Garbage In, Garbage Out

"Good spiritual food is for those who are strong in the Lord." Hebrews 5:14

This is from my boys' lesson at church today. God is amazing how he works. When He wants to teach you a lesson, He makes sure you hear it from several different sources. You know, like the smack upside the head. The food we put into our spirit is what comes out of it. If we spend our day watching garbage on TV, when the stress comes we are going to react to it much differently depending on what we've been watching. We are going to react differently, depending on who we spend our day hanging out with. Do you spend your day hanging out with negative people who complain all the time. That is what you will become. A couple weeks ago, we were at our Pastor's home. He used a teachable moment with the 11 yo boys. One was sitting down, the other standing. Do you think it was easier for the one sitting to pull the other down, or the one standing to pull the other up? I'm not sure if the kids got the lesson, but I did. It is what we do with our free time, and who we hang out with that affects how we react under pressure.

This also applies to the food we eat. Now, I'm getting to the point of my smack upside the head. I have been on this health journey for two whole months now. I have not had a headache in over a month. The thing that really inspired me was a friend telling me how sometimes our dealings with food can be sinful. Clearly, the Bible talks about gluttony. I just never thought about it like that before. I was addicted to food and especially sweets. Every time I would get in a bad mood, I would want a bowl of ice cream. If I had a headache, I would reach for a Diet Dr. Pepper (even though that's probably what was causing my headaches in the first place). My relationship with food was not at all healthy. I am not saying that my eating habits are perfect now, but they are greatly improved over what they were. I do not have the emotional relationship with food that I once did. Food is for nourishment. However, I still like to enjoy what I'm eating and have fun with cooking and recipes. Food is also a huge part of our culture. Things like parties, celebration dinners, church breakfasts all usually involve food. Sometimes these things like to stack up on each other. That was what happened this weekend. I cannot obsess about every little thing and eat perfectly all the time, I know that. I still try to make wise choices for the most part. Sometimes, however, temptation can sneak up on you. Friday, we had a big homeschool St. Patrick's day party. I had one kosher beef hot dog with no bun, a small piece of chicken, some carrots, celery, grapes, and one small brownie. That is not even close to what I would've eaten two months ago. It did contain ingredients that I should not eat. I was also outside all day and probably did not get quite enough water. Because of all the chaos of the day, I could not come up with anything to make for dinner. We went out to Chick-fil-a. I had two chicken fingers, some fries and a bottle of water. By that time, I could already feel the headache starting. It did not get any better yesterday. Little one had a baseball game. I made some popcorn before the game to help avoid the temptation of the concession stand. Instead of having fries and a Dr. Pepper, I had popcorn and a cup of detox tea. Then, my parents wanted to go out to Wendy's. I had chicken, a side salad, and a bottle of water. We then spent the afternoon outside enjoying the beautiful day. Again, not quite enough water and I could feel my headache getting worse. I did take ibuprofen both Friday night and Saturday night before bed. To finish off the day, we had pizza for dinner. I can't believe I agreed to that. I woke up this morning to a headache like I haven't had in some time. I learned my lesson. NO MORE JUNK FOOD!!!!! This morning when we went to church and they brought out the waffle iron, I was not even tempted by the smell. In fact, I was almost repulsed by it. I had eaten a good breakfast at home, and now I am sitting here enjoying my warm cup of Yerba Mate tea and listening to the rain. The dull pain of my headache is still there, but I am counting on it being completely gone by tomorrow morning to enjoy our field trip. I am also planning ahead to bring my own food. No more garbage for me.