Feeding the Children

My friend Dawn has gone totally radical on me. It’s not that she’s dyed her hair green, pierced her belly button, or gotten a tattoo. Worse than that…she’s started making homemade bread – after grinding her own wheat!! A quote from The Little Red Hen comes to mind: “‘Not I,’ said the Drewe Llyn.” (OK. I tweaked it a little.)

Actually, I admire her resolve to provide the best nutrition for her family, even if it does mean cutting back on sugar, buying organic meats, and truly making bread from scratch. In fact, all her talk about these health benefits has me thinking… about maybe buying a loaf or two from herJ. Seriously, her greatest “selling point” about healthier eating wasn’t the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, or even feeling better. What caught me was when she said, “I’m not only teaching my children to eat healthy, but I’m teaching them how to feed my grandchildren.”

Feeding grandchildren.

Somehow, and rightly so, my friend sees a bigger picture. It’s not just her well being, or even that of her own children at stake, but she has shouldered the health of generations to come, generations she may not live to see but will influence by the positive life choices she makes today.

This really has me thinking. Jesus said He was the Bread of Life, which means He is the basis of life. Without Him there is no life, at least not REAL life. He also said, “Feed my sheep.” When I teach my children to trust in the Lord with all their hearts, to stand firm in the faith, to read the Word everyday, to pray about everything, I’m not just “feeding” my three children; in reality I’m influencing the way they “feed” their children who will in turn “feed” theirs, on and on for generations to come. There is a bigger picture here, a lot of responsibility to shoulder; the spiritual health of the future, even eternity, is at stake.

So, while I may be lax in nutritional areas (I have been known to make chocolate chip cookies for supper – but not too oftenJ.) when it comes to feeding my children spiritually let me loudly proclaim, “I will do it myself!” and let the record show, “and she did.”

© Drewe Llyn Jeffcoat 2006