Prompt: Eat
// I like food. A
lot. And I’m pretty picky, too. Not about not eating my veggies although there
are a few that have me being sneaky in front of my kids like I used to be in front of my parents. But what I’m really picky about is getting good food, quality ingredients
and unique combinations that surprise me and make me say, “Wow, I never thought
to put those flavors together!”
On the other hand, I am a mom with four kids, homeschooling,
and living in a place where if I want to eat it, I’ve pretty much got to make
it all… from scratch. Like those yummy donuts that lasted 90 seconds in my
mouth? 3 hours of work.
Anyway, I’ve learned to scarf down something, anything,
really fast just to get some calories in me before I’m on to the next thing. I
am actually trying to work on slowing down even in my eating these days.
And then there are days where I just can’t be bothered to
pull something together so I don’t eat. I put it off until my blood sugar drops
and I am suddenly sick and hot and dizzy and feel like I’ve come down
with the stomach flu.
I’ve learned to keep some easy snacks around the house, in
the car, even my purse or diaper bag, just to avoid those moments. A few
almonds here, some peanuts there, raisons, and bananas. Bananas are the best
fruit. In a place where we have to wash every.stinkin.bite. of fresh produce
with vinegar or bleach before we eat it, bananas are gold. Peel and eat. Viola!
The magic fruit. Who cares how they taste? That is completely beside the point.//
But I digress. This isn’t just a frivolous bit on food,
I promise. The thing is, I was just realizing how my habits with bodily food
mirror my habits with spiritual food. There are some lessons for me to learn
there.
For instance, I am picky about my spiritual food. I don’t
want a measly 10 minute quiet time. That is like a drink of water before you
start a meal. That’s just getting started. I feel like a failure, and like I’m
still hungry, if I stop there.
Also, I don’t want to get up from my quiet time
until I’ve really been deeply impacted by some truth in God’s word. I want to
get up changed or else it didn’t work!
But, again, being a mom with my kids home with me all day
every day, living in a place where the unexpected interruptions are expected,
where daily tasks take more time than I am used to from my growing up years… all
these things mean I don’t get to have my picky preferences about my spiritual
food.
I don’t often get the hour+ stretches of quiet time that I
used to get pre-kids. I don’t get to sit down to write and wrestle with my
thoughts, uninterrupted, until I get them back in line. (Unless I sit up late
at night, like right now! Ha!) I don’t have the freedom to sit and muse over
the truths I am sorting through at leisure until the lightening moment when it all
clicks.
So I can be prone to put off partaking of my spiritual food
altogether, waiting for the “better quality” that I crave. And then? My
spiritual blood sugar crashes. I am suddenly in a whirl of emotions and fears
that make me dizzy and sick and I can’t seem to find my footing on the
foundation that I know is there, but I’ve lost my bearings and I can’t stand up
steadily on it.
I was sheepishly surprised this week when I made the
time to “get my calories in” more regularly even though it wasn’t the “quality” that I prefer
and found that… I had far fewer spiritual blood sugar crashes! (Hit the forehead moment.) I was more
steady and even-keeled than I had been over the last few weeks, though I still
struggled with plenty of stressors and the not-enough-hours syndrome that is
just a constant for any mom.
My circumstances didn’t change, in some ways they were more
difficult, but for the most part my heart didn’t crash into various forms of
negativity because of a lack of spiritual calories.
I still have a way to go, oh goodness a LONG, LONG way to
go, but what a joy to take another step on the journey of finding satisfaction
and nourishment in the Bread of Life!
I am continuing on with my Write 31 Days theme of "31 Days to Slowing Down and Living More Simply" with reflections based on my reading of Emily P. Freeman's book Simply Tuesday and the prompts given at the FMFW page. My "Five Minute Free Write" portion will be enclosed with // and any extra thoughts will follow.
I would love to slow down eating sometime. Love how you compared it to the spiritual.
ReplyDeleteI would love to slow down in both cases, but it is a challenge! :) Thanks for your encouragement.
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