Thankful Thursdays

There is so much to be thankful for in life that I am committing Thursdays on this blog to expressing my heartfelt thanks to the Lord and to others for the many various blessings I enjoy.

God is great — God is good — Let us thank Him for our food.  Amen!

Childhood Sarcasm

As children growing up, many of us who did not want to finish a meal… or who did not necessarily appreciate the menu on the plate set in front of us… would be told by our well-meaning parents that there were starving children around the world who would be thrilled to have the food setting in front of us at that moment.  Sadly, some of us who have the made-up spiritual gift of sarcasm and lacked the actual gift of the Spirit known as self-control, would retort, “Well then, let’s box it up and send it to them!”

Teenage Scavenger

I suppose that my appreciation for food changed as a growing teenage boy who inhaled nearly everything set in front of me.  I didn’t just like food… I LOVED IT!  I can remember eating till I was nearly sick.  And till age 27, I could eat almost anything I wanted without any adverse side effects.

Married Meals

Once married and moved away from home, there was new-found freedom in buying whatever foods we good and well pleased.  Nobody was telling me what veggies I had to eat.  They also weren’t buying that food for me  now, and so I began seeing the value of food a little more.  But even in those early years, we pretty much had plenty of food.

As the years progressed, we arrived at the place where we could buy whatever foods we wanted.  Sure, our tastes have changed.  We’ve discovered the value of whole foods. Now I have to be a little more careful about how much food I eat, as well as what kinds of foods.  But we still have plenty.

Becoming My Parents

Enter the boys.  Formula (wow, that stuff is expensive!), baby food, oatmeal.  Chicken nuggets and burgers.  Asparagus, broccoli, carrots?

And then it happens… As they sometimes struggle to want to eat what is deliciously and painstakingly prepared by their amazing Mama, I hear faint echoes of my parents voices in the back of my mind.  It’s only in those moments I begin to realize how ungrateful I was back then because I simply did not understand how wonderful it is to have good food to eat.

Choices

And now there are mornings when I get up before daylight, go into the kitchen to brew some coffee, and I stand in front of a cabinet full of choices.  Sometimes I get frustrated if I can’t decide what I want to eat.  And then I think to myself, “How amazing is it that I have so many choices of what to eat?”

I’m reminded of the story Pastor Denny Duron told at his father Rodney’s funeral about the time he saw his dad crying in the grocery store.  When he asked his dad why he was crying, his dad replied, “Look, son, look at all this food.  The basket is full of food and we have enough money to pay for it all.”

My diet does not consist of a daily ration of rice and beans.  I am not restricted by health to not consume most items.  I have been so well provided for that I have been able to purchase the types of food I want and need to eat… from ice cream to iceberg lettuce.

Soon, any momentary frustration with too many choices turns to gratitude for a loving Heavenly Father who provides so well that David writes in Psalm 37:25 that in all his life he never saw the children of the godly begging for bread.

Today, I am thankful for food to eat.

What are you thankful for?