I just can't think of a fun title for today's post! :)


Today was another busy day and it was not my favorite, I'll be honest. The house needed to be clean...but I still had 6 children who needed many things more (even if their need was not a need to me!). So, I battled my flesh and my spirit warred within me. I am very goal oriented and I tend to lose sight of all else when I really want to get something done. That may be a good thing when it comes to some things but not when it comes to tending to my children! (Funny, huh, how I just blogged about the reality that having a messy house meant dear children messing it up...and yet here I am today blogging about the reality of cleaning! If you saw some areas of my house, though, you would know that it has gone from messy to bio hazard!:))

The house did get clean, my spirit was renewed (by the grace of God) but I have realized that, once school starts next week, I have to implement the daily cleaning schedule that I have been working on for the kiddos and, prayerfully, we will just have to take an hour or so on Saturday morning to fill in the gaps. I'll let you know how that one goes!:)

Caleb's second cavity ended up being what looked like a space that had been already filled but the filling had fallen out...so the dentist was able to fill it without novicane!!!

We are headed to Church Family Camp tomorrow afternoon. What could be better than a years worth of fellowship all in one weekend??!!! Not that I am saying that we should not seek to fellowship and be involved in others lives throughout the year..but what a neat blessing to be able to have so much time with a bunch of families during the course of a whole weekend! We are all really excited! Prayerfully, that enthusiasm will be just as high on Sunday when we come home! :)

I'll leave you with a blog post I read over on the "Biblical Council of Manhood and Womanhood" website. They have been posting some great thoughts lately and, as a mom who desire to glorify God in all areas of life and to encourage my children to see all that they do in life as an opportunity to glorify God...I loved this guys thoughts when it comes to our children's eating habits! Hope you enjoy it too! See you next Monday!:)


Gospel Implications of Picky Eating
John Starke
August 11, 2009

One of our kids has developed a bad habit of being a picky eater - she won't try new foods, tends to like only certain kinds, etc. My wife and I are trying to form strategies to counter this recent development. Yet, whatever strategies we use, practically speaking, I hope that one thing that we are able to get across to her are the implications of "picky eating."

Picky eating does not simply make life difficult for the cooking mom or cause dinners to go longer while we sit and wait for the child to finish dinner. Picky eating doesn't just imply that their taste buds are simply narrowly focused. Picky eating says something about the heart. For parents, the picky eating of their children may be a good, Gospel teaching moment.

At the risk of overstatement, picky eating could be viewed as the first few steps down the dark and hollow path of Romans 1:21, "For although they knew God, they did not honor him or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened."

Romans 1:21 has a larger context within Romans 1-2 and while much more is implied, at the very heart of Romans 1 and 2 is the refusal to recognize God as Creator and ourselves as creatures. Everything we have is derived from Him. The proper response of the creature's heart is thankfulness and gratitude, but their sinful response was to not even recognize God as God and Creator.

I don't want to necessarily jam the entire context of Romans 1-2 into my child's picky eating. Yet, in a very real sense, there is no heart of thankfulness, contentment, or gratitude in picky eating. In fact, it is the opposite of thankfulness, contentment, and gratitude. Instructing the child's heart in the little mundane things like eating what their mother has prepared for them begins to prepare them to have a thankful heart, being content in the Lord and in what he has ordained for them. Instruction at the level of a finicky appetite just might be the place to begin pointing our little ones to the One who became the Bread of Life to rescue ungrateful eaters.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hmmmmm? Do you think that perhaps you were being attacked in the very thing God was teaching you? :-)

Have a great weekend at Family Camp.
For His Glory said…
WOw! Now that was some deap thought for "picky eating"!! I loved that! Let's get down to what it really is right?! A Matter of the heart. This was encourageing because we have been dealing with this with "J". He refuses to eat all fruits or vegies, meats and lots more as well, and we simply are placing it on his plate every meal so that he is realizing "It's what's for dinner"...I understand there will be a few select things that will end up being something their taste buds may never seem to get aquired to, but common sense says, "it's not every food you put in front of a child" it's a matter of the heart and rebelling against whoever made them the meal...In our home the children are learning; "better eat cause there ain't nothing else I get to choose from"...

Thanks for the great read!! Hope your time at Family Camp was wonderful!
Unknown said…
Oh, Kristin, I can't even tell you how timely your post is about finiky eating. I have been all but storming about lately listening to the constant directives of "no this one Mommy", and "yuckish", etc. I seem to find it particularly irritating. It really is one of my biggest buttons and I thought I just had to "get over it". Thanks for the fresh perspective. Now just to communicate an attitude of gratitude to a few with little English :)