Gluten Dude: Blog Review

I've been hunting for some new gluten free blogs lately, and I came across a great one last week.

It's called Gluten Dude, and it's informative, hilarious, and painfully honest. I'm going to be visiting Gluten Dude often for his wit and wisdom.

Check it out!

To the Pastor's Husband on Father's Day

On behalf of all the other married women pastors out there, I just want to say thank you. Being a pastor's husband is a calling all its own, and I'm thankful for all of you out there!

To the Pastor's Husband,

Thank you for undertaking this journey - a journey that is fraught with both blessing and difficulty. Pastoring is an odd and wondrous calling, and the pastor's husband is along for a wild ride indeed.

Thank you for all the long hours you supported us during seminary. Thank you for listening to rants about Hebrew, jubilation about preaching, and too many poorly-thought-out pontifications about theologies of education.

Thank you for standing proudly beside us at graduation and smiling through dozens of photographs. Thank you for saying, "I knew you could do it all along!" and meaning it.

Thank you for walking the nerve-wracking road to our first church call with us. For flying in for interviews and holding our hand on the plane. For buying us a trashy People magazine to help take the edge off our nerves. For helping us remember names of dozens of new people. For calming us down. For reminding us that this was all in God's hands.

Thank you for celebrating our call to a church. For praying over the decision with us. For making the decision together with us. For sacrificing things willingly and graciously so that we could pursue God's call and our dreams together.

Thank you for walking through the glorious and mundane aspects of ministry with us. For reading many a sermon that "just won't come together!" late on a Saturday night.

Speaking of Saturday night, thank you for riding out the wave of crankiness that inevitably comes on a Saturday night when we are trying to remember all eleven-thousand things that need to be done before, during, or after the next day's worship service. Thank you for eventually telling us, gently but firmly, that we should probably just go to bed. That our God is the Lord of the Sabbath, and will be Lord over this next one, too.

Thank you for getting breakfast together and lunch, too (and often dinner!) on Sunday, to make sure that we are fed and watered.

Thank you for putting coffee in our hands as we run out the door to church. Thank you for using the extra large travel mug on Sunday mornings.

Thank you for having our backs on Sundays in a thousand ways. For always wearing a smile of reassurance when we look up mid-sermon, unsure of how our delivery is going. For always saying first, "It went great," when we ask. (Even when it really didn't, and we both know it.) For giving constructive criticism later, to help us write more clearly, speak more eloquently, and preach more boldly.

Thank you for managing the kid(s) all day on Sunday while we preach, teach, and go out on visits. Thank you for doing this with understanding, grace, and joy, even when Sundays involve blow-out diapers, colic, head colds, or the stomach flu.

Thank you for being man enough to handle the pastor's husband jokes.

Thank you for the grace you extend to us when our career trumps your own because of a late-night hospital visit, a last-minute church emergency, or a larger-than-life personality.

Thank you for graciously filling in at the last minute when we need a greeter or a lay reader or someone to run the sound room. Thank you for sometimes saying "no" to these requests, and reminding us that boundaries--for you and for us--are important.

Thank you for looking us in the eye when we doubt ourselves, our skills, or our calling, and reminding us that God has called us here, to this place, and that he will give us all we need for each new day.

Thank you for telling us that we are good at what we do.

Thank you for being our husbands - those who knew us before ministry, will see us through ministry, and will be there every day, whether we fail or succeed, whether we are sinners or saints.

Thank you for still believing in Jesus through it all. For still believing in us.

To this particular pastor's husband - I love you! Happy first Father's Day!

Does Our Son Have Celiac?

We don't know yet. But I really, really, really hope not.

It's not a death sentence if he does, of course. With my own severe gluten intolerance, I have a very normal life, and very few health problems now that I'm on an 100% gluten free diet.

Yet I want to spare him all of the ins and outs of gluten free living. Asking ingredients. Bringing his own cupcake to the birthday party. Never feeling free to share crackers with his classmates.

There are many opinions out there on how to approach gluten with your children if you as a parent have Celiac disease or another form of gluten intolerance.

Living Without has a great article, written by a mother of two, on when she chose to introduce gluten to her children. (She waited until they were well into their 2's).

The online medical journal PLOS One suggests that introducing gluten late in infancy (after 12 months) can make it less likely those infants will end up with Celiac.

A Swedish study found that infants introduced to gluten at the age of 4 months had a lower incidence of Celiac disease than those who tried it for the first time at 6 months. The connections were a bit spotty, and there are obviously other problems with this idea as well (one being that the AAP now recommends exclusive breastfeeding with no other supplemental foods until an infant is 6 months old).

The New York Times also reported that this Swedish study seemed to rely upon longer periods of breastfeeding while introducing gluten, which could signal that babies tolerated gluten better when they also ingested breast milk to help break down the proteins in gluten.

So... essentially it's all clear as mud, right? Introduce too early and you could doom your child to a life of bringing his own Ziploc of "special pretzels" to his college parties one day. Introduce it too late, and your little girl could have to order a gluten free wedding cake one day. In short, there is no conclusive evidence either way. No one knows.

So what are we planning to do with our little man?

Well, I agree wholeheartedly with Christine Boyd, author of the Living Without piece. She said that she and her husband agreed that they should do "what feels right." While this is not my approach to most of my life (Christianity certainly can't be described as an "If it feels good, do it!" type of faith tradition...), with our son and his food, this is what we've done.

My husband and I discuss, pray, and move forward. While we want our little guy to be healthy in his body, we also want him to grow up in a household that isn't fear-based. Celiac disease can be treated, food is not an enemy, and mealtime is fun!

That said, our basic approach has been fivefold:

1. To breastfeed as long as possible, both for the inherent health benefits for our son and for the possibility of helping his gut develop all that it needs to be protected against Celiac disease. He is now 8 1/2 months old and still breastfeeds (or takes pumped milk in a bottle) 8-10 times per day, including 2-3 times each night.

2. To continue to maintain a gluten free household, for my protection as well as his. He sticks his cute little fingers in my mouth regularly (not to mention all over everything else in our house), and if I had to worry each time I'm afraid he'd grow up thinking I was afraid of him. For now, keeping him gluten free means that I can be free with him.

3. To introduce fruits, vegetables, and simple proteins first. His first foods were all whole, natural foods, and organic ones, too, when possible. We rely primarily on fruits and vegetables, especially nutrient-rich ones like avocado, sweet potato, greens, blueberries, bananas, apples, and green beans.

We've introduced proteins like egg yolk, chicken, chickpeas, and black beans in stages as well, though we waited an additional month for these.

(Sometimes we make it out to visit our CSA farm, which our son loves. Unless it's raining. Then he does NOT love.)

4. To introduce gluten free grains slowly, including rice, corn, millet, sorghum and gluten free oats. He had a brief rash reaction to the oats, but has tolerated the others well. He is touch and go on rice cereal, depending on his mood.

5. To wait on the gluten... for now. At some point in the coming months we'll have a choice. While we'll always eat gluten free here in our house (I get so sick for so long, the risk just isn't worth it!), at some point when he starts toddling around he'll grab a cookie at a church potluck or snag a goldfish cracker from a little friend on the playground. Heck, he tries to eat carpet fibers and cat hair now, so I know it won't be long until our first test.

When this happens, we will watch and wait. If he has a clear reaction, we'll know and we'll begin taking the necessary precautions in public. If he doesn't have a clear reaction, we will seek to have him tested for Celiac disease when he is nears age two and begins attending toddler classes at our local preschool.

Best-case scenario, he didn't inherit my reactions to gluten. Worst-case, he has Celiac disease and begins exhibiting symptoms early. I didn't begin having serious reactions to gluten until I was 25, so there's also the chance that he will be able to be a "normal" eater throughout childhood.

Still, we will have him tested in his early toddler years, since Celiac's symptoms can so often be masked or even invisible.

(Sorry, little guy. I hope you inherited Daddy's intestines!)

What do you plan to do with your little ones and gluten?

Udi's Chocolate Chip(ish) Granola Bars

I love Udi's products. I'm practically an Udi's evangelist.

They have the best bread, the best buns, and the best muffins out there. My husband and I go through at least two loaves of Udi's bread a week, taking turns with either their multigrain or their new millet-chia variety.

Their pizza crusts are to die for, and their new dinner rolls are super yummy.

We even use their hot dog buns for communion at my church.

I am an Udi's girl, through and through.

While I'm not often a granola bar person (much preferring the nut-and-date laden Lara bars), when I saw Udi's chocolate chip bars on special at our local Co-op, I decided to give them a taste. I love my Udi's, I had a wedding rehearsal to perform later that evening, and I was feeling snacky.

I opened up a bar while in my car before heading in to the rehearsal, eager for some chocolatey goodness.

And...?

I believe if you count them, you'll find two-and-a-half chocolate chips on that bar. And yes, that's the top side (the bottom had exactly zero chocolate chips).

Disappointing, Udi's! The bars were pretty tasty, but they didn't have the chocolate-y punch I purchased them to enjoy.

I emailed the company and they are sending me a coupon for a free product of my choice, which is kind. The other bars in the box had a few more chocolate chips, but they definitely didn't look like the cover of the box.

I'll definitely keep up my Udi's loyalty, but that may be my last box of granola bars.

Have you tried these bars? What did you think?

What We Feed Our Baby

People have strong opinions on nearly every aspect of parenting.

Those who are parents have been there, done that. Those who aren't parents often know what they would do.

No matter what choices we make as new parents, it is sometimes difficult to feel like we're all in this together, figuring it out. It's easier to feel like whatever choice we make, we're on the opposing team as those who have chosen differently. Often these are just the voices inside our own heads, but still, it can be exhausting.

Let me show you what I mean.

Using disposable diapers? You hate the environment. You don't mind throwing money away.
Using cloth diapers? You're a crazy bourgeois hippie who doesn't mind doing really gross laundry.

Breastfeeding exclusively? You must think you're better than non-nursing moms. You don't give your career the priority it deserves.
Formula feeding exclusively? Don't you realize that formula-fed babies have higher rates of obesity later in life? Don't you even LOVE your baby?
Using a combination of the two? That's just confusing. Who do you think you are, anyway?

Feeding your six-month old traditional baby food? Well, that's lazy, isn't it? Didn't you even research the effects of prepackaged food stabilizers on infants first?
Feeding your six-month old through Baby Led Weaning? Why you so weird?
Making your own baby food? You must have WAY too much time on your hands. Are you going to be this much of a control freak for your baby's entire life?

Ugh. It gets exhausting, when it isn't just comical. Our son is only six-months old, and we've already had our share of "did-that-person-REALLY-just-say-that?" comments. Most often these are comments made without our solicitation by people we don't even know. A passing comment at the grocery store. A "helpful" suggestion while we're out to eat.

Last Friday night we were on a much looked forward to (and quite rare!) date night, and our server decided to lecture us on the "right way" to get our son to sleep through the night. I paused, my forkful of mashed potatoes halfway to my mouth, my eyebrows inching toward my hairline. Didn't she know we were the ones calculating her tip?

So I hesitate to even write a blog post like this, in case, in some small way, it adds more fuel to the Mommy Wars. Yet we've made stumbles and bumbles in how and what we feed our son, and if I can help anyone out there navigate some of the pitfalls we've experienced, it's worth it.

But first - this is just what's worked for us. I'm not leaning over into your grocery cart commenting on your produce. I'm not judging. I'm not telling you that our way is right. It's what's worked for us, but your little lady or little man may not go for it at all.

Phew. Glad I got THAT off my shoulders!

Our son is now eight months old. He has gone from being a finicky eater to a black hole for new foods. And we're loving it!

Through trial and error, we've discovered two things about our boy:

1. He HATES Being Spoon Fed
This makes feeding him purees nearly impossible. There were a lot of dinnertime battles where he would clench his jaw and shake his head side to side violently, like a little lion.

2. He LOVES Doing Things Himself
Including spoon feeding. This is really, really messy. But it makes him happy, and he'll try any food we smear on a spoon.

(This is just the first bite... I'll let you imagine what he looks like after 10!)

So we now do a combination of finger foods and baby-led spoon feeding. And everyone is happy. The one downside is having to majorly clean off the high chair 2-3 times each day, because man, does he make a mess of that thing... But our boy is eating like a champ, so I (mostly) don't complain about the high chair art!

So what do we feed our little man?

1. Whole foods - either mashed up or in tiny pieces.
He'll try anything, and he especially loves black beans, green beans, carrots, avocado, apples, bananas, and blueberries. He's deciding whether or not he likes cheese, and both pasta and chicken haven't been his favorites, but I can't tell if that's because he's more of a herbivore these days, or because pasta and chicken are the same color as his high chair tray and he can't find them as well.

2. Easily dissolving cereal.
Happy Baby organic puffs (all but the "Greens" flavor are gluten free!) have been a lifesaver. These have been great for pincher grasp practice, and as he's still toothless, they mash up easily between his gums.

3. Smoothies
We make him one alongside ours in the morning. His is usually made up of greens (spinach for now, kale as soon as our CSA is in businesses this week!), banana, blueberry, apples, and rice cereal.

4. Rice cereal.
The part of me that's a big believer in Baby Led Weaning chafed against this at first. But iron is iron, and as long as he can feed himself, he downs the cereal like a champ. Gerber's is labeled gluten free, and several others, including Beech Nut, are gf, though they aren't labeled (I called...).

It's been a learning process, for sure. I feel like as soon as we figure one aspect out, he's gone and changed and we're on to the next. But baby is eating, and life is good. He still nurses 8-10 times per day, but we're hoping for some sleepier nights soon.

(Of course, if we'd just give him a taste of daddy's burger, maybe he'd be sated!)

What do you feed your little one?

Overheard at a GF Restaurant

This past Friday my husband took me on a date to a new restaurant. It was fantastic, and I'll post a review later this month.

But for now, just this.

When returning from a trip to the bathroom, I walked by an elderly couple dining at one of the restaurant's booths. They looked to be in their mid-80s, and were dressed in that dignified way that older people sometimes are. Slacks, not jeans. Pearls on her, a collared shirt on him. Her silver hair was pulled back in a ponytail; his was cropped short.

They were both staring at his plate in wonder. On it was a seemingly normal meal - a hamburger with lettuce and tomato, steak fries, and a fluffy hamburger bun.

His jaw was actually hanging open, like in a cartoon. His fingers were spread wide, hands holding the edges of his plate like it carried diamonds upon it. There were tears in his eyes.

"I cannot believe it," the woman was saying as I walked past, her eyes fixed on the man's dinner in wonder. "I cannot believe that that is gluten free."

It made my night.

Thanks to all those manufacturers out there who make gf specialty products like hamburger buns and pizza crusts, so that people like that man can enjoy a night out on the town. Thanks to the restaurants who serve them.

And blessings on that sweet couple. I cannot imagine learning to eat this way in my 80s. I said a prayer for that dignified man, learning a brand new way to eat.

Maybe you can say one, too.

Ten Reasons I'm a Pastor

Yesterday Caleb Wilde, the blogger over at Confessions of a Funeral Director wrote a post chronicling ten reasons why he's a funeral director. It's an interesting read, especially for anyone who wonders why a person would sign up for such an odd career.

I'm asked sometimes why I'm a pastor. It's a good question. Why choose ministry when there are so many other vocational choices, many of which have fewer hours or larger paychecks, and most of which make you less of an "odd duck" at social gatherings?

I'd guess that the reasons for entering ministry are as varied as ministers themselves, but with thanks to Caleb for the inspiration, here are my reasons.

(My ordination service - January 2011)

Ten Reasons I'm a Pastor

1.  God Called Me
I used to hate this concept.

"What, did you get a phone call?" I remember asking someone once, skeptically. I was cynical about the idea of a call from God. It sounded grandiose, even. God didn't call people today like in biblical times. We aren't modern-day Moseses and Abrahams and Jeremiahs, after all.

Right?

Then I got my own call from God. Out of the blue. While I was in graduate school studying to become an English literature professor.

At the time, I wasn't even sure that women should be pastors. I grew up in a tradition that doesn't ordain women. I was on track for my dream vocation already, preparing to teach undergraduates the finer points of modern poetry. I didn't even know what was involved in training for ministry - more school? Internships?

Oh, and I wasn't currently attending a church that ordained women, either.

Let's just say there were some big hurdles in front of me. This going-in-to-ministry thing was SO not my idea.

Yet God called me, of all people. And, as someone who grew up studying Scripture, I knew from the stories of Jonah and Isaiah and Matthew and Peter that the only proper response to God when he calls is, "Here I am." So that's what I said. And now, years and a long winding road later, here I am.

2. I Love Jesus
From the day when I was five years old and I prayed to Jesus for the first time I can remember, I have loved Jesus. It's the deepest and truest thing about me.

Why wouldn't I want to tell people about him for a living?

3. I Love Scripture
The Bible is absolutely, profoundly, sacredly amazing. It is a great work of literature. It is a living book. It is a continually surprising, shocking, troubling and unsettling work. It has parts that are bothersome and parts that are hilarious. It has history, poetry, song, and story. It is filled to the brim with wisdom.

I rarely get tired of reading it, and when I do, I set it aside for a few days knowing that it will find me again.

For someone who wanted to be a literature professor, literature doesn't get much better than this.

(As Grusha in Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle, back in my theater days...)

4. I Am a Performer
Surprised to see this one on here? It might conjure up images of a charlatan or a televangelist, but this is not how I mean it.

I have always loved the theater. I majored in communication as an undergraduate and later taught public speaking as an adjunct professor for years. I participated in theater productions from high school through seminary. There is something about the written word well spoken that moves me to my toes.

The fact that I get to preach God's word week in and week out is one of the greatest privileges out there. I love it with all my heart.

And more than the most moving Shakespeare, the most hilarious Gilbert & Sullivan, and the most heart-wrenching Chekhov performed on stage, the Word of God performed with energy, creativity, imagination, and love, can pierce peoples' hearts and change their lives. If, by reading Scripture with feeling and preaching with vitality, one person comes to know the love of Christ for them, it is worth all the long hours and loving labor I put into a sermon. It is worth everything.

I have no illusion that it is my performance that reaches people - God's word is more than powerful enough to shine through a terrible delivery, and many famous preachers (Jonathan Edwards, for one) used to preach in monotones so as not to pull unduly on people's emotions. Yet in a culture with a short attention span, performance can help the truth get through. So perform I do.

5. People Invite Me In
Over and over again I get invited into people's most intimate moments. Wedding ceremonies. Funerals. Hospital rooms. Living rooms. Counseling sessions. Baptisms.

It is an incredible honor, and one that I don't take lightly.

6. Ministry is Important
The only job I ever quit I left because what I did day in and day out did not matter. It was a temp job involving lots of data entry, and my husband and I desperately needed the money, but I just couldn't do it. I had my first and last anxiety attacks during that job. It nearly broke me.

I'm the kind of person who is drawn to meaning. I've been a camp counselor, an adjunct professor, a chaplain, and a tutor. When I was a kid I wanted to be a veterinarian, and later an English teacher. I've always wanted to do something to help others. To make a difference. To help make people's lives better than they are.

At its most basic level, ministry provides services. Whether you believe in God or not, it's helpful to have someone to preside over a funeral. Someone to pray at the Baccalaureate. Someone to help counsel a family in crisis.

But on an even deeper one, ministry seeks to help people find answers to life's deepest questions. Why are we here? Is there a God? What does God want from me?

And for the questions that have no answers, ministry strives to help people live with those questions, knowing that God is present.

(This is not to say that I am important, just that ministry is!)

7. I am an Introvert
"Wait," you may be thinking, "shouldn't this be a reason for you NOT to be a pastor?"

Yup.

Yet I know that if I wasn't in ministry, I would not meet as many people, hear as many stories, learn as many things, or go as many places as I do. My vocation brings me out of my comfort zone every single day. It draws me out of my shell every single day.

And I am so grateful.

If I ended up as an English professor, I would spend a lot of time in an office, alone, with the door closed. I would read a lot. I would be very happy. But I would also be a little bit lonely, and my life would not be nearly as rich.

In fact, most pastors are introverts who have learned to function as extroverts. On a bad day, this can be really exhausting. But most days, it is incredibly rewarding.

On an average day, I spend very little time in my office. Instead I go to hospitals and nursing homes. I travel to our denominational offices in the city. I meet with congregants over coffee. I drive back and forth through the glorious green farmland of Wisconsin to visit people in their homes. I take part in community events. Sometimes I even get to work from home, typing sermons on my laptop while my little son crawls around and babbles. It is a rich, sweet, busy life, and I am grateful to work in a vocation that draws me out and into the world each and every day.

8. Constant Challenge
I am a person who hates to be bored. Ministry is not boring.

It's also ridiculously hard. The statistics on pastoral burnout are astonishing. Most pastors last only five years in a church, boundary issues abound, and denominations are beginning to create care programs for new pastors, who are usually those most in danger of burning out.

I like that it's hard. It should be hard. Most things worth doing are.

(He's thankful for the flexibility, too!)

9. Flexibility
When I worked as a chaplain intern at a hospital, one of my fellow interns was a woman with 15+ years experience as a pastor. She turned out to be a great chaplain, but the rigid hours made her crazy.

"I wanted to get my hair cut last week," she said, "and I had to go ask permission! Can you imagine?"

This didn't sound odd to me then, but it does now. Though the hours are long in ministry, there is tremendous flexibility. Many days I get to go home for lunch and snuggles with my eight-month old son. If I need to schedule a dentist appointment or a haircut during the middle of the day, I do. I can almost always work later into the evening to get my needed projects done.

During the nausea-bound months of early pregnancy, I often wrote typed up bulletins and brainstormed sermons between 2 and 4:00 in the morning. I was wide awake anyway, and it made for some good time with Jesus.

This makes the logistics of life in a dual-vocational home such as mine much, much easier.

10. I Love It!
As 1 Corinthians reminds us, "These three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."

I love what I do. I love my church. I love my congregation.

Some days I also hate what I do. It wears me out. On the very occasional really, really bad day, I think about what life could have been like if Jesus had never called me into this messy, unpredictable vocation. Once a year or so I even fantasize that I'm a moody English professor and I live down the end of a long dirt road.

But then I sit down with a grieving widow or get asked to baptize a new baby or hear that, against all odds, someone's life is starting to change because of Jesus, and I remember. I love this vocation. UCC Pastor Lillian Daniel calls pastoral ministry "an odd and wondrous calling," and it is.

The love of Christ is all over the vocation of ministry. It keeps me going. It fills me up. It reminds me of what it is all truly about. Not me. Him. Always him.




Now it's your turn. Why do you do what you do? Give me ten reasons, and I'll link to you!