food for thought

we all have to eat. every single one of us. that is one of the indisputable facts that unites mankind on every continent. it doesn't matter whether you are dining around a pretty table with fine china, or sitting in a circle on the floor sharing wooden bowls. and it doesn't matter whether you use a fork, a set of chopsticks, or your hands. you could be in a crowded restaurant, a little café, or the comfort of your home. whatever the case, wherever you go, people eat. you eat. i eat.

now this whole idea of eating can seem like a very matter-of-fact, mundane part of life. our bodies need nutrition to function, so we eat. it's an old fact of life, from the beginning of humanity. yet, have you ever considered that eating could have been made a very boring activity, done just for the sake of survival? all i have to say is - praise God it isn't.

i am so delighted that God created taste buds, and gave thousands and thousands of them to each person. and i am so glad that He created flavours too. all kinds of delicious flavours. strong, spicy, rich, and colourful flavours. flavours that combine and clash, to make eating interesting. these taste buds and those flavours make eating a pleasure. God didn't have to make it that way, but He did. so whether we eat (or whatever we do), let us do it for the glory of God.

that being said, think before you eat. think about God's culinary creativity, and praise Him for your food. savour that steak, suck on that sweet, enjoy that enchilada, relish that rice, taste that tangerine... and worship God.

"I would have despaired
unless I had believed
that I would see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD."

[Psalm 27:13-14]

living colour

When I walk through the door of my house, these old photographs welcome me home.


What may appear as just a collection of old, black and white photographs to you are not just any old photographs to me, but rather the memory of colourful people. They have been carried carefully by my mum from Northern Ireland and Scotland, to the east and west coast of the States.

They are the faces of my family through the generations, some who have gone before me, some who live across the ocean, some who are still with me. They are stories to be told, and told again. They are people to be remembered and revered. They are lives to learn about and learn from.

I'm sure you have old, black and white photographs in your house too. Maybe they are in some nice frames, or maybe they are hiding somewhere in a box. Wherever they are, don't just let them collect dust. Don't imagine the lives of those in them as black and white either, but rather colourful and important. Go look at them, ask about them, listen, and learn from them.

in feast or fallow

have a listen...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR15L9aBvAo

in feast or fallow
words and lyrics by sandra mccracken

when the fields are dry, and the winter is long
blessed are the meek, the hungry, the poor
when my soul is downcast, and my voice has no song
for mercy, for comfort, i wait on the Lord

in the harvest feast or the fallow ground,
my certain hope is in Jesus found
my lot, my cup, my portion sure
whatever comes, we shall endure.
whatever comes, we shall endure

on a cross of wood, His blood was out-poured
He Rose from the ground, like a bird to the sky
bringing peace to our violence, and crushing death's door
our Maker incarnate, our God who provides.

come, oh come, Emman- u- el
come, oh come, Emman- u- el

when the earth beneath me crumbles and quakes
not a sparrow falls, nor a hair from my head
without His hand to guide me, my shield and my strength
in joy or in sorrow, in life or in death.