A Saturday at the Bernheim Forest

On Saturday, we made a trip to a large Arboretum north of us near Louisville, KY.  The weather was perfect and the landscape was fantastic.  Fall colors were abundant.

The arboretum has three giants made entirely of wood.  Sandra had to squeeze into this picture quickly before someone else came into view.  This particular area was busy 😊

All together, we walked 9 miles that day through various terrain.  All that walking made us hungry, so we came home and had a "cookie dough smoothie."  The ingredients include riced, frozen cauliflower, nut butter, cocoa nibs, dates, almond milk, etc. 😟

Actually, you don't taste the cauliflower.  It's pretty amazing.

Quin-WHAT?

Ok, so by now, you've determined that I appreciate good food.  Food is medicine.  It's the best medicine that you can give your body.  When I say "good" food, I'm not talking strictly about what tastes good.  I'm also talking about what is good for you.

Quinoa (pronounced QEEN-WAH) is an amazing little seed (thought of as a grain).  It's gluten-free, so Sandra and I have eaten quite a bit of it.  It has many benefits, including ...

1.  It's a whole grain.

2.  It's high in fiber.  This includes some soluble fiber which can help lower cholesterol levels.

3.  It's a complete protein.  It has all 9 essential amino acids that your body can't make on its own.  Other grains and legumes have protein, but they are often incomplete.  You have to eat something else with them.  However, quinoa can stand on its own in that department.

4.  It's packed with nutrients like Vitamin B6, E, Iron, Magnesium and Zinc just to name a few.

5.  It has a low Glycemic Index.  It will not spike your blood sugar after eating it, unlike simpler carbs such as white bread or processed potatoes.  Because quinoa is high in fiber and protein, digestion is slowed as your body breaks down these components.  This results in slower absorption and hence a lower spike in blood sugar.

The only thing about quinoa is ... it's not that tasty.  You need to mix it in with something or cook it in a quality broth.  Check out Sandra's blog for a link to a delicious Quinoa Enchilada recipe.

Wednesday, I had a service call out in Campbellsville, KY.  I found a nice park near Green River dam after eating some delicious quinoa enchiladas!  Of course, I had to get a couple of thousand steps as well 😉

Fun Fact:  God placed a bitter chemical around the outside of quinoa called saponins.  These act as a natural deterrent for pests.

Returning to the Scene of the Walk

"Praise the LORD.  Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise Him in the heights.  Praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him, all His hosts.  Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise Him, all ye stars of light.  Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens."  Psalm 148:1-4

This past Saturday was the first day that felt truly like Fall.  I had a men's prayer meeting in the morning, then Sandra and I headed over to Springfield, TN to walk the greenway.

The trail was just over 3 miles long after roaming through town a bit.  All in all, we got in a 7 mile walk.  The day was fantastic.  We remembered walking the same trail last year.  I then pulled out my phone and look at the date of a picture that I had taken on the greenway last year.  The picture was dated almost the exact same day that we walked this year.  I guess we must like taking this trail in October 😊🍁🍂

Toward the end, the sky clouded up and got quite dark.  As we ate our lunch, we commented to each other how dark it was getting, then we remembered that a partial solar eclipse was taking place that afternoon!

We thank the Lord for giving us such nice places to walk so close to home.  This one is only 35 minutes away.

Lots of Steps on This First Cool Day in October

 

  Our first walk today was at our favorite park.  It has a 1.6 mile outer gravel trail and a 1 mile inner paved trail.  We visited there this morning, and then we enjoyed a slower Bible time in the early afternoon.

  Our second walk was in the later afternoon.  I took Sandra to another local park for the "Scarecrow Walk."  Basically, a bunch of local businesses get together and advertise via fall displays peppered along a walking path through the woods.

We had no idea that Dixie paper dinnerware is based out of Bowling Green 🍴

I had to get a picture of this one since it has a John Deere tractor 🚜

Parker makes hydraulic fittings and hoses.  I'm familiar with them in my line of work.

We enjoyed our time together, and the weather was amazing.  Praise the Lord for Fall!

Eternally Secure ... Contrary to Some Teaching

And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.  John 6:39

Apart from simple faith in the finished work of Christ, what part did your have in saving you soul, if you are saved?

The answer is, None.  Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9).  I do not have any power or ability to save myself.  Salvation is entirely an act of God's grace apart from ANY work of my own (Ephesians 2:8, 9).

So, if we know that we can't EARN our salvation, why would we ever think that we can KEEP our salvation?

According to this verse, what part do you play in keeping your salvation?  I don't see the believer doing anything in this verse to secure himself in Christ, but I do see Christ doing everything to prevent the believer from being lost.

Notice that the Father has given the Son all who are willing to place faith in Christ, and notice also that the Son has promised that every soul entrusted to him will be safe.  He won't lose one - not even one.

In fact, He promises that every soul that has placed faith in His redeeming blood will be raised again at the last day.

So what if I fail God miserably or even allow myself to reject fellowship with Him and choose worldliness instead?

The Bible makes it clear that carnal decisions carry consequences in this life (Romans 6:23) and loss of rewards in heaven (I Corinthians 3:11-15); however, an individual's salvation can't be lost.  It can't be lost because you didn't earn it, and it's not up to you to keep it.  That's Jesus' job, and He's very good at it!

Snickerdoodle Smoothie ... Healthy of Course

Sandra made some zucchini pumpkin muffins for our breakfasts, and somehow my typical chocolate smoothie just didn't seem like a good fit.

I found this recipe on Recipe Runner blog, and it was fantastic.  I modified it a little bit.

1 cup almond milk

1 date

1 tbsp almond butter

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup frozen cauliflower (chopped)

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cinnamon

I didn't feel bad about eating anything in this smoothie, and the flavor definitely resembled a snickerdoodle cookie, which isn't my favorite cookie, but it paired nicely with the muffins that Sandra made.

Today's workout was an interval run - 2 minutes running, 2 minutes walking for 6 rounds.  I would've done 8 round normally, but I was saving time today.