In the casual conversations of the day, the subject of healthy eating keeps returning. The background driver is simple – a good friend’s wife is beginning a new chapter as a stay at home wife and mother. In the process, she has embraced the idea of healthy eating. She has lots of ideas. As she announces the meal plans and changes to her family, the natural reaction when they are not in her presence is wonder and uncertainty. Do the specifics make sense?
As I listen to the questions I find myself drifting back to a seemingly endless conversation I had with my mother on the subject. It lasted for years, decades really. The earliest recollection of when it started was around reading labels of supermarket products. The specific product was peanut butter. Labels at that time were relatively vague. The standards on sequencing and completeness still evolving, one had to pay careful attention if one wanted to know about the specifics of the items that were going to be on the menu.
The conversation evolved over the years. Food combinations, timing, quantity, sugars, oils, meat linked ingredients, cooking temperatures, and other nuances crept into the dialogue. While the subject was stressful for others, it became a wonderful go-to subject for my mother and I. We enjoyed the process. We did not always adhere to what we knew was best. It was another balance between stress, enjoyment, and the ingredients of what we planned for our meal.
As I look back, I am thankful for the joy my mother left me with the process. I still enjoy the topic! I still fall short but it is fun. When I think of the foundation and the building blocks that continue to grow, I find myself paraphrasing David’s comment on a different subject. “I’ll write the book on your righteousness, talk up your salvation the livelong day, never run out of good things to write or say.” (Psalm 71.15)
Healthy eating is, for me, a journey continuing without end. I hope it continues to be growing, changing, and unfolding.
