Hey y'all, and happy Monday.
If you are new here, Monday Manna is our weekly sit-down at the table together: a personal word from our week, a short devotional, and a full recap of everything we published so you never miss a thing.
We are writing to you from Michigan this week, still in a tender season with family. Pour your matcha latte and let's start the week together.
What We Are Loving
Eyesight Upgrade: 74% Off iGenics “Tree of Life” Herbal Vision Support
Screen Time Adds Up. Support Macular Health, Visual Function, and Healthy Aging Eyes with Lutein, Zeaxanthin, Antioxidants, and Eye-Focused Nutrients.“Let me deinfluence you”
What We Published This Week
This week we wrote about happens to your health when you take action, and what happens when you rest.
And we also stuffed these articles with practical tools, printables and helpful resources…
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And free subscribers received a special gift — the Healing Affirmations Tool Kit.
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FROM NATURAL LIVING FAMILY
Bible Health is where we teach the why. Over on Natural Living Family, we teach the how: money-saving recipes, swaps, remedies and more. Here are a few of the posts we published this week…
DIY Neuropathy Remedy + Seed Oil Free French Dressing + Healing Calendula
DIY Infection Roll-On + Thyme Oil + Immune Modulators + Homemade Quiche
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Let Me “Deinfluence” You…
In the midst of a pretty chaotic family trip back to Michigan with my dad failing from dementia, hospital visits, supporting my mom through end of life conversations. But still, we were able to sneak away to take some graduation pictures for our eldest daughter Esther and snuck in this cute pic with the kids...
This summer has held more grief than we expected, but God keeps giving us mercy in the middle of it. If you’re barely getting by, give yourself grace. Sometimes “just getting by” is not failure. Sometimes it’s faithfulness…
Mama Z here.
I keep seeing other ‘crunchy’ moms and healthy influencers on Instagram showing what their“real life” looks like.
“Let me deinfluence you,” they’re saying. Messy houses. Laundry piles. Unfiltered motherhood. Not-so-perfect Instagram moments.
And those things are real, but sometimes real life carries a much deeper weight.
During our last trip to Michigan we wrote a piece that was written in the moment, “When My Dad Forgot My Name.” We’re back visiting my family, and we’re living through another moment…
This summer trip back home has not looked like the family vacation I expected.
My dad is in the hospital with pneumonia. Dementia has been taking more of him, little by little, and he isn’t improving.
The smartest man I know, a PhD scientist, my father, the man who helped shape so much of who I am, is fading in front of me.
He does not remember any of our names anymore. And in one of the hardest parts of all, he thinks my mom is his mother.
Now I am helping my mom care for my dad, having hard conversations about end-of-life care, raising seven children, nursing a one-year-old, and trying to make summer still feel like summer for my kids.
So we stepped away for one afternoon. We took family photos. Our eldest daughter had her graduation pictures taken. Dr. Z took the little ones to the children’s garden, and for a little while, they just ran, laughed, played, and breathed.
It was not an escape from the hard. It was mercy in the middle of it.
Grief and joy sat together that day. And I was reminded again: God is still good, even here.
So if you are barely getting by right now, give yourself grace. You do not have to judge yourself for needing rest. You do not have to pretend the hard is not hard.
Sometimes “just getting by” is not failure. Sometimes it is faithfulness.
Praise God in the middle of it. That is how we learn to thrive in survival mode.
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YOUR DAILY MANNA
“He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters.” — Psalm 23:2
David wrote this about a God who shepherds. Shepherds do not ask the sheep whether they feel like resting today. When the pasture is green and the water is still, the shepherd stops, and the flock stops with him, because the shepherd knows what the sheep do not always know: this is the moment you need.
Notice the verb: He makes me lie down. Not “He suggests I consider resting.” Not “He provides an opportunity for rest if I want it.” He makes me. The language is active, pastoral, gentle, and firm. Most of us do not lie down voluntarily. We wait until our bodies force the issue, until the exhaustion runs so deep that even sleep does not fix it. We treat rest as what happens when we run out of capacity, rather than as what God designed to keep us from running out.
The green pasture is not a reward for finishing the to-do list. It is a provision from a Shepherd who knows the terrain ahead and understands that you cannot get there depleted. He leads you beside still waters not because the journey is over, but because the journey continues, and you are going to need what only stopping can give you. Take the green pasture today.
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As always, our hope and prayer is that you experience the abundant life.
~ Dr. Z & Mama Z
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I just want you to know that I feel your pain. I walked through a time in my life where I cared for my terminal family members. My Dad was terminal at the same time my sister was. I cared for my sister and her family 4 days a week and my parents the other three, while trying to keep my own kids going. I lost my dad and 10 days later my sister. I cared for my mom until she passed away a year later and my brother committed suicide 6 weeks after she died. All of this to let you know that God truly gave me peace beyond all understanding through this time of my life. It still hurt and it was still difficult. But God held me and HIS grace and HIS peace was wrapped around me during that year and a half. I know HE is holding you and your family also. I am not wanting to sound trite, but lean into HIM and let HIM love on you and your family members. HE has you. I am praying for HIS peace and comfort to be yours. I found that that very difficult time in my life was one of the greatest gifts God ever gave me. The time I had with my family and being able to care for them was an incredible blessing. It will be for you also.