Do You Love Good Food - Part I

     Anyone who knows me, may notice that I take a lot of pictures of food.  My phone is full of pictures, mostly because I track the foods that I eat.  It is not an obsession but a habit that I’ve gotten use to as I’ve been a long-time student of Weight Watchers.  They have taught me how to be accountable.  They don’t suggest that we take pictures, but it is a creative way that I explored how to monitor what goes into my body.  Taking pictures of my food also encourages me to make pretty dishes.  Who wants to eat food that doesn’t look good?  I once made the mistake of adding purple cabbage to egg drop soup.  The soup was gelatinous royal blue.  It didn’t help that I had shaved carrots into the soup.  It made the carrots look like little goldfish swimming in a bowl.  It was interesting, but not too appetizing.  Pictures hold me accountable.  When I stop taking pictures, I begin to consume things that are far less healthy. 
     I am the head chef in my family.  I decide what will be on our weekly menu.  With this responsibility, I need to make sure that I have all the ingredients I will need to prepare the meals that I have planned.  I would love to say that I am well-organized in this arena; however, it is mainly an illusion.  I go in fits and spurts.  Some weeks are better than others.   Organization is a highly desirable skill when it comes to preparing good meals.  

Shopping:      

   Some of us may prepare a shopping list we take with us to the grocery store in effort not to forget a key ingredient.  I do this; however, it is not all about remember my key ingredients, as much as it is a precautionary measure to buy only what is on my list.  If something at the store looks or sounds better than my menu plan, how easy is it to chuck the plan or waste food?  With a list, I evaluate whether this food is really necessary, or just a craving.  Chocolate is never on the list, but somehow it finds its way into my shopping cart now and then.  I can't control chocolate; its sneaky and has a mind of its own!      
     On occasion I find myself ‘winging it’ at the last minute.  If my planning skills have been poor, I may find a mid-afternoon trip to the grocery a convenient way to give the illusion that I have exceptional meal planning skills.  Thank goodness for some handy kitchen tools which allow me to go from a hard-frozen chunk of meat to a fully cooked option in thirty minutes or less.  I confess, this is a pattern that has developed from poor meal planning.  

     Most often I shop for groceries once a week.  I plan on six dinners at home with enough leftovers to fill lunch boxes five days a week.  My family has grown accustom to my cooking and sometimes complains when I don’t allow them to take main dish seconds as it will throw my whole meal plan out the window.  What a scrooge!

How We Feed Ourselves:

     There are many methods that we can use to feed our families, but regardless of the method, I guarantee that some thought goes into every option, even if it is reservations that are made at the local restaurant on the way home because the refrigerator is bare, or the options we have don't sound good.  Eating by mood can become a problem.  Meals can be picked up, delivered, or come prepackaged and left on our doorstep for home cooking (gourmet meals in a box).  Without planning, I would have to say, it is difficult to eat meals that are always good for us, foods that help us maintain our health.         Just like planning how we will fill our stomachs with desirable food, we should have the same inclination as we set our menus in place for ingesting God’s Word, our daily feeding.  Giving some thought to the nutrition we are seeking is important as we plan to invest our time with God.  I see this as an investment, not just spending time.  Are you consuming good food from the Source, or are you getting genetically modified Scriptures?  When planning is not in place, it is much easier to take in garbage, fast food that has relatively little spiritually nutritional value.  

What Goes Into Us / Comes Out of Us:

     Lately I have paid closer attention to what goes into my body because of several medical evaluations that have revealed the possibility of unknown internal abnormalities.  I have had to go on food-fasts frequently while drinking gallons of undesirable liquid.  After each test I realize just how good water can taste.   I find myself consuming more water with flashbacks to much less desirable alternatives.  

     Good food, when you get in the habit of eating healthy foods, it begins to grow on you.  Your cravings begin to change.  Instead of sugars, carbs, high-fat, or processed foods, you find that you more readily reach for healthier options, a nice crisp apple over a processed cookie.  Good food becomes tastier.  You begin to taste more complex layers found within a dish.  Not only flavor, but texture and aroma take on a whole new meaning.  Did you know that you can actually enjoy the smell of fresh baked bread (even without eating it?)  Yes it is possible!

     Now the analogy, how do we plan for and digest God’s Word?  How do we decide:  a.) what we will read, b.) how much we will read, or c.) where we will get our content?  Taking this into consideration creates value for spiritual wellbeing.  How satisfied will we be once the meal is over?  Thanks to Wayne Cordeiro, who through his Divine Mentor program, taught me the importance of daily feeding.  For the past several months I’ve had the privilege of teaching this program to a group of ladies.  I would have to say that the satisfaction on what I've been eating from Scriptures is much improved.  

     I don’t make a habit of making reservations, allowing someone else's devotional material to feed me unless I am in a crunch for time.  I may however, snack on it if I am hungry, or the other reason we snack, we're bored.  When someone else prepares our devotional meal, it is not always easy to determine what has gone into it.  Do their spiritual beliefs mesh up with mine?  Have they hidden an unhealthy ingredient to make it more palatable?   If I eat too much of it, will it harm my health?  I may supplement my Bible Study with someone else's content, but I am beginning to see a warning to stay closer to the Source.  How can we truly know the voice of the Master unless we become very familiar with it?  Staying close to the Source (God's Word) allows me to more easily detect shallow or false doctrine, or just plain bad content.  It becomes easier to share good content with others.   

A Bible Reading Plan (The Menu):

     Using a Bible reading plan has helped me to provide balance to all of Scriptures, not just the ones I prefer.  It allows me to develop my pallet, but it also helps me to enhance the flavors of old content that I'm more familiar with, something I already know.  The reading plan becomes the recipe of ingredients that the Holy Spirit will combine together to make a tasty meal.  It is His job to guide me to truth, not the author of a daily devotion.  Often I am amazed at how a sprinkle of Old Testament, a pinch of Wisdom, and a hint of the New Testament go together.  It is like paring a fine wine with a good meal.  I do not know a great deal about paring wine because I'm highly allergic to sulfites, but some of you will understand my comparison better than I do.   

     A better analogy for me is a balanced meal containing just the right amount of protein, carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, fats, sugars, and sodium.  The Holy Spirit gives me just the right portion and combination to keep me fit and trim.  It is a combination of diet and exercise that keeps us healthy.  It is easy to observe when the muffin-top cascades above our waistband, or the double chin reappears in our reflection that we notice there is a problem.  Exercise is what we do with Scriptures once we take them in.  What did I observe in the Scriptures, tone, inflection, culture, history, backstory?  How can I apply it to my life?  Is this application telling me what I should or should not do?  Is it improving my relationship with God, or convicting me of sin?  How should I pray (before, during, or after the meal)?  How will this or has this changed me? 

Food Network – Chopped:

     I enjoy a good Food Network show now and then, so I will use it as an illustration from the television program called “Chopped”.  The contestants of "Chopped" are given several items of food that have been concealed in a basket.  Each contestant will be asked to put together first an appetizer, then a main dish, and finally a dessert if they are not eliminated in one of the preceding rounds.  It is important that they allow the basket ingredients to standout in their dish and a failure to get one of the items on their plate could cost them their chance of winning.  The combination of basket items never seems to quite go together.  Sometimes they, by themselves, would be extremely hard to swallow, but somehow the skills of the chefs create often surprising results as the dish they display is not only beautiful, but tasty.  The judges offer critiques and often tell them what would have made their dish better.  This is just like my daily reading plan.  I am not sure how all the passages will go together to give me just the right spiritual nutrition, but the Holy Spirit is a talented chef and He knows the right combination that will bring the ingredients together in a surprising way that is very satisfying.  Often I will find myself wondering, ‘how did He do that?’  

Part II - will provide an example of one of my weekly Divine Encounters