Living in the Now: Worthy Meal Shortcuts

"If anything is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."  

G. K. Chesterton

 

Eating together as a family, even a single meal a day, has fallen to a rare normal.  A mere 27% of families eating together, only eat, drink, and converse at meal time (listen to Les and Leslie Parrot talk about this sobering pattern).  Eating purposefully, together, and regularly is indeed worth doing, but admittedly, sometimes needs a few shortcuts.  Create space to mealtimes.  Give these a try.  Be realistic.  Suggest a few of your own shortcuts in the comments below:

• Use paper plates.  Try fun colors or paper party plates.  Special touch for sabbath family meals.  Easier for you, you'll also win eager eaters.
• Try frozen entrees.  A reheated lasagna and fresh salad is a cinch to prepare, and is a step above frozen pizza.
• Prepare two, freeze one.  If you go to all the trouble of preparing a meal, save yourself some work by preparing double, and freezing half for a future meal.
• Rotate helpers.  Even middle schoolers can make a pot of mac and cheese and throw in some tuna and veggies for a one pot wonder.  To simplify, assign a specialty meal for each helper to prepare on their meal night.
• KISS.  Keep it Simple, Silly!  Have a regular finger food night that is simple to prepare and fun to eat.  Find a hummus recipe you like.  Dip veggies and bread.  Easy to make ahead and serve in a moment!
• Commit to 15 mealtime minutes.  Be realistic.  An average week night meal need not carry the pressure of a long drawn out ritual.  Focus on sweet and prompt times together.  You will be more likely to connect regularly if you set a reasonable goal.
• Think outside the norm.  Instead of family dinner time, try Saturday morning pancakes or Sunday pizza parties.  Spending a family meal together is most important.

Living in the Now: The Heart of Being Kosher

Sometimes the best library books I find are when I just stroll the aisles.  Hence this random jewel:

Buy on this fab website

Old Testament law reminds me of why I love being Anglican: God's abounding love for us began before the foundations of the world.  How He desires a relationship.  His heart towards me is good.  This soulful story's foundation is in these first few books. 

But, I have never read a book on being Kosher.  I found it worth a toe dip, even if it is too much to jump all the way in.  The motive for this lifestyle can be found here:

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.  You shall not eat any abomination.  Deuteronomy 14:2-3

At its heart, Kosher is eating purposefully, honoring heritage, and acknowledging the Lord.  Kosher is a humble lifestyle of submission.   Live-giving, nutrient rich food is eaten purposefully to bring glory to the God who feeds us, mind, body and spirit.  The author, Lise Stern notes:

Deciding to keep kosher, and how you keep kosher is a personal choice.  For me, keeping kosher reminds me of my Jewish beliefs and of God every time I eat.  It makes me consider what I am eating, and helps me appreciate it.

I was startled--and convicted--to find Stern's heart was practically opposite of how I eat on an average day.  When was the last time my PB&J reminded me of God?  Maybe I've been sacrificing a moment to worship. 

The most purposeful meal I prepare or eat is Eucharist.  The pattern of preparing and receiving is well-considered.  No other distraction demands my attention, and I'm fully present in this feasting moment.  There is soulful music, companionship of family, and deep satisfaction in participating.  Maybe communion is the most Kosher thing I do all week.  What if "keeping the feast" was a culmination of keeping little feasts all week?  What if my undivided heart seamlessly worshiped God the same way, communion wine or PB&J?

My challenge for you is to consider the heart of being Kosher.  See the stark contrast that our average American day leaves us wanting.  What ways can you live purposefully, to honor our Creator with each life-giving morsel? 

Living in the Now: Consuming Food

This is a conservative formula for the past month.  There is often an extra mouth, not to mention the times we've eaten with a friends or family. My immediate family now numbers 14, so you can image the orchestration to just share our two birthday celebrations last month. Check it out:

3 Mouths per meal

3 Meals per day 

31 Days per month

----------------------

279 meals prepared in the month of March

Not to mention my needful morning coffee routine. Not to mention snacks. Not to mention second breakfasts. Not to mention helping friends. Not to mention...

HEAVENS.  There is freedom for me in realizing food is consuming. How could it not be? I'm thinking about food more hours than not. Researching good food (recipes, diets, restrictions).  Buying good food (grocery runs, coupon clipping, organizing my way-too-tiny pantry). Eating good food (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bites in between).

What about you? Or am I just a food addict?

I have been completely committed to two ideas, at different times in my journey:

1. Food is a necessity.  Meals are important because creates space for communion together.  Thinking too much about food shows you have an eating problem. Being fed is a practical, yet often inconvenient task.

2. Food creates space for worship. Most of the time, I can't NOT think about food. God gave me a body needful of good food. I'm going to worship Him by eating deliberately completely, fully, and well. 

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psalm 34:8

 Could it be that tasting--eating--is a way for us to see how good the Lord is?  That it teaches us to take safety in His faithfulness?  Can we really worship while feeding our faces?  God, give me the heart that eats in a way honoring to You.

Living in the Now: Making Choices

It's 2:00 in the afternoon.  I wish you were here to see the polite, quiet struggle.  While I've had an extremely productive day checking off responsibilities, Someone has been slightly less productive.  Quietly, respectfully, he refuses to work on his school. Purely won't pick up the pencil. 

A little less quietly, he has clearly refused all food offered, and somehow that was the breaking point for me.  He used to be such a good little eater, and this insane pickiness, this overwhelming stubbornness, hurts my pride.

Ah, there's the root. 

Its somehow shocking that I can't force him to make good choices.  And eating wholesome food, lovingly prepared from scratch, being served with a kiss and a smile...he won't choose it. His undying stubbornness to sit at the table, on strike, for this many hours is unsettling. Lord have mercy, what will he be like when he's 15?!

In the meantime, I'm committed to letting home be a place where it is safe to make choices--good or bad. A safe environment to live out what you choose, going hungry or grazing.  How much more my Father does for me, a mindless sheep in His pasture: 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23: 5-6

How do you coach your little one into making good choices? How do you let go of pride and humbly walk with God?  This has been an ongoing battle for months.  We've probably tried the basic ideas, so dig deeper.  Input needed.

Living in the Now: 6 Ideas for Simple Hospitality

There's one thing for sure about living in community with others: community happens rarely with notice.  The neighbor that pops in, the friend who hopes for a chat, or an unexpected emergency occurs.  Living together usually has no script.  I've had my share of unexpected, stressful moments.  Shockingly, it often leads to irrational resentment. 

Instead, know that moment is coming.  Make a plan to be fully present, to create space to hear the Spirit lead you in relationship with this person.  Pray as you serve.  Even a sweet sentence of blessing as your pour a drink will remind you of the God Who is now-here.

When it comes to stress-free hospitality of food, keep a few of these ideas on hand:

1. A Southern woman knows how to make a real glass of ice tea.  Master it.  Offer it often.
2. Lemonade mix is super simple and satisfying for those wild, little rascals from the neighborhood.  Make your place be the favorite hang out. Oh, and send it outside.
3. Keep a few basic mixes on hand (cookie, cake, side dishes).  You'll be more likely to share if you can whip it up quick.
4. Stash your favorite jarred sauce (mariana, pesto, white sauce), and keep pasta on hand.  I've never met a soul who would turn down a fresh meal of pasta.  You're more likely to invite someone to dinner last-minutely if you already have a plan.
5. Have a couple "go to" casserole recipes for shut-ins.  My favorites make a double batch and can be frozen ahead of time: they'll eat one, and I'll keep one.  Sending food suddenly is good for everyone.
6. Bring a tasty morsel to that meeting you kind of dread.  Cookies go a long way in lightening a heavy load.  Don't count on bringing any home.

Living in the Now: Rooted in God's Renewal

N. T. Wright says that "a mission-shaped church must have its mission shaped by hope; that the genuine Christian hope, rooted in Jesus' resurrection, is the hope for God's renewal of all things, for his overcoming of corruption, decay, and death, for his filling of the whole cosmos with his love and grace, his power and glory.... To be truly effective in this kind of mission, one must be genuinely and cheerfully rooted in God's renewal."

While this truth is grand and beautiful, personalizing this mission brings it closer to my heart--

...a mission-shaped person must have her mission shaped by hope; that her genuine Christian hope, rooted in Jesus' resurrection, is the hope for God's renewal....

This is a song of Gomer and Hosea, of the restoration of lost love, death of desire. Being rooted in God's regeneration is deep, heartfelt, and soul shaking.  Mission shaped by hope is rooted in the stump of Jesse:

Then a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from its roots will bear fruit.    Isaiah 11:1