Food

I enjoy a tasty meal. I get creative in the kitchen when I imagine or remember the good taste of some foods. Our bodies are also created to crave the food we need. It remembers the contents of vitamins and minerals in different foods. Isn’t that amazing? 

I grew up in an era of scarcity. And the food was repetitive. But I learned an important lesson. Eating regularly at the table, when it’s meal time. Lunch was often served around 2 pm because that’s when we got home from school. For breakfast we ate whatever, bread, butter, jam and tea, or milk soaked bread. And soups. Whatever we have in the fridge and pantry soups. 

Now food has become more addictive, we snack more than we should, we crave and we don’t realize that being hungry and craving something isn’t the same thing. 

I heard myself saying to my daughters, when it was time for lunch, and they said they are not in the mood to eat, that we don’t have to crave the food we eat. I give them healthy regular meals so their bodies get the sustainable it needs to grow. 

Nope, no need to crave the food. You don’t even need to feel hungry. We eat a little bit of food at the regular time and we will continue to function well, and thrive. 

I listen to my body, and I learned to anticipate its needs. When you feel famished or very thirsty, it’s already late. 

Whatever happened to moderation, to balance, to routine! 

When our brains are firing erratic messages of survival, our bodies start to store up fat, we get headaches, we get fatigued. 

Eating out is not sustainable nor healthy. 

I wonder sometimes why god created us so needy and dependent on food intake. Daily. The daily bread. The daily manna. 

It slows us down, it creates a context of connection, is provides an opportunity to serve, it’s a creative process. I don’t remember my parents complaining about having to cook food for us regularly. They were grateful they had food to cook. 

I commend them for their resilience, consistency, service and dedication. And I am saddened for my generation – we are surprisingly selfish and lazy. I am often tired and out of ideas as to what to cook. And I take my kids occasional pickiness personally. I wish my attitude and perspective would change. My heart would change, and I would take every opportunity to feed my family as an opportunity for grace, and joy and healing. May we eat food to honor god, and not be controlled by food.