Come Hungry!

Matt and I took the girls out to a Mexican restaurant last week, which is always an adventure with 4 kids. We really like to eat Mexican because they always bring out the chips and salsa beforehand, so the girls have something to munch on while we wait. The only problem is that by the time our meal comes, they are so full of chips and salsa that they don't eat the meal! I suppose if I am to be totally truthful, it happens to me a lot of times, too!

When it comes to appetites, our own or our children's, it can be difficult to discipline ourselves and stay hungry for the good stuff. Who among us wouldn't be disappointed to go to an amazing party with delectable food and drink if he had just wolfed down a whole bag of cheese puffs and a 2-liter of pop!

But it's not only our food appetities that we need to discipline. There are many appetites in our lives that we "feed" with "junk" rather than the good stuff. We've all told our children, "Don't eat that, it'll spoil your dinner!" But maybe you've heard a mother say, "Don't watch that! How will you ever appreciate good movies or theater if you are full of that stuff on TV?" Or even, "Don't look at that stuff! How will you be hungry for true art if you fill your eyes full of trash?" Or how about, "Don't text all the time! How will you truly feed your need for intimacy and relationships if you are full of junk communication?" Maybe some of our difficulty in passing on the faith and culture to the next generation has less to do with our presentation of it, and more to do with their appetites being filled with everything but those things that will truly feed them!

We all know what Mom meant when she said, "Don't spoil your dinner!" She meant: "Come hungry!" Sometimes in our "feed it now" culture, we are less than disciminating when it comes to when and how we feed ourselves. Even though we spend much of our time full, we are still malnourished. Just like my girls with the chips and that yummy Mexican meal, sometimes some guidance from Mom and Dad can help children learn that it really is better to hold on to the hunger for a while so that in the end we can be truly satisfied.

"Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you shall be satisfied... Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry." Luke 6:21a, 25a.

God Bless!