Health Ministry
By promoting whole-person health principles we demonstrate the love of God.
“And He sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick”
Luke 2:9
Sick Building Syndrome
Now that the warmer days are here, there’s a desire to go outside and breathe in that fresh Spring air. God made the fresh air and breathing it in makes us feel good
Spring is a good time to think about opening up the windows and letting fresh air into your home. if you haven’t been doing this already, through the winter, now is the time to start. Unless you have one of those efficient air systems in your home, you may have gotten used to breathing in stale air.
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Stale Air is Harmful
Here is the problem, if you’ve been breathing in stale air for awhile, the effect on the body can worsen allergies and asthma. It can also cause headache, eye irritation, dry throat, sinus congestion, and even fatigue and nausea. Since many illnesses share these symptoms, it can be hard to pinpoint the exact cause. However, if the cause is from “Sick Building Syndrome” it’s easy to remedy. Open up those windows for 15 minutes a day. This is all it takes to have a full air exchange in a room. It actually should be done even in the coldest months when you want everything sealed up tight.
Now even if you are not experiencing any of these symptoms mentioned above, it’s still an important practice for your health. Opening the windows in a room for 5 minutes can be beneficial. The benefits of fresh air are clean lungs and maybe even lower blood pressure! It’s just plain good for the people, pets and and plants in your life.
The Beauty of Lavender
Many people are drawn to Lavender for its scent and color. If you’ve ever seen a field of Lavender, it would be hard not to stand in awe of the breath-taking purple beauty. Lavender is not only a gorgeous herb, herbalists consider its essential oil to be “first aid in a bottle.”
Lavender is known for its calming effects, its stress relieving and mild anti-depression properties. It has also proven in numerous clinical studies to be an effective antibacterial, antifungal and antiseptic agent.
After a stress-filled day, fill a bathtub with a few drops of lavender essentiel oil or place a few drops in hand and massage your head and the back of your neck. For medicinal use, place directly on a skin wound to disinfect.
One more property of Lavender is its antispasmodic effect. It’s used in digestive formulas to relieve indigestion. It can also calm muscle spasms in the stomach sometimes brought on by Irritable bowel or Crohn’s disease.
Lavender from the garden has many uses built into it. Remember God’s great creation is not only good for the eyes to behold, it’s good for the body to heal!
(Herb information from the book Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs)
A Plant-Based Recipe
Corn Tamale Roast
1/2 cup oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 small cans chopped black olives
1 can corn, cream style
1 -28 ounce can tomato purée
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small can chopped green chili
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp basil
1 Tbsp salt
1 cup milk or milk replacer
3 eggs or egg replacer
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
In a large pot sauté onion and and black olives in oil for 5 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients in the order listed
Heat until bubbly but do not let stick
Place mixture in a well greased pan
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes
Delicious!
