Creation Health & Cancer Prevention

Did you know that men who lead Creation Health-y lifestyles have a 60% lower death rate from all cancers and that women who lead a Creation Health-y lifestyle have a 76% lower death rate from all cancers?

Last week, I had the privilege of speaking to the Cancer Committee @ Laughlin, a room full of doctors, nurses and other health professionals, about Creation Health and how it relates to cancer prevention. Talk about an intimidating crowd! ;)

It actually went really well and I was able to show them how each of the above 8 principles not only affect our overall health and well-being, but how they each specifically contribute to cancer prevention.

Let us know if you want us to speak to your group or organization!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Worship Pastor at FBC Greeneville, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Let's Move!

In all the excitement of traveling to Orlando a few weeks ago, I realize that I never did tell you about the 1st annual Let's Move Greene County event!

It was held @ Tusculum College Pioneer Arena on Saturday, November 2nd and there were all kinds of health and wellness booths set-up, including ours!

There were also all sorts of fun activities going on, for families to get involved in...everything from bounce houses to zumba to dancing! The goal was to create awareness about and help prevent childhood obesity by encouraging children and families to be active and M-O-V-E...not just on that day, but everyday!

A fun time was had by all, both the city and county mayors officially pronounced Greene County a Let's Move community and it was a great turnout of people for a 1st annual event!

As soon as I know the details for next year, I will let you know...you won't want to miss it! Exercise can be F-U-N!!!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Worship Pastor at FBC Greeneville, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Hal Henard After School Program

Last week I got to work with the (approximately 50) kids in the after school program @ Hal Henard Elementary School, for about 45 minutes!

We began by watching the GHS Choices Video, which I shared with you here. I used it to discuss C - Choice and they loved it! I'm sure they love anything that has to do with the Greene Devils!

We ended by watching the Creation Health Kids puppet video (see above) on N - Nutrition. In between, I taught them what the R, E, A, T, I and O stand for in the acronym CREATION.

I asked questions. They answered. We even mixed it up with some silly games!

I had a blast teaching them the 8 areas which affect our ability to have the happiest, healthiest life that we can possibly have here on this earth. I just love teaching kids, reminds me of my coaching days...aren't they cute?!

Let us know if you have a group of kids you want us to work with!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Worship Pastor at FBC Greeneville, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Orlando Trip!

Last week, Creation Health - Greene County was in Orlando!!!

Here is our team, sitting together @ the Creation Health "train the trainers" seminar. From left to right...Bob (Wellness Director, Takoma Regional), Tracy (Wellness Director, Laughlin Memorial) and me.

The 2-day training was a great opportunity for us to put some faces with names, meet others who are implementing Creation Health in their own churches and communities, as well as gain new ideas on how to do this. They even had us share how the program came about in Greene County, how we are implementing it, as well as how to best partner with the hospitals (and other entities - schools, churches, businesses, health departments, etc) in the community!

They must have liked what we had to say, because they have invited us to come back in January and speak to another group!

While we were there, we had the opportunity to tour some key places in the life of Creation Health.

The Creation Health Headquarters. An amazing facility, which was built with Creation Health principles in mind.

They even have treadmills with computers attached to them for their employees to use!

Florida Hospital, which is the flagship hospital for Creation Health. This is the view from one of the patient rooms, which were really more like hotel rooms!

They even have Creation Health cups in their cafeteria and magazines in their patient rooms!

Celebration Health, more like a resort than a hospital! When Walt Disney decided to create the perfect community in Celebration, Florida Hospital won the bid to build the hospital that would serve this community!

They even have a fitness center, pro shop and day spa inside!

It was great to see Creation Health in action in all 3 of these facilities, and to gain ideas for our own hospitals and community.

We did have a little free time, to sight see and visit with friends. Here we are @ Downtown Disney!

All in all, it was a wonderful trip! It was encouraging to hear that we are on the right track here in Greene County! We are excited to be back, to start implementing new ideas and to keep moving forward on our community wellness journey!

Will you join us?

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Worship Pastor at FBC Greeneville, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Coaches Day!

Last week I was on site @ both Takoma and Laughlin hospitals for Coaches Day!

Coaches are the lovely people I told you about here, who will be the Creation Health Coordinators in their unit/department/floor/area of the hospital.

It was a blast for me to actually be on site for an entire day at each hospital. While there, I had the opportunity to train and recruit new coaches, as well as pass out books and information to any and all staff members who wanted to learn more about the program and find out how to get involved. 

I also took a minute to pop in and see the coaches in action in their area. This 6 weeks, we are focusing on C - Choice and how even small changes can have a big impact on our overall health and well-being. It was so exciting to see how each coach is already implementing this idea in their respective departments!

The Urgent Care unit @ Takoma hung this cute little fall tree, so that employees can display the changes they are planning to make on the leaves. After 2 weeks, they report back their experiences. Love it!

Another group has implemented a Choices Grab Bag. Each employee reaches in and pulls out a healthy habit, whether it be "eat more veggies" or "go to bed 15 minutes early," and then tries it out for one week, reporting back to the group and drawing something new the next week. So fun!

It is such a joy for me to finally be in the stage of the program where I am no longer simply "talking about" the program, but am seeing people begin to apply it to their own lives!

I plan to be on site at each hospital once a month, making myself available to encourage and support the coaches, as well as answer any questions. I have also started a Coaches tab here on the blog and a Coaches group on Facebook, so that Coaches can interact with one another and share ideas.

It is my hope that after the Coaches model is up and running at each hospital, we can then begin to implement it at other companies.

Let us know if your company is looking to start a wellness program for employees!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Worship Pastor at FBC Greeneville, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Greeneville Rotary Clubs

Over the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of speaking at both the morning and noon rotary clubs here in town!

The morning group meets @ Laughlin for breakfast once a week and the noon group meets @ The General Morgan Inn for lunch once a week.

At both meetings, I gave an overview of the Creation Health program as well as how it is being implemented here in Greene County. I also passed out books to attendants. At the noon group, I gave out "How Creation Healthy Are You?" assessments, so that people could get an idea of where they are on their journey.

And that's exactly what it is...a journey. None of us are perfect. We all have room for improvement. The goal is to improve our health and well-being by making small changes, one wise choice at a time.

What one small change can you make today?

On a side note, instead of giving me a gift for speaking, the noon group made a donation in my name to Friends of the Library. How cool is that! :)

Let us know if you need a speaker at your next event!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Worship Pastor at FBC Greeneville, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

GHS Video #1: Choice

I am SO excited to share with you the first Creation Health video in a series of 8, that will be shown @ Greeneville High School this year!

Each video in the series is produced by GHS students who are apart of the GHS News, which is watched on classroom TVs by all students each morning.

This video was shown on the GHS morning news last week and it focuses on the first guiding principle in the Creation Health program, the first letter in the CREATION acronym, C - Choice.

I had a blast working with the students and faculty at the shooting a few weeks ago. Look at those teachers and coaches making poor choices - especially that AD! Monty to the rescue! ;)

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Ha! 

And now the moment you have all been waiting for...watch and share!

Check back next month for the second video in the series!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Worship Pastor at FBC Greeneville, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

More Events!

Last week we held our first Creation Health Coaches training, for those fabulous people who are going to be the "cheerleaders" in their respective departments, floors, areas at either Laughlin or Takoma hospitals, as we begin to implement this fantastic program!

Basically, they will be responsible for coming up with fun, easy, practical ways to encourage themselves and their co-workers to begin making small changes in each of the 8 lifestyle transformation areas.

Each area will be focused on for 6 weeks, beginning with C - Choice, with the goal of showing that even 1 small change can make a big difference. We are 1 choice away from a better life!

We served a nice little breakfast spread at the training session and each attendant received a Creation Health study guide among other goodies!

Coaches training will become a regular occurrence as we add more coaches and follow-up with those who could not attend the first session.

I am so excited that after weeks/months of preparation, we now get to see lives change as people begin living a Creation Health-y lifestyle!

Just for fun, here is a picture of me with Bob (Wellness Director @ Takoma) and Tracy (Wellness Director @ Laughlin), the awesome people that I get to work with in bringing Creation Health to Greene County!

Aren't we cute! ;)

On another note, I had the privilege of speaking to the Widows on a Journey group @ FBC Greeneville this past weekend, giving an overview of the Creation Health program and what each letter in the  C-R-E-A-T-I-O-N acronym stands for, along with a few practical implementation methods. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures but it was truly an honor and a blessing for me to spend time with these lovely women!

Please let us know if you are interested in implementing the Creation Health Coaches model at your company, or if you need a speaker at your next event!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Worship Pastor at FBC Greeneville, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Free Mobile App + John Deere Wellness Fair

Yesterday was another great day in the life of Creation Health - Greene County!

I had the pleasure of setting up a table at the John Deere Wellness Fair, where I passed out Creation Health books and information to employees and their families.

The best part was promoting our FREE Creation Health mobile app for iPhone and Android.

Check it out here and be sure to download it to your smart phone.

Let us know if you need a vendor at your next event!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Worship Pastor at FBC Greeneville, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

The Greene County Health Council + Kids Day = More Opportunities!

I was so excited to attend my first meeting of the Greene County Health Council last week!

Not only did I eat a great lunch and hear an informative speaker, but I was able to meet so many others from the area who are in the health care industry, who will be great contacts for me in the future and some who already have ideas of how we can work together! Yay!

Several of these same people were also with me at Hardin Park for Kids Day on Sunday!

There, I passed out Creation Health coloring books and crayons, as well as brochures, books and a 5210 flyer from Let's Go! which says that kids need the following every single day...

5 - or more fruits & vegetables
2 - hours or less recreational screen time*
1- hour or more of physical activity
0 - sugary drinks, more water & low fat milk
*Keep TV/Computer out of the bedroom. No screen time under the age of 2

It was a great day and again, I met many wonderful people who I look forward to working together with in the future - you know who you are, we bonded over my temperamental tent! :)

Let us know if you need a vendor at your next event!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Worship Pastor at FBC Greeneville, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

A Week Full of Speaking Engagements!

This past week has been crazy busy in the life of Creation Health - Greene County!

I usually blog about each event I am apart of, but this week I am going to have to do a few combo posts in order to keep up!

First, I had the privilege of speaking at the Takoma Volunteer Luncheon, to give an overview of the Creation Health program and how we are implementing it here in Greene County.

Why do I always look like a goofball in the pictures of me, taken while I am speaking? ;)

The very next day I had the honor of speaking at a ladies luncheon out in Camp Creek, sharing with them the 8 guiding principles to abundant life.

Seriously, how beautiful is this table spread? And the food was delicious! Pictured above is a healthy BLT, made with turkey bacon and fresh homegrown tomatoes. A gourmet peach salad was also served. Yum!

Finally, I had the opportunity to speak at the Takoma Breast Cancer Support Group meeting and what a blessing it was for me! Not only did I share the links between a Creation Health-y lifestyle and cancer prevention, but also the hope that we have in Christ, no matter our circumstances!

Let us know if you need a speaker at your next event!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Worship Pastor at FBC Greeneville, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

God Can Take the Ordinary and Make it Extraordinary

In 1 Samuel 17: 33 & 37, Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine (Goliath) and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth."

David replied, "The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." To which Saul replied, "Go, and the LORD be with you."

Now, I don't know about you but watching sheep all day does not seem like the most exciting or even the most important of activities, yet that's exactly what God had David doing most of his young life. While his brothers were going to battle for the king, David remained close to home and faithful to his work as a shepherd. It was through this every day, ordinary activity that God did something extraordinary.

All along, God had been preparing David for the greatest battle of his life. And He used David's experiences as a shepherd boy in the fields to shape him into a man after God's own heart - a man who would one day shepherd His people as their greatest king.

This is the devotional thought, taken from "Creation Health Bible Stories: Insights for an Abundant Life," that I shared Tuesday morning at the Leadership Training @ 4H Camp, to kick-off the meeting.

In the same way, I truly believe that God can use Creation Health to do a mighty work in Greene County. Even when our day-to-day job tasks seem monotonous, mundane, ordinary, even unimportant, He can bless our efforts just as He gave David success in his battle against the giant Goliath. It is my prayer that we would be diligent servants, knowing that God is faithful and that it is He who has the power to change lives.

"Lord, please use this program for Your glory in Greene County...to change lives, to bring people into a relationship with You, to improve the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of every resident who lives here. Take our everyday, ordinary activities and use them to do something extraordinary for Your kingdom. Amen"

What about you? Do you believe that God can take the ordinary and make it extraordinary? Will you allow Him to use you right where you are today?

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Worship Pastor at FBC Greeneville, and a work-at-home-momma to 2 crazy little boys, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.