Black Soil Living

Faith or Sight? Choose! Revisited

by ladypbwiggins

Several years ago I posted this during a personal medical crisis. I felt led to repost as a reminder to me and other believers as we walk through this most recent national health crisis.
7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV

I have heard that scripture cited so very much over my life. I even thought I knew what it meant. I thought….

On Friday, April 10, 2015 I realized I didn’t get it before. God said to me “Your behavior does not match your words. Are you really walking by faith or are you really walking by sight wrapped in limited faith.”

Let me give you some context.

At Eagles Wings Christian Church, we have been focusing a lot lately on “Walking by Faith, Not by Sight.” There are new activities that we want to accomplish and it will require faith to do it.

On Sunday, March 1, 2015, God spoke through our praise leader that everything would be alright. She uncontrollably kept repeating “everything will be alright.” We said Amen. What we didn’t understand that a few short minutes later, the pastor, my husband, would pass out just before taking the pulpit. Apparently, his blood pressure dropped and so did he. The emergency response team was called and he was revived and taken to the hospital. That morning the believers swarmed him with prayer. I felt no fear just prayerful power. After all we had been told “everything would be alright.”

The teachings continued and we as a church expected every week for a miracle. Little did we know God had an object lesson planned. On March 26th, God’s lesson began. “In That Moment” and “After the First Moment” tell the story so I invite you to read those posts.

This is where the Friday conversation becomes relevant. We talked about walking by faith and not by sight at church and among believers. That basically means we live, make decisions based on the faith that we have in some thing or someone not by what we observe in the circumstance. The scripture that was laid on my mind when my husband had his heart attack was Psalm 91 especially verses 14-16. I told everyone that I was standing in faith on this scripture for my husband’s recovery.

Here was my contradiction.

Sight said

He had a loss of oxygen. Brain damage

His heart has a 10-20% refraction – doesn’t pump blood strongly enough

Needs a defibrillator or other surgery

Prognosis is not so good.

The practical and realistic thinking person says let’s do what is medically necessary to save and improve his life. I mean it is reasonable right?

Faith says Psalm 91

Psalm 91:14-16 (NKJV)
14 “Because he has set his love upon Me,

therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him

and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”

God said “You said Psalm 91 was your faith anchor while you make preparations to satisfy sight.” His question was clear. “Will you totally and completely trust me and my word? Choose.”

Do I listen to faith or sight? I chose faith. In that choice, I signed up to behave or live according to faith not what I see. Yes, I gather all the information from the doctors. I ask questions to understand what the doctors are doing. I then turn all that over to God and remind Him what He said.Until God says something different, I am expecting everything that He said in Psalm 91. My husband fulfills the conditions and I choose to trust God’s Word. It is my choice to live, walk, behave according to faith not just mentally believe.

The Universe Will….

by ladypbwiggins

I am confused. When people say or declare that the universe will act on their behalf who or what are they referring to exactly? I thought I knew what the universe was but I thought maybe I missed something. I looked it up. It is defined like this.

The Universe is all of space and time and their contents,including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy.

So are the galaxies going to operate to solve those people’s problems? Is space? Is time? Help me please.

Science is the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.” Simply stated if we can’t physically or naturally observe it or experiment with it, we can’t know it.

I am all for the knowledge we have gained through observation, analysis and experimentation. But all that has been done scientifically cannot explain why supernatural attributes are given to the planets, galaxies, etc. Have there been observable, repeatable experiments that support this? I think not.

Many scientific minds have convinced our society that if you believe in God, you are unlearned, unintelligent, superstitious or some combination of those. Yet, those same minds accept attribution of God’s abilities and our expectations of Him to the Universe. I can have faith in the Universe but ridiculed if I have faith in God. That is illogical.

It seems to me that we have an innate knowing or need to believe that there is someone or something greater and more powerful than ourselves that we can look to for assistance.

I am reasonably intelligent. I like science. I am somewhat learned on a few things. If I am going to believe there is something or someone more powerful than mankind to look to I choose a purposeful, loving, faithful and merciful God. He is not vague and illusive. I have experienced Him and have observed His faithfulness and love. Trying His Word is repeatable with consistent outcomes. I think that stands up to the scientific method. But here is the clincher. These observations and repeatable experiences were not done in the physical or natural realm but in the spiritual. Does that make them less valid? Less real?

“GOD WILL….” has been proven. At least in my life.

Dealing with Corona Virus

by ladypbwiggins

All of the focus these past few days has been on surviving the Corona virus. Some people are frantic. Fear and worry might take them out before the virus does. Others are quite pragmatic. Others are super spiritual.
Click on the link below and find out where I stand. You may find yourself there.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=871876833254250&id=654638718311397

Not The Hospice You Know

by ladypbwiggins

In many ways this has been a God-send for Carl and I. Like most people the word Hospice is scary and says it’s over; prepare for the end. This is not the focus of palliative care. Whether it’s short term quality of life or  long term, the medical team helps both the patient and the family.

The treatment regimen prescribed by his cardiologist is continued. He has a music therapist who gets him to exercise along with discussions about music; a nurse that checks him once a week and reports to the doctor; an aide to help him with showers; a social worker who assesses emotional and mental well-being and any needs I might have; a chaplain and a doctor. Since Carl was a pastor he and the chaplain have some enjoyable discourses. Equipment that I would normally have to buy or pay a co-payment, durable and disposable is 100% paid for through Medicare. It is my hope that his next heart assessment will show it’s increase in strength. If we are successful, he won’t need this kind of care. If not, I am glad to have it.

Attached is a link that explains palliative care. It’s a quick but informative read.


https://getpalliativecare.org/

Gluten-free Cornbread and Soup

by ladypbwiggins
I guess you’re asking, “What is this woman’s obsession with cornbread?” I’m a southern born and bred girl. There are just some things that have to be eaten with cornbread. My experiment was to answer the question about flour substitutions to teff or oat flour. Today I used Quinoa flour. I have eaten quinoa but I have never used the flour. I used my gluten-free cornbread recipe and substituted quinoa for soy flour. The taste was great but it didn’t rise as much as expected. I was very pleased with the browning. The other breads didn’t brown as pretty. This is not my last experiment  with cornbread.
My next experiment will be using aguafaba instead of Ener-G egg replacement. I’ve read that aguafaba can be whisked to form a meringue like product that can be used in baked goods in place of eggs. It’s suppose to make a lighter texture in baked items. Stay tuned.The soup also provided an opportunity for experimentation. I made vegetable soup with meatless Italian sausage. Pretty straight forward. The problem: to much basil. I used Young Living Essential Oil’s basil vitality. This oil is very concentrated and intense in flavor. I only intended to use 1 drop but a second one dropped before I could lift the bottle. So how do I neutralize this basil. I added chickpeas to the soup and let it simmer. Side note: I cooked a batch of chickpeas earlier. I avoid can goods when I can. The chickpeas mellowed the basil intensity and added more texture to the soup. This was a great lunch.

Strong Shallow Roots

by ladypbwiggins
My roots are strong but shallow!

Knowing your roots is important. If you don’t know where you came from, how can you know where you are going? Non-colored people are more likely to shout this epitaph and are thrilled to go to Scotland or that little village in Italy to discover their roots. I was watching Project Runway All Stars and in one of the episodes the 23 and Me founder offered the designers free DNA tests. She talked about the importance of knowing your ancestry, knowing your roots. There was great enthusiasm for this activity and its results. Then a commercial for Ancestry.com came on and echoed the same thing. My mind turned to my ancestry. What is it? I know it’s African but which country. Is it Ghanaian, Nigerian, Kenyan, Zambian? More often than not the response when a black person speaks about not knowing and the effect of not knowing is “Get over it. You are American.”

Because I can’t reach in to Africa with specificity of country, how deep can my roots go?

My known ancestry tree is planted in Alabama. Each branch is strong. I am the granddaughter of strong women and men. I am the great-granddaughter of strong  women and men. I am the grandneice of strong women and men. I am the mentee of strong women. They all survived Jim Crow south with wisdom and grace. They taught me how to see and perform to survive.

My roots are shallow but strong.

Can you imagine how much stronger I would be if my shallow roots ran deeper; deeper back to the black soil of a specific country, a specific city or village, a specific tribe of Africa.
Inspite of all this, I am grateful and proud of my Strong Shallow Roots!

The “Eat Loaf”

by ladypbwiggins

Most of us who have changed to a plant-based eating lifestyle are on a continuous search for great tasting meat substitutes.

Yesterday I prepared the Esselstyn’s “eat loaf” recipe contained in their The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook. I refrigerated it and we ate it for dinner today. I was so involved with getting the other dishes prepared that I forgot to take a picture. The picture below is what is left of the loaf. If you decide to try this, it makes enough for two loaves.

Heart healthy “Eat Loaf”


This loaf can be a meal with nothing else. It has so many different veggies; carrots, greens, beans, onions, garlic and for added texture, oats.

Teff flour or Cornbread

by ladypbwiggins

I find it very interesting that my most viewed post was written in 2016. I had begun my research and experimentation with heart healthy recipes. I was trying gluten-free flours to make familiar food items. This is when Teff flour entered my life. I had never heard of it before. I had made soup and I wanted some cornbread. I decided to use teff flour in making it. I shared the outcome and it has been my most viewed post. I don’t know why. Is the interest the Teff flour or the cornbread? I wonder.

S.O.B. Burgers

by ladypbwiggins

Yes that is the name of the burgers. Anne Esselstyn and Jane Esselstyn have the recipe in their cookbook, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. It is the Smokey, Oat, Bean Burger. Because I had to make some substitutes I renamed it. My version is the  Smokey, Flax and Pea Burger.
I discovered that I was out of oats and I didn’t have any cannellini beans. I substituted ground flax seeds for oats and black-eyed peas for beans. The seasonings were the same.
It was so good. I served it with romaine lettuce leaves as the bun and tomatoes with brown mustard and hot sauce. I will try the recipe again with oats and beans.

Looking Back to Find Gems

by ladypbwiggins

Sometimes looking back over old posts remind you of the reasons you’re doing certain things now. My husband nor I are gluten intolerant so why do I have a gluten-free vegan cookbook? When did no oil cooking become important and why?

I wasn’t looking for these answers but I stumbled over the post that gave them. It was simple. His cardiologist instructed us to do that. I also unearthed The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook that is plant-based and oil free. I purchased this at the beginning of our journey 3 years ago after watching an Engine 2 video.
I read through it and now I am adding the recipes to my re-energized food preparation  experiences.