Minimalism & Church Online Thought Leader

The Gluten Free Perspective

I’ve been gluten free over 18 months now. I struggle asking for my meals to be prepared in a specific way. It’s uncomfortable being the one who has to ask if an item being served at a party has gluten in it. Despite having seen first hand how damaging gluten is to my body, sometimes I can’t shake the feeling that others think I’ve jumped on to a fad diet.

We bake cookies for our children that we cannot eat. Then we wash our hands and utensils in hot water several times to avoid cross-contamination. We go to work even when we’ve been glutened because sometimes it takes days for us to get over the reaction. Some of us struggle with weight gain even if we exercise regularly, because the packaged gluten free foods at the market and on restaurant menus are high-carb substitutes. There is no medication to alleviate our reactions. With seasonal allergies, I can take an antihistamine. When gluten enters my system, I experience flu-like symptoms for as long as a week.

Not long ago a sympathetic friend said, “Gosh. It must take a lot of energy to constantly monitor what’s going into your mouth.” She’s so right. I’d not thought of it that way, but her understanding moved me to tears. Some days I bury deep the reminder that I need to eat like this for the rest of my life.

So, at the risk of sounding like I’m on a soap box, I’d like to share with you (on behalf of other awkwardly gluten-free folks out there) how you can help us navigate the issue.

1) Restaurants: Please train your staff to know what a gluten sensitivity or allergy is. Hearing a waiter say, “I don’t know if there’s gluten in it, but you should be fine.” is not good enough.

2) Friends: Please don’t pity us or say things like, “Wow. I’d never be able to be gluten-free.” It’s not a choice we make. If you discovered gluten makes you ill, you’d make the necessary adjustments like we have to. We are not amazing; we’re defending our bodies every day and it’s difficult.

3) Co-workers: Please don’t bring in food as gifts. We have to say no and we feel bad. No offense – but I don’t want to spend hours in the bathroom or fight off a migraine headache because I took a bite of your amazing looking brownies.

If you or anyone you know would benefit from more details of my story, click the Gluten Free blog category. Be sure to check out some of my favorite Gluten Free recipes and articles on Pinterest, too.

Dana Byers and her family are passionate about adoption and online ministry, and they sold all they owned in 2007 to live a mobile lifestyle overseas and expand online ministry practices globally. She’s the author of “The Art of Online Ministry” and recently moved to Oklahoma to become the Community Pastor for LifeChurch.tv Church Online. All opinions shared here are expressly her own.

October 31, 2012 in Gluten Free with 2 Comments

Minimalist Closet: Kids

My kids don’t exactly have minimalist closets, but they’re as close as they can be for the time being. Do you cringe just before opening your kids’ closet doors like I sometimes do? I can’t explain it, but kids’ belongings seem to multiply at night when we sleep. Keeping their closets tamed can be a major feat. My children own more clothes than I do, and I don’t put much of a limit on the amount of items they own unless we can tell it’s too much for them to handle responsibly. Like adults, when kids own too many items, locating toys and books or selecting which clothes to wear to school can become a burden.

Here’s a photo of Blake’s closet at the moment. (I use the phrase “at the moment” because he’s growing and we typically weed out a few items each month.)

5 Tips on Curbing the Closet Clutter

*Once a quarter we filter out the books he’s outgrown. Sometimes they’re passed on to his younger sister, sometimes they’re donated.
*Have the children keep shoes in an area by the door where they enter instead of piling them up on their closet floor space.
*Take time to teach them how to match clothing items so they can choose what to wear most days without your assistance.
*Consider their daily routine: What’s the best place for her hamper? Can you put a hook up where he can easily hang his wet towel?
*Create a system and write it down. Post it on the bathroom mirror, and after a few days of staring at it while brushing teeth, your child will have it memorized.

Here’s our minimalist closet maintenance system:

Pants, PJs, underwear and socks go in drawers.
Shirts are hung in the closet.
Toys are (usually) put away before bedtime.

October 29, 2012 in Minimalism with 2 Comments

#mintip photo

via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/RSoMcDgu88/

October 27, 2012 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Gluten Free Black Bean & Rice Soup Recipe (Crock Pot)

Gluten Free Black Bean and Rice Soup Recipe (Crock Pot)

Fall is the perfect time to try a Gluten Free Black Bean & Rice Soup recipe! Last weekend Chris and I invited some people from the Oklahoma City tech community over for dinner. We were out of town all day until late afternoon, so tossing things in the crock pot before I left in the morning made for super easy preparation just before our guests arrived.

Ingredients:

1 medium red or white onion, chopped
3 carrots, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 to 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
2 (16 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans gluten free broth
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a large crockpot, leaving the rice out.
Cover and cook the soup on low 8 to 10 hours. (I used the low setting, but high works after 3 to 4 hours.)
Cook brown rice then add it to the soup before serving. (I did this in the microwave 30 minutes prior to the guests’ arrival.)

Be sure to keep extra Tabasco sauce out for people to add according to their preferences. I doubled the ingredients and it all cooked well in the same amount of time as the recipe calls for. You’ll notice I made a few adjustments, but you can see the original recipe here.

October 26, 2012 in Gluten Free, Simple Food with 0 Comments

#mintip photo

via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/RK1RWnAu87/

October 24, 2012 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Minimalist Kid’s Bedroom

You might be gaining freedom from clutter in key areas of your home and office, and I want to encourage you to keep going! Have you ever considered creating a minimalist kid’s bedroom? While I don’t require my children to keep as few items as they had when we lived a mobile lifestyle overseas, Chris and I do work with them to keep a balance of belongings so they may enjoy and appreciate the ones that are most fun to them.

5 ways to keep a balance to kids’ belongings:

* Have them donate the same amount of toys as they receive for their birthday or on holidays each year.
* Keep an ongoing list on your smartphone of items they’re interested in buying or receiving as a gift.
* Help them weed out clothing that is torn or stained as soon as it happens, then remove outgrown clothing every quarter.
* Ask your child where he thinks the best “home” is for key items: a drawer, toy box, or on a shelf. His involvement in this decision will help him remember where the item’s meant to go when not in use. (Tabletops and floors aren’t generally a good option.)
* Divide her toys in half. One bin of toys rests in the garage while the other half stays active in the child’s room. Trade them out each month. If your child loses interest in some of the toys, pass them on to another child or sell them. (Bonus: let the child keep cash from toy sales to go towards one of the items on the smarphone list mentioned above.)

I believe that open floor space provides a sense of calm to a room, and it’s also a great invitation for play. My kids like to pour Legos out on their floor spaces, create forts, and use the floor as a place to do homework or read. Playing around with a room’s layout will help you achieve maximum play space. Here is a landscape photo of my 7 year old daughter’s current bedroom layout to serve as an example (double click to see the full view):

Minimalist Kid’s Bedroom

October 24, 2012 in Minimalism with 1 Comment

Minimalist Kids: Simple Birthday Parties

Do you host birthday parties for your kids every year? Would you like to raise minimalist kids? Sometimes it feels like hosting birthday parties means we have to leave behind minimalist principles. I’m hoping to show you that this isn’t true.

My sweet daughter turned 7 recently. We hosted a simple birthday party for her this past weekend, and I thought I’d share some of the principles that helped make it easy, inexpensive, and FUN!

To spice up this post, I’m going to use an old American wedding custom to share what we did.

SOMETHING OLD: our boring old house. Ok, so our home isn’t boring, but we chose not to hire an exciting new venue to send everyone to on a new adventure. Kids came to the house for the party.

SOMETHING NEW: Gifts! As little as I like adding more items to our home, I don’t forbid my kids from receiving birthday gifts. I don’t want to impose minimalism on them but only strive to encourage them to develop the minimalist mindset over time as they mature. (Note: One way to keep from having birthday gift overkill or experiencing party drama, limit the guest list so you child can truly spend time with the children who attend.)

SOMETHING BORROWED: We have dear friends who own a bounce house. This was the hit of the party! There were no games or activities planned except to let the kids jump until they were exhausted, feed them cake, then let them jump off their sugar highs. Pretty simple schedule! (BONUS: After the party, we kept the bounce house going for 2 more hours and neighbor kids came to play. It was a great relationship builder, 100% free.)

SOMETHING BLUE: Party favors. Mackenzie likes the color blue…here she is sporting a pair of her party favor glasses. We also gave Ring Pops, notepads, and pens to the guests.

Invitations + Cake + party favors = approximately $60

How do you keep your kids’ parties simple?

October 22, 2012 in Dana's Thoughts, Finances, Minimalism, Recommendations with 0 Comments

You Need Truth-Tellers in Your Life

We minimalists don’t generally look for things to add to our lives, but some things are a necessity.

Latest gadget? No thanks. Shiny new appliance? Not so much. Storage bins? Next to never.

But there something I think we all need, and I regularly come across people who lack this necessity.

Truth-tellers.

We lose objectivity on everything from our hairstyles to our business practices over time. Everyone needs truth-tellers to explain where we might be missing the boat.

I know you have friends, but do you have people who love you so much they’ll tell you the truth? (And all of it?)

My husband (my chief truth-teller, handsomely pictured here) often talks about the need to share the last ten percent. The last ten percent includes the details that are embarrassing to say, words we want to protect others from hearing, or things we hate to admit. But the last 10 percent is what makes all the difference in moving ahead on the right path.

What’s that, you say? You have truth-tellers in your life? Excellent. Carry on.

For those of you who don’t have truth tellers, find some. Having only one is a fabulous starting point and can change your life. Make the awkward ask. Offer to return the favor. Bravely ask your co-workers the questions that make you squirm but whose answers could bring clarity that provides direction.

October 18, 2012 in Dana's Thoughts, Leadership with 2 Comments

The Minimalist Life: Beyond the To Do List Podcast Interview

Click to go to podcast interview on the Minimalist Life.

Who wouldn’t enjoy a minimalist podcast? Erik Fisher has a great productivity podcast I listen to regularly, and it was an honor to be interviewed for it recently on the topic of the minimalist life. Some key points Erik and I discuss are:

What is minimalism?
Finding the things that matter most in your life, and investing in them.
Self awareness of over stepping bounds, or not doing enough.
Opportunity cost
Margin
Obligations vs. Commitments
More is done in community

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW HERE…and let me know your thoughts. Did you learn anything? Is there something you’d like to discuss? What would you ask on a follow-up minimalist podcast episode? Post your responses in the comments below.

Want more help? I encourage you to subscribe to Erik’s productivity podcast and check out the links on Erik’s notes page for additional posts and photos on the minimalist life.

October 17, 2012 in Church Online, Dana's Thoughts, Leadership, Minimalism, Recommendations with 0 Comments

How To Make Any Room Peaceful

How to make a room peaceful

We have a pretty simple family room. Some of the furniture was given to us and the rest is not expensive. What matters is that we can truly rest when we’re hanging out in this room. Sometimes when people come over to visit they ask what it is that makes the room relaxing. No matter your style, any room can be improved by doing this:

Sunlight: Natural light is best, but one of our flats in London had only a small window in the family room. Imagine how things felt on a typically cloudy day! We opted to increase the light by adding two lamps to lift the mood.
Open space: Your walls and shelves should’ve be full. Give the eye (and therefore, the mind) empty space to rest.
Furniture: Have out only what’s necessary. If you have company, you can pull in chairs. Open floor space keeps things from feeling cluttered no matter the size of your living space.
Storage: The less, the better. Our TV is tucked away behind cabinet doors. Below it is additional storage but it’s empty. Our primary storage is a basket under the coffee table we keep our Bible and journals as well as current books our family is reading in. (Learn more on storage here.)

Want another example of a peaceful room? I posted a picture of these same furniture items in our previous home a few months back. Click here if you’d like to see how we kept things simple there using a different arrangement in a smaller room.

October 15, 2012 in Dana's Thoughts, Finances, Minimalism, Recommendations with 1 Comment

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