I made homemade breakfast sausage

Happy New Year blog friends!

What are you most looking forward to in 2016?

I’m looking forward to being more consistent this year. Small actions done consistently and repeatedly have big outcomes.

I saw a weight loss video of a guy that lost 300 lbs in 15 months from doing yoga every day. It was the small action done consistently over 15 months that gave him that big outcome.

I’ve been able to lose weight, but never keep it off, it always seems to come back. Why? Because of my lack of consistency. So I’m trying to find a lifestyle change that works.

I’m honestly motivated by overall health. Getting older is a reality and I want to be able to be the most active and alert as I continue into the last 2/3 of my life.  “Looking good” will just be a added benefit.

I love meat. So going vegetarian isn’t sustainable for me. Jess did Whole 30 for a while and it cured her sciatica because it takes away the inflammation in your body. It’s focus is on whole and natural foods. Clean meats, vegetables, fruits and nuts. On this plan you can eat all the meat and potatoes and vegetables and nuts you want, which sounds sustainable to me.

I’ve made a couple of amendments, I’m allowing oats, because I make my meatloaf with oats, I guess I could use potato. And I’m allowing butter. (Not margarine) You’re allowed ghee on whole 30 which is butter without the milk fat, but thats one extra step that might make me throw the towel in. I don’t want to heat up my butter and scrape off the milk fat.

I’ve realized that sometimes the difference between success and failure for me can be one tiny little step. If I can remove as many steps as possible between me and my goal I’m more poised for success.

So reducing steps between me and eating healthy means… take a day each week and cook up a bunch of food. So that if I’m having a bad day I’ve got something to easily heat up instead of prepping and cooking.  Thats one less step between me and a healthier option instead of one more step between me and the mcdonalds drive through.

So Sunday we went to kroger, costco and whole foods and did all of our shopping.  I took Monday to make a few things.

Here’s what I made.

I LOVE breakfast meat.  But I wanted to make my own so I knew what was in it.  I had helped Jess’ step dad make korv, which is a Swedish sausage, over the Christmas break so I thought I’d try my hand at making my own breakfast sausage.  I bought ground pork at whole foods and added some minced garlic, salt and pepper and sage.  Sage is what gives breakfast sausage it’s breakfast sausage flavor.  I mixed it up and made a small patty, it didn’t really taste like much, so I went back and added a ton more sage and that did the trick.

Next I made up a batch of kimchi.  Kimchi is a great way for me to eat more vegetables.  Plus it’s a fermented food which is suppose to have all kinds of health benefits, plus its all vegetables but it’s spicy, it’s a great addition to any meal that adds a satisfying CRUNCH.  Here’s the recipe I follow loosely.

I also made up a meatloaf, I don’t follow a recipe.  Pound of ground beef, some oats, whatever onion I had left chopped up, some salsa, minced garlic (I added way to much) some fish sauce (probably will omit this and the garlic next time) and then topped it with tomato paste.  An amazing topping is ketchup and maple syrup but I’m trying to avoid sugar so boring ol tomato paste it was.

I also threw a giant baked potato in the oven, but didn’t end up eating it.

I need to cook up some turkey burgers and some chicken breasts so they are ready to go.  Jess hardboiled a bunch of eggs.  I’ve got some brussel sprouts and asparagus in the fridge too as vegetables.  I’m having meatloaf and a potato and brussel sprouts for dinner when I get home tonight from Clarksville

Here’s to hoping having an intentional food buying and prepping day helps me be consistent with eating cleaner.

Do you have any tips to eating clean consistently?  Share with us in the comments.

2015 has been a great year for Jess and I.  We spent over half the year in Hawaii finishing our commitment with YWAM Honolulu and moved to Tennessee to partner with a ministry we’re helping to grow.  We ran two discipleship schools in TN and have been able to spend quality time with family which was one of the major motivators for returning to the mainland from the beautiful islands of Hawaii.

We are excited for what 2016 has in store!

If you’re looking to make and end of the year tax deductible gift and would like to donate towards our ministry you can do so by clicking the link below.

What was the highlight of your 2015?  And what are you most looking forward to in 2016?  Let us know in the comments!

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  Life has been crazy we’ve been on the road non-stop.  I think I’ve slept in my own bed 3 times in the past 2 months.

Sorry also for the lack of new podcasts on Doing Ministry Well we are in talks right now with some amazing designers and are hoping to rebrand and rerelease sometime in 2016!

Hope you guys had an amazing Thanksgiving and have a Happy Holiday season.  I’ll try and write more in 2016.

If you love the blog comment, or respond and let me know so I don’t feel like I’m writing to no one.  

Blessings,

Jim

My last blog post was talking about the importance of confrontation.

Confrontation done correctly is a beautiful thing and it invites in light and truth.

We also recognized people fear confrontation because they assume the other person will react explosively.  Or they fear baring their soul nothing will be met with no action on the other end.

Since it always takes two to tango.  We have to ask ourselves if we are welcoming feedback in our own lives.

Am I approachable?  Am I asking for feedback?  Can I handle honest feedback?  Can I admit that I am not perfect?  Can I empathize, apologize and seriously work on the things in my life that cause others to not want be around me?

A few months ago, I sent a couple sample chapters from a book I’m working on to be endorsed.  I was met with hard feedback and it set me free.  Free to be open to critique, to not take things personally.

Danny Silk authored a book Culture of Honor.  Confrontation works best in that culture.

Inviting and giving feedback isn’t to destroy people.  It’s to lovingly point out weaknesses so that people don’t continue blindly in those things.

Danny’s teaching on boundaries was really beneficial to me as well.  And I think his new book Keep Your Love on also hits on a lot of these healthy relational topics.  I haven’t gotten a chance to check his new book out yet but I’d like to.  He posts quotes from his book often on facebook.

Lastly Steve Sprague talks about how he invites feedback from his faculty and how he processes that feedback publicly in his interview with Doing Ministry Well.

I encourage you to check out these resources and be a person that is okay with getting and giving honest loving feedback.  Healthy relationships depend on it.

How are you at confrontation?  Are you good at giving or receiving feedback?  Let us know in the comments.

I have this magical gift.  It’s called being an INFJ.  People intuitively feel comfortable around me and without any solicitaion start sharing what’s going on in their lives.  Seriously, it happens in public with strangers all the time.  I need to write about one of my gas station visits in Nashville.  Scary.

It’s quite a dichotomy because I either hear people are initially intimidated by me or people start sharing their deepest darkest secrets with me.

Anyway, I’ve seen a trend in people sharing honestly how they feel about a situation.  They will go into detail on how someone else’s actions have made them feel.  But when I ask if they’ve shared how they feel with the other person, the answer is most usually, no.

I was reading Total Truth today and highlighted this quote on page 132.  “… certain virtues necessary for spiritual maturity-such as faithfulness and self sacrificing love – can be practiced ONLY within relationships.”

I get frustrated at how people drive.  Driving into Clarksville today, in the pouring down rain, I got frustrated that people were driving without their headlights on.  The more I drive the more I realize people are not intentionally driving ignorantly, they are just so wrapped up in their own world that they aren’t thinking about anything else.  That’s reality.  That’s people.  People are wrapped up inside their own heads that they have no clue how their actions are affecting others.

And that’s where we come in.  It’s our responsibility when people are doing hurtful things to lovingly share that reality with them.  Take your hurt to God first and see what He has to say about it.  Examine yourself next.  And then maybe it’s time to be a light in someones life.

“Hey, ya know the other day when you said this?  Or acted like that?  That really hurt.  Can you tell me what’s going on that would cause you to behave that way?”

Confrontation is not easy.  But healthy confrontation, in love and honor is a beautiful thing.

Never confronting leads to avoidance.  And avoidance leads to even further miscommunication and breakdown of relationship.  Not a healthy place for any relationship.

People are unaware of how their actions and behavior is destructive to those around them.  By coming to them with your legitimate hurt you might be the cause for a light bulb to go on in their head, and hopefully save them and others from further damage.

We don’t confront out of fear.  Fear of how the person will react when confronted.  Or fear that when we’ve done the hard emotional work of sharing our hurt, nothing will change.

I think I’ve posted this quote by Colin Powell before but it’s a good one:

“The day the soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”

Who do you need to lovingly confront?

Our water heater broke.  So our housemate had some plumbers come over and install a tankless heater.

Two plumbers showed up one morning to do the install.  One was a slender young man, he looked younger than me, and one was a man probably in his later 40’s early 50’s.

Since the tankless water heater is heated by gas, it required running new piping from the gas meter at the front left corner of the house to the tankless at the right rear of the house.  There is a very small crawl space under the house.  So small that the termite guy that just came to the home said he couldn’t even inspect and would just have to spray because he couldn’t get under there.

I could hear the older plumber trying to convince the younger plumber to take short cuts.  Just run the pipe over the back steps, don’t crawl under there.  “You don’t make enough money to be crawling under this persons house!” he exclaimed.  The young plumber quietly persisted that he would crawl under the house and pipe it correctly.

It was interesting to hear voiced a battle that rages daily in everyone’s mind.  Do I do what is right which takes more work and time, or do I take the easy route?

The older plumber actually got kicked off the job half way through the day.  At the end of the evening, after 8+ hours of work the tankless was installed.   The young man was covered in dirt from crawling under the house.  I thanked him for his hard work and shook his hand and he smiled.  There’s something that lets you sleep well at night, knowing you’ve done what is right and have worked hard.

I ordered a pizza because I didn’t realize they’d be working all day and I’d be at home with the gas and water cut off.  When I answered the door an older gentleman with grey hair, delivered my pizza.  It wasn’t your usual teen/twenty delivery guy.  He made eye contact and handed me my pizza which shook in his hands.  “Did you get all of your sauces?” he asked me making sure he was thorough.  “I did.” I responded.  I wanted to ask him why he was delivering pizzas at his age, but didn’t.  I gave him my money and said he could keep the change.  He stopped, looked me in the eye and thanked me for the tip and told me to have a nice day.  Noticeable nuances, I took note of.

I also sold my camera lens on craigslist that day as well.  I kept getting text messages from the buyer referring to me as “dude.”  He let me know that he was waiting on his girlfriend to get out of work so that he could get a ride.  He also let me know that he could meet me anywhere because no distance would stand between him and his dream of being a professional photographer.

He texted me to let me know he had arrived.  I opened our front door.  He was smoking a cigarette and didn’t want to put it out and fumbled with it.  He ended up putting it on the cement stairs and said “don’t worry, I’ll make sure I get it.”  He came inside to see the lens, the living room instantly filled with the smell of smoke.  “You’re selling this for real cheap, you know how much these things are going for right?” he asked.  I wasn’t sure why he would say that if he was about to buy it.  I was glad he thought he was getting such a great deal.  He thought they were being sold for double what I was asking.  I had already done my research and the going price for the lens used was about $50 more than I was asking.  I wanted it to sell and that’s why I listed for what I did.

After trying out the lens, he whipped out some cash and left.  The next morning I found his barely smoked cigarette on the front steps.

All four of those men left an impression on me that day.  Enough of an impression for me to share it with you.  It was interesting to observe the 4 very different men who came to my house that day.

Currently, I’m reading Total Truth by Nancy Pearcy.  I have a weekly phone call with a friend in Ohio and we discuss our take aways from the book.

Nancy was a student of Francis Schaffer which is fun because Jess is reading the complete works of Francis Schaffer.

I feel as though I need a primer in philosophy as I read this book, the first 3 chapters she goes through and discusses how various thoughts throughout history have gotten to us where we are today.

It makes me wish I would have had a classical education where I was taught more, who knows if I would have actually paid attention back then.  But as far as history goes we never studied ancient history.  We had modern world history, US history and American government.

This book was recommended by Steve Sprauge the headmaster of the Classical Christian school in Kailua.  Please check out the interview I did with him for Doing Ministry Well it’s one of my favorite interviews.

A lot of the book feels over my head, but it’s making me want to learn more and is helping expose some of the lies I’m believing in my own life simply by being raised in a post modern culture.

I highly recommend it.

Have you ever thought about worldview?  Or read any books on it?  Let us know in the comments.

Lately I was writing all of my blogs in a pages document, mac’s version of word.

I had around 20 blogs ready to go.

The problem was that’s where they stayed, in a pages document in my documents folder.  And they never saw the light of day.

I’d open it up, and convince myself that none of it was worth publishing.

So now I’m going to only write in my wordpress editor.  And I won’t leave unfinished drafts.

I remember calling a successful businessman to ask him questions about productivity, and he talked about the one touch rule.  I’m trying to implement that in multiple areas of my life.

Why put a dish in the sink to wash it later?  If you’re there just wash it.  It’s more work to come back to it and do it later.

Why write things and expect to come back and edit them up later and then post them.  Do it with one touch.

What in your life would benefit from the one touch rule?  Let us know in the lonely comment section.

If you are having problems viewing this please click on this link to see it in your web browser.

https://jimjessbaker.com/links-wednesday-10-28-15

I’m feeling a lot better thanks for the prayers.  Got some blog posts in the queue ready to go.  Thanks for reading, commenting and sharing!  Those things help keep me motivated!

Started vermicomposting again.  Started up a worm bin.  Composting is brilliant.  Literally trash to treasure.

I also searched through a whole box of half dollars and found 1 90% half and 2 40% halves.  So much fun!

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I watched this video and it really inspired me!  The video is about a year old but The Urban Farming Guys are doing amazing work.

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Bought a solar camping shower after so many days without hot water when the hot water tank was being replaced.  Figured if there was ever a bad storm that cut out the utilities at least we could shower.  Ten bucks I hope I never have to use, but if I do, I’ll be glad I have it.

If you’re looking for a super easy way to help us out, click on this link and bookmark it as your amazon homepage.  Shop as normal and at no extra cost to you we will get a small percentage of your sale.

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If you haven’t already check out this weeks episode of Doing Ministry Well!  We interview our youngest guest yet.  Joshua Parsons was raised as a MK in Asia and has gone into Burma multiple times on medical mission.  Check it out.   If you haven’t yet PLEASE rate, comment and subscribe on Itunes to keep up with the most recent episodes!

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Articles I shared this week

::GULP::

How Much Money You Need To Save Each Day To Become A Millionaire By Age 65

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Are you liking Wednesday links?  Did you find any of these links useful?  Share with us some of the links you’ve been finding interesting this week!  Let us know in the comments!

I’m almost to the end of my 30th year.

I can’t remember if I’ve written this anywhere and shared it yet.  But here it is again if I did.

I feel a lot wiser in my 30’s.  But it’s not some sage wisdom, it’s simply learning from the hardheadedness of my twenties.  In so many areas I’ve tried and tried the same thing, over and over again, always expecting different results.  Tired of bruising my forehead, I’ve realized if it didn’t work after a decade of trying it the same way then it’s probably not going to work at all.

I’ve heard it said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

So maybe my thirties is not about wisdom but giving up insanity.

Do you know how sometimes you will “know” a truth, but it doesn’t really click?

Something clicked for me the other day.

The utopia I’m chasing does not exist.

There will always be resistance, to borrow from Pressfields War of Art.

I so long to wake up every day with ease, inspired and energized and have productive days 100% of the time.  But that’s a dream world.  It’s a fantasy.

I can picture the ideal environment where work would be easy.  But it wouldn’t’ be called work if it were easy.

When we recognize the fantasy aspects of our dreams we can get back to reality.

Do I think there are disciplines that I could implement that would aide in a higher percentage of productive, energized and inspired days?  Yes.

Do those implications require HARD WORK right now to battle the status quo?  Yes.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat down to write this past couple of weeks and can’t get anything out. This time I sat down to write and things started flowing.

Start.