My dear friend. I have a few really good ones, but she stands out because of her humility.
She set up the care calendars to feed hungry, nursing mammas when our babies were born. Her face lit up when we announced our decision to foster orphans, and she went willingly to trainings to babysit our fifth child, who belonged to nobody except his Creator. Thank you, Ashley, for reminding me of Ann Voskamp’s words. They speak truth about my hunger this holiday season.
“Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren’t satisfied in God and what He gives. We hunger for something more, something other.
The only thing that will satisfy our hunger for more is to hunger for the One who comes down to Bethlehem, house of Bread, the one who comes after us and offers Himself as Bread for our starved souls.”
For those of us who are seeking sustenance from what might be right in front of us, this message about hunger feels like truth, all the way down to the aching pit of our stomachs.
Let’s be real and truthful and transparent here.
The holidays can be wonderful. But, when it comes to food, the holiday season can be the most emotionally and physically challenging time of year.
Because, for those of us who know any form of an eating disorder, whether it’s in our past or in our clear and present moments, the amount of decisions we have to make about food is overwhelming. There is calorie counting, calorie saving, obsession with how what we eat directly correlates with how we look in a specific outfit. There is less exercise plagued by guilt or more exercise motivated by fear. Calculation and measuring prevails as we obsess more and rest less.
And restless is exhausting. And unsatisfying.
I am praying for us, sisters in Christ, that we might ask for more satisfaction from our Jesus. I pray that we will bold in our Christmas list making and ask Him to open our eyes to recognize His presence more. We want Him to intervene in this crazy, dangerous cycle we create of calculating our value.
We want Jesus to be more present in our spiritually hungry lives so that we might enjoy his presence as we feed these physically hungry bodies. Because it is good for us to acknowledge His sacred presence as we engage in the physical.
It is a sweet blessing to restfully enjoy the blessing of His provision, the food that accompanies our friend and family celebrations. It was never meant to be a curse.
I love you friend.