Nourish

If you're my real life friend, you know that one thing I'm pretty passionate about is finding good, healthy food for my family.  I'm fascinated with learning about nutrition, different ideas about nutrition and how to eliminate the majority of processed foods from our diet.

But something about pregnancy makes me throw all those ideas out the window.  Well, not ALL of them - but a lot of them.  I'm way less 'strict' when it comes to what I buy at the store - and while I still stick to Earth Fare, Trader Joe's and the farmers markets...you can find junk food anywhere.  "Organic cookies" are still cookies.

I find this pretty interesting actually - because you would think when you are growing a tiny human, there would be a stronger desire to nourish yourself better.  Especially during this pregnancy because I haven't had weird food aversions or too many cravings, and I haven't been sick.

But - I have been tired.  And overwhelmed with some life stuff.  And when those things happen, I find that my defenses are down.  My willpower goes to sleep and I can justify cookies from EarthFare because "THEY'RE VEGAN and made with ORGANIC CANE SUGAR"  True story!

On Saturday night I ran to the store and loaded up on fresh produce and avoided the aisles with the

'healthy junk' so I wouldn't have it in the house.  I've been feeling ick, and I know I need to be nourishing myself and this baby better.  So for lunch I made a colorful salad with my homemade lemon tahini dressing and am remembering how much I love fresh food!

It also got me thinking about how to nourish my soul.  As a mother, a wife, a friend - it can be easy to drop the ball on taking care of that aspect.  It can be easy to become overwhelmed, tired and shut down.  To sit down at night and stare at Facebook or mindlessly watch a reality show.  I find the more overwhelmed I am with life, the less motivation I have to rely on God for support.

If you want a good reality check, think about where you spend your time and what you put your efforts towards in your loneliest, darkest, emptiest moments.

Where am I allowing myself to indulge, chalking it up to ideas like 'I deserve it'?  'Just one of these ____ won't do too much damage'

God is begging us to turn to him when we our defenses are down, when we are most tired, when it is easier to turn on the TV than to turn to His word.  Nourishing your soul isn't easy - it takes time, commitment, effort - just like learning to nourish your body properly.  You can gloss over the hard stuff and feel somewhat ok about grazing on organic cookies all week but the bottom line is, a cookie is still a cookie.  And grazing on God's word will only get you so far.  You have to dig into the meat, into the heart of Him and His desires for you.

Where do you turn when you are most tired?   Are you looking for someone or something to fix you, to fill up the void you feel or are you looking to pour yourself out, to give yourself to Him?