Stelzl Family

“I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise unto my God while I have my being. My meditation of Him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord.” – Psalm 104:33-34

Read Comments(2) »

Today is day 85, and we’ve finally reached phase 3 of the Candida diet. This means that we can start incorporating a few more foods back into our menu – including small amounts of certain dairy products (plain yogurt, farmer’s cheese, kefir – things we don’t really eat much of anyway:-) ), corn products (like corn chips and corn bread, or just putting corn into our soup!) small amounts of ground meat (we made chili today using ground beef, and have put ground seasoned turkey in our eggs once or twice for breakfast) and a little more fruit than usual (like a half of an apple or a few berries once a day rather than just a few times a week). We can also experiment with a small amount of date sugar or other natural sugars as long as it is cooked – for instance, we will be making gluten free biscuits soon. So far we have tried Millet bread with our eggs for breakfast, and just today we made one of our favorite recipes for cornbread!!!

Corn Bread

1 1/2 cups yellow corn meal

1/2 cup flour (we used corn flour since we cannot have gluten yet)

1 T Baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups milk (we used rice milk since we are not supposed to have much dairy)

1/2 cup oil (we used butter – the one dairy product we have enjoyed throughout the entire diet!)

3 T sugar (we used a small amount of coconut crystals)

Mix all ingredients together and pour into an oiled 8×8″ pan. Bake at 350 F. degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy ~ we certainly did!!!

Leave a Comment »

Tuesday is sweet potato day. We look forward to it because it is one of our favorite things to eat on this diet- maybe because it’s sweet . We have a couple of ways we like to make sweet potatoes, but recently we discovered a new recipe that everyone loves!!!

We make our yummy Apple-Berry Crisp once a week, for a Saturday treat. The idea occurred to me one day that we could work with our recipe to do something more like a sweet potato casserole, or pie… Since daddy’s birthday was coming up (March 16th), we decided to experiment with it for the occasion. My mom was a huge part in helping create this recipe! It has the consistency of a pumpkin pudding or pie (depending on how long you choose to bake it) but of course it’s much more healthy. It lacks the usual sugar you would find in a regular recipe, but to someone who is on the Candida diet or committed to a healthy diet all the time, it’s a real treat!

Sweet Potato Apple Dessert

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Melt 1-2 TBSP butter, and brush the bottom and sides of a 9×13″ pan.

Sprinkle 1/8 cup almond flour in the bottom of the pan, on top of the butter.

In a food processor or blender, combine the following ingredients and blend until smooth:

4 medium yellow apples, peeled, cored, and shredded

4 medium sweet potatoes, baked (until soft) and removed from their skins

3 TBSP Agave Syrup

10 drops liquid stevia (I used vanilla creme flavored liquid stevia)

1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk

4 eggs

5 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

Pour the mixture into the buttered and floured baking pan.

To make the crumbs, mix together the following ingredients in a mixing bowl:

2 cups finely ground pecans

1 cup almond flour

1/4 cup (4 TBSP)  very soft butter (partially melted works best)

10 drops liquid stevia

1 TBSP Agava syrup

1/4 tsp ground cloves

2 tsp ground cinnamon

Use a pastry blender or fork to mix the crumbs together. Sprinkle evenly over the sweet potato filling.

Cover with foil and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes. (Watch the crumbs on top. You may want to take the foil off sooner or later, depending on how brown you like the top).

Cool completely, and then refrigerate. This dessert is best served completely cold – for a sweeter taste!

Read Comment(1) »

Spanish Rice

I posted a recipe for Spanish Paella a while back, which is a rice dish similar to this one. This is our other favorite recipe for Spanish rice, and since we rotate between the two from time to time, I though I’d share this one as well!

Saute the following ingredients in a large pot:

Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serves 10

Leave a Comment »

Recently we were blessed with the opportunity to attend several sessions by Dr. Jim Logan and Rev. Paul Jordan, at the JAARS Center here in Waxhaw, NC. Dr. Logan spoke at the Regional ATI Conferences back when the Nashville Conferences were located in Knoxville (before I was old enough to remember him ). We had heard his series on spiritual warfare, over several weeks of hosting Sunday night small groups, and were very encouraged and challenged by them as a family.

So it was with great excitement and anticipation that we traveled the short distance to JAARS each morning and evening, Sunday through Wednesday. What an incredible blessing it was! I was deeply challenged by many things that Dr. Logan and Mr. Jordan shared, and wanted to share some thoughts from the week. I took pages of notes in my devotional journal, and have been looking back over them throughout this week. So many valuable truths from Scripture have stuck to me and become fresh reminders again and again and again, to keep on the right path and walk in victory.

 ”Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free; and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” – Galatians 5:1

3 Steps to Intimacy with God:

1. Be Still – without stillness, there is no knowing.

2. Be quiet before the Lord.

3. Be slow – learn to meditate and glean insights from the truths of God’s Word.

Other meaningful insights shared by Dr. Logan and Mr. Jordan:

• You’re not godly because of what you don’t do; You’re godly because of what you DO do.

• Believers have a distorted view of God, because they are bitter about negative life experiences, and they walk through life with a distorted view of God – especially if they have a bad relationship with their earthly father (as God is a heavenly father).

• If I don’t take a wrong thought captive, it will captivate me, like a snowball that becomes an avalanche because it wasn’t stopped…

• I can’t choose what I will go through in life, because God is sovereign, but I can choose how I respond to what I go through. Circumstances won’t change; but my attitude and answer can. The worst things can be the best things when I learn to see God’s bigger picture and choose to respond rightly…

• Satan can only control me to the extent that I let him. He cannot have any ground that I do not release to him. I am just as free to say no, as to say yes!

• The good can keep me from the best; often good is the enemy of the best.

• Satan is not satisfied with an inch. He always wants just a little more. And once I give him ground, what is to stop me from giving him more and more and more…?

• People always say, “…you just don’t understand what I’m going through! You just can’t imagine the pain I’m feeling...” as if they are experiencing the exception to the rule. The real truth is, “You just don’t understand HOW powerful God is!“

• We think, “Why this trial?” But we should be thinking, “Why have I experienced so many blessings and joys and comforts that life is not ALWAYS one huge painful trial?”

• The most beautiful rugs are the ones with the flaws hidden inside… (Read the story HERE).

• I can become better or bitter. It is my choice. – P.J

• What I am going through doesn’t even compare to what Jesus went through…

• People don’t look at a butterfly as a converted worm. It is an entirely new creation. The butterfly’s nature is to crawl on its belly, but it has been given the ability to fly – it can fly! Likewise, believers are made a new creation at salvation. Our tendency is to walk after the flesh, but we can walk in the spirit. (Read the story HERE).
  

• Forgiveness doesn’t undo the past. It doesn’t bring back a dead person, or heal a broken bone… but it gives us freedom to live a power-filled walk for Christ.

• Forgiveness is always first a choice. Feelings may come later.

• We are not to resist temptation. That places our focus on the very thing we are trying to resist. We are to resist the devil.

• We’re never tempted to do what we wouldn’t do. Satan knows our weak spots. He goes right to the areas where we have failed in the past, and could easily fail now.

• Information doesn’t change a life. Scripture needs to be internalized!

• Never underestimate the power of the enemy. It is okay to overestimate the power of God.

I was especially challenged by the sessions on prayer, because I had the opportunity to wake up extra early each morning before we left the house, and spend over an hour in prayer with the Lord. Since that time I have been continuing to apply this principle, and it has been so freeing and powerful in my spiritual walk. Truly, I cannot afford to not pray! It has made all the difference in every area of my life – as well as in my family as I pray for them!

Insights on Prayer:

• Prayer must be real and from the heart. The significance is not in the words or tone of voice, but in the heart motive.

• If you miss prayer and it doesn’t bother you, pray about it…

• God is more concerned about where I’m going, not where I am.

• If I want a godly man, I must be the kind of godly woman that a godly man would look for…

I was so encouraged by Mr. Logan’s story about the two trapeze artists, and his enlightening illustration and application to Psalm 37.

Insights taken from Psalm 37

• “Trust in the Lord and do good…” – To trust = a lame man with a crutch, completely dependent.

• “Delight thyself also in the Lord…” – To delight in something = to spend time studying it, reading about it, thinking about it, participating in it, giving time and energy to it…

• “Commit thy way unto the Lord. Rest also…” – The flyer and the catcher… The flyer must do nothing. He must wait on the catcher to catch him, with full faith and trust. If he tries to help the catcher, or go to the catcher, he could suffer severe consequences. He must do absolutely nothing. The catcher has to do the work. I must not only commit to wait and trust, but be still and do nothing…abide.

For more information on Dr. Jim Logan and Reverend Paul Jordan’s ministry, or to find out more about their free resources, visit the Biblical Restoration Ministries Site.

Read Comments(4) »

In our Raising Entrepreneurs conference, one of our topics is building a work ethic in children while they are young. With Timothy for some reason this has been unusually effortless. He says so many times every day, “I have to go to work!” or “I have work to do!” Whatever we are doing, he wants to be doing it too. Whether donning an apron and sawing away at a couple carrots with his child safety knife, or spreading free mulch with the big kids, he wants to WORK! And it has to be “REAL WORK” too! One of the cutest things is when Dave is going on a trip, Timothy talks for days about how he is going on a trip for work too, (usually to India or some place far, far away!) Until recently, this was always just talk (determined and resolute, but just talk nonetheless.) Well, yesterday we were all busy helping Dave and David get everything together they needed to depart for Verity Institute today to speak to the students on business and selling, etc., when my Mother said, “Timmy is packing!” We kind of ignored him for a while in our busyness. We noticed him digging through wash baskets of unfolded clothes, and coming in from the garage with his rubber boots, etc. but we were too busy to really get the full picture of what was going on. Finally, after about an hour and a half, we were ready to head upstairs and wind down for the evening, when Timothy came lumbering down the hall with a BIG suitcase! Can’t you just see him staggering under the size and weight of it? He was so cute in his determination. As I intercepted him just outside his room this is what I saw:

He had taken his whole bed apart, gotten his sleeping bag and bedding folded up, picked out and neatly folded some clothes and filled his little backpack with important work “stuff.” He even got his shoes and put a pair of socks in each shoe. He had also changed into his church pants, a polo shirt, and church shoes (he knows business men need to look professional!) I tried to tell him he could not go with Daddy and David, but he ignored me and proceeded to lay the suitcase down unzip it and stuff his sleeping bag in the outer compartment. I called out to Dave, “Uh Dave…I think you better come here and see this…I think Timmy needs a little Daddy time with some instruction and comfort.” Dave came around the corner and I could see his heart melt as he realized his little son wanted to “go to work” with him and “be a man.” They had a special father son time in the rocking chair in our room. Dave praised him for his desire to be a man and do meaningful work. He complimented him on his great packing, his care in folding everything so neatly, and not forgetting anything important. He told him Daddy needed him here at home helping Mommy and the others. Timothy was disappointed but not heart broken. He took comfort in the future hope of packing for our trip to the ATI conference in Nashville. The next task was to convince him that it was OK to remake his bed and put away his things because the Nashville conference is months away

Read Comments(5) »

Today a lot of people in this world will wake up to hugs and chocolates and big red hearts. There will be flowers on the table and a very special card and maybe an invitation to go out for the evening…

There’s nothing wrong with setting aside a day to celebrate the very special person God has placed in your life. There’s nothing wrong with taking time to say, “I love you, and I’m thinking of you.” In fact, that should be an everyday thing – but it’s not.

Why is it that most of the people that wake up today would consider divorce tomorrow on certain terms? Why does their love become hatred when when they see the others person’s unlovely side?

Today I’m thinking of the perfect, pure, unfailing love of Jesus. His is a love vast as the ocean, mightier than the hugest, strongest mountain; His is a love that will not vanish should I betray Him for a lesser affection; a love that will not become cold and dead because I chose to do my own will; a love that does not show itself only on good terms or in favorable circumstances. His is a love that is unconditional and everyday; constant and perfect. His love is not based on what I can feel or see or touch. It is by faith. It is by promise. It is by covenant.

Why is it that most people who will wake up today view love as a hug or a kiss or an affectionate string of words? Why is it that their love only shows on days when the sun is shining?

My God is a God of sacrificial love; love that is not just based on emotions. Sometimes love can be tears and pain and a choice. It can be going against the cries of my flesh and being made willing to receive the sufficient strength of Christ.

Love is a beautiful thing. God’s love is in sunflowers and rainbows and wind whipping through tall grassy fields. It’s in the rain and the thunder, and the rays of the sun. It’s in the voices of little children praying before bed, and in the silence of a quiet black night. But His love is more than that. It does not always come across like a hug or a kiss or a diamond ring. It is so much bigger, so much vaster, so much deeper.

His love is beyond comparison. It is outside my imagination. I cannot fathom the depth of it.

He gives me things no man could ever give me – peace, joy, hope, faith, strength…

He shed His blood for me. He shed tears for me. He came to rescue me. He gave His life for me.

Because He loves, I love. I am what His love has made me to be.

He loves a husband through a wife; He loves a father through a daughter; He loves a little boy through a Mama; He loves a family through each individual member, and then makes them a whole.

His love is beautiful. It can come wrapped in a box tied up with a bow; it can be written in a card on the table; it can be displayed in special time spent together. But it’s not about the gift, or the card, or the time, as much as it is about the heart. It is about true love. Constant love. Unfailing love. The pure, priceless love of Christ at work in the lives of His children.

Today I am thinking about my Abba Father, and how very much I love Him.

“We love Him, because He first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19

Read Comment(1) »

You’ve probably discovered by now that we eat a lot of rice on this diet… This recipe is quick and simple. I’m sure you’ve made something similar to it for your family at some time. It’s really just rice with a lot of other yummy ingredients thrown in. Since it’s so quick and simple, we make it for lunch on Sundays, after church.

Fried Rice

Cooked brown rice – enough for your family (we usually cook large batches and freeze them so we can pull out a bag or two whenever we need it).

(Note: The following measurements are for a batch that serves about 10 people.)

1 onion, chopped small

10 eggs, beaten and fried (scrambled)

Frozen sweet peas, thawed – about 24 oz

Frozen broccoli, thawed (baby florets, or just small bite sized pieces) – about 1 pound

Saute the onion in olive oil in a large pot, until soft and thoroughly cooked (Use a lower temperature to avoid browning them while they are still crunchy inside). Add the peas and broccoli and eggs. You can also do some bean sprouts if you like – we have tried them a few times and really enjoyed them. (But be sure to add those before the broccoli, peas, and eggs as they need to be cooked and require extra time).

Once you have your ingredients mixed together in the pot, cook over a low temperature for a few minutes until heated. Then add them to the rice (already thoroughly heated!) and stir it up. Enjoy.

Leave a Comment »

Life has its challenges. We are called to be soldiers in the army of the Lord. He does not promise that the road will be smooth, or the path easy, but that where we tread, He will be there with us; and if we cast our burdens upon Him, He will sustain us. He will not suffer the righteous to be moved. (Psalm 55:22) It’s His promise.

I’m sure we’ve all figured out by now that life is not always a glorious mountaintop experience. Rather, much of what we see from day to day is a slow weary trudge through the valley. We are called to love unlovely people; to view our enemies as God’s agents for our own good; to stand and fight when our flesh cries out in weakness – to just give up! Freedom doesn’t always feel like a butterfly. Forgiveness doesn’t undo what already happened. Love is not just a beautiful feeling toward another person. No, rather, in fact, these three are often at first the result of a fierce inner battle; a struggle to say no to the bondage of sin, and choosing to follow Christ. It can mean clenched teeth and tears. It is only by the complete grace of God! And this begins when I realize how great the love of God is for me, despite all that I  did (and still do) to Him. Then I will experience the joy of the Lord in life!

Today I saw a man, a servant of God, a child of the King of Kings. He said yes to God. He devoted time to study the Word. He opened his mouth in obedience, and shared the Word of the Lord with hungry people in our little congregation. And because he was just an ordinary man that loved his Lord, the words that came from his mouth were oh so extraordinary.

One of the first things he said was this: Don’t let Satan have a foothold in your life!

God knew I needed this. Because it’s been one of those in-the-valley weeks. It’s been long and exhausting and at times just plain hard. You know what I mean. You have those days too. Thank God for a loving family, and His precious Word, and His amazing grace!

The ordinary man that serves an extraordinary God said more. He went through Psalm 86, meditating on each verse, expounding to us with wonderful insights that the Lord showed him this week. I wanted to share a few of those verses with you, because they were a blessing to me.

(verse one) I must be poor and needy to be helped. I must be desperate, and dependent on God alone, not my own strength.

(verse four) I need to give my mind, will, and emotions over to the complete control of God. This is when Satan will not have a foothold in my life. This is when I will experience the complete JOY of the Lord!

(verse seven) I don’t usually recognize God’s goodness until I am “at the bottom”. I walk through the “good” times never realizing where I would be, or what it would be like without God’s goodness. God allows troubles often simply because He wants me to call out. When I do, He will always answer. And no can be an answer too.

(verse eight) Nothing compares to the Lord. Anything I love more than Him is a god. And yet nothing will satisfy, fulfill, complete, or perfect – except for Jesus Christ.

(verse eleven) Am I teachable? Am I yielded to Him? Is my heart sitting on a fence seeking after many different things, or am I undivided? If I ask, He will change my heart that I might fear His name.

(verse twelve) I need to praise the Lord with ALL of my heart, not just in my words.

(verse thirteen) He has raised me up from a shapeless hunk of clay out of the mire; He has molded me. By His great love and compassion, He has delivered me from the grave. He has made me what I am, and who I am.

(verse fifteen) The Lord is kind, stable, faithful, trustworthy. He is the one unchanging constant in the midst of all life’s inconsistencies.

(verse sixteen) He gives mercy. He gives strength. He saves. I must realize that it is His strength and not my own. He wants the glory due unto His name.

Don’t let Satan get a foothold in your life. The King of Kings has created us for so much more. He has made us to be more than conquerors, in Christ Jesus! And it begins with meditating on, and applying His Word to our lives.

Read Comments(2) »

The other day I was putting compost in the 5 holes in our front yard, where I hope to plant fruit trees this year. While I was out, I noticed that Sarah’s beehive was as busy as can be in the middle of the 60 degree day, and there was a pile of dead bees at the entrance of mine. The first thought that hit me was, “Great! Another dead beehive!” You see, I lost another one earlier last fall. As I continued to work, I was thinking about what I was going to do, and the Lord brought the words of Solomon to mind from Proverbs 27:1-2 “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth, a stranger and not thine own lips.”

I was immediately reminded of times in the past few months when I had done both of these things; of all the plans that I had made to get VSH queens, split my hive, get tons of honey, get even more money, and even help coach one of our friends on how to start and successfully keep their beehive. It was a humbling thought that this may be directly related to all the “great plans” I had in store for myself. The Lord has some reason for allowing this to happen, and it should not surprise me that this would happen. Maybe I need more character training. Maybe He wants to build my patience. I began to see this as the perfect opportunity to look for reasons why the Lord may have allowed this to happen. Now, I am starting from scratch (along with my dad, whose bee hive also died last winter.) with those words from Solomon deeply engraved in my mind. Also, fresh on my mind is the Scripture, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away…” (Job 1:21b) I think that the Lord needs to bring us tests like this. If not controlled properly, we may find ourselves becoming angry about the situation. I found myself giving in to this when I first saw my dead hive. But, the Lord also wants us to think about benefits that come from a situation. Lets see; what could possibly be “good” about a dead hive? For one, it will give me a little more time until spring. Secondly, it may cause me to do some more study and research, and less planning on making money. See, the benefits are good ones. We just have to learn how to look at it that way.

I want everyone to learn from this experience – not just bee-keepers. Everyone needs to know that, at some point, there will be a consequence of “boasting of tomorrow”. Learn to give thanks to God for the things that He gives us today. Not tomorrow. When tomorrow comes, if He gives us those same things again, we can thank Him again. You see, we can never praise God too much, however, we are always in danger of praising ourselves too much. Be a learner, and praise God!

Read Comments(2) »