groups, Sharing and Learning Together (or Serving and Living Together) Ours (10 people, 9 in the Columbus area and one in Florida) is currently meeting on Zoom, but from her videos listed here (both of which deal with being church in the time of Covid) her groups are meeting in person and using video material for instruction.

Here are two of her training videos.  The sound isn’t the best quality, and sometimes they are English with Hindi subtitles, and sometime Hindi with English subtitles. She finds YouTube film to use.

https://youtu.be/EdBTeVWKN_w  Life after the pandemic; the neighborhood church

https://youtu.be/lPbPCPVarjA  Church on the move.  What is a BEC? How do these communities work during the pandemic?

A few years ago, our SALT group used Rod Dreher’s "Benedict Option" on intentional communities for the post-modern church, and he has a new book "Live not by Lies" which addresses a culture that actually attacks the Christian.  Might be useful for understanding what the lowest caste in India is going through.

I might be over-Bibled

 

This morning I was looking at week 3 of Women of the Word study of Romans; Good News that changes everything by Melissa Spoelstra, Abingdon Women, 2019.  It comes with a DVD with teaching and discussion led by Spoelstra. That group meets on Saturday morning. There are 4 different times during the week this is offered, but I do Saturday 9:15 even though I'm retired because generally there is a core group. And I like the leader, Mary Jo.

On Sunday I'm in the adult Sunday School class at 10:15 at Lytham and we're studying the book of Hebrews using the book Hebrews by Richard E. Lauersdorf, Northwestern Publishing House, 1986. This group is led by a lawyer, Charlie, who is always well prepared. He's an excellent teacher who manages to be patient even with a group of well educated and studied adults, with some big talkers.

On Thursday morning I meet with the retirees and we've just started the book of Luke with Pastor Jeff Morlock.  Once a month this group has a lunch after the study and a guest speaker.  During Advent and Lent we also have a lunch after class and before mid-week worship, open to the whole church.

Our Sunday sermon schedule is a race through the Bible, called Open Book.  We began with Genesis in September and last Sunday the topic was Jesus Heals on the Sabbath and the Gospel reading was Mark 3:1-6.  The pastors rotate.

Our SALT group (Sharing and Learning Together) which is 9 people who are members of UALC (all 9 o'clock service at Lytham Road) who meet together has been reading Making sense of the Bible; rediscovering the power of scripture today, by Adam Hamilton, Harper One, 2014 we meet approximately once a month, but with holidays and illnesses, it's more like 7 times a year.

In the fall the senior pastor Steve Turnbull began an evening study of Ephesians at our Mill Run campus.  I attended that one evening, but it was dark and raining, and I decided I didn't want to attend under those conditions. It will start up again in the spring, but I just don't like going out at night.

About a week ago, someone who's in a group with my husband sent home with him, Finding Jesus in the Old Testament by David Limbaugh, Regnery Publishing, 2017 pb. In hardcover it was titled, The Emmaus Code, 2015. I've only looked at the table of contents, but I enjoy this type of research.

Several years ago I received as a Christmas gift Tried by Fire; the story of Christianiiy's first thousand years by William J. Bennett, Nelson Books, 2016. And I've recently been reading it while on the exercycle, however, it's a fat book and not conducive to cycling and I'm only on p. 19.

And then yesterday, two books arrived that I'd agreed to review and at the time it sounded like a good idea. The beautiful book by Steven Green, Zondervan, 2019, and one which isn't exactly Bible, but issues dealing with the election, God, Trump and the 2020 election, by Stephen E. Strange, Front Line (Charisma House), 2019.

During the week for my daily devotions I use the Catholic serial, Magnificat--just finished January 202, Vol. 21, no. 11. It follows the liturgical calendar for daily mass so there is a theme, a biography of a saint, a meditation on the observation of special days, Old Testament reading, Psalm, Gospel and Epistle, plus hymns and responsive readings.  Not being familiar with the tradition of saints, I read a lot of history. Saints featured in January were those who worked for unity in the church, and the February saints are saints who suffered serious illness, like Blessed Amadeus of Savoy, who suffered attacks of epilepsy (d. 1472).

Lots of Bible

I'm in an (older) adult Sunday School class after the 9 a.m. church service at Lytham Rd UALC; we're using "Hebrews (The people's Bible)" by Richard E. Lauersdorf. I'm in an (older) adult Bible study class on Thursday mornings; we're studying Hosea with handouts from Pastor Jeff. I'm in a women's Bible Study group on Saturday morning at Lytham Rd. UALC; we're using "God of Covenant, a study of Genesis 12-50" by Jen Wilkin (Lifeway Press, 2018) and as a couple we're in a SALT (Sharing and Learning Together) group using "Making sense of the Bible; rediscovering the power of scripture today" by Adam Hamilton (Harper, 2014).

Our Sunday School class has an outstanding teacher--Charlie Ollermann--a lawyer who grew up in Nebraska. He manages to keep this class from wandering too far afield. Last week there were 40 in the class, and I brought cookies and they all sang happy birthday to me. The Thursday group is mainly retirees and Pastor Jeff Morlock who is our pastor for seniors always brings up good points. Jeff's wife is also a pastor and has recently taken a position at St. John's Lutheran in Grove City. The Women of the Word on Saturday is a group that has been together perhaps 15 years, and we come and go as our schedule allows. Mary Jo Sullivan's prayers make it worth coming. This fall's offering on Genesis follows the first part, and includes a video. The Lifeway instructor, Jen Wilkin, is excellent. Our SALT group doesn't meet regularly--maybe 10 times a year, so it takes us a while to work through a book, but the Hamilton book is very well written and we're enjoying it.

Nancy Crist 1927-2019, a good friend to all

Yesterday we said good-bye to Nancy Crist, a dear church friend of many years. Many Bible studies in her home, lots of laughs, many visits in hospital or nursing homes over the years, dinners together, and pick ups at the airport. She was always willing to help and give a hug and an encouraging word. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dispatch/obituary.aspx… She loved teaching at the deaf school and in church you could often see her signing as she listened to the sermon and hymns. Yes, 92 is a long life, but we also knew her father, a WWI vet and he lived to be over 100 as I recall.

I'm not sure when the photo was taken of our couples group from UALC called SALT, but Nancy and her husband Rod are in the back left, so it's probably about 1992--Bob had hair and I had big hair. What fun we had.

So many in this photo are gone now—only Charlene (center), Bob and I (back right) and Andrea (in front of Bob) are left.

January was more social than usual

December is always a fun month with lots of special activities like concerts, dinners and get togethers. So in noting our January schedule, I see it was more social than usual, mostly church activities, but a nice members' opening at the Museum of Art, too. I'll jot down what I remember while listening to a Dvorak Cello Concerto on a Spectrum channel--no commercials.

January 6--We hosted our SALT group here on Epiphany after church--I served turkey Tetrazzini  fruit cups and assorted Christmas desserts, so I was able to use up both our Thanksgiving and Christmas left-overs.  We're studying Hebrews, and Bob was the leader.

January 7--Book club at Bethel Presbyterian Church,  "The Other Alcott," by Elise Hooper, and although I didn't care much for the selection, it's always a great discussion and this included a lot of art. I joined 18 years ago when I first retired in 2000.  Originally, the club was a group of young mothers from the Clintonville area of Columbus who attended the same church.  Now they are no longer working or taking care of kids (most are grandmothers) and we meet during the day instead of the evening.

January 9--Coffee with Adrienne, who is now living at Wesley Glen.  Weather problems have been interfering with our coffee time!

January 10--Bible study class at 10:30 for mostly retirees and seniors led by Pastor Jeff Morlock. We're doing Revelation which works well with the Saturday group study of Genesis--lots of references to Genesis. That was followed by lunch and a wonderful talk by John Kohan of Delaware, Ohio, discussing his sacred art collection   http://sacredartpilgrim.com/

January 12--In January I "returned" to three different Bible studies (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) at our church that I've attended at various times over the years. It's easy to spend time inside and not see many people, so I'm making a greater effort to get out.  Women of the Word on Saturday is led by Mary Jo and is using Jen Wilken, "God of Creation, a study of Genesis."  She's an excellent speaker (video plus workbook).

January 13--Also returned to Adult Sunday School taught by Charlie, who is very good--well prepared, great prayers, kind, and keeps us on track.  We're studying Acts.

January 17--Dinner at Windward Passage on Henderson Rd.  with Joan and Jerry and Joyce and Bill.  Joan, Joyce and I are making plans for the 2009 reunion of our Steps of Paul voyage, and we don't have a list, but are contacting everyone we remember.  It will be at our MR campus on March 3.  After dinner we came back here for chocolate pie.

January 22--We attended the Columbus AIA meeting downtown to learn about the building and recent renovation of the LeVeque Tower here in Columbus.  I used to work there in the 1980s for the Ohio Department of Aging. It's now a boutique hotel, apartments and condos with businesses on the first level.  Our Conestoga group will tour it in March. I'm looking forward to that now that we've heard how it was done.  Figuring out where to park and getting back to the parking garage in the dark was an adventure in itself.

January 23--Coffee with Adrienne at Panera's. We had to cancel the next one due to the cold (polar vortex)

January 25--Met with Steve DeWeese, our lawyer, to settle wills, power of health attorney and health directives. He's a member of our church, a few years older than our children, and he knows them.

January 25--Bobby Burns party at the Hahm's--always a great event. This birthday is celebrated all over the world.  There are instructions on the internet on how to do it, and what to serve. We wore our kilts--Bob got his as Christmas 2017 gifts from the family for his 2018 80th birthday. His was horribly expensive because it included a formal jacket, special socks, a knife, and a sporran. Mine was really cheap--$3.00 at Volunteers of America.  I had to set the buttons over, but it's probably the nicest wool I've ever owned. Having dinner parties is like a ministry for the Hahms and they have many each year, always with an interesting mix of people.

January 26--Funeral at UALC for Jon Brewer, a friend of Phil's from childhood, and he came with many of his high school friends, most of whom I wouldn't have recognized, but did remember some of the names.

January 26--SALT group at the Crosses.  We got there a little late because of the 2 p.m.  funeral, but it lasted a long time--we didn't get home until about 6:30. Carol led the study on Hebrews and it was excellent.

January 27--Chili-cook off at St. James Lutheran off of Trabue Rd on the west side--preceded by a combined choir concert of St. James and UALC Lytham Rd. choirs.  Beautiful old sanctuary, 19th century, with a recent (about 10 years ago) educational and social wing.  I can remember when it was the only building out there. Now it's surrounded by housing and shopping centers. We went with Howard and Betty from our SALT group.

January 28--Coffee with Nancy at 5 points Panera. They left Friday for their Florida break.

January 29--Got a new perm from Melissa at Shear Impressions.  I think I've been with her since the mid-1990s.  She and her mom used to go to UALC but are now at a downtown church.

January 31--Member preview party at the Columbus Museum of Art, Derby Court, light hors d'oeuvres, lecture by Peter Schoon, Director of the Dordrecht Museum, Netherlands. "Life in the Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Masterpieces from the Dordrecht Museum." It's a wonderful show and I'd recommend it.  That was our second night in the dark in downtown Columbus in January.  And it was very cold both nights.  I did see a few women other than me in a dress/skirt, however, the others all had knee high boots or leggings.

Merry Christmas

Monday Memories--A special Christmas

Christmas is a time to bring out the memories, isn‘t it? This one is quite fresh--last night, in fact. It is so easy to let special times slip by without mention--we think we'll always remember. That’s why a diary (this blog) is so useful when the memory track becomes so jumbled, scratchy and full--and a thesaurus might help too, because some superlatives can be overused.

Our couples group from church, called SALT (Serving and Learning Together), met for dinner at members’ lovely, traditional home in south Arlington. Treasures collected over many years of marriage--through lean and plenty--decorated every room. Nothing splashy or over done, but lovingly displayed each year--a framed needlepoint, tiny ceramic Santa Claus, an angel. Each one precious with stories to tell. Our hostess provided a delicious pork loin, and the other couples brought appetizers, salad, potatoes and dessert. Every morsel was prepared lovingly and to perfection--the wonderful smells wafted throughout the house. However, it was the Christian fellowship that made the night so special. The five couples sat around the dining room table, beautifully set with seasonal treasures, with just the right touches of holiday greens and red candles, china, silver angel napkin rings and goblets.

After catching up on our activities since we last met in November, the talk easily flowed to Christmases past and what was special “in the old days.” Many of us had parents born in the early years of the 20th century (my parents were born in 1912 and 1913, as were those of several others), and we told what modest celebrations they had--perhaps an apple or an orange, a plate of cookies or a new outfit. In the case of my mother, nothing, because Christmas wasn’t observed in her family when she was small except to go to church. Then we moved along the years to our own childhood Christmases, then our children’s, and now the grandchildren’s--with the bag of gifts growing with each year. It’s probably our age, but we all seemed a bit nostalgic for a time when we had less! There were funny stories, too--one man told of carefully slitting the wrapping, peeking inside the boxes, and then meticulously rewrapping the presents; another recounted the time his little brother unwrapped all the beautiful presents their mother had so artistically wrapped and placed under the tree--the day before Christmas. One woman told of an uncle who would come by with sleigh bells, circle the house, jingling them outside while the children were in bed (but still awake), banging on down spouts if someone had already fallen asleep. Was it the laughter, the candles, the sharing--but something felt like a warm cozy blanket in that room.

Then we moved to the living room to sing carols--our hosts have a gorgeous piano and a room that complements it in color and size. One of our members is an accomplished pianist and church musician. I love to watch her play--the graceful hands, the studied, far away look on her face, so I stood by the piano (Oh, it was beautiful!). We shared more stories and then prayer concerns. I’ve been in many groups over the years, but this one seems the most spiritually mature, the most dependent on God for strength and comfort through prayer and service.

I was opposite the tree. The lights in the room were dim--or seemed that way--and as the evening progressed, the tree appeared to glow. The lights reflected against the silvery roped strands, sending reflected light from the ornaments into the room. I’ve seen hundreds of Christmas trees in my life, but on this special night with friends, celebrating the first advent of our Lord, this tree was the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. About 9 p.m. we held hands and prayed, then moved out into the starry, crisp night. Yes, a wonderful Christmas memory to pack away and treasure.