This post is a part of the Five Minute Friday link up. We write for just 5 minutes on a one-word prompt without heavy editing and see what happens. Today’s prompt is “life.”
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:-5, ESV).
In Him was life. And that life was the light of all mankind.
When I focus on Jesus, I have life. When I focus on other things, well, sometimes that life can get sucked out of me.
Like, recently, well actually for a long time now, meal planning and grocery shopping have sucked the life out of me. 
If it was just me in the house, my eating-out budget would be way bigger than my grocery budget. Just sayin’.
Part of my angst with this issue is that I have to prepare different varieties of each meal because my husband is a vegetarian for health reasons, and my daughter, though she eats most things I make, is still a bit picky. So I can go through recipes and think, ooh, that looks good! and then realize, nope, has meat. Or nope, she doesn’t like pork chops.
Now some of you might be thinking, don’t cater to the pickiness! And I try not to, but I also want to make things that people are going to like. Why purposely make something like pork chops if I’m the only one gonna eat ’em?
But doing the planning and then going to the grocery store, yeah, life sucking.
But maybe I’m looking at it with wrong eyes. How did Jesus approach food? How did he handle the physical needs of those around Him?
Well, I would like to have faith that my refrigerator would just refill itself like the baskets of loaves and fishes, but I don’t think that’s what God wants for me.
Keep my eyes on Jesus. Do what He has called me to do without grumbling and complaining.
But can I say that I’m happy I’m going on a retreat this weekend and don’t have to cook?
Compelled 
You are reminding me of the days when I was exploring cook books to make meals without dairy, wheat or sugar. There is tedium in caring for a family–but the blessings that come down the road are worth it. I agree, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus. God is good and helps us in our weakness.
My son who no longer lives at home has a dairy allergy. Boy was that challenging, back in the days before a lot of stuff came out that is dairy free. He and his family still come once a week to lunch, so I have to figure that out, but it’s better than every day. I can’t imagine being gluten free at this point. God bless all those who have that struggle! Thanks for stopping by.
Every meal that I prepare,
I try to make with grace
for I have worked some places where
there were empty plates.
But empty plates were not the worst,
and it could raise a tear
that faced with a mad raging thirst
they were out of beer.
And then sometimes, the cook would feel
a need to proudly show
what had gone into your meal,
but it was better not to know;
but still, it was surprising that
something that good could be fried rat.
Lol! Thanks for that, Andrew!
I, too, have a few things to work around-a son who is sensitive to spicy and certain textures and a daughter who is a vegetarian. The irony is that she is in culinary school. However, when she comes home, she is done “cooking.” I’m learning to be creative.
It’s always a challenge!