Monday, December 28, 2015

The Infinite Power of Gratitude

Gratitude is the ultimate renewable energy—it’s free to give, and by giving it, you often receive more in return. If only everything were that easy!

But the truth is, it is easy to feel grateful, and the benefits are wonderful. Expressing gratitude (even if it’s in the quiet of your own heart) has been found to make you happier, more successful, and healthier—and even sleep better and longer!

If you want to tap into the power of gratitude, it’s simple ... Read the entire article.


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A Closer Look at Pet Anxiety

 by Dr. Jane Bicks

Most pet parents know that stress and fear can be hard for companion animals to endure on an emotional level. However, few of us understand the short and long-term physical effects of these powerful emotions.

In her latest post, Dr. Jane explains some of the medical complications that can result from prolonged stress and fear. Fortunately, our good doctor has much to share on the subject!  Read this Dr. Jane post now ... 

Red Meat Causes Cancer

PRESS RELEASE
Lyon, France, 26 October 2015

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer agency of the World Health Organization, has evaluated the carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat.
Red meat
After thoroughly reviewing the accumulated scientific literature, a Working Group of 22 experts from 10 countries convened by the IARC Monographs Programme classified the consumption of red meat as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A), based on limited evidence that the consumption of red meat causes cancer in humans and strong mechanistic evidence supporting a carcinogenic effect.

This association was observed mainly for colorectal cancer, but associations were also seen for pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer.

Processed meat
Processed meat was classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer.

Meat consumption and its effects
The consumption of meat varies greatly between countries, with from a few percent up to 100% of people eating red meat, depending on the country, and somewhat lower proportions eating processed meat.

The experts concluded that each 50 gram portion of processed meat eaten daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%.

“For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed,” says Dr Kurt Straif, Head of the IARC Monographs Programme. “In view of the large number of people who consume processed meat, the global impact on cancer incidence is of public health importance.”

The IARC Working Group considered more than 800 studies that investigated associations of more than a dozen types of cancer with the consumption of red meat or processed meat in many countries and populations with diverse diets. The most influential evidence came from large prospective cohort studies conducted over the past 20 years.

Public health
”These findings further support current public health recommendations to limit intake of meat,” says Dr Christopher Wild, Director of IARC. “At the same time, red meat has nutritional value. Therefore, these results are important in enabling governments and international regulatory agencies to conduct risk assessments, in order to balance the risks and benefits of eating red meat and processed meat and to provide the best possible dietary recommendations.”

Note:
Red meat refers to all types of mammalian muscle meat, such as beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, horse, and goat.

Processed meat refers to meat that has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to enhance flavour or improve preservation. Most processed meats contain pork or beef, but processed meats may also contain other red meats, poultry, offal, or meat by-products such as blood.

Examples of processed meat include hot dogs (frankfurters), ham, sausages, corned beef, and biltong or beef jerky as well as canned meat and meat-based preparations and sauces.

A summary of the final evaluations is available online in The Lancet Oncology, and the detailed assessments will be published as Volume 114 of the IARC Monographs.

Read the IARC Monographs Q&A
 
Read the IARC Monographs Q&A on the carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat.

For more information, please contact
VĂ©ronique Terrasse, Communications Group, at +33 (0)4 72 73 83 66 or terrassev@iarc.fr or Dr Nicolas Gaudin, IARC Communications, at com@iarc.fr

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is part of the World Health Organization. Its mission is to coordinate and conduct research on the causes of human cancer, the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, and to develop scientific strategies for cancer control. The Agency is involved in both epidemiological and laboratory research and disseminates scientific information through publications, meetings, courses, and fellowships.

© IARC 2015 - All Rights Reserved.  Download the original PDF.


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Copyright and Reprint Information - All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins, but may be used with proper credit and link back to the website, TheNatureInUs.com. Articles written by Donna L. Watkins may also be reprinted with proper credit and link back to the website, www.TheNatureInUs.com.

Monday, December 21, 2015

You Don't Have to Be Sin-Free to Please God

What Pleases God
by Andrew Wommack

John 8:56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad."

Jesus is referring to the day when men would be justified by putting faith in God and not in their own works. Abraham had this truth revealed to him (Rom. 4:13), and he believed it and was himself justified by faith (Rom. 4:3-4, 9).

Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him." It was Abraham's faith that pleased God. The Lord promised Abraham that his seed would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore and Abraham believed God. That pleased Him so much that he counted Abraham righteous right then, even though Abraham had not yet fulfilled the rite of circumcision and he was not living a holy life.

According to Leviticus 18:9, it was an abomination (Lev. 18:26) for a man to marry a half sister. Sarah, Abraham's wife, was his half sister (Gen. 20:12). Therefore, Abraham's marriage to Sarah was not what pleased God.

Abraham had already lied about Sarah not being his wife so that he could save his own neck. He was willing to let a man commit adultery with his wife with no objections from him. Immediately after this instance is when the Lord counted Abraham's faith for righteousness (Gen. 15:6). Abraham tried to accomplish God's will in the flesh with Hagar (Gen. 16) and then repeated the terrible sin of denying that Sarah was his wife again (Gen. 20).

Anyone who really studies the life of Abraham and the favor that he found with God would have to conclude that it was Abraham's faith that pleased God. It's the same with any of us. The only thing that we can do to please God is put faith in Jesus as our Savior.

Visit Andrew's Website.


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Bats Use Signal Jamming To Ward Off Competitors


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Bats On Ceiling of Lodge
La Selva Biological Reserve, Costa Rica
View Various Albums of Costa Rica
Just like Navy engineers who jam the sonar of enemy ships, bats can jam the signals of other bats to ward off competition for food.

 Bats hunt by echolocation, which means they emit high-pitched sounds and listen to the echoes that bounce off their prey. But competition for food can be fierce, and Mexican free-tailed bats emit a special call that can interfere with the sonar of other bats that are pursuing a meal.

Using high-speed infrared cameras and microphone arrays Aaron Corcoran, a researcher, was examining the interaction between the bats and their prey, moths, when he noticed the bats produced a strange sound, which they only made when another bat was homing in on the moth.

"It sweeps through the frequency range that bats use, and that’s the standard method used to jam sonar and radar," Conner told Live Science. Read the entire article.


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A Petacular Christmas Video

by Dr. Sarah

The holidays are the perfect time to celebrate what your pet kids mean to you. After all, they’re family!

This episode of Pet Talk is chock full of joyful activities and good cheer. Don’t forget the homemade toys and treats! Nothing’s cuter than the pitter-patter-click of paws and wagging tails in anticipation of a gift, be it tasty or fun.

However you mark the holidays, don’t miss this chance to make your time together very merry.  Watch the yuletide video now!


Tuesday, December 15, 2015

The Nature In Us Newsletter - 12/15/15

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The Nature In Us Newsletter
December 15, 2015
By Donna L. Watkins

"Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around." -- Henry David Thoreau

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Hello Dear Friends!


View Enlarged Image
Spring-planted Petunias 12-12-15
View More 2015 Garden Photos
We've been having incredible weather here in Central Virginia. I had prayed for a warm winter and have been getting one. I don't really feel like Winter has started yet, which technically it hasn't, but Fall was always "winter" to me before.

We have Spring Peepers singing many days and nights.  What a beautiful sound to my ears in December.  I always miss the "loudness" of the critters when it gets cold.  No moths sitting on the windows, no frog chirping, no buzzing bees, no crickets or locusts.  Kinda reminds me of Rachael Carson's book called, Silent Spring.

We've had temps in the 50's but many, many days in the 60's and 70's. The last week has been like that. I'm loving it!  On Saturday night we had the doors open till after 9PM.  Spending screened porch time to enjoy the birds, squirrels and deer up close and personal.

Thank goodness for WIFI access. I've been doing all my work outside as I usually do from about April through October. It's really the fresh air that I can't seem to do without. My mom and dad always had a window cracked for fresh air in the bedrooms and living room even in Winter.  I still have petunias in the big deck pot that I planted back in the Spring. How lovely is that!

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Carolina Wren at Mepkin Abbey - Monck's Corner, SC
3132 Acres of Lovely Gardens, Pond, & Woodlands
More Wren Photos
Birds - As you know my photo gallery is mostly filled with photos of our property called Bluebird Cove.  It's an acre lot with a forest behind it and we are so blessed to have a flood of wildlife to entertain us.

Of course, it didn't start out that way.  We added bird feeders and bird baths ... and that was the easy part.  Then we began planting bushes and trees that would provide food for the birds.  Many of our plantings were done by the birds as they came in to eat and "discarded" some seeds from their last dining experience somewhere else.

Before we moved from Alabama to Virginia, we had Carolina Wrens that would nest in the corner of our back porch for many years and enjoyed them so much.  They didn't seem to mind us going in and out and even when they had declared "Fledging Day" (the day the babes were sent out of the nest), they allowed for me and my camera to participate.  What I loved most about the wrens was their cheerful attitudes.

Here in Virginia we have a deck and the post caps seem to be a delightful place that the wrens enjoy to sing and praise the Lord.  At evening the male sits there and calls in his missy.  Carolina Wrens are monogamous and will usually mate for life as long as one does not die.  They stay together even in the winter.  The pair will build the nest together. They go to bed early while there is plenty of light whereas the  Northern Cardinal (aka Eastern Cardinal). It's almost dark when they tuck themselves in the bushes beside the screened porch.

The post cap time for the wrens that I so dearly love is when they sit there and just dance and sing praises to God.  That tail flips up and down and they spin around.  I just feel myself being drawn into the dance and praise.  I wonder why God didn't give us tails to flip.  I guess we got hands instead and they are much more useful than a tail.  View the Praise The Lord Wren Video.

Another delight is to see and enjoy Pileated Woodpeckers.  That's the really big one with the Woody Woodpecker hairdo.  They love our suet feeders even though they are almost twice as big as the feeder itself.  I think they've got a contract with some of the smaller ground-feeding birds to drop some suet from that big beak.  We enjoy the birds sharing with the community of ground birds.  One nice happy family.  View Video of Male Pileated Woodpecker Eating Suet.

Neil and Michael Fletcher were hiking through the woods outside Sudbury, Ontario when they spotted a Bald Eagle caught in a trap.

Covering it with one of their sweaters to keep it calm, the brothers spent several minutes freeing the eagle’s leg.  Read the rest of the story and watch the video of the eagle's release after they took the "selfie" picture you see here.  (Source: Good News Network)

Tidbit - Health - If a person has Alzheimer’s disease, a disease that affects 343,000 people in Australia, and 50 million worldwide, it's usually the result of a build-up of two types of lesions - amyloid plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles. Amyloid plaques sit between the neurons and end up as dense clusters of beta-amyloid molecules, a sticky type of protein that clumps together and forms plaques. 

Australian researchers have come up with a non-invasive ultrasound technology that clears the brain of neurotoxic amyloid plaques.  The team reports fully restoring the memory function of 75% of the group during trials, with zero damage to the surrounding brain tissue.  Read the whole story here.

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Cricket Nymph Found in House
Photographed Before Release
Critters - This is amazing!  Composer Jim Wilson has recorded the sound of crickets and then slowed down the recording, revealing something so amazing. The crickets sound like they are singing the most angelic chorus in perfect harmony. Though it sounds like human voices, everything you hear in the recording is the crickets themselves. 

The recording contains two tracks played at the same time: The first is the natural sound of crickets played at regular speed, and the second is the slowed down version of crickets’ voices.  Jim says, “I discovered that when I slowed down this recording to various levels, this simple familiar sound began to morph into something very mystic and complex……..almost human.”  You have to hear this!

While out for a run, a Polish man encountered a Mouflon Sheep with his horns entangled in a small tree.  Krystof Wlodarczyk called up some courage to get close enough to help the frantic wild animal.  The man’s reaction to his success needs no translation: “YES!”  This was recorded in a forest near Konin, Poland in March, 2015.  Watch the 2-minute video of the rescue.

Tidbit - Hi-Rise Forests - A hi-rise building provides a skyline vista if you like that kind of thing, but for me, I've got to have forest!  Looking at what man has made from my windows is rather depressing, but to see trees ... the hand and presence of the Creator. 

In Milan two buildings are under construction and residents will see a tree outside their window that they can touch.  The project is called Vertical Forest that is the first in a development called BioMilan that will integrate exterior vertical gardens into Milan buildings so that the trees and plants will help control the building's climate and filter the air.

Plants are chosen to produce humidity and absorb CO2, dust and urban noise.  It conserves energy and enables food production.  The design irrigates the plants by filtering and reusing grey water from the buildings water system.  Read more on this exciting project in Italy.

Family - Frugal Cooking - I think I've mentioned that our son, Benjamin, has decided to spend some time in the kitchen over the past year.  Previously he pretty much ate out or heated pre-packaged meals.  When he was young he didn't want to have anything to do with cooking, but then I wasn't real open to sharing "my kitchen" either since cooking and talking just don't seem to go well with me.  I always multi-tasked recipes, so "distractions" were not a good thing.

Ben keeps coming up with dishes that include spices and ingredients that just don't mix in my mind.  One trait he did catch from me is that you use what you have rather than buy ingredients for an actual recipe.  Not that there aren't recipes that you do need to follow for many things you bake and all, but my purpose was to always use what I had on hand.  He's found the All Recipes website where you can enter ingredients and it will give you recipes that use those and then he takes it from there adding his own variations based on what he has or what he wants to get rid of.  He uses these for lunches and posts them on Facebook so people are always checking out what he's eating.  It's real funny to me.

Awhile back he had a Fall Cookout scheduled that turned into an in-house event.  He had thawed a bunch of burgers and still had quite a few leftover.  I suggested he just cook them and then mash them up and use them in casseroles he enjoys making.  So while we were talking to him at another time, he had a casserole (he called it a "bake") in the oven.  I guess for those that don't like casseroles, a "bake" sounds much more inviting.  He was listing the ingredients he used which was some of the ground burgers, rice he already had cooked, mushrooms, chicken stock, cheese, a jar of salsa with added spices of garlic, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper and before eating some Bragg's Liquid Aminos (tastes like a natural soy sauce).

I think you can imagine what ingredient I was focusing on when he relayed the information.  Where did cinnamon come in on that list of spice combinations?  My goodness!  And he loves it all.  He was never a fussy eater growing up.  I wish I could say the same.  Sorry, recipes are not available since he just tosses and sprinkles.  :-)

Travel - Unusual Places - Monemvasia, Greece, is a little settlement concealed behind a huge rock face in Laconia in Greece.  The island was separated from the mainland in 375 AD by an earthquake, although a small walkway has been created since for easy access to the mainland.  Inhabitants are hidden away from the rest of the world, with spectacular views of the Palaia Monemvasia bay.  Monemvasia was once a medieval fortress, and today it remains  a walled town that has a gated-entry protecting it.

it is one of those "lazy-feeling", out-of-the-way places  with charming views of the sea that just makes you feel good when you experience it.  Monemvasia is a great area for hiking and exploring the southern end of the Peloponnese. Lodging in the Old Town is quite limited, although you can find more modern accommodations across the causeway in "new" Monemvasia.  Read more about it.

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Life-size Nativity
Opryland, Nashville, TN
Holiday Poetry
Submitted by Brian K. Walters

Christmas
And one special night.

When we go shopping,
We say, "How much will it cost?"
Then the true meaning of Christmas,
Somehow becomes lost.

Amidst the tinsel, glitter
And ribbons of gold,
We forget about the child,
Born on a night so cold.

The children look for Santa
In his big, red sleigh
Never thinking of the child
Whose bed was made of hay.

In reality,
When we look into the night sky,
We don't see a sleigh
But a star, burning bright and high.

A faithful reminder,
Of that night so long ago,
And of the child we call Jesus,
Whose love the world would know.

Share The Wonders of the Manger Story 
It's Christmas Time!
Donna

"Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around."
-- Henry David Thoreau

P.S. See anything in here that might help somebody you know?  Please share! 

Here's a link to the online version of this newsletter.

If you simply want to copy and paste the link into an email, here it is:  

www.thenatureinus.com/2015/12/the-nature-in-us-newsletter-121515.html


Posts Since Last Newsletter


Where Is Your Faith Focused?

Magnesium Deficiency - More Common Than You Think

Twelve Days of Kitty Kristmas

The Nature In Us Newsletter - 12/1/15 (DLW)

Previous Posts You May Have Missed

Thanksgiving at God's House

Dancing With Jesus

Thanksgiving ... Remembering

10 Ways to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

Video: Canine Winter Boredom - What To Do

7 Everyday Mistakes on Your Digestive System

Receiving Healing

Plant With Purpose (DLW)

Energy Savings This Holiday Season

Pet Video: Holiday Pet Safety

The Nature In Us Newsletter - 11/15/15 (DLW)

Missing The Butterflies  (DLW)

Stop Trying to Believe and Rest

Healthy Holiday Gift Sets

Have You Heard of Medi-Share?  (DLW)

The Nature In Us Newsletter - 11/1/15 (DLW)

Filling Up With God's Love

It's Never Too Late To Be What You Might Have Been  (DLW)

How Hospital Gardens Help Patients Heal

Pets: Symptoms of Urinary Tract Illness

The Secret Place

Looking at Nature Can Help Your Brain Work Better

10 Tips to Improve Your Heart Health

The Nature In Us Newsletter - 10/15/15 (DLW)


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Copyright and Reprint Information - All photos remain the property of Donna L. Watkins, but may be used with proper credit and link back to the website, TheNatureInUs.com. Articles written by Donna L. Watkins may also be reprinted with proper credit and link back to the website, TheNatureInUs.com.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Where Is Your Faith Focused?

by Clint Byars, Forward Ministries

Clint Byars
Depending on your background faith may be what you do to please God. Faith may be what you think you have to get more of to get blessings from God. Maybe for you faith is what you have to be good at to get healed.

In the most subtle sense, our faith is too often focused on ourselves rather than Jesus. You see, to experience God, you don’t have to “get your faith to work,” you have to trust that God wants to be experienced. And if God wants to be experienced he’ll make himself available.

Faith is not what we do, faith is how we respond.

Faith is not expressed by getting kingdom promises to work, it’s trusting that they work.

Do you see the difference?

The spirit of God is seeking to establish the kingdom in your life, is your faith confident in him or in your own ability to experience what God has for you?

Believing for wisdom, provision or healing is not an exercise for our faith, it’s an acknowledgement of what Jesus has done. Experiencing the kingdom or God’s presence isn’t discovered through operating our faith, experiencing God is the result of having faith that God can be experienced.

Faith trusts and accepts that God is at work, that he has blessings and promises for us and that he will come through for us rather than trying to figure out how to get him to do so.

Faith is about acknowledging that the kingdom works, not how to get it to work.

If you understand that God is for you and all of his promises are yes, your faith can rest in the fact that God’s spirit is moving to establish those promises in your life rather than trying to figure out how to use your faith to get God to move.

We are complete in Jesus and lack nothing. The deception creeps in when we look to the physical realm to judge whether or not God has been faithful to us. The better question is, “is God faithful to Jesus?” If the answer is yes then we can ask “is Jesus in me?” If that answer is yes then faith is in God’s faithfulness rather than our ability to get a blessing from God.

For some of you this sounds like talking in circles but some of you are picking up on the subtle difference in the focus of your faith.

You can rest easy and trust that God is for you. You can not be ashamed and be confident in the fact that God loves you. You can let go of fear and experience God’s faithfulness.

Click link to listen to a full length message titled The Heart of Faith in which I expound on these ideas.


Magnesium Deficiency - More Common Than You Think

By Dan Bischoff

Do you regularly experience muscle cramps or weakness? Do you sometimes feel dizzy, confused and anxious? Does your digestion seem out of whack? You could have a magnesium deficiency. While these symptoms don’t necessarily mean your body is lacking magnesium, you might want to ask your doctor if taking a magnesium supplement could help alleviate these problems.

Magnesium is a naturally-occurring mineral that can be found in everyone’s body. An average person contains about 25 grams of magnesium with more than half of that located in the bones.

Most people get enough of the mineral through their diet when consuming foods that are high in fiber like whole grains, dark leafy vegetables, pumpkin or sunflower seeds and almonds. But because of some farming methods, lots of soil used to grow food has been stripped of its minerals.

Having a magnesium deficiency is a common occurrence, especially among blacks, women and seniors. But taking a magnesium supplement is an easy way to keep the body functioning at a high level.

In order to transport calcium to the cells in the body, magnesium is an essential nutrient. In fact, magnesium is part of more than 300 chemical reactions in the body that include maintaining energy levels, sustaining heart health and aiding digestion.

Most over-the-counter laxative medications contain magnesium, which helps alleviate constipation. It’s also a natural way to help lower blood pressure and create healthy bones. Many people already know calcium is necessary for bone health, but they don’t always realize magnesium is just as important, especially for those who might be susceptible to magnesium deficiency osteoporosis.

When choosing a magnesium supplement, look for one that includes high levels of calcium and vitamin D. These nutrients work together to strengthen and maintain bones, skin, organs and the circulatory system. Because a high percentage of natural magnesium found in grains is lost during food processing, a supplement can reintroduce this important mineral that will help stimulate health in all the body’s systems.

Nature’s Sunshine offers several products to help maintain magnesium levels and combat magnesium deficiency. Check out the website for more info!

About Dan Bischoff
Dan is a fanatical health nut who religiously takes supplements every day. And when he's not taking supplements, he's reading just about every health article he can find. He's addicted to NSP's Nature's Harvest, Ionic Minerals, Relief Formula and Chlorophyll ES.

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Twelve Days of Kitty Kristmas


 by Dr. Jane Bicks

This holiday season, celebrate your cat with a holistic approach to living. In her latest post, Dr. Jane explains 12 ways to improve your kitty’s quality of life.

Best of all, you can follow these guidelines for years of health! It’s like an advent calendar, but instead of chocolates, there are 12 tasty morsels of veterinary advice.

Thanks to Dr. Jane, you’ll have a better understanding of feline health and happiness in one short article.  Read this Dr. Jane post now!

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

The Nature In Us Newsletter - 12/1/15

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The Nature In Us Newsletter
December 1, 2015
By Donna L. Watkins

"We hear voices in solitude we never hear in the hurry and turmoil of life; receive counsels and comforts we get under no other condition." -- Amelia Barr

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Hello Dear Friends!


Randal - 18 months old
Family - Doesn't this child look like one bad dude?  Maybe a would-be Sumo Wrestler?  This is Randal, my sweet husband, at 18 months old, born in Oklahoma City.  He just looks like trouble to me.  His mother says he was always busy.  But his personality turned to flexible, patient, and a no-hurry-worry attitude. I know he had a zillion questions to ask because he hasn't stopped that trait at all.  He's like a professional student ... always wanting to know something new.

I sure wish we were in summer clothes now as he was then.  I'm already tired of the cooler weather, but can't complain with the very mild winter we're having.  We had 20 days in November that were 60's and 70's.  I'm definitely not complaining here in Central Virginia.

I love being outside and can take the heat a lot better than the cold since I lived down south for 28 years before moving here.  Spring and Summer are on their way back in ... we just have to be patient.  I've asked for a totally mild winter this year and so far I'm in happy land being able to still do the screened porch on those warm days.

Tidbit - Digestive Comments - I had some comments from a Canadian friend, Genevieve, on the 7 Everyday Mistakes on Your Digestive System article which are great additions to the information presented in the article, so I asked for permission to share them with you.  She recently finished her schooling to become a Registered Holistic Nutritionist so is excited with her new area of expertise.  I remembered my own enthusiasm in those days, especially back in the early 80's.  Here's her comments:

"On the article regarding digestion, I believe the author missed one very important point:  Being mindful that we chew our food very well – digestion begins in the mouth.  Also, not drinking with meals is very important, but rather a half hour before or an hour afterwards.  Small sips of water are okay with a meal, if need be, but nothing else.  And then, many people – especially over a certain age – are deficient in digestive enzymes, and these can easily be supplemented. Just me rambling on ..."

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Elk Passing By - Yellowstone National Park Trip 2005
View Other Elk Photos
Critters - My email folder of "special things to keep" included a series of photos showing an elk giving birth to a calf right next to the Administration building at Yellowstone National Park headquarters in Mammoth Hot Springs.  It's absolutely awesome to see, so I checked online to see if it was posted anywhere and it is.  One thing I thought about as I viewed each picture is the amazing process of birth.  View Photos of Elk Giving Birth.

But I also thought about how wildlife has to be pretty ready to get up and go and quickly adapt to a different environment and become quite independent in a short period of time COMPARED TO human babies which take much more time to learn to walk, talk, form a vocabulary, and the whole process of just being able to develop into a person who is capable of taking care of themselves.  Wonder why God did it that way?  Any thoughts?  View Photos of Our Visit to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons.

Tidbit - Tobacco For Energy - Tobacco is the most widely grown non-food crop in the world.  It grows in over 110 countries and is very adaptable to different climates.  This country was practically founded on tobacco at the Jamestown settlement in Virginia.

Some of the first exports back to mother England was leaf tobacco.  It's now a great idea to turn that plant over to bio-energy purposes since tobacco no longer has a good reputation.  The process removes nicotine from the energy tobacco so it cannot be used for smoking or chewing.  Combining Tyton BioEnergy Systems energy tobacco with a proven and patent-pending extraction process will unlock tremendous value for biorefineries and for farmers.  Check it out!

Inchworm on Mums
Bugs and Blooms - Back in September a friend left a small pot of yellow mums on the front porch.  How special.  Actually I only knew they were yellow mums from the tag in the pot.  It took weeks for those buds to swell up and turn into glorious blooms radiating the sunshine as it rested on its petals each day.  I had placed it on the screened porch where I basically live in the tolerable months of the year and sporadic days where I can grab any amount of hours out there. 

The blooms lasted such a very long time and during one cold week with a dip below freezing I had moved the pot inside to the kitchen table which becomes my office in winter.  After a few days I noticed fresh caterpillar poop on some leaves which showed me somewhere in that plant there was a caterpillar.

It took my quite awhile but I finally saw it.  An inchworm.  They so intrigue me.  So few legs with such a strong grip.  And that looper walk is totally cute!  So I was excited to have hosted some species of inchworm on to it's process of life.  When it warmed up, Randal planted the mums outside where I could see it from the breakfast window.  Hoping the little guy finished his cycle of life and is now a beautiful moth!

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Young Red Oak Tree Emerges From An Acorn
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Trees - We've been having mild weather as mentioned above and it's good for the wildlife also since we've not had a mast of acorns this year.  Had the same problem in 2013.  But 2014 sure made up for it.  Acorns are produced once a year during Autumn. The number of acorns fluctuates from year to year and no two successive years will have strong production, so it's not surprising we have none this year.  I've literally only heard a few with all the time I spend on the screened porch. In good years it sounds like it's raining golf balls.

Tree species such as oak, hickory, and beech produce a hard mast - acorns, hickory nuts, and beechnuts.  We have oaks, both red and white, so we're used to seeing a lot of acorns in good years. Acorn production doesn't even begin till the oak tree is 20 to 50 years old. Production of acorns will increase each year in proportion to the size of the oak tree's canopy.

The animals that eat acorns in our backyard are deer, gray squirrels, chipmunks, wild turkeys, crows, flying squirrels, rabbits, opossums, blue jays, and raccoons. Acorns can compose more than 75% of our white-tailed deer’s diet in late fall and early winter. Deer and other animals, including black bears, alter their distribution patterns in response to acorn production. When an acorn crop is especially good, deer may produce more twin fawns, thanks to improved nutrition. That certainly proves out from the heavy 2014 crop. We had a lot of females this year with twins. A failed acorn season can cause wildlife populations dependent on acorns to decline.

Spiritual - Do you know who you are in Christ? We have been given so many precious promises by God. Jesus died on the cross that we might have an abundant life, and yet we look at our physical realm and declare, "it ain't happening here." God's promises are given on a spirit level and we access them by faith (believing to be true), the same as we did to have our sins forgiven.

We allow a lot of things to get in the way and sometimes our thoughts and beliefs counter what we truly desire in life. Here's a few links to a blog by Clint Byars with posts, audios, videos, etc. If we renew our minds as we are told to do in Romans 12:2 and don't allow ourselves to be conformed to this physical world, we can get a glimpse of that abundant life which includes peace and joy to get you through the circumstances with the Presence of Christ within you. 


Choose NOT to make December a stressful month. You are confined only by the walls you build yourself. You may have circumstances that will require some lifestyle changes and a bit of time but you can make your life what you want it to be. It happens every day. Through Christ you can do all things. Make it a brand new year ... plan on a plan for 2016 and work your plan. Life goes by so very quickly and stress robs us of many things mental, physical and emotionally. (Read: It's Never Too Late To Be What You Might Have Been).

Christmas Day - 2012
It's not Santa, trees, food, gifts or partying. It's about Jesus. God coming to earth to save our souls and so much more! Remember what the holiday is celebrating.

Share The Wonders of the Manger Story - It's Christmas Time!
Donna

P.S. See anything in here that might help somebody you know?  Please share! 

Here's a link to the online version of this newsletter.

If you simply want to copy and paste the link into an email, here it is:  

www.thenatureinus.com/2015/12/the-nature-in-us-newsletter-12115.html


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