Well, hello!

We are alive and aware today, and that is something to celebrate! Thanks for taking five precious minutes from your day to join me, in the hope that you’ll feel encouraged. If you’d like to know why Friday and what this is about, read last week’s post.

Savoring the Flavoring

What role does food have in your life? Is it an old, comforting friend or an annoying, nagging companion? Is food life-giving and energizing, or does it bring up negative feelings, memories and disdane?

While we know food isn’t a person sitting next to us, it does tend to take on roles in our life. Sometimes healthy, sometimes not. But when we can hit that “sweet spot” (pun intended), when food both nourishes us and allows us to savor the goodness of this life, there we can feel more fully engaged in life and lean into being alive!

From the photo of me next to this text, you can see that I love to eat Chips and Queso. My Texan roots meant eating Tex-Mex (and queso dip) regularly; it was shared at get-togethers, our favorite neighborhood taquerias, and even as a Friday night movie snack next to popcorn. But queso really isn’t a nutritionist’s dream, so I know the balance is eating big salads (also in the photo) and other nutrient-rich foods most of the time, while savoring fried chips and queso sometimes. I’m sure you can think of your own “queso,” that favorite food that is not the best for your health. Paul writes to his community in Corinth, ³¹ So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. (1st Corinthians 10:31)

Paul isn’t saying we can’t eat chips and queso (or chocolate cake, or whatever makes you close your eyes when taking a bite and savor); he IS saying to give thanks in all things. And when we are grateful to God for our day, our lives, even our imperfections, we move to a perspective of taking great care of our whole selves. A grateful person values life, both their own and others’. And we actively value life by acting on cherishing it. So eat that kale salad (& the queso, too). I recognize that our relationships with food can often be out of balance, and let’s kindly encourage each other to care for our selves and each other, using professional resources to best take action to feed our bodies well and savor the flavor of life. I’m certainly in this with you.

1. Check-in: How are you feeding your body in this season? Are you treating it with gratitude? (Either write down or think about how you’re physically caring for yourself.)
2. Action/Inaction: What is one thing you can prioritize this weekend to help feed your body better? (Cook, try to eat something new, add a green vegetable to your plate full of tan foods)
3. Chat with Christ: Jesus, you know what is going on with each of us, especially those areas of life that we don’t want to talk about or even admit to ourselves. Food is life-giving and can be used to harm us, too. Give us strength to know the difference and to take action to care for our bodies. Let us grow in gratitude for this life we have. A bonus of taking care of ourselves is that we can love others more fully. Amen.

I thank God for this opportunity to spend 5 minutes of your precious time with you. And I thank God for you and an opportunity to feed our bodies well. Savor those flavors.

Happy weekend!

~Laurel