The Big White Farmhouse

Today’s subject is a hard one for me, so let’s be real and honest, okay?  


Food is a tricky thing for me.  I understand how good, nutritious food is beneficial to our bodies.  Eating lots of vegetables and less processed food, going gluten-free or even Paleo – they’re all good, good things.  I’ve seen the positive effects in myself as well as my family.


But.


We’re currently on a pretty tight budget and staying on track means letting go of some of those strict dietary rules.  With seven mouths to feed, there’s just not enough money to always buy the freshest/grass-fed/organic/best ingredients.  Honestly, it causes me a lot of stress and guilt.


Feeding myself and my family isn’t ending anytime soon and this obsession with optimal health can quickly turn into an idol.  It has in the past for me.  Maybe finding contentment with food means slowing down, eating realistic portions and just being thankful for what’s set before you.  Maybe finding contentment with food means eating the best with what you’ve got.


Yet another pep talk:
+ Let food be a positive part of life, not something to stress, obsess or worry about.
+ Find the method of meal planning that works best and stick with that.
+ There’s no shame in making a box of pasta for dinner sometimes (but try to add a vegetable for good measure too).    

Day 19.  Are you tired of hearing from me yet?  I’m a little tired of hearing from me.  


For the past three weeks, I have been wrestling with this idea of contentment on a pretty consistent basis.  I’ve tackled the idea of “being enough” and seen how our student loan debt unconsciously causes unhappiness.  I’ve taken a good look myself: the good, the bad and the ugly.  On Thursday, I started taking the first proactive steps by disconnecting from technology a bit.  Today, I’m looking at traditions.


Traditions, according to Webster, are “the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction.”  Traditions are those things that make your people, your people, you know what I mean?  They are what makes your family special; they are the events that stay the same even as you grow and change.  


I totally see how traditions can be helpful as I seek contentment with my life.  Looking forward to those special events will ultimately make me excited for what’s to come, not just for what I hope to come.  Instead of focusing all of my attention on the future outside my reach, I can simply enjoy those little pieces that we do every single year.  


Here are a few brainstorming ideas – some we already do and some I hope to incorporate more next year:
+ Celebrating the liturgical year
+ Trips to the farm to pick fruit: strawberry picking, apple picking, etc.
+ Friday family movie nights
+ Cookie decorating party or swap in December
+ An act of service that occurs around the same time every year
+ Sunday dinner


These are the things my children will remember.  These are the events that they’ll eventually introduce their spouse to, that they’ll mold and shape into their own with their own families someday.  What a beautiful thought.