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Our Charis
Family
Kristin Paulus
Randy
and Kristin Paulus with daughters,
Autumn, Nikayla and Randalyn
Hello
Friends, my name is Kristin Paulus, happily married to Randy, and
mother to three beautiful blessings, Randalyn age 6, Autumn 3 ½, and
Nikayla 9 months, yes… “all girls” and all born with midwives
attending. We live in Fayetteville, Ohio, a little blink of a place
in the country about 45 minutes east of Cincinnati.
Midwifery first became a part of my life when I was a young girl at
the age of 14. My mother at that time was expecting her 3rd and had
decided to have a homebirth. This was my first introduction to who a
“midwife” was. I attended my first homebirth when I was 15, another
at 17, both times not knowing how much these experiences would mean
to me later down life’s road. At the time I had a desire to work in
the medical field and my dream was to become a doctor. I later felt
the Lord wanted me to be willing to work in Missions and when I was
18, I gave Him my future and my will became His will. I went on to
attend Penn View Bible Institute and it was there that I finally
knew that God was leading me into missions and midwifery. It was
also at Penn View that I met my future husband and discovered that
he was a missionary kid with a plan to go back to Papua New Guinea
to work in missions where there “just happens” to be a great need
for women’s care, especially in the area of trained, knowledgeable
birth assistants and midwives. “Isn’t God good?”! Through all of
this searching and seeking in my life, midwifery has come to mean a
great deal to me, meeting the needs of woman, caring for them and
their babies is such an honor. To think now that I ever wanted
anything different amazes me. And I am so glad I am walking this
road.
I have now been traveling the journey of becoming a midwife for nine
years. A few years ago I had the unexpected privilege of attending
my sister-n-law’s birth as her Doula, I have also been learning as
much as I could through midwifery seminars, conferences’ and of
course my own three births! The Lord led us to Ohio three years ago
and since then has provided a wonderful Christian mentor by the name
of Manya, who is a Physician’s Assistant but even more wonderful is
skilled in the knowledge of herbs and natural ways. This has been
such a blessing to me, especially in knowing that wherever God leads
us this knowledge will be and already has been used greatly. It is
just this past year that I learned of Charis Childbirth Educators
and have enrolled as of February. My husband and I believe that in
our continual preparation for going to the mission field, for
whenever it is the Lord opens that door, that it is now time for me
to be able to receive my education to becoming a Midwife. For that I
am thankful, excited and looking forward to what the Lord has for us
while walking daily with Him.
Our
Friends ~ Our Family
We'd love to feature you in newsletters to come!
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Charis Cuisine
Recipe to Help Raise Hemoglobin
Here’s a recipe for “Blood Soup”. I
call it “blood soup” because it builds the blood (and looks like
blood, too), assisting in increasing hemoglobin. My daughter Rose
thinks it should be called “Beauty Soup” because it looks beautiful
in the bowl and helps people look more beautiful when the color
returns to their face after being pale from anemia. As birth
professionals, you will come across women who are anemic. This is
just one good recipe to pass along to them. Although I believe the
best way to get our nutrition is to eat the plants raw, some people
will not eat them that way; so here is a cooked alternative to
eating the veggies raw or juicing them.
Blood Soup
(Beauty Soup)
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
Juice of 1 medium lemon (or 1 really large lime)
2 large fresh beets, diced
4 medium red potatoes (with skin), diced
2 large handfuls of chopped fresh kale
2 large ripe tomatoes, diced
2 large handfuls of fresh spinach leaves
2 C kidney beans
(If using dried beans, soak and cook ahead of time)
1 large handful of chopped fresh dill
Salt and pepper to taste
In large soup pot, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil for a
few minutes. Fill the pot a little more than half full with pure
water and add the lemon juice, potatoes, beets, and kale. Boil until
the beets are tender. Add tomatoes and boil for about 5 minutes. Add
all other ingredients and boil until the spinach turns bright green,
about 5 or 10 minutes. Serve with whole grain bread or rolls.
Other vegetables can be added as well. I especially love big chunks
of squash in this soup. Carrots, celery, cauliflower, other dark
green leafies (turnip, dandelion, mustard, watercress, collards,
etc), or any other favorite veggies are great. If you want to add
whole grains to the soup, amaranth and barley contain iron. Other
beans (like black beans, lima beans, etc) would work in this soup as
well. The most important ingredients are the ones high in iron and
the ones high in Vitamin C.
In addition to improving diet, pregnant women may find it necessary
to take a supplement to raise the hemoglobin count rapidly.
Floradix+Iron is a good liquid supplement. (I have seen very little
improvement in women who just take extra iron in the form of pills.
They just get constipated.) I personally like to see ALL pregnant
moms take one or two tablespoons of World Organic liquid chlorophyll
and drink one quart of an infusion of Nettles, Oatstraw, Alfalfa,
and Red Raspberry leaf every day.
Blessings,
Kristin
Have a good recipe? Share it here!
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