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It Can Predict Cancer?

ACES — Adverse Childhood Experience Study

Had the honor of attending the Ashland Rotary on Tuesday as Tom Roepke’s guest. The principal of Ashland High School, Mike Riley, presented on the impact of ACES and what his school is thoughtfully doing in response.

It is beyond the scope of this post to detail his staff’s approach to prevent what these measures predict, and it awakened a desire to learn more about ACES, a study I had been exposed to as a student of the Allender Center.

What you can do to learn more:

  1. Click here and watch a five minute overview video on the topic.
  2. Click here to observe Oprah discuss this topic on 60-Minutes.
  3. Click here for the CDC website to learn more.
  4. Reach out to me if you’d like the presentation Mike gave on Tuesday.
  5. Reach out to Mike or someone on his staff to get a first hand view of their work. If you are an educator, I would strongly advise this. Their work is making a measurable difference.

Adverse childhood experiences, such having parents who divorced, a parent who abused drugs or alcohol, a parent who abused you verbally or physically, or a parent who abandoned you, can actually predict things like whether you will have a stroke or get cancer; whether you will become an alcoholic, become diabetic, or become obese; or whether you are likely to smoke or even commit suicide.

This study affirmed that these adverse experiences and resulting impacts occur no matter the culture, education, or income level.

Thankfully, there are ways to prevent what these metrics predict.

As an option, consider attending our free one-day event on Saturday, March 31st.  We’ve seen hope and life replace the impacts of these adverse childhood experiences for individuals across all socio-economic strata, across cultures, and across genders.

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What Makes Beauty, Beauty?

Ever “see” a women whose heart is so stunning she cannot but radiate beauty, love, tenderness, goodness, and might?

Youth presents its own form of beauty, but a woman in her sixties, eighties or even at one hundred can radiate a loveliness that moves hearts. So what makes beauty, beauty?

Beauty, as designed by God, infuses all of creation. It reflects His heart, His character, His desire. Even after devastation, wild flowers push up from the burned forest floor.  No matter how darkness tries to eradicate beauty, it finds ways to reveal itself.

What does beauty do to a heart? When words are insufficient to alleviate deep pain, beauty can offer solace, comfort and hope. It can wrap its arms around us, awakening something in our hearts only it can stir. It speaks to our souls in profound ways, even stopping us in our tracks. It is a glimpse into God’s own heart.

But beauty is assaulted because it is so wonderful for good. It gets twisted, damaged, and judged. It is used to accuse and it can create deep disappointment. Beauty can also be misused by those without discretion. All of this is the work of our enemy, of our world, and of greedy mankind.

You are too thick, too old, too thin, too black, too imperfect, too asian, to not-what-the-magazines-are-screaming-as-desirable, too pale, too white, too . . .

To make matters worse, marketing is DESIGNED to inculcate deep personal disappointment that demands people buy anything that will make them acceptable, desirable, even better than others. Only this cream, this hair color, this outfit, this look, this body type, this . . . will make me acceptable, maybe even captivating? Even worse, beauty has been the source of such pain that some women bury it, refuse it, despise it, hide it, choosing control and efficiency instead.

What does God want for you? He wants you to know Him at such a personal level (Jer 24:7) to where you experience His boundless love (Rom 5:8, 1 Jn 3:1 and countless others). Then, He wants to heal you, to set you free (IS 61:1-3) from the lies and accusations that you are “too much” and “not enough”. Once this occurs, you can  begin to accept that you truly are beautiful. You can tenderly and securely allow your heavenly Father to reveal the beauty He designed in you before the beginning of time. Then, you will begin to understand what makes your beauty, your beauty.

What do you think? Share your comments below.

Want to learn about IS 61 healing? Look for information about our upcoming events on the events page.