Rethinking Food

So after deciding to join the Summer of Seven, a blog challenge to reduce in similar ways as Jen Hatmaker did in her book Seven, I am now wrestling out the logistics of the process.  In a very uncharacteristic move on my part (see previous post), I have decided not to map out a detailed schedule of which area we will address when and how and why and the whole sha-bang.  Instead we’re just gonna take it a step at a time and see what happens.

Can I tell you I am so struggling with the food issue?   Not because it seems too hard but because I don’t know what to do about it.  I don’t know how to adjust it to go deeper.  In Seven, Jen Hatmaker only eats seven foods for one month.  I don't feel like that fits our family's current food journey.

We already buy our produce organically through a coop.

We purchase our meat, eggs, dairy, and other produce through local farmers.

We buy in bulk as much as possible.

We only eat “real” food the majority of the time. (I write a blog about it.)

We’ve made a conscious effort to reduce consumption and find more responsible options for food items tied to slavery such as coffee and chocolate.

Using up the freezer/pantry/fridge ingredients for dinner.

I just stocked my freezer with meals because the end of the school year is crazy busy and we are about to move.  We are also already using up our pantry because of said move.  

Two days ago I did another purge of our pantry and threw out anything containing soy lecithin and my children’s leftover Easter candy and any other candy lurking in our pantry.  Noah informed me the next morning that if I threw away his ring pop, they cost him 50 cents each.  I told him we’d discuss it later which is code for: oh, crap, I have no idea how to handle that, but we need to get out the door before we’re late for school, and this isn’t going to be a pleasant conversation.

I say all of this not to toot my own horn, but more so to say, “Where else do I go from here, since food is already a subject we are constantly working to learn more about and make more healthful and responsible choices in?”  And even as I write this I feel the tug in my heart.

Of course it has been in the back of my mind for a WHILE to give to the food pantry at church, but I haven’t actually done anything about it.

And I think about opening my home for others to share a meal whether they 

can return the favor or not.

And it strikes me that when we give, we shouldn’t just give our cast-offs or items of a lesser quality, but rather the same that we would buy for ourselves or our family.

Jesus had this to say, "...When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:12-14)  


And then there is that story we've all heard in Matthew 25 about the sheep and the goats--that when we feed, clothe, and care for the least of these it's as if we had done the same for Jesus.  You know, that story that caused you to pray the sinners' prayer a ba-gillion times when you were a kid because you were scared you weren't really saved.  Yeah, that's the one.


I have been the one in need while others stood beside me and cared for me when I was unable to stand alone.  These words of Jesus wrench my heart and bring tears to my eyes.  But being moved to compassion isn't enough.  We must also be moved into action.


Thinking in light of the Summer of Seven, I don’t know that any of these areas I mentioned above really fit into a week-long plan, but I think this is what fits what I need to address in the area of food.  This week I’m putting these areas on my to-do list to start and continue.  Additionally, I’m going to continue to pray for God to mold me in this area—to give my eyes to see and a heart to understand and for Him to move me to actually live the gospel of Christ.


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