Faith and Healing in the Country

I’ve been searching for more in my life lately.

Somehow, that has lead me to my Bible.

My husband and I started the Bible Recap a month ago, I got involved in the women’s ministry at my church and I found myself spending more and more time in my Bible than on social media.

I’ve been praying to God to guide me on a path forward.

While I was on instagram a couple of months ago, simply scrolling through my feed, I was experiencing another low point in my life. About that time, Dr. Hussey shared a conference he was going to be speaking at that was based on faith and healing naturally.

I had met Dr. Stephen Hussey at Hack Your Health a couple of years ago. He wrote a book on his heart attack experience.

For the past 15 years having worked in cardiology as a sonographer, of course I was intrigued!

He wrote a fascinating book called Understanding The Heart: Surprising Insights Into the Evolutionary Origins of Heart Disease- and Why It Matters.

I also noticed the women organizing the event, Maureen Diaz, is in charge of our Weston A Price chapter leader email chain. She is highly knowledgeable of all things natural health and I’ve been very anxious to meet her!

What could be a more perfect learning experience?

I checked the location and it was only a 3.5 hour drive from me!

I immediately bought my ticket and reserved a hotel room.

This past Thursday, I made the 3.5 hour drive down to Roanoke from Northern Virginia.

Friday morning I made the 30 minute drive through the country and mountains to Melvin’s Farm in Wirtz, VA.

It’s spring here in Virginia, and everything is green and in bloom.

I pull up to the farm while the sun is rising and I see cattle everywhere. A friendly cat greats me as I walk up and I’m immediately at ease.

We begin the conference with a pasture walk and devotion. Farmer Thad Montgomery discusses the book of Genesis and how we were “perfectly and wonderfully made”, the perfect reminder going into the conference.

Breakfast was entirely sourced from the farm- hard boiled eggs, raw milk yogurt, organic slow fermented sour dough bread, raw butter and homemade granola. Being able to enjoy this meal without my heart rate rising and not getting bloated was very eye opening to me! That goes to show what real, whole ingredients prepared properly versus what store bought breads, yogurt and granola can do for the body.

Maureen Diaz was the first speaker.

She created God’s Good Table which put on this incredible event. Her topic was “God’s Design for Health and Healing”. She discussed the Biblically eating pre and post flood, the foods mentioned in the Bible, fat consumption and clean versus unclean meats.

Kat Owens, a Functional Nutrional Therapy Practioner, spoke next on “Biblical Perspective on Meat and Dairy”. Kat has recently released a book called “Eat By Faith”. She discussed the myths of cows harming the environment, Daniel Fasts, and the importance of saturated fats.

Lunch was Farmer Thad’s beef patty, organic rice, organic lettuce mix with homemade dressing and sauerkraut.

The next topic was the main reason why I came to this conference.

I had been on thyroid medication for seven months and never experienced any of the benefit. I found out I was on way too high of a dose and had experienced severe side effects because of that. The next speaker, Dr. Patty Powers, spoke on “Love Your Thyroid, Supporting Optimal Thyroid Function with Food, Frequency, Fun and Sun”.

A quote from her website:

“God has taught me that hormone dysfunction is usually not the primary issue, but due to other root causes. We are Tripartite beings with a body, a soul and a spirit. Healing the whole person involves looking at all these parts and a willingness to be curious about yourself, because stored emotional or physical trauma can manifest as problems in the body.”

Her discussion covered:

• What Causes Thyroid Dysfunction

• What labs to Order

• Supporting Your Thyroid

• What Effects Your Thyroid Function, and

• Detoxing

Once again, I was reminded that our bodies are “fearfully and wonderfully made”, and can definitely heal naturally given the proper tools.

The incredible woman sitting next to me that I had a chance to chat with about gut health and fertility spoke next.

Dr. Megan Sanctuary spoke on “The Foundation of Health: Deconstructing Breastmilk and Infant Formula”. This included what is in breastmilk, how the mother’s body knows what the baby needs and the history and ingredients of formula.

The final speaker of the day was Miranda Whitehead with her talk entitled “Understanding the Body’s Innate Intelligence”. Her talk covered important questions like:

• Why do our bodies get ill?

• How can we support our bodies naturally when they get ill?

• How can we diagnosis our issues after physician hopping for years?

Saturday started with perfect weather and another glorious sunrise. I brought my iPad with me that day so I could take thorough notes!

Sunshine, grounding and natural healing

The first speaker on Saturday was the owner of the farm the conference was held at, Gayle Montgomery, who spoke of “Garbage versus Goodness”. Some key points from her talk included: Daily diet of scripture is fulfilling and healthy, our bodies are to be used as God’s glory, anything that we substitute God for is an idol, if we choose to fill our bodies minds and soul with anything other than God, is an idol and we ingest things that are fabricated by man and then we ask for prayer for the ailments we get as consequences.

Some of her tips on where to start to live a healthier lifestyle included:

• Get rid of seed oils- Replace with tallow, lard or high quality olive oil
  Get rid of processed salt, opt for unrefined salt
  Conventional dairy- get rid of pasteurized dairy- raw only

• Stop eating cereal- eat whole foods instead

• Boxed or canned stocks or broths- make your own

• High fructose corn syrup and fruit juices- avoid them

• White flour products- switch to organic whole grains that haven’t been sprayed or altered

• Flavor packets- use whole foods, spices and herbs

• Conventional eggs- ditch for pasteurized

Gayle ended with the message of “Look past the deception of the world and look towards the goodness of God.”

Dr. Megan Sanctuary spoke next on- “Pharmakeia: The Devil’s in Your Medicine Cabinet”.

She said something that I deeply resonate with and that every American should be discussing: “modern medicine continues to progress while our health deteriorates.”

If the healthcare system has to get bigger and bigger, then it has failed us as a system.

She discussed the history of John D. Rockefeller and the history of medical education, the allopathic medical model, symptom suppression, detox pathways, SSRIs, statins, cholesterol and vaccines.

Kim Fuhrmann then spoke on: “Pillars of emotional wellness”.

This talk hit home as stress has wrecked my body over the past fifteen years.

Kim’s talk was another big reason I attended this conference. She said stress is 90% of what sends people to the doctor. I definitely believe stress can be the root of all evil in our bodies! 70% of your immune system is in your gut. So we need to be VERY mindful of what we put in it!

Nothing but nourishing whole foods!

Dr. Stephen Hussey then discussed “Circadian Disruption”.

As I begin to cut back with work, my circadian rhythm is top on my items to fix.

Some fascinating facts I learned about blue light:

• Blue light sets your inner clock

• Blue light changes throughout the day

• Blue light stimulates cortisol telling us to rise, and

• As blue light fades, melatonin is signaled

Ultimately, some things that are disrupted can be caused with artificial light- such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Can you believe that the more artificial light exposure at night, the greater the chance of obesity with an average of fifteen pounds more!???

The final speaker, Kat Owens, discussed “The world vs the World’s Perspective on Food”. She asked important questions like:

• Why is over 50% of the food we eat premade?

• Why is fast food normalized over whole foods?

After Kate’s talk I visited the farm store. I love when farms have a store where I can buy their products! I made sure to stock up on eggs, ribeyes, and some sourdough items.

That evening the farm prepared a lovely dinner for those that paid for the VIP dinner. I got to mingle with the speakers and meet other ladies who left the medical field for a natural lifestyle, and even became natural lifestyle coaches!

More God winks! ;)

A farm tour was also included

I’m praying this event is yearly. I loved the speakers, the food, and the all-around positive atmosphere!

I hope that you found these topics interesting and want to learn more! Please join me next year in spring 2026, if they host this incredible event again!