Often times my children don't like what they are served. It is not easy to please a large family! Let me give you an example. Today's breakfast was not as planned on my meal plan. I ran out of eggs, making it impossible to serve oatmeal bars for breakfast. So in the back of my pantry I found a box of Cream of Wheat. My kids don't like cream of wheat. I know they don't. But that is what I had.
If you see the recipe below, you will see that I did add some sweet homemade jam to make it taste good! And it did - it tasted like strawberry ice cream! BUT my kids don't like the texture. Oh well. They had to eat it anyway.
Stop the bus... they HAD to eat it? Really? You made them eat it?
Yes.
I made them eat it.
Yes, they made a face.
Yes they complained and even cried.
Yes one or more of them gagged on the texture.
Yes they had a shiver after swallowing.
Yes. They ate it. All of it.
And they ate it with a smile.
You see, this was a lesson in learning to eat with grace. I knew they wouldn't like it, they knew they wouldn't like it. But I explained to them that eating with grace means eating with a smile and without a word even if they dislike it. So they did. They tried to smile after each bite to show me that they appreciated their meal. You see, if they were a missionary in a far away village and they turned their noses up at something that would be very offensive! They must learn to respect whoever made them their meal and try to eat it all with grace.
Morgan had the hardest time, but even he was able to finish all but one spoonful in his bowl. Oaklen ate the last spoonful since after eating his bowl he realized that it wasn't so bad afterall.
Their memory verse from this lesson is from Philippians 2:14: "Do all things without murmurings and disputings". They also learned a lesson in obedience - to obey their mama when she tells you to sit and eat happily. I promise you, I will appreciate this lesson as they grow and learn to eat what they are given. Other people will appreciate it too. Nothing is worse that listening to a picky child whine at a dinner table or in a restaurant, unappreciative of the meal that they were given. Especially when there are children in this world that look like this:
No, our children won't be the children who will only eat weiners and noodles. Our children won't be excused from the table without eating. Our children won't be ignorant to the fact that many children get nothing to eat. For this we are thankful. For this we refuse to back down and we will die on this mountain. We want our children to be grateful for what they have in a world that takes everything for granted.
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