At my house, before each meal,
we pray. I always ask the boys for their prayer requests and give them the
opportunity to either thank God for something or ask God for something
specific.
Well, Marcos (my youngest) does
not hold back. His prayer requests usually look something like this...
"I'd like to thank God
that I got to play outside today and that Callie and Ella came over and that
I'm having orange potatoes (sweet potatoes, of course) for dinner and ask God
to please take my cough away."
As adorable as this may sound, I am then required to remember every detail and recite it back word-for-word while I pray, and if I mess it up, he makes me start over!
Christian (my oldest) keeps it
much more basic. At nearly every meal, his prayer is exactly the same...
"I'd like to thank God for
this food."
Sometimes I ask him whether or
not he would like to pray for something different or if he wants to add to it,
and his response is always the same, "No, I want to thank God for this
food."
Such a simple prayer, but so very important. I wonder how many times, if any, we take a moment to consider the fact that we eat every day and don't have to worry where that meal is going to come from. What an incredible blessing that is!
Believe it or not, some 795
million people in the world do not have enough food... that's about 1 in 9
people on this planet (United Nations World Food Program).
In an effort to pay what we
have forward, my husband and I sponsor three different children through the
organizations Compassion International and Food for the Hungry. These children live in Peru,
Guatemala, and Bangladesh.
Unfortunately, before they were
sponsored through these wonderful organizations, they did worry about where
their next meal would come from.
Now, I am not asking you to
take on the weight of the world or feel that you need to solve all the
challenging issues that may exist for people all over the world, but I am
asking you to do one simple thing...
I know we spend all year
figuring out the ingredients and protein, carb, and fat content of each item we
put into our mouths. We take the time to ensure our meals are balanced and that
we are following our meal plans as they are written, but today I'm asking you
to take the focus off all that and just be grateful that you do not need to
worry about where your next meal will come from.
When I was a little girl, my
family didn't have very much at all. My parents were immigrants from South
American, and there were many Christmases where my sister and I could only
have one thing, and that thing had to be under $20.
Some months were harder than
others... I would hear my mom on the phone telling our landlord the rent was
going to be late because we had an unexpected car problem that was more
expensive than our tight budget could handle that month.
But even through those
difficult times, I never - and I mean never - had to wonder whether or not I
would eat that day. Times may have been tough, but food was always plenty.
My prayer for you today is that you enjoy this day... Thanksgiving as we call it in the United States... and remember that even if your plate isn't looking Beyond Diet perfect, the food is plenty and we can be grateful for that.
As for me, I am grateful that
the difficult days of my youth are now over. I can not only ensure that there
is food on the table for my family, but I have the amazing opportunity to also
bless others whom I may never meet.
And every year, I am
grateful for YOU. Because without you, who would be reading
this email? My husband, I guess... hahaha.
Thank you so much for being a
part of this incredible Beyond Diet family. I am grateful that I have the
opportunity to serve you.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
