Multitudes on Mondays: Health and Fresh Food

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of decision making and paperwork and busyness. (Cleansing sigh) But that is quite alright. It all started with tons of paperwork for the adoption class. Then came conversations about possibly sending our oldest to private school next year instead of homeschooilng. Then I started obsessing over who we might adopt. I think the paperwork might have triggered some of this, but it might just be my obsessive nature. Some of the dynamics are changing with our current homeschooling. Then there were meals to be made for sick friends and friends with new babies. And this was all capped off with a 5K, which raised $7500 toward completing a community center/school in Haiti! All of those are good in their own way, but just a bit mentally and physically tiring. And all of those could be the topic of their own post, but they won't be today. (Although I may use this blog as a therapy session about the private school decision, which is still weighing very heavy on my heart.)

No, today, I want to tell you about food. This was also part of my mental and physical drain, but also a huge help in energizing me through all of this. I spent several hours (HOURS!) cooking one day last week. This is a big deal because I do not like to cook. I do not like being stuck in the kitchen for a long time. I do not like cleaning up the mess. I do not like that I labor and toil and usually burn and ruin our dish. I made a turkey this past Thanksgiving. I first bought the free range bird at our local health store, which was not cheap. I then thawed it in my fridge for days. I removed the neck and other nastiness from the cavity and then patted it dry. I stuffed it with herbs and veggies and basted it throughout the cooking. And I overcooked it. Yep. It was the driest turkey ever. Thank God for yummy cranberry sauce. But, I do like that I now get a box of organic produce every week. I love that I cook and labor and toil to give my family the best for their bodies and minds. I do like that my children are learning that food's main purpose is not to quench some craving or be some magical explosion of flavor but is to nourish. And I do like, o.k. love, the moments when something does turn out amazing and there is a magical explosion of flavor in every bite. I also love when my 4 year old exclaims, "We are having ______ for dinner! Thanks, mom!" And I love watching my 2 year old shovel down greens and beans and other food that I would have pitched a fit about eating. But even more than all of that, I love that my heavenly father has given me these things.

Have you realized that there is at least one "superfood" in each area of the world? The middle east has olives, South America has acaia berries and quinoa, North America has blueberries and sweet potatoes, Asia has shitake mushrooms and soybeans, and the list goes on. Our God is just amazing. And just think of all the intricacies that go into how our bodies are formed and function from conception on. We grow in our mother's womb without any need to breathe or eat. Our umbilical cord supplies all we need from nutrients to oxygen to waste secretion. And then the instant we are born part of that is blocked off and the lungs start working and breathing. Babies come out knowing how to be fed and new moms know how to feed and it is all so amazing. God is an amazing planner and provider. There is such harmony to His creation.

I am reading Leviticus right now. I am trying to do a "Read the Bible in a Year Plan", but I am currently moving at a snails pace. Instead of the 3-4 chapters that I'm supposed to be reading a day, I am reading 1-2 chapters every day or two or sometimes three. Leviticus is not an easy read. It has to be the most boring book in the bible. But, like my produce, it is good. It is spiritual nourishment. I do find it intriguing how God covered so many details about health. In Leviticus, health deals more with spiritual cleanliness, but it also deals with actual cleanliness. There were instructions about mold and rashes and food. Anything unclean had to get sent outside the city to get burned. They didn't know about bacterial or viral infections back then, but God did. He gave all these instructions about how to offer sacrifices, what animals to eat, how to wash before eating, how to discard mildewed items, etc. He was covering them with His laws.

But now, we do not have to live with those same guidelines. Peter had that vision in Acts 10: 10-16, where God tells him to eat animals that He had forbidden in Leviticus. Peter refuses and God replies, "What God has made clean, do not call common." So, there is something more important than simply bacteria and viruses. It all points to allowing God to provide and protect and lead. I have this theory. I think that when we obsess about food and health (or anything really) it becomes an idol, and that is obviously not good. But, if we utilize the things that God has provided for us, we might have fewer stumbling blocks. Our bodies and minds and even emotions will have the nutrients they need to be more stable so that we are able to focus more on Him without distractions. Health certainly should not be some legalistic thought process, but maybe if we take in what God has provided, then we will be able to live longer, fuller lives. I mean, we never get things quite right. Look at baby formula. We study breast milk and try so hard to come up with a formula that is scientifically equal to breast milk, but we can't. God's knowledge is so vast and so amazing and so sufficient. And I am so grateful for all that He provides me with - even when it requires more time in the kitchen. :)

Ok, here are some of the gifts I've noticed from Ann Voskamp's Joy Dare:
79. Dinner with old and new friends
80. Cooking fresh, healthy food for friends
81. Great conversations about all the many changes
82. Stuart winning 2nd place in his category!
83. My sweet mama friend cherishing her 2nd little bundle of joy - so confident and precious.
84. Friends who take my 10 year old for the afternoon so he can play with peers - even when they must be so tired.
85. Sweet worship time - praising Jesus
86. Encouraging words from and to my new Shalom friend
87. Boys listening, tempers subsiding, birthday celebrated