SO…I have made the decision to go VEGAN. Several factors influenced that: 1 being my love of animals. (For crying out loud as I write this I have a gash in my hand from saving a turtle I ran UP an interstate ramp and into oncoming traffic to save from a certain death…some payback! He swiped my hand and tried to escape!) 2-being the environment. Well, there are so many posts lately showing (ref: theGuardian.co.uk & articles I read constantly via PETA and PCRM.) THEN there is the health issue. I want to be THE healthiest I can because I want to honor God and honor what He has given me. So this is technically day 3. So far I have noticed 2 major things: I feel a lot less bloated and I am generally not as ‘hungry.’ I think a lot of our hunger is misguided looking for water or just boredom. But I am on the journey…excited and going to discuss it more a bit as I journey along. The highs and lows will be chronicled and of course I shall try to be more ‘daily’ about it. But nonetheless, VEGAN Marti, here I am!
Kanye West and World Hunger September 17, 2009
So I don’t read the news right? Some people say that makes me ignorant or just plain ‘stupid’ for not knowing what is going on. Well, truth be told, I know what is going on. I just subject myself to the least amount of pain and anguish, human and animal suffering as possible.
My husband however, is this internet addicted, iPhone addicted, Twitter addicted, over informed person. Who over informs me when I am completely happy to be under informed. One such instance was this whole Kanye West nonsense at the VMA’s. Now I follow Taylor Swift on Twitter. I follow her because I enjoy her music, and her tweets make me laugh. In fact, she has a great sense of humor and an innocent heart. And that makes me smile. I am sure that is why I was over informed of this VMA nonsense. Now, this crap was on the NEWSPAPER!! HELLO…is this really something IMPORTANT to the world?
Is Kanye West’s little rant/publicity stunt NEWS WORTHY? Oh…well, let’s define that. Who wants to read about people, MILLIONS of people who go to bed WITHOUT eating EVERY SINGLE DAY? Who wants to read about the ice caps melting and Global Warming? Who wants to read about a strung out heroin addict who just gave his life to Jesus and is for the first time experiencing TRUE LOVE and TRUE PEACE?
Well…that would be the MINORITY. People say that they HATE bad news, but what is it that they read every single day? Kids being raped, kidnapped, molested, animals being abused…women being killed by enraged abusing husbands…serial killers…murders…gang violence…drug deals…I could go on and on and on. But why aren’t we talking about social INJUSTICE?
God is angry about INJUSTICE. I reference the one and only Rob Bell in so awesomely drawing my attention to that. God does get ANGRY. Injustice makes Him angry. And I am angry too!! I am angry that whilst Americans plunder away and continue to accumulate TRILLIONS of dollars in debt, there are children in third world countries without clean water. Our kids in America complain about not having cell phones and cable TV. I bet they wouldn’t EVEN consider clean water a privilege.
I got angry this morning about a story I read. This woman, Ms. Wang of China, bought a dog, apparently of about $2000 value here in the ‘West’ for $582,000. That is FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS. HELLO!!!! For $582,000 what the Humane Society that I work at could do…they could build a completely new facility, take in more animals, provide top notch medical care…they would have no limitations for once. For $582,000 a third world country could possibly provide clean water to residents. I bet about 500 Homeless people would have enough on $10,000 to start over. I mean come on…IT’S A DOG!!! I love my cats, and they ARE priceless to me. But there is priceless and wasteful.
We waste so much. We waste food, by over purchasing (our eyes being bigger than our stomachs…) by not eating all that we have cooked, and instead of having left-overs, we throw away food. We throw cosmetics away before finishing them, we throw away body lotions, perfumes, etc. LOTS of consumable products that can or could be used. Find what you like and stick to it!
We have a planet that is dying. It is dying because we are poisoning it. We use detergents with so many chemicals in them that more and more people are developing skin allergies and psoriasis. Instead of spending the few minutes it would take to investigate on what companies are ‘GREEN’ and environmentally friendly, we choose convenience. Sometimes, and I am certain it is not ALWAYS, being ‘green’ is more expensive. But it is not always true. We try to be as ‘green’ as possible at home at all times. AND we are totally and completely against animal testing and animal cruelty.
Want to save some time? Here are products and companies we use that ARE green and animal/planet friendly: Method hand soaps, dish soap, and body wash. AND another benefit of those…I can use lovely scents and NONE of them bother my extremely sensitive skin (I am highly allergic to Tide, Wisk, GAIN, etc.) because they are ALL natural and do not NEED to be tested on animals.
We also use Method shower cleaner, and Method abrasive cleaner. BOTH you can use without gloves and you actually don’t feel like you need an emergency chemical shower if you get them on you. In fact, I am fine to climb in the shower with remnants of our Method cleaning products left. I believe in that company and the products they use. Yes, they are a bit more expensive, but pay now, or pay later when the planet is killed by us not caring for it.
We use Myer’s Clean Day detergent in Lemon Verbenia, and let me just tell you there is NO better scent in this world. It smells SO good on laundry day in our house!
We use Seventh Generation for the dishwasher…they have powder, liquid AND pellets AND they have a rinse aid.
For my deodorant: Jason. It comes in many scents and you can EVEN buy it at Target! GO GREEN!!
Makeup, facewash and all my cosmetics is Mary Kay. I sell it, if you want it…I am happy to do a free consultation and hey, men love it! My husband has great skin due to his MK face wash made FOR men!
We make our kittie’s food. They eat the Halo Cat Food, which we have been feeding them for about 3 years now. For their dry food, which just cleans their teeth once a day they get Wysong. A GREAT company that uses REAL GOOD food for the animals, not fillers and junk and dead rats. STAY AWAY from Purina, Iams, etc.
My point is…my very long point…be conscious of what you buy. Be conscious of what you use. Be conscious of what you are doing to your planet. Be conscious of the needs of others. Help someone, be it a homeless pet by donating to your local animal shelter, or give a homeless person a meal. Help a child by sponsoring one via Compassion International or World Vision. Make a difference. Because injustice is out there. It’s everywhere. Our American eyes are just blind to it because it is so well masked in our country. Be the change you want to see. And inspire others to get off their tush!
You can email me with questions if you’d like…or advice, I do not charge for that! But I am very opinionated!
Here I am send me… May 3, 2009
So today I had a really amazing God day. Jesus for SOME crazy reason loves me SO SO much. Well, I can’t say its JUST me. Its me AND my husband. He loves us both incredibly. I had this incredibly long and peaceful prayer time with Him the other day and spoke to him about how I have some potential worries about the money running out. I still don’t have a job and I really wanted to be starting one for next week. I haven’t heard back from my potential employer yet, and the 3 times before when I had thought I was close to getting a job (but this time I was FAR more certain) they all ended up falling through. SO…I told Him about those fears and concerns, and He reminded me SO loudly “Have you ever been hungry and not been fed, have you ever not had lights, heat, air conditioning, clothing, a clean bed? Have I EVER not provided for you?” And I said Abba Father, I hear you loud and clear but its still hard. And He said submit, just submit kid. So…I did. I got the peace. THE peace. That only God, my Abba Father, will bring. But I still have the peace that this is the job. SO…I fell into the peace of I will be cared for. And also that if He wills that I should be in this job that is exactly where I will be. PEACE that passes all understanding. Only a few people know what I mean about that!! And that peace, thankfully is what brings me through so so much turmoil and struggle.
So today, after a lovely day with my amazing ‘The Wandering Brit’ (blog) husband, we arrived home to shower up and get ready for a wonderful night of fellowship with members of our worship and tech team. We pick up our mail, and find a card from his Dad. I always love getting cards, so we open it and there are 2 
I get to open one, which is an adorable change of address card. Then Dave opens the other which is another super cute card with a check. I thought it said $500, which I was like 
WHY and WHOA! But it was $1500 and it was in pounds, not dollars. I couldn’t believe it. I just kept saying thank you Dad, thank you Jesus. Thank you Lord. Thank you Abba Father. Thank you Daddy who loves us SO. I took a shower and prayed and just worshiped and thanked God. And I can’t believe how much He loves us. Whenever a shadow of doubt starts to be cast by the enemy, God swoops in with his mighty love and his awesome grace and mercy and lights it all up. I am thankful. Utterly thankful. God let me know that we should put the money into our highest interest earning account and save it for our house downpayment. That gave me GREAT happiness. Because He’s not only saying things are gonna be okay, and things are going to turn around…He’s saying things are gonna be GREAT and I got it totally under control kid!
I might not know a lot about a lot, but I know my Jesus. I also know that when you allow Him to be KING of your life, and you surrender to Him; When you decide I have been SAVED by the blood of Jesus, you almost expect things to be easier. NO NO NO. LOL. BECAUSE you are saved by Him, you will endure more. BUT because of His love, you CAN. I learn more and more each time my God puts me through a challenge, a tough part of my life. I learn to rely more on Him and less on me. I cannot do it without Him. I cannot do it alone, and I don’t have to. Because of His love I can and WILL conquer any obstacle put in my path.
May you find a love and peace like this, and may you find it in the ONE true God who will give you a love more abundant and unconditional than you have ever known. May your life be one that gives testimony to others in the way you live. May you live like Jesus and LOVE like Jesus, then you will be LOVED like Jesus loved. And there is NO greater love than the love my Abba Father gives. Grace & Peace
Does learning ever cease? God is Green April 29, 2009
I have become absolutely fascinated with the idea of our history, what and whence we came from. I am watching Waking the Baby Mammoth and to see a creature from 40,000 years ago in near perfect preservation is breathtaking. She is a little baby mammoth, with so much that she has been able to tell our world. I find the same fascination in learning our ancient languages and customs. I would love to study Hebrew, Greek and the ancient of both languages and cultures. The Bible has never fascinated me as it does now. As we near towards the crux of civilization.
I find a sort of sadness in the idea that there is so much information about so much: people, places, languages, cultures, land, earth, vegetation, etc. And I can’t learn it all in my lifetime. I want to be a scholar of the Bible, and understand some of the references to the language and culture it refers to. To better understand what the text tells us. I want to hear the voice of God through the ancient language he communicated to the authors in. I wish I understood the climate factors that impacted our planet changing as it has since it was created by God, and why the tragedy of our planet continues to unfold. I feel sad that we don’t care for our planet, and consume so much without replenishing or caring. I am saddened as well that we don’t care for the creatures of this planet and one another as God intended us to. Animals that were resplendent and in great number when I was a child, just 25 years ago are now nearing extinction. Something in that is disturbing and terribly sad.
We need to recycle, we need to reduce our carbon footprints. We need to cherish the planet that God so skillfully and wonderfully created. We need to honor it. And in the words of the great Grand Rapids Pastor Rob Bell ‘God is Green.’
So may you go out today and learn, may you find something about our planet and our world and culture that you didn’t know before. May you treasure it and share it with someone else and continue the spread of knowledge. Appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. God doesn’t make mistakes.
Who I am and Who am I… April 14, 2009
So I suppose I should start with a little about me? Well, my name is Martina and I am indeed, the Brit’s Wife! His blog was ‘The Wandering Brit‘ so I figured I should be the Brit’s wife!!
I am a devout follower of Jesus, and can’t imagine a love like He gives me from anyone else. I will never understand who am I that Jesus should love me the way He does. But because of God, I am who I am. I love my husband, Dave…my wandering Brit. I literally have the best husband. Again though it all comes back to my Jesus though. Jesus really really loves me and brought me this wonderful husband.
I have an extreme passion for animals. My dream is to work under Cesar Millan and train to learn some of the behavioral analysis skills that he uses in a hands on setting. I want to BE the Cat Whisperer. I do NOT believe that animals are throw aways. NO animal is a throwaway. Our animals behavior is a direct result of how we have trained them and our energy. Discipline, without beating an animal, is effective in establishing dominance over the animal and establishing who the pack leader is. Who should always be the human! By us leading our animal, they feel safe, secure and protected. I AM an animal rights type person. I try to use only products that are ‘green’ and not tested on animals. No body or personal care item that we use in our home has ever been tested on animals.
I am GREEN. I believe in recycling. I believe in cherishing our planet. God gave us this earth to care for, not destroy.
So now that you’ve heard my political ravings…lol.
Some of my favorite TV shows: Criminal Minds, The Unit, The Dog Whisperer, Dog Town, House, Saving Grace, Last Restaurant Standing, Gavin & Stacey, Hotel Babylon (come back to BBC America!!!,) the Graham Norton Show, The Closer, The Cleaner and I’ve recently gotten really into documentary type mystery stuff that has to do with Jesus & the Knights Templar, artifacts, finding a baby mammoth that is a billion years old, etc.
My favorite books: The Bible, and ALL of Paolo Coehlo’s works. I LOVE his books. The Alchemist is my favorite. I would have to say that aside from the Bible, I have learned most from Terri Dieter’s book “Servant of the Lord.” I like reading mystery books…I’ve read all of Dan Brown’s books and read most of John Grisham’s.
For music, I love music. LOVE it. It has always spoken to me deeply and connected to my emotions. I believe that music can have a huge impact on mood. Garbage in, garbage out. I try to listen mostly to Christian music. I absolutely HATE Rap and R&B as of late. I love old school stuff, even through to about 2001 but recently its just gotten ugly. I love rock music and I love alternative music. I’m a huge Nickelback fan, Linkin Park, still a die hard Limp Bizkit fan. Some of my favorite Christian bands are: 10th Avenue North, Jeremy Camp, Mercy Me, Barlow Girl, Casting Crowns, Need to Breathe…oh and I could go on and on.
I love most foods. My favorite is definitely sushi. Sushi in St. Pete/Tampa I have 2 favorites: Sushi Rock in St. Pete (AMAZING) and Soho Sushi in Tampa (also AMAZING and super reasonably priced.) I LOVE to try new foods. I thought I hated Indian food, nope! Love it! LOVE Vietnamese food. Ben Thanh in Pinellas Park is SUPER yummie AND its healthy! I love Thai, I love Cuban, Japanese, Mexican (if its fresh and done right.)
I LOVE wine. I am a bit of a wine snob after an amazing trip to Paso Robles Wine Country with my Mom for my 30th Birthday. (Don’t hate…I’m not saying how old I am, I am just eternally 30!) My favorite wines are jammy, loaded with berry flavors. I don’t care for most ‘oak’ tasting or ‘peppery’ wines. I love my smooth berry, jammy, chocolate finishes. I love Cabernet’s, Shiraz, Syrah, Zinfandel, blends…not keen on Merlot’s though so much. I also LOVE Moscato, dessert wines, sweet yummie wines!
I love culture and cultural experiences. I think that what makes us different, culturally, is fascinating. I find traditions of other cultures and religions to be fascinating and alluring. Judiasm is one of THE most beautiful religions and I long to learn Hebrew and be able to read my Bible in the language it was first written in/first translated to. For that matter, I also need to learn Greek to learn the original language. And Greek culture also fascinates me. I would love to spend time traveling the world learning different languages and traditions by culture.
I hate ignorance and cockiness. NO ONE is always right. Like I will say now, I have opinions. I have no problem expressing them. However, I also believe that my opinions are not the only opinions. Sometimes I may be ‘right’ but it’s more about expressing myself than proving a point. I got over that when God started changing my soul. I don’t claim to be humbe, in fact God is still working hard on my spirit. I pray for myself to be further humbled. I pray that I am kind and project a kind spirit to people.
One of my biggest weakness’ is that I like animals more than I like most people. We all have faults, but animals for the most part just want to love us and be loved. I HATE animal cruelty. There is no reason for it and it is absolutely dispicable.
I love storms, I love the lightning in Florida. I hate humidity. I love to cuddle in bed on a cold morning, or on a rainy day. I love my cats. Nothing in this world brings me more calm and happiness than to have them snuggle me to show me their love. I love writing, journaling, talking to people and meeting new people.
I think that is about enough for now. I sure can go on and on!!
The last thing I will close with is that I am currently seeking my new career. I need to start contributing to our family and we sure would like to find a house before the end of the year! (want that tax credit!!) But I really, really need to get a job. In the meantime, someway, somehow God continues to provide for us. Grace & Peace.
