Preparing for Life's Spiritual Storms

This is a 15 minute talk/sermon I was asked to give in Church today. Some of you requested copies of it, so here it is.

Growing up in Switzerland I didn't watch the news much. There is however one news report that I remember vividly. It was the images of utter desolation in Southern Florida, after hurricane Andrew hit Miami. Switzerland is safely landlocked and cushioned between mountains. I couldn't imagine why someone would possibly be crazy enough to want to live in flat place, that was below ocean level, and known to have such severe storms. At the time, I believe I hadn't heard the saying "Never say Never."

Years past without me thinking of hurricanes until I left my mountains in 1999 to serve a mission in the North of France. On December 26, an extra-tropical Cyclone called Lothar hit right over our area. Thousands of trees were damaged, and many homes remained without power for six weeks. Yet, with the fatigue only a missionary knows, I slept right through it and remained safe. 
A few years later I ended up living as a newly wed in downtown Baltimore, when in 2003 one of the deadliest storms ever to hit the Midatlantic East coast, Hurricane Isabel, flooded Baltimore and left thousands without power. Again, we were lucky, and were spared.
Just six months later, I followed my love to Tampa, Florida where Aaron's family lives. The year was 2004. According to Wikipedia the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...[had]...one of the highest Accumulated Cyclone Energy totals ever observed. The season was notable as one of the deadliest and most costly Atlantic hurricane seasons on record. This was the only time in recorded history that four hurricanes made landfall on Florida (Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, and TS Bonnie). Aaron helped clean up a community that was worst hit by the hurricane and told me the destruction was truly devastating. I wouldn't be surprised if at the time there was a girl in Switzerland watching the news, thinking what kind of crazy person moves willingly to a below sea-level country in a hurricane prone area. Miraculously we were spared every single time.  The most interesting thing I can tell you about hurricanes in Florida is that even though Floridians know that they could hit, many of them never seem prepared, and go into a panic. They made a mad dash to the stores to buy water, and gas up their cars every time another one was announced. 

There are several lessons we can take from these experiences.

First: clearly, severe weather follows me everywhere, and we are probably due an extra tropical cyclone in the Netherlands soon.
Second: no matter what hits, as long as God sees fit, it won't matter what comes at me because He will protect me.
Third: the one thing everyone knows they need when bad weather hits is water.

Now before I bore you all silly by talking about the weather for 15 minutes, let me get to spiritual storms. What are spiritual storms and how can we prepare for them?

While we were engaged, Aaron and I took a marriage prep class at BYU. Our teacher handed out a list of about 30 different spiritual storms that could hit during a life time, and cause serious damage to a family. He explained that statistically speaking everyone lives through about five of these during a life time.
You will recognize many of these storms from the general conference talks. They include grave transgressions, natural disasters, health issues, financial troubles and so on. Here is just an excerpt:

• any type of addiction such as porn, gambling, drugs, alcohol, food, shopping
• verbal or physical abuse
• spouse falling away from the gospel
• committing crime
• adultery
• chronic illnesses like diabetes, Alzheimer, depression, cancer, mental illnesses
• death in the family,
• infertility, miscarriage, having a handicapped child 
• job loss
• losing your home
• poor communication
• having an in-law move in with you (not kidding, it was on the list)
• moving to a different country
• natural disasters
• change of career

The list goes on and on. In the last 5 years we had not one of these happen to us but 12 of them.   
And yet here I am, a little worse for wear, but still here I am. As I reflect on what we have been through and what helped us through these storms, I can see that the reason I'm still here, is because I had the one thing everyone needs to survive, and the first thing the unprepared buy up, when they hear of an impending storm: I had WATER. Spiritual Water.

In the famous scripture of Christ at a well, teaching a Samarian woman he says: 


...whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:14


I think I survived these trials because I had drunk deeply from that well. That scripture was actually always a bit of a mystery to me, until I read in 1 Ne 11: 25, where Nephi explains what this water is that we can partake of.


And it came to pass that I beheld that the ^arod of iron, which my father had seen, was the ^bword of God, which ^cled to the fountain of ^dliving waters, or to the ^etree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God. 1 Ne 11: 15

The water represents the love of God, and the way we get to God's love is by learning about him through his scriptures. If we have a firm knowledge of the love that GOD has for us, we can weather any storm. Having gone through what I did, I more fully understand that the years I spent getting to know GOD as a young single adult, as a missionary, as a faithful single adult, and later as a newly wed, prepared me for what was to come.
I admit that while the storms were raging I didn't have much energy to go search the scriptures. In fact, sometimes I was just plain angry at God for allowing me to suffer through such things. I thought it unfair.  However, when the waves of emotion threatened to drown me, I clung to two testimonies I had gained during my years. I knew: God is faithful, and he will not give me anything I can't bear.

Elder Eyring said this concerning spiritual storms:

The Prophet Joseph Smith gave us the Lord’s description of the test we face...  We have these words to tell us about the purpose of the Creation: “We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” ¹

So, the great test of life is to see whether we will hearken to and obey God’s commands in the midst of the storms of life. It is not to endure storms, but to choose the right while they rage. And the tragedy of life is to fail in that test and so fail to qualify to return in glory to our heavenly home. Henry B. Eyring

We will need to have developed and nurtured faith in Jesus Christ long before Satan hits us, as he will, with doubts and appeals to our carnal desires and with lying voices saying that good is bad and that there is no sin. Those spiritual storms are already raging. We can expect that they will worsen until the Savior returns.

However much faith to obey God we now have, we will need to strengthen it continually and keep it refreshed constantly. We can do that by deciding now to be more quick to obey and more determined to endure. Learning to start early and to be steady are the keys to spiritual preparation. Procrastination and inconsistency are its mortal enemies. (Elder Eyring, General Conference October 2005 "Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be Steady")  

From Elder Eyring's words I take that a spiritual storm is simply when something happens to us that tests our commitment to God and his commandments.

So let me suggest a simple formula to remember to keep our water stocked at all time.

W: Worship. Come to church, no matter how you feel about yourself, about God, and about life. This one act will keep you steady, because it puts you in a place where you are likely to feel the Spirit.
A:  Attitude. Elder Holland once said: there is no misfortune in life so great, that complaining won't make it worse. Your attitude can make your trial seem short, or unbearably long, or in fact, with the right attitude you might see that what you’re going through might not even be a trial, but an opportunity to grow. And sometimes, a sucky attitude is what causes your spiritual storms.
T: Testimony. What is a testimony? In short it is something you know for sure to be true. If you want a testimony to grow stronger, pray and read your scriptures with the burning intent to get to know GOD, versus just so He can't say you weren't keeping that commandment. 
E: Endurance. In the words of one of my favorite movie characters of all time, Dory: just keep swimming, just keep swimming
R: Repent. You may have done nothing wrong, but if the point of a test is to test our humility, then it won't hurt to humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness. If you have done something wrong, then all the more reason to repent. Many spiritual storms are caused or made worse by carrying around unnecessary burdens of guilt.
S: Serve in your callings. If you want to understand the love that Christ and God have for you, act as Christ did. When you act as his servant, and feel the love He has for others, you will come to believe the love He has for you. And serving others helps you think less of your own problems.

In a sense we are all like those crazy people who chose to live in a below sea level country, prone to severe storms. We came to earth, willingly, knowing full well what we were getting ourselves into. So why did we come? Because we followed the person we loved, our big brother Jesus Christ, and because in the grand scheme of things, we knew that just like in Florida, hurricanes last only a few days, while 9-10 months out of the year the weather is warm, sunny, and absolutely fabulous.

How Diet causes autism, and why the Gluten Casein Free Diet is not the answer

OK, I admit, the title is purposefully sensationalistic. I don't actually know what causes autism, but after reading Gut and Psychology Syndrome from Doctor Natasha Campbell-McBride I'm 150% convinced that diet is one of the main factors in what causes autism.

I'm not a Doctor, or medical expert, just a mom who does a lot of research. However, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride is not only a mother of a successfully recovered autistic child, she is also a trained medical doctor (Neurologist, and brain surgeon), as well as having specialized in nutrition after finding out her son was autistic. So if you don't believe me for my lack of training and titles, then read her book. No need for me to re-invent the wheel. It's pretty easy to understand, and it will give you all the details and explanations of what I am about to summarize below, with research and scientific studies quoted to back her up.

I found myself chanting mentally on every page "Why didn't anybody tell me about this? Why didn't I know?" (and if I'm honest with myself, I did have a friend who told me about this, and at the time I thought it was too extreme, and that I didn't have the guts to do it, because I myself was addicted to carbs). In my previous post about what to do when you suspect your child is autistic, I said that if I could go back and know then what I know now, I would have started a GAPS or a SCD diet immediately. I constantly think of all the things I could have done differently but after reading this book, I would prioritize this as the MOST IMPORTANT INTERVENTION ALONGSIDE ONE ON ONE EDUCATION.
So here is why I tell you: don't shy away from the work. You will soooo regret not doing this. I'm convinced that this diet is 50% of the solution (with the other 50% being training the brain through one on one intensive education and something like Brain Balance or Neurofeedback).

After reading below explanation, jump to the bottom of the page, where I give you an update on how it worked for us after doing it for 6 months, and what I have learned from it. It isn't what I thought it would be. 

OK here is the explanation of why I recommend you do this diet summed up as simply as I can:

Our gut is the first line of defense to foreign objects, bacteria, toxins, etc. and a very important part of our immune system. Normally the gut is populated with good and bad bacteria. They are in balance and take care of anything that doesn't belong in our body. In children and adults with Autism, ADHD, ADD, Dispraxia, etc their digestive tracts are out of balance (omitting explanation why, for brevity but it's in the book), and therefore their immune system is compromised. When there are too many bad bacteria and not enough good the body can't handle the toxic load. Foods and toxins get into their blood stream and into the brain that shouldn't and cause heaps of damage (This condition is called Leaky Gut). And on the other hand important nutrients that the body and brain need for normal development do not make it to the brain because food isn't digested right, thus the brain doesn't develop the way it should, making it all worse and compromising the immune system even more. 

The idea of the diet is to replenish the good bacteria with pro-biotic foods like fermented vegetables (and perhaps some supplements), and at the same time starving the bad bacteria of it's main source of nutrition: starches. The foods allowed on the diet are very nourishing and simple to digest, thus giving the stomach a chance to repair itself and supplying the body with nutrition. Essentially this diet is a complete sugar free, grain free diet (although fruits, and honey are allowed, just fyi). You do that for about 2 years or until your child has been symptom free for at least 6 months. Now before you throw your hands up in the air and say: no way, that's too hard, let me tell you what it looks like after you've waited a few years and tried other stuff first (like the GFCF diet, Feingold, etc).

1. Autism doesn't go away or get better by doing nothing and waiting it out. In fact it gets worse and the gap to catch up to peers widens (which -you've guessed it- means more work for you, mama, or daddy)
2. Trying easier things first only works for a little bit, because the root of the problem is still there. Only GAPS, or the SCD diet address and cure the actual problem in the gut.
3. No matter how finicky of an eater your toddler is now, when he's older he'll be stronger, more verbal, and more finicky, and the tantrums and control battles are more aggressive and louder. 
4. Two years of work are nothing compared to the work you'll have to put in if you don't do it. You're child will develop more food allergies, more intolerances, and refuse anything besides starch. Every meal is a battle.

Now what about the Gluten and Casein Free diet? I did that for 3 years now. At first we saw a huge improvement, and so will you, but it won't last long. Here is what Dr. Campbell-McBride says about that:
"If you transfer this child to the GFCF diet, processed carbohydrates containing gluten are replaced with gluten free processed carbohydrates, made with rice, sugar potato starch, tapioca flour, soy, buckwheat flour etc. This sort of food will feed the abnormal flora in the child's gut just as much as the previous diet did, perpetuating the vicious cycle of a damaged leaky gut and toxicity escaping from this leaky gut into the blood and brain. Of course the fact that out of dozens of various toxins, flowing from the gut into the body, two toxins have been removed -gluteomorphin and casomorphins - does some good."

It does help a tiny bit, and I can testify to that, but it hasn't solved his picky eating and carb addiction, and his gut flora is still a mess. In addition to those problems the gluten free products are very high on the glycemic index, even higher than the gluten containing ones (because gluten is a protein which slows down digestions, i.e. requires less insulin). High glycemic foods cause inflammation in the body. Children with autism already have chronic inflammation in their bodies and brains, so when you give them GFCF diets it doesn't abate the inflammation, it makes it worse, and the bad bacteria are still fed.

Here are some resources to help you get started with a GAPS or SCD diet (by the way SCD stands for Specific Carbohydrate Diet. It has been around since the 1920's with 90 years of scientific evidence to back up it's effectiveness. However it wasn't specifically created for autism. The GAPS diet is based on the SCD diet, but was specifically altered for patients suffering from autism, ADD, ADHD, etc.)

Book Gut and Psychology Syndrome
Cooking class to reverse food allergies
Meal Plans
FAQ from the Gaps Site
Dr. Campbell-McBride on youtube.
SCD Recipes and help


Update April 28, 2012: We did GAPS with Ezra for six months. It did not yield the results we hoped for. He got better at first, but then started eating mainly meats and fruits. I have learned in the meanwhile that meats are actually very hard on the digestive system, as are fats. We have done further research and are currently favoring Dr.Fuhrmans' recommendation of eating 95% plant foods. His recommendations are not specifically for autism, but they make enough sense and present solid scientific research for general health, that it made sense to follow it for the whole family. Plus the Chinese Medicine Practitioner that I consulted said that the best thing for a kid like Ezra is very little meat (or none), and lots of steamed vegetables, things that are warming to his middle and require very little digestive juices. We now also know that he has a candida overgrowth, so really he should be taken off most fruits. That's where we saw the major difference on the GAPS diet during the introduction phase where no fruits were allowed. He really calmed down, spoke clearly. It's just so hard to pull off that kind of diet when you send your kids to school. So to sum up I've taken a lot of information from the GAPS diet, but I think Dr. Campbell-McBride is wrong about the meat consumption. With any dietary intervention the key is to get kids to eat lots of green vegetables (and yes, you can imagine that that is easier said than done). If you do a GAPS diet and they end up eating only what Ezra ate, it will be better than eating just carbs, but it's only the first step in the right direction.