The following program presents principles 00:00:01.98\00:00:03.03 designed to promote good health and is 00:00:03.06\00:00:05.26 not intended to take the place of 00:00:05.29\00:00:06.63 personalized professional care. 00:00:06.66\00:00:08.51 The opinions and ideas expressed are 00:00:08.54\00:00:11.28 those of the speaker. Viewers are 00:00:11.31\00:00:13.19 encouraged to draw their own 00:00:13.22\00:00:14.45 conclusions about the information presented. 00:00:14.48\00:00:16.71 Hello and welcome to Health For A Lifetime. 00:00:50.29\00:00:51.50 I am your host Don Mackintosh, 00:00:51.53\00:00:53.01 we are glad you joined us today. And today 00:00:53.04\00:00:55.09 we have a little more unusual program, but I 00:00:55.12\00:00:58.19 think you will find it very interesting. We are 00:00:58.22\00:01:00.29 delighted to have Vicki Griffin with us from 00:01:00.32\00:01:02.86 the Michigan Conference of Seventh-Day Adventist. 00:01:02.89\00:01:04.58 She is the leader of a team there called 00:01:04.61\00:01:07.77 Lifestyle Matters that produces materials 00:01:07.80\00:01:10.89 for churches and for groups around the 00:01:10.92\00:01:15.01 country that can help them with their 00:01:15.04\00:01:16.84 lifestyle matters, the things that matter 00:01:16.87\00:01:19.12 to them in life. We are glad you are here 00:01:19.15\00:01:20.36 with us today, thank you. Now you didn't 00:01:20.39\00:01:22.01 grow up there at the Michigan Conference of 00:01:22.04\00:01:24.00 Seventh-Day Adventist right, no. You would 00:01:24.03\00:01:26.27 originally there and have you always been 00:01:26.30\00:01:29.71 health conscious. Oh no, absolutely not. No, 00:01:29.74\00:01:33.62 I'm a very unlikely person to be in the 00:01:33.65\00:01:35.56 position that I am today. So you didn't 00:01:35.59\00:01:39.09 wake up one morning say I dream some day 00:01:39.12\00:01:41.09 to be a health director in the Adventist church. 00:01:41.12\00:01:43.27 I care about carrots, no I didn't. No. 00:01:43.30\00:01:46.32 And tell us a little bit about your journey 00:01:46.35\00:01:50.08 or your background actually. Well, I was 00:01:50.11\00:01:52.94 raised in a very violent home. My father 00:01:52.97\00:01:55.58 was in the wine business and was part of a very, 00:01:55.61\00:01:58.16 he had three wine distributorships and so 00:01:58.19\00:02:00.80 I come from a wine making family. And I was 00:02:00.83\00:02:04.35 raised in an Italian household and the 00:02:04.38\00:02:06.20 particular home that I was raised in was 00:02:06.23\00:02:07.86 extremely violent and very tumultuous atmosphere 00:02:07.89\00:02:12.78 and. So, I was a victim of very severe physical 00:02:12.81\00:02:16.20 abuse at a very young age and my father left 00:02:16.23\00:02:19.09 home when I was very young and then I was 00:02:19.12\00:02:21.62 left with the actually the physically violent 00:02:21.65\00:02:23.70 person which was my mother. So, I grew 00:02:23.73\00:02:27.46 up in a very, very scary environment genetically 00:02:27.49\00:02:31.59 there were problems as well born to a very 00:02:31.62\00:02:33.74 depressed mother and so for the genetic and 00:02:33.77\00:02:37.44 environmental factors that would a person at 00:02:37.47\00:02:39.16 risk for at risk behavior while I was a 00:02:39.19\00:02:41.42 prime candidate and I did fall into that 00:02:41.45\00:02:43.36 tragedy. So you developed some kind 00:02:43.39\00:02:45.59 of problems. Oh yes, I started running 00:02:45.62\00:02:48.06 away from home when I was 5-years-old and, 00:02:48.09\00:02:51.00 running away when you are five? Yes I was, and 00:02:51.03\00:02:54.09 I was very interface about it too, I didn't 00:02:54.12\00:02:56.91 sneak out the back window, I would make 00:02:56.94\00:02:58.27 these daring announcements and just 00:02:58.30\00:03:00.46 leave, and, then where did you go? 00:03:00.49\00:03:03.99 I would go across the street until the sun 00:03:04.02\00:03:05.52 went down and I climb trees and sit 00:03:05.55\00:03:07.74 and look at the clouds, but it developed a 00:03:07.77\00:03:09.46 pattern in my thinking of just leaving. And 00:03:09.49\00:03:12.32 so I started running away from home a lot 00:03:12.35\00:03:14.73 as I got older I became more serious. By the 00:03:14.76\00:03:17.08 time I was 11, I started running with a very bad 00:03:17.11\00:03:20.45 crowd and developed a very serious eating 00:03:20.48\00:03:23.10 disorders, well I developed bulimia. As a 00:03:23.13\00:03:26.67 result of running with the crowd or, well you 00:03:26.70\00:03:29.70 have to understand that people have their 00:03:29.73\00:03:31.51 weird reasons for doing things and I just wanted 00:03:31.54\00:03:34.78 control, I wanted to be perfect. And the media 00:03:34.81\00:03:38.78 messages of what constitutes happiness 00:03:38.81\00:03:43.72 had an effect on me and then coming from 00:03:43.75\00:03:45.21 the dysfunctional background that I did 00:03:45.24\00:03:47.86 without much emotional support why I brought 00:03:47.89\00:03:50.41 into that and I was trying to achieve 00:03:50.44\00:03:51.77 something that was unrealistic and 00:03:51.80\00:03:53.57 impossible and started going on in the typical 00:03:53.60\00:03:56.38 pattern of dieting and starving and then 00:03:56.41\00:03:58.26 binge eating and it developed into bulimia, 00:03:58.29\00:04:00.16 and then I started to use drugs to stave 00:04:00.19\00:04:04.94 my appetite and then that lead, one thing 00:04:04.97\00:04:07.02 lead to another until I was just leading a 00:04:07.05\00:04:09.16 very, very terrible life. And I had bulimia for 00:04:09.19\00:04:11.72 20 years, very, very severe bulimia. Well I 00:04:11.75\00:04:15.59 mean this is all great background to help a lot 00:04:15.62\00:04:18.04 of people with the same kind of things may 00:04:18.07\00:04:19.77 be you were in or may be you were in worse 00:04:19.80\00:04:22.22 things that many of the people you helped. 00:04:22.25\00:04:23.66 That's probably true. Okay so what 00:04:23.69\00:04:26.24 turned you around? Well I ran away from 00:04:26.27\00:04:29.44 home for good, when I was 17 and I came back 00:04:29.47\00:04:32.92 home when I found out that my mother had 00:04:32.95\00:04:35.09 cancer. She was dying of cancer and there 00:04:35.12\00:04:37.12 was no one to take care of her. So I came 00:04:37.15\00:04:38.93 back to take care of her and I was a very 00:04:38.96\00:04:42.87 angry person, I had a terrible attitude 00:04:42.90\00:04:44.89 and one day I was taking her to a 00:04:44.92\00:04:48.83 chemotherapy appointment. And on the other side of 00:04:48.86\00:04:51.94 the family they were all landscapers 00:04:51.97\00:04:53.18 who own nurseries and do gardening. And I've 00:04:53.21\00:04:56.38 always had a love for those kinds of things, 00:04:56.41\00:04:58.09 so I loved evil and gardening, okay. And I 00:04:58.12\00:05:02.50 was driving by this complex of buildings 00:05:02.53\00:05:04.75 that said Seventh-Day Adventist on it and I 00:05:04.78\00:05:07.86 I noticed the landscaping, hundreds of varieties 00:05:07.89\00:05:10.21 of trees and flowers that was just beautiful. 00:05:10.24\00:05:11.94 And so I mentioned it to a friend of mine and 00:05:11.97\00:05:15.69 I said you know there is this roofing and 00:05:15.72\00:05:18.72 air-conditioning outfit its called Seventh-Day 00:05:18.75\00:05:20.86 Adventist out there in La Sierra and they must 00:05:20.89\00:05:24.56 have, they must be opened seven days a 00:05:24.59\00:05:26.01 week and they must have something to do 00:05:26.04\00:05:27.19 with adventing, but anyway they have the 00:05:27.22\00:05:28.41 most gorgeous landscaping. Adventing, yeah 00:05:28.44\00:05:32.19 and she started to laugh and she said no, 00:05:32.22\00:05:34.53 she said that's a university and being 00:05:34.56\00:05:38.89 the deliberative person that I was I said wow, 00:05:38.92\00:05:41.46 anybody with landscapes like that can't be 00:05:41.49\00:05:43.56 all bad I think I'll go to school there. And 00:05:43.59\00:05:46.36 so her response to me was well you know 00:05:46.39\00:05:49.58 they may have a problem with someone with 00:05:49.61\00:05:52.69 your lifestyle and your atheistic ideas. So 00:05:52.72\00:05:57.16 if you want to get in there just tell them 00:05:57.19\00:05:59.06 the bodies of temple and they'll let you in 00:05:59.09\00:06:00.69 and that's exactly what I did. And I had 00:06:00.72\00:06:04.36 no clue what I was saying; I didn't know 00:06:04.39\00:06:06.02 what it meant. The president of the school 00:06:06.05\00:06:08.13 that I interviewed with said that he 00:06:08.16\00:06:10.17 wished he had more young people like me 00:06:10.20\00:06:11.80 at that school and I just laughed to myself 00:06:11.83\00:06:13.75 and I thought well these people are really 00:06:13.78\00:06:15.02 adorable, I just, I had no clue what I 00:06:15.05\00:06:17.31 was saying, what I was getting into and so 00:06:17.34\00:06:20.83 that, so that's what you do now talking people 00:06:20.86\00:06:22.27 about their bodies being the temple. That's 00:06:22.30\00:06:23.78 exactly what I do for a living. But you had 00:06:23.81\00:06:25.93 no idea about that back then. I had no clue 00:06:25.96\00:06:27.55 what it meant and I didn't care what it 00:06:27.58\00:06:28.98 been frankly. And so you got in, what did 00:06:29.01\00:06:31.34 you take? I took anything but religion, 00:06:31.37\00:06:34.54 anything that I could take but I eventually 00:06:34.57\00:06:38.17 of course because of the school rules I did 00:06:38.20\00:06:41.43 take the courses and I met my husband there 00:06:41.46\00:06:43.72 who was an absolutely wonderful man. We are in 00:06:43.75\00:06:46.21 team ministry together today and so we. Did he 00:06:46.24\00:06:51.01 realize that you were kind of a problem? 00:06:51.04\00:06:53.75 Well he was a problem too at that time and 00:06:53.78\00:06:56.40 so we were just a double problem and the Lord 00:06:56.43\00:06:58.13 took us out of circulation I guess. But 00:06:58.16\00:07:01.34 after we got married we actually went to a 00:07:01.37\00:07:05.35 meeting and we heard this amazing pastor talking 00:07:05.38\00:07:09.33 about how Jesus died to create a reservoir of 00:07:09.36\00:07:13.85 righteousness and power. And that he could 00:07:13.88\00:07:16.60 put hatred in our hearts from rebellion, he could 00:07:16.63\00:07:18.60 heal our broken hearts. And for the first 00:07:18.63\00:07:20.89 time I was always in school, I loved school, 00:07:20.92\00:07:23.20 I was always collecting degrees, I had 00:07:23.23\00:07:25.14 masters in public administration at that 00:07:25.17\00:07:26.86 time and I was going to get a Ph.D. I wanted 00:07:26.89\00:07:29.83 to get into city management may be into 00:07:29.86\00:07:31.64 politics, I was a flaming women's libber. I told 00:07:31.67\00:07:34.57 my husband when we got married that if he 00:07:34.60\00:07:36.67 through his socks on the floor I would nail 00:07:36.70\00:07:39.01 them to the ground and so. You know, I was a 00:07:39.04\00:07:41.33 very different species of person that I am today. 00:07:41.36\00:07:44.04 But we heard this message and I had 00:07:44.07\00:07:47.51 always thought that I had trauma and 00:07:47.54\00:07:49.62 emotional problems and that is true, I did 00:07:49.65\00:07:52.08 but then I understood that the enemy, the 00:07:52.11\00:07:54.61 devil takes advantage of trauma in people's lives. 00:07:54.64\00:07:57.80 He takes advantage of genetic wickedness', 00:07:57.83\00:08:00.41 he takes advantage of environmental exposure 00:08:00.44\00:08:03.15 that they had, he takes advantage of their own 00:08:03.18\00:08:05.35 thought processes to use them as his own 00:08:05.38\00:08:07.54 agents for self destruction and 00:08:07.57\00:08:09.17 destroying the lives of others. So for the first 00:08:09.20\00:08:11.43 time I understood that and I understood that 00:08:11.46\00:08:14.18 Jesus came to break that cycle of sin and 00:08:14.21\00:08:17.45 impairment from generation to generation 00:08:17.48\00:08:20.13 that I could actually be new, I could think 00:08:20.16\00:08:22.09 in a new way, I could have a new life. That 00:08:22.12\00:08:25.34 education was not able to achieve for me, so I 00:08:25.37\00:08:27.76 saw a spiritual element that was so very 00:08:27.79\00:08:30.76 necessary and at that time I was very 00:08:30.79\00:08:34.70 severely into my disorder. I was about 00:08:34.73\00:08:36.72 ten or fifteen pounds thinner than I am right 00:08:36.75\00:08:38.63 now. Sometimes throwing up to a dozen times a 00:08:38.66\00:08:41.54 day and this has gone on for like 20 years. 00:08:41.57\00:08:44.49 20 years, yes I was 30-years-old. So the 00:08:44.52\00:08:47.01 very first step in coming back from this was 00:08:47.04\00:08:49.00 recognizing that there may be hope in Christ. 00:08:49.03\00:08:52.09 Yes, I had no clue that there was a, that the 00:08:52.12\00:08:56.48 Christ actually came and that I had a rebellion 00:08:56.51\00:09:00.78 problem, I didn't see that, I only saw myself 00:09:00.81\00:09:03.31 as a victim. Now I saw myself what I really 00:09:03.34\00:09:06.06 was, I saw myself as being very manipulative, 00:09:06.09\00:09:08.40 very controlling, very selfish, very 00:09:08.43\00:09:10.64 pre-occupied with myself and it's true that 00:09:10.67\00:09:13.01 it was a result of, a lot of it was a result of 00:09:13.04\00:09:15.87 what it happened. But now I saw a way of 00:09:15.90\00:09:19.19 escape, now I saw that I could be a different 00:09:19.22\00:09:21.35 person but I saw that the requirement was 00:09:21.38\00:09:25.06 to give full control to God. And that is the 00:09:25.09\00:09:27.86 very thing that I did and so at the time when I 00:09:27.89\00:09:31.29 came to Christ I was in the very worst shape 00:09:31.32\00:09:33.32 that I never been in, physically speaking, 00:09:33.35\00:09:35.23 oh absolutely. And mentally in every way, 00:09:35.26\00:09:37.94 would you be dead now if that hadn't happen, 00:09:37.97\00:09:39.78 oh no question, no question whatsoever that 00:09:39.81\00:09:42.82 would be the case. And so I prayed a very 00:09:42.85\00:09:46.83 kind of angry little prayer, I got on my 00:09:46.86\00:09:49.07 knees and I said God I am just so tired of 00:09:49.10\00:09:51.20 being taken to the cleaners by the devil. 00:09:51.23\00:09:52.84 I saw that what my parents have done, they 00:09:52.87\00:09:55.99 did ignorantly they didn't know, I saw that 00:09:56.02\00:09:58.15 genetics in environment are not a fair playing 00:09:58.18\00:10:00.90 ground in this world, but the God is just. 00:10:00.93\00:10:03.22 So now I saw a new dimension to just the 00:10:03.25\00:10:06.30 flat reality of what I had been exposed to 00:10:06.33\00:10:08.96 as a child in growing up. And now I saw 00:10:08.99\00:10:10.97 this amazing potential if I would give 00:10:11.00\00:10:13.51 control to God that he could not only 00:10:13.54\00:10:15.50 deliver me from this horrible compulsion that 00:10:15.53\00:10:17.60 I lived with and people that have addictions 00:10:17.63\00:10:19.42 and bad habits they become suicidal, they 00:10:19.45\00:10:21.74 really do want to quit but they don't know how, 00:10:21.77\00:10:23.78 they lost control over motivated behavior. 00:10:23.81\00:10:26.26 And that's the way you were, absolutely. 00:10:26.29\00:10:27.75 There was, everyday I did not want to be 00:10:27.78\00:10:30.09 what I was, but every day I was. And it was 00:10:30.12\00:10:32.70 getting worse. And so the Lord stopped that, 00:10:32.73\00:10:35.83 but then I understood immediately that not 00:10:35.86\00:10:38.37 only did I need his power but I also needed 00:10:38.40\00:10:42.55 a program in my life and that also had a 00:10:42.58\00:10:44.80 biblical foundation. But the prayer that I 00:10:44.83\00:10:46.92 prayed was that I was angry at being taken 00:10:46.95\00:10:51.00 to the cleaners by the devil for all these 00:10:51.03\00:10:53.02 years and then I just wanted to spend the 00:10:53.05\00:10:55.17 rest of my life paying the devil back for what 00:10:55.20\00:10:57.65 he did to me. So it wasn't even a love 00:10:57.68\00:10:59.82 prayer, I didn't love God that much but I 00:10:59.85\00:11:01.95 knew who to hate now, it was a grudge prayer, 00:11:01.98\00:11:03.56 it was a grudge prayer. Did your family know 00:11:03.59\00:11:05.80 that you had gone to the landscaping school 00:11:05.83\00:11:09.08 of Adventist or air conditioning place 00:11:09.11\00:11:12.78 whatever you thought it was? Well, my mother 00:11:12.81\00:11:14.67 had died, she died; she was dead by that time 00:11:14.70\00:11:18.32 and were you in touch with your father at all? 00:11:18.35\00:11:19.95 He didn't know where I was nor did he care, 00:11:19.98\00:11:23.58 it actually took me several years to track 00:11:23.61\00:11:25.64 him down and find him and write him a letter, 00:11:25.67\00:11:28.85 I invited him to my, when I graduated from 00:11:28.88\00:11:31.68 the university I invited him to the graduation 00:11:31.71\00:11:33.91 he did not attend, I invited him to my 00:11:33.94\00:11:36.09 wedding he did not attend. And so you know 00:11:36.12\00:11:39.02 I was very disappointed about that, but 00:11:39.05\00:11:41.25 eventually understanding what the power of God 00:11:41.28\00:11:44.43 can do, I was able to find where he was and 00:11:44.46\00:11:48.82 established a nice relationship and 00:11:48.85\00:11:50.99 experienced forgiveness and so that was a 00:11:51.02\00:11:54.63 good thing in my life. Okay, so now you know, 00:11:54.66\00:11:57.74 after all this background you kind of are 00:11:57.77\00:12:01.91 in an interesting position, yes I am. 00:12:01.94\00:12:03.75 You moved from going to college and telling 00:12:03.78\00:12:06.62 them your bodies of temple just to get in, 00:12:06.65\00:12:08.78 to actually working in that line of work. Yes 00:12:08.81\00:12:10.94 now I am paid to terrorize people all over the 00:12:10.97\00:12:13.18 place with good health lectures and health 00:12:13.21\00:12:15.98 dictums and lifestyle changes. My interest 00:12:16.01\00:12:19.17 in the work that I do is to see compliance 00:12:19.20\00:12:23.23 that lasts beyond 18 months into eternity. 00:12:25.87\00:12:26.84 We see very poor outcomes with lifestyle 00:12:26.85\00:12:28.84 change not much better than drug therapies 00:12:28.87\00:12:32.25 and my goal is to understand better the 00:12:32.28\00:12:36.63 process of change. The strength is in the 00:12:36.66\00:12:38.65 journey in the process, people are always 00:12:38.68\00:12:40.93 looking at a finish line they are excited about 00:12:40.96\00:12:42.82 starting, they are excited about finishing. 00:12:42.85\00:12:44.83 But we get into a muddle in the middle, 00:12:44.86\00:12:47.13 when it's not so interesting and so. 00:12:47.16\00:12:49.28 So the process of change, change is not 00:12:49.31\00:12:51.61 instantaneous, there was a process. What was 00:12:51.64\00:12:53.62 the process of change for you in terms 00:12:53.65\00:12:55.64 of bulimia? Well actually the Lord 00:12:55.67\00:12:58.78 delivered me from the bulimia right away. 00:12:58.81\00:13:00.51 I went from throwing up a dozen times a day 00:13:00.54\00:13:02.57 to freedom, I mean it was just gone, and 00:13:02.60\00:13:06.59 that was an amazing thing. Now that does 00:13:06.62\00:13:08.56 not mean that I haven't had struggles, 00:13:08.59\00:13:10.09 it doesn't mean I haven't had poor 00:13:10.12\00:13:11.31 judgment and made mistakes, it doesn't 00:13:11.34\00:13:12.80 mean that. But in terms of the compulsion, 00:13:12.83\00:13:16.06 the desire, the preoccupation with food, 00:13:16.09\00:13:19.58 it was just gone. The Lord took it 00:13:19.61\00:13:21.76 miraculously and that was a wonderful 00:13:21.79\00:13:23.62 thing. In terms of restructuring my life 00:13:23.65\00:13:25.98 to protect myself from those inclinations and 00:13:26.01\00:13:28.17 tendencies that is a life long work. But it's a 00:13:28.20\00:13:31.28 wonderful work and you know we live in a 00:13:31.31\00:13:33.47 society done of a fast makeovers, everybody 00:13:33.50\00:13:36.56 wants a McMeal and a McMansion. We also 00:13:36.59\00:13:39.59 want McBrains, McCharacters and 00:13:39.62\00:13:42.12 McHealth. And there are some processes 00:13:42.15\00:13:44.73 that the Lord does not give us right away, 00:13:44.76\00:13:47.45 I mean he gives us a process rather than 00:13:47.48\00:13:50.02 a miracle because in the actual process of 00:13:50.05\00:13:55.49 deciding the process of choosing, the process of 00:13:55.52\00:13:58.19 trying new behaviors that's where strength 00:13:58.22\00:14:00.39 is gained, that's where change really takes 00:14:00.42\00:14:02.28 place. That's where you get the long term goals. 00:14:02.31\00:14:04.35 Sounded like you really changed a lot from 00:14:04.38\00:14:07.07 when your husband first met you till now and, 00:14:07.10\00:14:10.03 yes he is the boss now and that's a good thing. 00:14:10.06\00:14:12.74 Did he change as well? Oh yes, he was, 00:14:12.77\00:14:15.88 he was just a bad boy too. And so we 00:14:15.91\00:14:19.97 gave our hearts to God together in the same 00:14:20.00\00:14:22.51 evening and our home changed, the things 00:14:22.54\00:14:25.21 that we paid attention too changed, what we 00:14:25.24\00:14:27.87 watched and read, how we dressed changed, 00:14:27.90\00:14:30.25 one thing about people with eating disorders, 00:14:30.28\00:14:32.32 they are just, the wear their cloths too tighten 00:14:32.35\00:14:34.55 and they obsess about how fat they feel and 00:14:34.58\00:14:36.35 all of that changed. And I understood that 00:14:36.38\00:14:38.49 true attractiveness is different and it's an 00:14:38.52\00:14:43.81 internal quality that's different than natural 00:14:43.84\00:14:45.60 beauty. True attractiveness grows 00:14:45.63\00:14:47.54 overtime there is a difference between 00:14:47.57\00:14:49.47 sensuality and femininity; these are 00:14:49.50\00:14:51.41 all things that every girl should be taught 00:14:51.44\00:14:53.47 that we need to understand. The 00:14:53.50\00:14:55.48 mannequins that lays the molls now, those 00:14:55.51\00:14:58.46 mannequins are pre-prepubescent 00:14:58.49\00:15:00.19 12-year-old bodies, they are unattainable 00:15:00.22\00:15:02.38 to a normal woman, to a normal developing 00:15:02.41\00:15:04.77 female and it creates these horrible 00:15:04.80\00:15:07.63 obsessions with thinness and with body and 00:15:07.66\00:15:11.24 with body type and body acceptance. Then for 00:15:11.27\00:15:13.87 the men you've got men that are being 00:15:13.90\00:15:16.55 trained to focus only on sensuality and so 00:15:16.58\00:15:20.57 you are creating this rift in the sexes of 00:15:20.60\00:15:22.83 inability to form true attachments and lasting 00:15:22.86\00:15:25.77 intimacy. We are talking with Vicki Griffin, 00:15:25.80\00:15:28.24 we are talking about her journey to victory 00:15:28.27\00:15:31.09 from all kinds of problems and it's a 00:15:31.12\00:15:35.23 hopeful story when we come back we are gonna 00:15:35.26\00:15:36.49 hear more and I think you are gonna find some 00:15:36.52\00:15:38.10 things that will help you in whatever 00:15:38.13\00:15:39.54 your journey is, join us when we come back. 00:15:39.57\00:15:41.78 Are you confused about the endless stream 00:15:44.17\00:15:46.46 of new and often contradictory health 00:15:46.49\00:15:48.67 information? With companies trying to 00:15:48.70\00:15:50.87 sell new drugs and special interest groups 00:15:50.90\00:15:53.34 paying for studies has been the fact, 00:15:53.37\00:15:55.39 where can you find a common sense 00:15:55.42\00:15:57.51 approach to health. One way is to ask for 00:15:57.54\00:16:00.11 your free copy of Dr. Arnott's 24 realistic 00:16:00.14\00:16:03.23 ways to improve your health. Dr. Timothy 00:16:03.26\00:16:05.35 Arnott in the Lifestyle Center of America 00:16:05.38\00:16:07.66 produced this helpful booklet of 24 short 00:16:07.69\00:16:09.88 practical health tips based on scientific 00:16:09.91\00:16:12.61 research and the Bible that will help you live 00:16:12.64\00:16:15.13 longer, happier, and healthier. For example, 00:16:15.16\00:16:17.97 did you know that women who drink more 00:16:18.00\00:16:19.85 water lower the risk of heart attack or the 00:16:19.88\00:16:22.65 seven to eight hours of sleep a night can 00:16:22.68\00:16:24.60 minimize your risk of ever developing diabetes? 00:16:24.63\00:16:27.84 Find out how to lower your blood pressure and 00:16:27.87\00:16:29.68 much more if you are looking for help, now we 00:16:29.71\00:16:32.00 hire these booklets for you. Just log on to 00:16:32.03\00:16:34.67 3abn.org and click on free offers or call us 00:16:34.70\00:16:38.07 during regular business hours, 00:16:38.10\00:16:39.50 you will be glad you did. 00:16:39.53\00:16:41.02 Welcome back we are talking with Vicki 00:16:43.81\00:16:45.18 Griffin, she is the director of Lifestyle 00:16:45.21\00:16:47.67 Matters. You can access her material 00:16:47.70\00:16:50.62 and all of the resources she has developed 00:16:50.65\00:16:53.74 along with her team at lifestylematters.com. 00:16:53.77\00:16:57.80 Vicki we are glad that you are with us 00:16:57.83\00:16:59.68 here and its kind of sharing your own 00:16:59.71\00:17:01.86 personal testimony which, man just to 00:17:01.89\00:17:03.96 summarize you started out kind of in a bad 00:17:03.99\00:17:06.51 situation, born into a family that probably 00:17:06.54\00:17:09.65 was quite well to do, I mean they are a 00:17:09.68\00:17:12.00 winery family but they had some real problems, 00:17:12.03\00:17:15.30 your mother was violent, your father 00:17:15.33\00:17:16.63 abandoned the family. Did you have any 00:17:16.66\00:17:19.14 brothers or sisters? Yes I had a sister, 00:17:19.17\00:17:21.08 8-years-older than myself. And is she 00:17:21.11\00:17:23.35 still living? She is living, yes. And are 00:17:23.38\00:17:25.63 you in touch with her ever? I am in touch with 00:17:25.66\00:17:27.31 her, and she is wonderful. And are you 00:17:27.34\00:17:29.64 ever in touch with your father? He passed away 00:17:29.67\00:17:31.99 also years ago. Okay so, my mother died when 00:17:32.02\00:17:34.37 I was 19, he died a few years later. Okay, 00:17:34.40\00:17:36.80 but you are in touch with your sister and 00:17:36.83\00:17:38.61 touch with any of the other relatives, no, 00:17:38.64\00:17:41.51 not really, no. Okay, and that's a little different 00:17:41.54\00:17:43.89 I mean your life today is a little different 00:17:43.92\00:17:45.22 than the life of a typical winery family; 00:17:45.25\00:17:47.91 yes it is, very definitely different. And yeah, 00:17:47.94\00:17:53.01 so you were talking about how you'd struggle 00:17:53.04\00:17:55.31 with bulimia, you were talking about a 20 year 00:17:55.34\00:17:57.99 struggle there how you gave your heart to the 00:17:58.02\00:18:00.42 Lord, you met your husband, you ended up 00:18:00.45\00:18:03.15 in a Seventh-Day Adventist school 00:18:03.18\00:18:05.44 institution kind of in a unique way and then 00:18:05.47\00:18:08.98 you've been on this journey. And I am sure 00:18:09.01\00:18:11.49 that there are others that are watching that, 00:18:11.52\00:18:13.18 you know they are on their life journey but 00:18:13.21\00:18:14.54 they've got through struggles and you 00:18:14.57\00:18:16.49 interface with them, what kind of advice 00:18:16.52\00:18:18.98 do you give them in this; you know quick 00:18:19.01\00:18:21.05 fix culture we live in? Well that's exactly 00:18:21.08\00:18:25.26 part of the problem because we all want a 00:18:25.29\00:18:27.76 fast makeover; we wanted to be pain free, 00:18:27.79\00:18:30.36 that's what the message of the media. 00:18:30.39\00:18:32.29 The message of the media is that no one 00:18:32.32\00:18:34.92 should have to experience any kind of 00:18:34.95\00:18:36.51 pain at any time and the cure for any kind 00:18:36.54\00:18:38.87 of pain is a product, but only if you get it 00:18:38.90\00:18:40.96 now and so we are raising a generation 00:18:40.99\00:18:43.35 of impulsive kids that are addicted and 00:18:43.38\00:18:48.20 they don't know how to solve problems or 00:18:48.23\00:18:49.78 meet challenges or persevere and those 00:18:49.81\00:18:51.29 are the very skills and tools that we need 00:18:51.32\00:18:53.21 to make it through life without developing a 00:18:53.24\00:18:56.47 very serious problems and so first of all 00:18:56.50\00:18:58.68 we need to understand the fact that pain 00:18:58.71\00:19:02.03 is a part of life. We are going to have to 00:19:02.06\00:19:03.96 learn to deal with painful situations, 00:19:03.99\00:19:06.30 painful people, challenging obstacles 00:19:06.33\00:19:10.17 in a new and different way. We cannot 00:19:10.20\00:19:12.24 escape the fact that there is pain in 00:19:12.27\00:19:13.63 this life. And this is certainly true in your 00:19:13.66\00:19:15.69 life you had to deal with the pain of an 00:19:15.72\00:19:17.26 abusive mother and losing a mother, losing 00:19:17.29\00:19:19.07 a father all those different kind of 00:19:19.10\00:19:20.35 things, right. And you know because of 00:19:20.38\00:19:22.96 your life experience how has this played into 00:19:22.99\00:19:26.34 your ministry, how do you help others with 00:19:26.37\00:19:28.07 your testimony. Well the materials that we 00:19:28.10\00:19:30.91 develop at Lifestyle Matters have 00:19:30.94\00:19:32.85 specifically to do with the effect of 00:19:32.88\00:19:34.97 nutrition lifestyle and other factors on 00:19:35.00\00:19:37.99 the brain, on mood, on depression, on 00:19:38.02\00:19:40.94 learning and memory. Now we've come out 00:19:40.97\00:19:42.72 with our book living free on addictions 00:19:42.75\00:19:44.70 it's called living free finding freedom from 00:19:44.73\00:19:46.88 habits that hurt. And it helps people to 00:19:46.91\00:19:49.17 leave the mentality of fix me now, I want it 00:19:49.20\00:19:53.02 right away and I want it pain free to 00:19:53.05\00:19:55.34 entering into a process where they 00:19:55.37\00:19:59.16 will be rebuilt over time and that 00:19:59.19\00:20:01.42 doesn't mean that it will be failure-free 00:20:01.45\00:20:03.80 but it means that every mistake can be 00:20:03.83\00:20:06.23 turned into a victory. We can gain strength 00:20:06.26\00:20:08.61 and gather resources as I said before 00:20:08.64\00:20:12.15 in a different conversation that we 00:20:12.18\00:20:14.89 had the addict knows how to do their addiction 00:20:14.92\00:20:16.86 and they know how to stop it often they 00:20:16.89\00:20:18.51 are very arbitrative skills to deal with 00:20:18.54\00:20:20.58 anything in between and so the program that 00:20:20.61\00:20:23.73 God has given us is not just about physical 00:20:23.76\00:20:25.82 healing it's about restoring wholeness 00:20:25.85\00:20:27.56 to the life and that means that we are 00:20:27.59\00:20:29.68 not going to be removed from challenges, it 00:20:29.71\00:20:31.95 means that we are going to develop the skills 00:20:31.98\00:20:33.62 to meet those challenges. So it's a 00:20:33.65\00:20:35.51 whole new attitude, the attitude is look 00:20:35.54\00:20:37.17 I've got to look at this long term and I've 00:20:37.20\00:20:39.19 got a friend to hold my hand, exactly. Lord is 00:20:39.22\00:20:41.18 gonna be with me but we have to change. 00:20:41.21\00:20:44.05 Now you grew up in this, your family of origin 00:20:44.08\00:20:47.85 was somewhat complicated, but have 00:20:47.88\00:20:51.79 you raised a family of your own now? Oh yes, 00:20:51.82\00:20:53.85 we've two beautiful children. Our daughter 00:20:53.88\00:20:56.80 is married to a pastor and she is a nurse 00:20:56.83\00:21:00.31 and they are expecting their second child 00:21:00.34\00:21:02.12 and our son is a pilot and he is instrumental, 00:21:02.15\00:21:05.36 where he has his Airframe & Power 00:21:05.39\00:21:06.61 plant and he is getting ready to go into 00:21:06.64\00:21:08.22 nursing school. Now you were violent with them, 00:21:08.25\00:21:09.98 did you beat them up, knock them down? No, 00:21:10.01\00:21:11.47 I was never able to kill them, no I just kidding. 00:21:11.50\00:21:14.38 No they are wonderful young people, they are 00:21:14.41\00:21:17.40 wonderful and so what the reason I asked 00:21:17.43\00:21:19.24 that was because you grow up in a home 00:21:19.27\00:21:21.21 where your mother was quite violent. The kids 00:21:21.24\00:21:23.33 never ran away, no oh no we were just, 00:21:23.36\00:21:26.21 the guy is not training to get pilot 00:21:26.24\00:21:28.45 so he can fly off into New Islander. No 00:21:28.48\00:21:29.98 here's the wonderful thing, the Bible says 00:21:30.01\00:21:32.25 that the sins of the fathers are visited 00:21:32.28\00:21:35.53 to the third and fourth generation of them 00:21:35.56\00:21:37.22 that hate me, okay now that is not a curse. 00:21:37.25\00:21:39.30 That is just a statement of fact that we pass 00:21:39.33\00:21:41.56 on tendencies, we pass on habits and we 00:21:41.59\00:21:44.45 enculturate our children into a certain lifestyle 00:21:44.48\00:21:46.69 under certain way of thinking. And the Lord 00:21:46.72\00:21:48.62 is telling us this when he states this in the 00:21:48.65\00:21:51.53 commandment, but it also says in Deuteronomy 00:21:51.56\00:21:55.09 that he came to show mercy to a thousand 00:21:55.12\00:21:57.15 generations so he came to break the 00:21:57.18\00:22:00.01 cycle of sin. Then that doesn't mean that 00:22:00.04\00:22:02.03 my thinking has been perfect, it doesn't mean 00:22:02.06\00:22:04.02 that my parenting skills have been perfect. 00:22:04.05\00:22:05.84 But it does mean that we broke out of that 00:22:05.87\00:22:08.62 syndrome, we broke out of that mold and 00:22:08.65\00:22:11.26 we had a completely different experience 00:22:11.29\00:22:12.98 with our family. And your sister; 00:22:13.01\00:22:13.98 my sister is a beautiful woman who also manage 00:22:13.99\00:22:16.65 to break out of that mold. So that's great, 00:22:16.68\00:22:18.65 it's a wonderful story of victory means 00:22:18.68\00:22:20.22 just because you are in a situation that 00:22:20.25\00:22:22.01 people are watching today just because they 00:22:22.04\00:22:23.76 are addicted are on substances where this 00:22:23.79\00:22:26.40 or that. There is no need to have to 00:22:26.43\00:22:28.78 stay there God can help you break free. 00:22:28.81\00:22:30.74 My precious sister has been stabbed and 00:22:30.77\00:22:33.97 beaten with chords and rejected and 00:22:34.00\00:22:36.60 treated in the most horrific ways and yet 00:22:36.63\00:22:38.97 her life is a testimony as to what, having a 00:22:39.00\00:22:43.96 new mind from Christ can do. Now your 00:22:43.99\00:22:46.40 husband of course he and you are happily 00:22:46.43\00:22:49.67 marriage, he is amazing, you are involved in 00:22:49.70\00:22:51.40 team ministry, you seem to be more in love 00:22:51.43\00:22:53.61 than when I met you ten years ago. He is 00:22:53.64\00:22:55.89 amazing and one of the amazing things that 00:22:55.92\00:22:58.08 God gives us to do, one thing that my 00:22:58.11\00:23:01.16 father did say that was a good thing that 00:23:01.19\00:23:02.77 I remember from years ago he said 00:23:02.80\00:23:04.57 always surround yourself with people 00:23:04.60\00:23:05.85 that are smarter than you and always be 00:23:05.88\00:23:07.93 reading a book that's too hard for you and 00:23:07.96\00:23:09.84 I really did log on to that peace of advice 00:23:09.87\00:23:12.01 and so my husband who has these, some 00:23:12.04\00:23:15.48 amazing skills that I lack, I will ask him in a 00:23:15.51\00:23:18.27 situation like how do you think about this, 00:23:18.30\00:23:20.85 what is your thinking? Because my thinking 00:23:20.88\00:23:23.12 isn't right about this, my thinking doesn't work. 00:23:23.15\00:23:25.67 So how do you think about it, what's your 00:23:25.70\00:23:28.07 reasoning and I will try and adopt a new 00:23:28.10\00:23:30.61 thinking, I will try it on. And the 00:23:30.64\00:23:33.50 definition of insanity is doing the same thing 00:23:33.53\00:23:36.16 over and over expecting different results. Well if 00:23:36.19\00:23:38.72 the way that your thinking isn't working 00:23:38.75\00:23:40.71 try something different and as you respond 00:23:40.74\00:23:44.22 and as you experience new types of thought 00:23:44.25\00:23:46.64 patterns it actually has a molding effect 00:23:46.67\00:23:48.81 on the brain and so those spots and those 00:23:48.84\00:23:50.77 patterns actually become yours and you do 00:23:50.80\00:23:52.66 become new it's the promise of God. Now 00:23:52.69\00:23:55.12 lot of these things that you have been 00:23:55.15\00:23:56.37 through that kind of guided the things that 00:23:56.40\00:23:58.00 you are materials as you and your team, 00:23:58.03\00:23:59.72 where developing at lifestyle matters, 00:23:59.75\00:24:01.24 right. And you know I mentioned in the first 00:24:01.27\00:24:03.94 segment, I am mentioning again here 00:24:03.97\00:24:05.88 lifestylematters.com has a lot of resources for 00:24:05.91\00:24:09.41 those dealing with stress, food, addictions other 00:24:09.44\00:24:14.42 types of addictions, what else is there? 00:24:14.45\00:24:16.38 Well we have materials on nutrition's link 00:24:16.41\00:24:20.46 with mood, memory, learning and behavior. 00:24:20.49\00:24:22.83 We have DVDs, amazing DVDs that have 00:24:22.86\00:24:26.84 been developed and teaching materials if 00:24:26.87\00:24:28.89 you want to hold seminars in your own 00:24:28.92\00:24:30.28 church or neighborhood or community center. 00:24:30.31\00:24:32.27 So these are, all these things are really 00:24:32.30\00:24:33.71 helping people that were experiencing some 00:24:33.74\00:24:37.21 of the very things you are experiencing, 00:24:37.24\00:24:39.21 absolutely. Now do you have a landscaping class 00:24:39.24\00:24:41.83 so you can draw people in like you? That's 00:24:41.86\00:24:44.00 what I do in my spare time, is that right? But 00:24:44.03\00:24:46.87 I have to say people that have struggled with 00:24:46.90\00:24:49.15 obesity, diabetes some of these lifestyle 00:24:49.18\00:24:51.52 problems for many years have never addressed 00:24:51.55\00:24:53.88 in their own minds and in their own thinking. 00:24:53.91\00:24:55.86 Their own addictiveness with certain problems, 00:24:55.89\00:24:59.23 they have never addressed the cravings 00:24:59.26\00:25:01.69 that have developed and how to break those 00:25:01.72\00:25:03.30 syndromes and how to manage stress and 00:25:03.33\00:25:05.60 how to manage stress and some of these other 00:25:05.63\00:25:06.60 elements that drive those eating behaviors that 00:25:06.61\00:25:08.99 cause those lifestyle problems and so we are 00:25:09.02\00:25:10.97 seeing longer term results and that is my 00:25:11.00\00:25:13.05 passion and that's my goal. Now, you know 00:25:13.08\00:25:15.30 one of the texts in the Bible that I like is 00:25:15.33\00:25:17.68 that we can comfort others with the comfort 00:25:17.71\00:25:21.80 that God is comforted us with, that's right. 00:25:21.83\00:25:24.64 In other words the situation we've gone 00:25:24.67\00:25:26.16 through, and what is your favorite text, 00:25:26.19\00:25:29.29 what are some of your favorite guiding things? 00:25:29.32\00:25:31.06 You said that this is a process of change and so 00:25:31.09\00:25:34.36 you are still on that process, what is the 00:25:34.39\00:25:36.74 especially relevant for you right now. There are 00:25:36.77\00:25:40.07 so many scriptures, one of my favorites and 00:25:40.10\00:25:42.96 I'm not, I'm paraphrasing it but it says though 00:25:42.99\00:25:45.41 you have lying among the pots you know 00:25:45.44\00:25:47.56 you've been broken piece of pot shot of, 00:25:47.59\00:25:49.29 piece of pottery that's just clay and totally 00:25:49.32\00:25:52.13 worthless. That yeah you will have the wings, 00:25:52.16\00:25:55.12 wings of a dove gilded with silver and gold 00:25:55.15\00:25:58.37 and so God will make his children who have 00:25:58.40\00:26:01.85 had the worst problems, spectacle to God and 00:26:01.88\00:26:04.90 to angels and to men. This is all about 00:26:04.93\00:26:06.83 showcasing what he can do; it's all about 00:26:06.86\00:26:09.24 what he has built into the human brain 00:26:09.27\00:26:12.12 for recovery and for renewal and are very 00:26:12.15\00:26:14.97 physiology and genetics. Witness to the 00:26:15.00\00:26:19.55 amazing ability for lives to be reclaimed 00:26:19.58\00:26:22.76 and that's a good message that's good 00:26:22.79\00:26:24.03 news. So this is kind a like the mission here 00:26:24.06\00:26:27.55 at 3ABN, which is healing and mending 00:26:27.58\00:26:30.17 broken people. You are one of those 00:26:30.20\00:26:31.73 that's been healed and mended and we are 00:26:31.76\00:26:34.83 glad that you are doing what you are doing, 00:26:34.86\00:26:36.46 thank you for the work there at Michigan 00:26:36.49\00:26:38.05 Conference and the Lifestyle Matters team. 00:26:38.08\00:26:41.59 And I know you have many ongoing projects 00:26:41.62\00:26:44.10 and it's kind of almost overwhelming now 00:26:44.13\00:26:46.63 you have so much interest that's developing 00:26:46.66\00:26:48.70 and we are just happy to see that and 00:26:48.73\00:26:51.98 your children are launched to their 00:26:52.01\00:26:53.99 ministry, they are happy, they want to 00:26:54.02\00:26:56.60 come home have some good Italian cooking 00:26:56.63\00:26:59.11 from you from time to time. Oh absolutely, 00:26:59.14\00:27:01.75 my daughter is coming next week to stay 00:27:01.78\00:27:03.30 for a week. Our son actually is still at 00:27:03.33\00:27:04.77 home as he enters into his nursing program, 00:27:04.80\00:27:07.28 he has been away but now he is back because 00:27:07.31\00:27:09.20 this is a good school near home. I think he 00:27:09.23\00:27:12.13 is there for the cooking program, well he might 00:27:12.16\00:27:14.50 tell you differently because I am traveling 00:27:14.53\00:27:15.78 an awful lot, he teases me but when I can 00:27:15.81\00:27:18.29 I sure to love to cook well for my family. 00:27:18.32\00:27:20.17 We've been talking to Vicki Griffin and 00:27:20.20\00:27:22.61 this has been heartwarming story 00:27:22.64\00:27:25.11 that just shows us that God is powerful 00:27:25.14\00:27:28.37 he can lead, he can guide even 00:27:28.40\00:27:29.98 sometimes or often times when we are 00:27:30.01\00:27:32.28 not even seeking him. And if you are 00:27:32.31\00:27:34.17 watching today and you've been searching 00:27:34.20\00:27:37.58 for something that you can really hang 00:27:37.61\00:27:39.75 your head on and give you focus and direction, 00:27:39.78\00:27:42.17 it's really a relationship with him. 00:27:42.20\00:27:44.51 We are thankful for Vicki, we are glad that 00:27:44.54\00:27:47.06 you've been here with us today, we ask the 00:27:47.09\00:27:48.55 Lord will bless your ministry. We are glad 00:27:48.58\00:27:50.63 that you've been with us today; we hope that 00:27:50.66\00:27:52.92 that as a result of watching this program 00:27:52.95\00:27:55.05 and the others here on 3ABN, you'll have 00:27:55.08\00:27:57.21 health that lasts not just 00:27:57.24\00:27:58.88 for now but for a lifetime. 00:27:58.91\00:28:01.25