Food Transitions Finale: Leaving and Following

My gracious and wise Father gave food to sustained me physically, to delight my senses, to understand spiritual truths, to give me a taste of my heavenly banquet, and to sanctify my heart. The transitions I have chronicled in this mini-series are teaching me to leave behind chaff and to follow Christ and when I do this, I can truly enjoy and benefit from the food He has provided.

Will I leave or follow childhood patterns, my sin nature, other cultures, modern culture, current trends, medical protocols, peer pressure, my flesh, my emotions, or my God?

I am a new creature in Christ. Yet, I struggle against the whispers (or shouts) of those things that desire for me to elevate FOOD to a place that belongs to GOD alone. As I reviewed my mini-series on food, I have a few parting thoughts to challenge my heart to leave behind the chaff and follow Christ's example and godly principles:

• God intended food for my good and to provide what I needed and He intended for it to taste delicious! Have you considered that God does not need food? It delighted Him to make it for us. We are to delight in it and use it as He intended--for our good. Christ delighted to provide wine for a party (and it was the BEST wine) and  to feed multitudes,. God commanded feast days.Yes, they were to eat and enjoy it. Enjoy the wide variety of cultural foods as preparation for the heavenly banquet!
• Recognize that sin has marred my body's hunger sensors and man's food plans. I discovered that man's food programs either ask us to ignore hunger and fullness or to "listen" to it. Both fail to see the impact of our sinful human reasoning and the impact of sin on our frail bodies. To deny a God-given signal may be wrong if my body requires nourishment. Likewise, my body's huger/fullness sensors have been impacted by sin.  My chronic illness caused me to lose my appetite and hunger. I had to force myself to eat. Sin also has impacted our sense of what we would best meet our body's nutritional needs. Knowledge often has to trump my "intuition" or feelings in regards to what I eat.  So, though I can use theses sensors, I cannot depend on them. All past and present food influences must be filtered through scriptural truths to counteract impact of sin.
• Put people ahead of food. Christ saw the needs of the people and met their needs. He tailored the correct food for the people. People are more important than food-- listening, caring, praying, serving, and loving others. Fellowship  is more important than food. Allowing myself and others to comfortably attend potlucks without eating, for whatever reason, is putting the people ahead of the food.
• Let nothing take the place of God in my life. Just as Jesus joined His followers in a meal, I think He would join me for a cup of coffee. I know that He would not NEED coffee--and not just because He is God. Whenever I feel I need a certain food, I have to look at why. I am convicted that coffee (or any other food/drink) does not strengthen me, uphold me, encourage me, or comfort me--that is God's job. I need to go to Him and learn to be satisfied in God. This requires time, energy, focus, and conviction to keep my heart and mind stayed on Him.

Food--God's gift to us.  He uses it to delight us with its beautiful colors, flavor and textures. He uses it to challenge us to be transformed into His image by regarding it correctly. He also nourishes us so we can accomplish His service.. Food--God's gift to us so I can follow Him. That's a great thought for a finale!

Food Transitions: Medical Protocols

I have discovered that medical doctors have their favorite diets or considerations concerning food. You can discover a vast array of approaches. It is hard to sift through and come up with something I can also live with and be committed enough to actually follow.

My initial doctor wanted to cover up my symptoms with medicine so I did not feel the symptoms. I decided I needed to take other avenues than the cover-up method.

The first doctor that used food to address my chronic fatigue (and multitude of other symptoms) thought I had food allergies. It was only many visits later that I discovered this was her default answer to health issues. It is what goes into a man that causes his problems. So, instead of working on healing what was wrong with my body, we avoided the symptoms by removing foods from my diet. This was a vain attempt and I had to abandon this approach.

The next doctor was concerned with healing my body. In order to do this, she placed me a strict anti-inflammatory diet. There are certain foods that can aggravate any inflammation and you can pretty much guess what foods these are. The hardest part was that it eliminated all uncooked foods. Everything had to be cooked. I really missed fresh fruits and vegetables.  Though I felt somewhat better, I could tell that I was not better and I was just giving my body easier to digest foods. The doctor said this would be a lifelong diet for me.

Finally, I am on the Marshall Protocol diet. In someways it is the most restrictive because I have to make sure certain additives are not in foods and it takes out the favorite new health foods: flax and soy. In other ways, it is the least restrictive: dairy and wheat are fine. What this diet admits is that  my flesh is the issue. My body is not handling the bacteria correctly and this is what we need to address. The goal is to be able to return to an unrestricted diet once my body does heal.

When God began transforming my attitude towards food--He showed me that it is not the food that is the issue; it is my flesh. As I ponder this, I am amazed to see that medical answers regarding food follow those of man's attempts to deal with sin: Cover it up, focus on those who are causing your problems or control stressful situations so your sin is not revealed.

The problem is that my flesh is the issue. Just as my physical body is not responding correctly and I have developed a chronic illness; my heart does not respond correctly to God and I am a sinner--by nature. It is that nature that must be dealt with and Christ is the only One Who can transform it.

Hmmm, I wonder if we would see the same patterns of man trying to solve problems in education, parenting, politics, government, as well as in medicine? Just cover it up; blame someone else; or take control?

Food Transitions: Do "Real Men" like Tea Time?

Please do not read or comment on this if you are a huge Victorian Age/Jane Austin/Pride and Prejudice fan. You will argue with me all the way and then subject everyone to a tea time.

I am writing this in defense of our young men. I am also writing this to plead with moms who have become convinced that a weekly "tea party" with their children is a way to build a relationship with them due to a growing trend of this from the well-meaning "things were better in the Classical Times" group. Most moms love tea time because, well, they are females and God made them that way.

Though I would agree there are exceptions, I would contend that most men would prefer NOT to take part in a proper tea time.  A proper tea time is filled with proper etiquette, poem reading, sharing quiet conversation, and sitting properly. I think to subject young men to this is to tame them in a way that is contrary to their God-given traits and they will have to fight those traits to comply with the regulations surrounding this proper tea. This is NOT conducive to building relationships.

Yes, I do believe young men need manners but not straight jackets. They will volunteer to join a proper tea time when they are wooing that special girl and I promise you that they will do all that is needed to prove they have proper manners.

So, instead, do relationship building with food that fits their nature. We studied donuts, ice cream and pizza for some unit studies--and of course, that included lots of taste-testing. Following studies that allowed it, we found restaurants that served appropriately ethnic foods. Our conversation was centered around a list of general questions about our learning time, spiritual lives, home life, community life. It was a group effort to initiate and listen and participate. This list provided a framework so we didn't just delve into favorite boy discussions like world domination. One time we completed a study on The Cuban Missile Crisis and went to a Cuban restaurant. We are finishing a study on Ancient Japanese History and will go to an ethnic dining place.

Something not as elaborate is time for a milkshake, ice cream sundaes, pizza, hot chocolate, etc . . .  Or the setting can be changed. Regular mealtimes focus on nourishment.  This time the conversation is more structured and focuses on the child/parent interaction. However,, food is very important to most boys so even by food selection, we are saying I am focusing on you and want to create an atmosphere that is good for you.

Now, the problem becomes if you want to spend time with all your children and they have different preferences/needs/traits. My daughter would have definitely gone for tea with the fine china! So, what do you do?  You alternate activities between the different needs. For my daughter that would have meant that she would deal with (gracefully) doing this time in a more boy-friendly way 4 times before she got her special proper tea time. But she enjoyed their events as well. And now one of my sons is a connoisseur of tea (no help from me on this!).

Joyce Herzog said that sometimes schools are not friendly to how God has made boys; in fact they stunt their growth towards becoming the leaders and doers God intended. I have also observed that many young boys choose not to become readers because all their "required reading" is something females (Moms/Teachers) have liked them.

Special times with special foods can transition our lives and conversations from a busy time to a focus on those special people. God is preparing a banquet to share with us in heaven. I think it will be just what delights us. I would like to do the same for my children--and you, when you come to visit. Any requests?

Food Transitions: International Dining in our "backyard"

Our Nepalese friends always expose us to their foods. It is considered the right thing to do when having guests in your home. One day, I hope to be considered family and they do not feel a need to bring me chia tea or their most recent rice or noodle dish. Very delicious food. They have told us they tone down the spices for us (we are whimpy) and they accept if I ask for "panni" (water) because I am following medical orders--but they feel sorry for me and want to make sure that is all I desire.

They also accept that we use utensils when eating but they also feel we miss out of truly enjoying our food because we do not touch it. This mystifies them and maybe we need to consider that we are missing out on something with all of our training in manners! Can you imagine a family meal where you did not have to remind children NOT to eat with their fingers?  The peace alone might be worth it and maybe we would be more satisfied if we opted to touch our foods more?

Our new church family has many people with a Filipino heritage. Each week they have a potluck and we are experiencing more distinctly different tastes: Rice is a staple along with tripe soup and "I am not sure what" dishes (often of a fishy nature). When I can, I will experiment. It is very fun to see the excitement when someone brings in a favorite ethnic dish. We have several "nanas" (grandmas) who love to please others with their culinary talents. I will say it is the most unique potluck variety I have experienced within a church family. It has changed my vision of what the heavenly feast Jesus is preparing for us might look like, though I have a hard time placing delicately fried fish heads on that banquet table.

Food Transitions: Eating "Real Food"

 When we moved to Kentucky, God challenged us to refine our diets in many ways. Mainly, we are eating more and more of foods; less and less of ingredients we cannot pronounce. We call it eating "real food". We purchase our beef and milk directly from the farmers that raise it. I continue to make the majority of our food from scratch. No canned soup in the house to add to a casserole.

Some different aspects played into this decision but it is a balancing act between budget, convictions, and life circumstances.

One of the instrumental aspects of transition was reading Fast Food Nation as part of our homeschooling. Not only did we get a lesson in nutrition but we also hit business practices and history. I love how my sons applied their convictions to real life situations and discovered that real food tastes better than what people can make.I also read In Defense of Food and our sons read part of this. Both authors have very good support for their claims but all fall short in looking to honoring God as the Creator and Provider of our food.

We are very grateful for the co-op (or food buying club) we are part of and all the research the leaders do to find farmers who use good farming practices and that we can purchase some items at reduced prices. However, I must admit that most people there have come to make food an idol in another way--focusing on it to heal, support, and meet their needs if they follow a certain way of eating.  More and more of their time is taken up with studying food rather than studying God and His Word.

It was wrong of us to make the dollar a determining factor in food purchases. Cost does not necessarily equate quality. But of course, we have to live within the budget God has given us otherwise we are not honoring Him. Right now we are spending more money on groceries (and have reduced other areas in our budget) but we believe it will reduce medical costs. I have seen that my sons are not as hungry as they once were--is this because they preferred the refined snacky foods or real food fills them up better? I am not sure, but eating less does set off the extra cost of the foods.

Eating in this way requires WAY more time in the kitchen. More cutting, dicing, and mixing. I thought I made a lot from scratch before but this has taken it to a new level. Again, if I want this to be a situation that honors my Lord, I need to make sure this is not robbing from other priorities He has given me. Playing praise music while preparing food helps. Involving others is a good way to cut the labor and have conversation.

Making these sort of transitions requires me, again, to come before the Lord for wisdom! Imagine that! There are so many competing ideas out there but God loves to give His wisdom to those who ask.

Food Transitions: Southern Culture Shock

We shock people when we tell them a big cultural change for our family was the popular foods in this area. We have a greater understanding of "Southern Comfort Foods". Usual side dishes are mashed potatoes, macaroni 'n cheese, grits, cornbread--all in the same meal. Potlucks are a whole new experience.

• Fresh produce is more difficult to obtain in the "south" because there is less demand for it, thus the stores don't have a big turnover. The first time I picked up raw broccoli to place in my shopping cart, it drooped. It did not go home with me.

• When we had a group of teens to our house and offered them fruit, we were asked what it was. They had never seen nectarines or plums before, at least in the fruit's fresh state.

•  Green beans are rarely served green. It is preferred to cook them til they are gray with ham or bacon. Green salads are a rarity but you can often find potato, pasta, or bean salads.

• In season Georgia peaches are truly full of flavor, sweet, and juicy-- especially when Georgia is close to where you live. And Honeycrisp apples are the perfect mix of crunch, moisture and taste. There are other local produce that we have tried but will politely decline: Kale, turnip greens, and okra. I am sure they have merits but . . .

Food Transitions: A New View

Two resources changed my view of food: The Weigh Down Workshop (book) and The Lord's Table (free online study).

As a disclaimer from the start--both of these fail in handling God's Word accurately (at least when I went through them). Mostly, they took some scripture out of context. However, they both had some very God-honoring principles:

• Many of us have made food into an idol.
• Certain foods are not evil; it is the misuse of food that is evil.
• God has given us indicators as to when we should eat (true hunger).
• We need to practice being satisfied in Christ and fill up with Him.
• God provided food to bring pleasure and be a good thing in our lives.

So, I found myself using a new form of evaluation as to when I  ate and when I did not eat. I learned better to listen to my body instead of a clock. Most importantly, I ran more to God than to food when I was tired, hurt, disappointed or discouraged. The friends I took this journey with were invaluable as we encouraged and held one another accountable to seeking the Lord first.

God is so good at starting with my heart and letting the other lessons come from this changed heart. His transformation is good and right.

Food Transitions: Where I started

Food was important in my childhood home. This should not be a surprise because my parents did without through so much of their childhood.

My father grew up as the eldest of 13 children on an Idaho ranch--during The Depression.  He remembers sharing a candy bar with two siblings. He had ice cream once. Dad could suck all the marrow out of a chicken bone and his plate never looked used (but we washed it anyway :)

My mother's childhood was amidst vineyards in the heart of Germany--her small village endured the impact of World Wars. When she immigrated to the USA her limited income did not allow much for food. In fact, she remembers being hungry almost constantly which was not helped by church potlucks where no one explained you could help yourself to food!

Food was important in my childhood home. My dad treated us to ice cream every night. This is the truth. My parents worked hard and though our income was low, I do not remember ever being hungry. Food was also used to treat many discomforts--being tired, in pain, bad day, too hot, too cold--were all valid reasons for eating. This is beside the usual celebrations that include food and, of course, regular meals.

I also grew up during a time when our grocery stores went from being a small-family-owned establishment to chains. The food industry relied on more and more prepared foods and less and less on "real" ingredients. These cheaper foods were ideal for a growing family on a limited budget. The price of the item now became a big indicator of what my family purchased.

When I married, I started preparing the majority of our meals from scratch. This was a taste preference. As our family grew and our income shrunk, I delved into bargain shopping for food. This involved a leap into coupon shopping which majors on the prepared foods.

But God was ready to change my view about food and over the next few blogs I will share with you a travel log of that journey.

Promises, Priorities and Procrastination, Part 2

Promises: "Little" things set a pattern for fulfilling promises. Did I promise to read a book to a child after dinner? Did I say I would come early to help with the set up? Did I tell God I would respond to the next nudge to give generously?

Priorities: Priorities need to change with the seasons of life that God brings. Feeling ill has caused my priorities to change a lot. Pregnancy or having little ones around will do this as well. It is important to remember that God has given us the same amount of time and we are to be good stewards of that time--that means doing what He desires with that time. I think being chronically ill has helped refine my priorities. I need to accept this as a way God is refining me.

Procrastination: We rarely procrastinate on those things that are easy for us to do or we find enjoyable. So, it does help to sandwich the harder things between the more enjoyable/easier activities. One time, I had a huge project list. I also had a compelling novel. So, I got to read a chapter after an item was crossed off the list. This time, I flew through both! Other times, I break down something difficult into smaller steps. It just helps.

Promises, Priorities, and Procrastination

In this season of my life I am seeing the link between these three elements: promises, priorities, and procrastination.

A promise, to me, is a commitment. I take these very seriously and do everything I possibly can to fulfill them. A promise means if I say I will call you later in the week, I call. If I tell someone I am attending a meeting, I go (and arrive on time). If I give my son extra entertainment screen time, I follow through though this is one of my least favorite things. Because a promise is taken seriously, I make sure that my children (who are VERY capable of remembering a favoring promise) understand when I am promising versus when something might happen. I think honoring a promise is reflecting our Lord Who fulfills all of His promises.

Preferences do not make priorities. Needs and the authority of scripture should dictate my priorities.  My husband and I plan dates because our marriage is a priority. Right now, to follow this medical protocol requires me to place a higher emphasis on rest, food preparation, and regular routines. I do not like this, but it is a priority. A dear friend recently told me that she was having to give up something she thoroughly enjoys to see if this reduces her intense pain. Needs create priorities.

Promises and priorities are carefully linked. Priorities are a good screening of many promises. We do not make promises that conflict with keeping our date nights. Homeschooling and parenting require time and energy. Do outside activities compliment or take away from those priorities? We guard our time with Nepalese refugees but do not let it consume our lives because this is not all that God has called us to do.  So, priorities influence what I promise to others. This is a very good discipline. It is not easy, but it is necessary.

On the flip side, promises create priorities. Fulfilling the promise means other things must submit to it. Isn't this what frustrates us about our political and legal system: The promises are not what really happens? So, let's be different and say that when we make a promise, we will make it a priority in our lives to fulfill it barring obstacles we cannot foresee.

Sorry to all the procrastinators out there but  I never understood procrastination until I became chronically ill. It was so much easier just to get it done and not let it simmer on the burner of my mind! Now, there are days when I honestly think that a certain project will be easier to tackle when my mind is clearer or my body is stronger. You know what I mean--nothing is just flowing easily and when I get up the next day, inspiration or desperation might just drive me to be able to accomplish XYZ. Are you laughing at me?

As much as I would like to say, in my weak body, that procrastination has become a welcomed friend because genius and clarity arrive when I wait, I would be fooling myself. It is just as likely that the next day my mind will be groggy and my body weak (or maybe groggier and weaker). So, I may need to fulfill those priorities and promises within my present weakened state and accept that my efforts were not perfect or inspired! Argh, is my pride showing?

I need to be careful about promises and allow time and energy for priorities. It is helpful to have a variety of priorities before me: physical, mental, emotional. This way I can vary what I am doing throughout the day to accommodate for my varying physical/mental capabilities while still working towards priorities. Finally, it has been invaluable to readily admit when I could not keep a priority, "I promised I would do XYZ but this is why I could not accomplish it ________________. I am sorry."  Friends and family can be quite understanding if I am characterized by fulfilling my promises and keeping my priorities. They do not always expect me to be perfect!