Out of Rhythm?

Hey There! I’ve missed you, but don’t take it personal- I have missed out on quite a bit lately.

We have had an exciting transition over here and an especially busy season of church involvement to go with it.  So, life has been crazy and I have not had time for lots of things.  Aside from not writing any blog posts, I have also not seen the three new episodes of my favorite television show, I am behind on my reading schedule, AND I have gone out to eat more in the last two weeks than I typically would in two months (out of rhythm).  If you have read a few posts on here you know, food is a heart issue for me.  Meaning, I have realized that my diet is directly tied to my relationship with God.  I am constantly battling to have a healthy relationship with food- not allowing food to become an idol, exercising contentment, and not placing my hope in food by expecting it to make my bad days good.

For some people, food is just food.  I realize that this is not a heart issue for everyone, but I am confident that I am not “over-spiritualizing” this.  Repeatedly throughout scripture, food plays an integral part of the story.  God freed the Israelites out of slavery, parted the Red Sea, gave them food and water in the middle of a desert, and was present with them day and night.  They were daily experiencing the goodness, blessing, and provision of God and do you know what their response was?  They complained about the menu!  They didn’t want just food- they wanted fruits and vegetables and MEAT!  They even went so far as to say that they were better off as slaves, because at least then, they ate well (Numbers 11:4-6).  This story tells me that food was a heart issue for several thousand Israelites and I am not alone.

The one thing that set Daniel and his friends apart from all of the other young studs in training was what they ate.  The rest of the group was delighted to enjoy the many foods offered from the King’s table, but Daniel and company chose to stay within the dietary guidelines given in the word of God (Daniel 1:8-16). For Daniel, food was not just food. 

I am thankful that God has not called me to a Daniel fast, but I do know that he has called me to “Eat like a Champion.”  For me, that means eating and drinking the things that I know my body responds well to, and putting severe restrictions on or completely abstaining from the things that I know cause my body to underperform.  The dreams are too big and the goals are too high for me to sabotage productivity by filling my body with things that leave me feeling like crap the next day. 

Here of late, I have not been eating like a champion.  Initially, the eating exceptions were all about celebrating the transition.  But it quickly became- “I don’t have time to go the store” and “I don’t have time to cook.”  I kept finding myself in the place of- eat something that I know does not meet the standards I have set OR skip the meal all together.  Not eating well caused me to be irritable and cranky.  In the midst of the high demands, I should have been working to take the best possible care of my body, but instead I was crippling my own emotional fortitude.  The diet, the stress, the demands, the transition- all created a snowball effect that nearly wiped me out like an avalanche. 

Then, I came before God in prayer believing that I had a pass for not eating well because I had been so busy investing in The Kingdom. Not only did I not receive a pass, I ended up with a bonus conviction!   I realized that if I was doing life too hard to eat well, then I was simply doing life TOO hard.  Time together in the kitchen is a healthy rhythm of our household that I had thrown to the wayside.  Not only is it not okay to let my circumstances dictate my diet, I need to do a better job of setting boundaries for myself and my family.  I need to give higher priority to the structure and routine of my household.  It is my responsibility to make sure that I am living a balanced life.

I believe most households have some established healthy rhythms that encourage togetherness.  In our house, cooking together and sitting at the table for dinner is one of our healthy rhythms.  In your house, it may be regular board game nights, family devotionals, outdoor activities, or Saturday morning donuts.

Think about the healthy rhythms of your household- things you do together or have done together in the past on a regular basis.  You may notice that the activity can be almost anything, what makes it special is that you do it together. I want to encourage you to be more intentional about guarding those rhythms.  Be willing to adapt those rhythms as your kids grow and interests develop.  Pay attention to when those rhythms are getting lost in the busyness of life and use them as a metric to help you monitor whether or not you have allowed your family to be too busy.

Rhythms give us all a sense of stability.  When we lose those rhythms, the natural consequence is that we become less emotionally stable.  What are some of the healthy rhythms of your household?  Do remember any healthy rhythms from when you were a kid?  Any tips for parents on how to keep teens and preteens interested in doing things together as a family?  I would love to hear from you and other readers may benefit if you would like to share about your family’s healthy rhythms in the comments.