I didn’t.

Now I do, and if you can extrapolate that perhaps the central verse of the whole Bible might be the one thing God wants us to “get,” then it’s worth knowing, even memorizing.

Enjoy!

Not when it’s so hot and humid there are heat warnings. When I dread the relief of thunderstorms because most all of them all summer have meant water in the house and power outages that keep us bailing our sump pump and spending the weekends at Home Depot trying to solve this water issue.

HOWEVER, determined not to overlook the gifts of summer, I started a list. After you read mine, will you add a few items of your own by commenting, please? Let’s not let ourselves fail to appreciate the abundant gifts specifically of summer.

Abundant Gifts of Summer

• fresh fruit: watermelon, ice cold on a summer day; cantaloupe, Michigan peaches, strawberries, and my favorite, blueberries–especially when picked fresh on an outing with a friend, or given to me by my son who thoughtfully bought 5 packages on sale because he knew they were my favorite fruit
• garden produce, especially zucchini (I make a mean Italian-style fried zucchini dish) and tomatoes (the only time to eat them is in season, in my opinion)
• flowers: the amazing variety of color and shape
• light before 6 a.m.
• air conditioning (a godsend when it works)
• warm gentle rains (I do remember one, anyway, that was lovely)
• the color green
• birds and their songs (I saw a bluebird–only the second time I’ve seen one in my life. He was gorgeous!)
• pools and lakes and oceans to swim in

And …? What particular gifts of summer are you thankful for?

Let the images and song linger … and become a mental break after listening to the news.

Three years I’ve kept quiet about it because–well, when something seems too good to be true, invariably it is.

Except in this case.

(The only other two things I’ve found to be “too good to be true”–yet do work–are Cold Eeze and Tide2Go stain remover.)

So for nearly three years, I’ve been quietly testing and figuring out how to tell people about this discovery. Because it’s such a different way of looking at health and healing, I knew it would be difficult for people to grasp right away.

For the past year and a half, I also thoroughly checked out the author, the company, and even the Bible to make sure everything is what it appears to be.

Now I am convinced: This is the real deal. And it’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever encountered.

What if the root of all issues–disease, relationship issues, performance issues–came from ONE source?

And what if the way to heal that source were discovered?

Further … what if that source could be healed without any medications or anything that would cause side effects or possible harm?

I told you it would seem too good to be true. But as I said, I’ve been testing it every which way for three years. And now I can talk about it, because the information is finally available

in a beautiful hardcover book, which I had the privilege of helping to get published.

There is a book that explains this amazing discovery in a way that will make sense to people. A book that gives it all away–everything you need to know to begin to heal this source of all your issues–affordably, without anything more to do or buy.

The latest science meets what the Bible has always actually taught about health.

This is very new–a discovery made in 2001–yet it’s also something that Solomon attested to 3000 years ago.

And it’s what our best scientific minds have been predicting for the past 70+ years.

So I’m finally ready to tell the world about what may be the most important book I’ve ever worked on. (And I’ve written and published 11 of my own, and edited dozens of others.)

The book is called The Healing Code: 6 Minutes to Heal the Source of Any Health, Success or Relationship Issue.

I know, the title makes it sound incredible. And perhaps the word “Code” makes you feel uncomfortable.

But “Code” is actually accurate, because so much in nature actually is coded. (Read Signature in the Cell by Intelligent Design founder Dr. Stephen Meyer, who is a Christian, to understand how everything in the cell is coded, for instance.)

And the “6 minutes” part is also  true. Some issues can really be cleared up in as little as 6 minutes. I’ve experienced it myself.

Other issues may take 6 minutes, several times a day, for several weeks, months or even years. This is not magic. It works the way it works.

Dr. Ben Johnson’s Lou Gehrig’s disease took 3 months to heal. My PFO took 6 months (maybe  less; I just found out after 6 months that it had closed up).

The beauty of this is, you can validate it for yourself in 6 minutes. Once you read the book and try the technique, you can discover for yourself whether or not it works.

In fact, the authors issue a challenge: “Prove us wrong!”

By the way, this is NOT chakra healing, nor does it have anything to do with the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or Reiki.  Neither is it similar to Qi Gong, hands-on healing, pranic healing or spiritual healing.

Rather, The Healing Code is the only scientific healing modality that eliminates the root cause of any health condition, whether it be physical, emotional or mental – without the use of drugs, surgery or medical treatments.

Please at least check out this site, and see if something is whispering to your heart to find out more. There are many free resources there, as well as information on the book. Read my story and the others’. Read the excerpt. Listen to the interview with Dr. Alex Loyd, who discovered this. Read my review of the book. Download the “Reflections on the Spiritual Underpinnings of The Healing Codes” and ponder whether the scriptures indeed support this practice.

Do it prayerfully. See if God is whispering to your heart that this is a tool he wants to use in your life for deeper healing in every area.

This could be one of the greatest “abundant gifts” you have ever been offered. For me what it’s done is allow the Holy Spirit himself to be my Wonderful Counselor and healer of the “heart junk” that is like static interfering with his messages of love.

Is there actual scientific evidence that God exists?

You get to decide, when you sign up for next week’s Virtual Tour with Dr. Stephen Meyer. You even get to ask Dr. Meyer a question!

This is rare access to someone who speaks all over the world and is a recognized voice in the scientific community.

Dr. Stephen Meyer is currently director of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture and a founder both of the intelligent design movement and of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, intelligent design’s primary intellectual and scientific headquarters.

Meyer earned his PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science from Cambridge University for a dissertation on the history of origin of life biology and the methodology of the historical sciences. Previously he worked as a geophysicist with the Atlantic Richfield Company after earning his undergraduate degrees in Physics and Geology.

Dr. Meyer’s most recent book is Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design. Other books he has co-written or edited two books are Darwinism, Design, and Public Education with Michigan State University Press and Science and Evidence of Design in the Universe (Ignatius 2000).

He has also authored numerous technical articles as well as editorials in magazines and newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Houston Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune, First Things and National Review.

Ask your question about scientific evidence that God exists at www.askaboutcreation.com and you’ll get all the details of the event.

The gift of health is something I believe God wants for us. While we may never experience it totally in this life, it is one of the things Jesus died to bring us–starting in this life.

For this reason I’d like to invite you to a Virtual Book Tour I’m doing that could make a huge difference in your health, or the health of someone you love.

Next Tuesday, April 6, I will interview Dr. Vikki Petersen on a topic which affects many more people than know it: gluten.

Dr. Vikki is the author of The Gluten Effect, and she will be answering questions from people who sign up at www.askaboutgluten.com. (If you’re reading this after the event, you may still ask a question–she’ll be answering questions on her blog–and listen to the replay of the VBT.)

When you sign up, you may download the first chapters of the book, including a Gluten Sensitivity Self-Test.

I was shocked to find out how many health issues can be traced to gluten sensitivity.

When we think of gluten issues, most of us think of celiac disease, which is a digestive disorder.  Yes, gluten causes digestive problems and weight gain. Yet digestion is only ONE of the many body systems that can be affected by gluten.

Gluten sensitivity also affects the immune system, resulting in autoimmune disease and other complications from a compromised immune system.

It affects the hormonal system, resulting in adrenal exhaustion, thyroid disorders, sleep problems, fatigue, osteoporosis, depression, anxiety and mood swings.

Surprisingly, gluten also affects the body neurologically, resulting in headaches and/or migraines, memory problems, joint pains or aches, brain fog, fibromyalgia.

In fact, if you are gluten intolerant, it could affect any and all of these systems.

Yet, most doctors do not consider gluten as an issue with patients. They prescribe medications to make the symptoms go away, without getting at the root cause of the symptoms and dealing with it.

Get this: It takes most people with gluten issues 11 years to get properly diagnosed!

If you have health issues with any of the above, and want to get at the root of them, I invite you to ask Dr. Vikki a question and attend the Virtual Book Tour. It’s sure to be very informative. Details here. (If you can’t make the live call, you’ll get an email about the replay, so sign up anyway.)

It may even save you or a loved one years of untold agony, not to mention the expense of medications that mask the real problem and lead to more problems.

I don’t know more details. Please pray for them, for the Compassion staff (and other relief workers), and all Compassion children. As well as all the suffering families, and the churches and organizations.

Here’s a link to a report on what Compassion is doing in Haiti.

I appreciate your caring!

Our roads are a mess here. Many cracks, many potholes. This snowy, icy winter has added even more damage.

As I walked, I suddenly stopped.  Something caught my eye.

The shape of a particular crack arrested me. It looked just like …  a heart!

Our newspaper recently did a photo story on heart shapes in nature. God’s hidden messages–hidden except for those with the eyes to see.

Here was another heart shape, symbol of love. But not in the natural world. In the world humans made, in the road made up of asphalt and dirt and salt.

It’s not so difficult to believe God’s love shows up in the natural realm. But in the world so marred by both human and natural affliction–can we expect to find God’s stamp of love?

Yet, here it is. Here in the broken road is a symbol of love.

It made me think of a verse in Jeremiah 18. “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.’ So I went down to the potter’s hour, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him” (verses 1-4).

Here we are, going along the road of life, and cracks happen. Things get broken up. The clay was marred in his hands. And yet, sometimes there’s a message, in the very cracks themselves.

A message of love. A message of, “so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.”

Can you see messages of love, even in the “cracks” on your road?

I challenge you to look for them.

Because you know what? The crack you see in this picture is not the only one I see anymore.

Now that I’m looking for them, I see them everywhere! I even saw one in an ice patch the other day! I didn’t have my camera with me, and it’s gone now, but here are some others:

Notice that some of the shapes are not  quite heart shapes … but neither are our own attempts to love. Neither is our perception of God’s love in the cracks of our road. Those cracks can feel like nothing more than stumbling blocks. Potential disasters.

Yet, if we really look, if we can perceive with understanding, perhaps we can see the actual shape, even if it is a crack. Or,  as with one of them, an actual pothole.

Symbols of love. In the cracks. In the cracks of the road you walk every day.

Try looking … and tell me what you see! (Comment below, or send me your pics!)

Please continue to pray for relief work in Haiti, and for St. Hilaire and her family. Again, I am impressed with Compassion. Check out their blog for what they’re doing and how they do it. You can donate to the Haiti earthquake relief effort here, and any gifts before March 1 can be claimed as a tax deduction on your 2009 taxes. (Yes, it’s that time of the year again.)

And thank you to those who helped me raise funds for Haiti through getting some of the publishing coach products I put on sale . Your reward will be an everlasting one, and I can’t help but think you’ll also be blessed with what you do with what you bought.

Perhaps the most moving moment was when we walked up to a group of people worshiping under a large tree, by a river. (There are few trees in Haiti; most of the foliage has been cut down to use for fuel.)

One of our sponsors said that she wanted to sponsor a child from someone in that group. Somehow we connected with an old woman who, when she discovered what we planned, burst into tears, then smiles. She explained, through our translator, that she had just a few moments before prayed for her granddaughter to somehow be taken care of.  To this woman, we were God’s answer, dropped from heaven straight to her.

As you can imagine, I have been very concerned about the child I sponsor, Saint Hilaire Germema, who turned 12 on December 5. I received a letter recently from Compassion, but nothing specific.

Please join me in praying for Saint Hilaire Germema, her family, Compassion International, ministries in Haiti, the relief efforts, and of course, the people of Haiti.

I saw a news clip on Sunday showing a church service taking place outside, because the church building had been destroyed. As we viewed the offering basket being passed, the news anchor said how amazing it was that those who had so little, still gave.

The people in Haiti are themselves giving. Can we do otherwise?

It’s often difficult to know how to help or to whom to give. I am giving to Compassion International because they have proven their integrity.

If you would like to help Compassion, go to www.compassion.com/haitiearthquake, or call 800-336-7676.

If you are an author or aspiring author, I am having a special Help Haiti sale on some of my products, and will be donating 75% of the proceeds to Compassion. (It would be 100%, but I have to take out taxes and administrative fees.) You can find out about those products at www.wordstoprofit.com/helphaiti.html.