We have a funny relationship with food in our household - it's one I have carefully nurtured and intend to keep in place until I am convicted that it needs adjustment. It's sort of an subtle training program that forces us not to fall into mindless eating habits and a attitude of entitlement. It is easy(I have done it) to assume that we need to eat as much, as often and as particularly as our hearts desire. I don't think it works for me or my kiddos to have everything we want immediately at my fingertips - or as close as the store - we become quickly jaded and forget to give thanks and reflection toward how and whom all blessings flow from.
Not that I am making my family go hungry. But I have created a natural system of plenty where the pantry and refrigerator are full twice a month and then reduced to almost empty before we refill it. Empty enough to wipe down the produce bins under the counters and the shelves in the refrigerator. Empty enough to feel the pinch of having to be creative with meals and thinking and not go for the simple and the quick. The sort of thing that makes us wonder how to stretch one pound of beef or a pack of chicken legs to feed 13....
When I go shopping for the 'big' run we should be out of all the basic perishables - and may have been for several days. Teaching our family that it's OK to be out of eggs or milk or cheese or bread or fruit has allowed us to be more flexible - and because of that we save a lot of money by not making those 'quick trips' to grab the one thing we are out of...and the ten other things we were tempted to buy.
It's a healthy cycle for us and extends into our freezers as well. Currently we are at the end of a cycle. It's amazing to see the 'meat' freezer that in August was filled to overflowing with chicken from the Target freezer disaster and in October beef from friends who shared out of their bounty is now empty except for six beautiful pans of blackberry cobbler stashed away when berries were five dollars a case this summer.
When I open the door to wipe it down today I will smile - I am smiling already - because watching the ebb and flow of food reminds me that like many things in life this isn't static - not me simply filling and providing for my family - it's God. And the emptiness isn't a bad thing - I don't need to panic or rush out to fill it because God knows what our needs are and there is already a plan in place for meeting them. Not in a limp 'it's not my problem- I can't do it' sort of way - but in a trusting 'I know who is really in control of it- and I trust Him' attitude.
This week I have the four last things from the meat freezer to cook and I am looking forward to it - one small pork roast, five hamburger patties and two ziplocks of diced pork with some sort of seasoning I forgot to label in the fall.
Isn't it great that my freezer is empty?
Isn't it better that that emptiness makes me happy?
There is already a promise of it being filled - in God's good time - again. Our friends have offered to share another steer with us - amazing in the timing - God ordained in the offer as it paralleled the strange medical event I experienced earlier this month. (still no new news on that one - hopefully more next week as I meet with the vascular neurologists.) Just enough though to whisper a reminder into my heart 'don't worry about what you should eat....I have that covered...as well as the medical things.'
Blessings this Saturday - as I give thanks and mix the mystery pork into our rice and beans I will be smiling at the amazing provision and love of the one who really takes care of my family - and yours.
(Please Note: Our children are not going to bed hungry as some sort of weird lesson in God's provision. No. We are working to teach them to think about food in healthy ways - not needing to hoard or fear or over indulge. Simply to think about it for what it is - and where it really comes from. There is always plenty of food in our house - it just isn't the 'quick and easy and tasty' things that we tend toward when we are not paying attention or are living in crisis. :)
(Even More Important Note: None of our children has come out of a situation where food was an issue. They have not been traumatized by hunger or the fear of where their next meal was coming from - if they had we would be dealing with a whole different set of issues.)
6 comments:
I grew up in a family of nine, with not quite enough money, and parents who told us over and over that "God would provide". Looking back, I can see that we always had enough - no one went hungry. But we only rarely had more than enough. Most meals were carefully calculated to stretch, and leftovers were rare.
As children, all seven of the kids hoarded food to some degree. As teenagers, four of the girls, including myself, dealt with disordered eating. As an adult, food remains a source of anxiety and shame for me.
I don't mean to suggest that you're doing the wrong thing - you're obviously an excellent mother who knows her family much better than a lurker on a blog. But from personal experience, I do know that what felt like living by faith for my parents felt like a constant source of low-grade anxiety for me and my siblings, even if we never expressed it. Has that been an issue in your house? You mentioned teaching your kids - what does that look like?
Excellent point Ryn. Our kids never go hungry - there is always food to be eaten. BUT it isn't always the thing we want or crave most. Trying to teach moderation and trust is a hard thing...especially when we live in America.
Blessings
dorothy
I love this post. I am definitely guilty of running to the store for a single small thing and walking out with way more than I need. After reading this post, I think I'm going to try to not buy any more 'freezer things' until I've used up what I have already. I'm probably going to be surprised at what find. :p Thanks for sharing!
-Molly
We stretch our food with coconut oil. I put melted oil on the table and each person pours 1-3 tblsp of coconut oil on his/her food. I buy coconut oil on line in 5 gallon buckets. I buy expeller pressed so it isn't quite as expensive and it doesn't have the coconut smell. The oil helps us to feel satiated longer.
Teresa
This is a great post! I find that I do this in cycles - I buy and buy and buy (finding great sales and feeling I have a duty to buy at the lowest possible price) and then I feel overwhelmed with the excess and force myself to only buy the most basic of staples until the overage is used up. There are times when things seem pretty lean - but there is always PLENTY of food to fill those tummies. Sure, not always the quick, grab and go stuff, but that's usually not always the healthiest option anyway (besides raw fruit and veggies). A few of my kids do have food issues (not hoarding, but binging because it's there - and who needs to eat 5 granola bars at a time?), but they really hadn't experienced food deprivation in their early trauma years. We all need to be much more intentional about things like this.
Great post!
Great thoughts.
Great lessons (for you and for the kids).
We knew with a little advance warning that our food budget would be cut drastically this next month, so it made us much more conscious what we purchased this past month (saving every penny that we could, so we would have some "carry over").
It's been really good to re-evaluate what we buy . . . when . . . why ??? We, too, have food in the cupboards . . . and the freezer . . . and the refrigerator. We, too, are getting more creative and using what we have, rather than running to the store for that day's idea of what we may want.
Good lessons . . . for Mama and the kids.
:) :) :)
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