Ears to hear and eyes to see—both are gifts from the Lord. Proverbs 20:12
Hello! My name is Marillyn Beard and I am married to my best friend, a wonderful God-fearing man, Jon. We have a fun cross-cultural family of three precious girls, Naomi, Tabitha & Poema and little man, Tobias. We are missionaries in Central America and started a ministry called Rancho Oasis for Youth.
We first started out as missionaries in Baja California at a free boarding school for deaf children and worked there for 2 years. When I became pregnant with our first child… we felt the Lord calling us back to the US. After Naomi was born, we never felt settled and knew we were supposed to go out again, but didn’t know where. Then, pregnant with our 2nd child, God brought us and 21 trunks/suitcases to Costa Rica with my parents. After Tabitha was born, we moved from the hot, humid beaches up to the cool mountains of Costa Rica and tried to move forward in our vision of Rancho Oasis for Youth, but the Lord kept closing the doors. Honestly, we felt lost and discouraged.
Then the Lord connected us with a missionary couple who owned land in Honduras that need to be used. So, onward we went, packed as much of our things on a 22 passengers bus and selling off/giving away the rest. Drove across two borders and made our home sweet home in Honduras.
Whew! So, that’s how we got to where we are now!
It wasn’t easy, it was hard… so hard. But God was (and still is!) faithful to keep us moving forward and help us patiently endured the hardships. Even to this day, we keep moving forward one step at a time and embracing one day at a time. I have my days of falling to the ground burdened with doubts and questions, but God is always faithful to get me back on my feet.
Now, where does all the health stuff fit in?
Well…
Growing up, I always thought I was healthy. We made most of our meals from scratch and my mom never allowed Tuna Helper or poptarts in the kitchen. We ate our veggies and fruits… drank our full of dairy for “calcium”, but we also enjoyed lots of ice cream and cookies. I never had a weight problem and was a very active person (riding horses, swimming, running & more), but I remember clearly making a decision to stop drinking soda after I joined the high school swim team because I wanted to be healthy. That planted a seed that obviously blossomed later on…
My interest in truly healthy, wholesome food began when I was first pregnant with Naomi. My interest began innocently with High Fructose Corn Syrup and Hydrogenated Oils, then it snowballed into an avalanche of many other things. Like many mothers, I desired the best for my growing babies and that started the hard, long process of re-learning what a nourishing, healthy lifestyle really looks like. I was very “healthy” according to the American standards, but I had to re-define what the term “healthy” really meant.
My first book of wholesome education was “The Maker’s Diet” By Jordan Rubin and from there I learned about the book, “Nourishing Traditions” By Sally Fallon. Now, several years later… I haven’t looked back once. I’ve learned (and still learning!) how to incorporate Nourishing Tradition’s way of preparing food into our life and enjoying the benefits of a wholesome diet. We enjoyed discovering that healthy food does taste delicious, as well as being so good for us!
Come, learn along with me as I share information, recipes and my life here at Just Making Noise! I pray that you will be encouraged, educated and edified as you come and go.
Many blessings!