Chew on this...

Well, there are just some things that go down in my experience book as, "really, did I just do that"... and there is not much more that can be said or done other than that... Yesterday, I had one of those experiences. You see, I have not been feeling well for a month. I have a head & chest cold or something - who knows. My neighbors and local friends have been giving me all kinds of home remedies, teas and herbs. I hate going to the doctor and in general take a more natural approach to things, so the experiments have not been bad. However; yesterday, I went to the bazaar with an older friend, and she was so concerned about my runny nose that she picked up a berry looking thing and told me to eat it. Now, my normal good sense was reminding me of what my momma told me as a girl, "Do not eat things off the bushes outside; they'll kill you!", but my new sense of wanting to blend with a new cultural was telling me to just eat it. Well, I'm not dead, but I do think my momma was right! Not all berries should be eaten! It was awful, and I had a down right terrible time getting the thing chewed and swallowed. I'll spare you the details on that end, but as I was spending time with the Lord this morning, I was hit with power of what it means to feast on the word and be nourished by the Father. I know all of my facebook friends are complaining about people skipping straight from Halloween to Christmas, but I would like to ask you to think about the manger. I have always known that it symbolized God's humility, but I have never thought of Christ being placed in a feed trough as representation of Him being our nourishment. Ann Spangler in her book Praying the Names of Jesus says, "As you meditate on God's Word, remember that meditation simply means to ponder or to chew on something." I had to ask myself the question, "What am I chewing on?" If Christ is the only thing that can heal and sustain me, provide for my needs, be the words of truth I need to speak, etc. etc....then what do I have in my mouth!? What I am putting into my mouth to chew will for sure be evident in what I do and say. How often do I pop in a berry that should not be eaten? How often do I keep things mulling around in my mouth because "my good sense" - Holy Spirit - is telling me that what I have put in is not meant to be swallowed!? As we approach our "day of Thanksgiving", our family is taking time daily to CHEW over the many things for which we have to be grateful. I am now challenging myself to wake up each morning and pop in a new mouthful of HIS Word. I have a daily practice of reading the Word, but I need to pinch off at least a small bite to chew on for the day so that as I speak what is in my mouth is not just my own flesh.

Small Bites, AT

PS: The pictures are of the type of pumpkin we can get here. A whole one is quite large. It is green on the outside and reminds me of a "Cinderlla" pumpkin. I bought a bag of cut pieces at the bazaar. I think I am going to try to make "sweet potato casserole" with it since we can not get yams here.