Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Our Daily Nourishment: (Audio)

Fueled for success! Your body is a temple! Chicken Soup for the Soul! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The Breakfast of Champions!

Okay. Get my drift? If we think about it for a few moments we come up with taglines and quotes from the famous and infamous regarding the nourishment we require to face our day.

What do you focus on to have a “well-rounded diet”? What does this really mean? Unless this is your focus of study, more than likely, all you do is take your likes, dislikes, wishes and wants and turn it into a routine for daily nourishment.

As we approach Halloween, the candy floods the shopping aisles. Things we haven’t seen since our youth make an appearance. All our Holiday eating memories revolve around things we normally only partake once or twice a year, and never dream of eating like this every day of the week! Imagine if you ate that box of chocolates every time you felt the need to say, “I love you!” (thinking Valentine’s day here!)…

Somewhere in our past, we were led down some primrose path of what it takes to nourish our bodies, we adjust it as we age, but unless you really think about it, do you really plan on your food fueling you for success? Most of the time we look at our politically incorrect diet as “comfort food”.

At a meeting yesterday morning we were offered various breakfast foods, along with fruit. I heard one person say, “Veggies at breakfast?” when he noticed the vegetarian casserole style eggless dish. But then, I noticed they had a “grits casserole” and I about freaked out! Grits! Someone here in the Pacific Northwest understands me! Grits!

Then my bride and I are on an errand to some local craft stores and she finds the tootsie rolls that are flavored with words like lemon, lime, cherry, and apple…. No! Chocolate! In! Side! With every little nibble I wished for the chocolate of non-holiday seasonal treats! Not this special fall seasonal blend!

Then, this morning, my morning routine was not my usual cereal choice. We are out of milk! Oh No! What to do? Backtrack to oatmeal, which may have been a better choice, albeit never my first choice!

And to top it off my morning routine includes a bit of wisdom for facing the day with purpose – well, let’s just say the podcast focused on what we choose to use as the fuel of our daily success and learning to make better choices. For ourselves, and for anyone we are responsible for!

Daily Nourishment. What does it look like to you? If you know salt is the bane of a healthy diet, do you still dash it on without thinking about it? If you are addicted to sugar (I suspect I am), do you go overboard when it shows up in a favored form? If you are a couch potato, don’t you know that too many potatoes are not good for you?

I have a friend of my past that would only eat when he could justify it with some form of daily calorie burn. More burn requires more calories. Get my drift? He only ate what was needed to sustain for the event.

Then my thought turned spiritual and I wondered about our daily inhaled value of spiritual sources that fuel our lives every moment we live. Do you even think about your spiritual and mental needs when you think nourishment?

In the most famous and often quoted prayer, Jesus teaches something about nourishment.

Give us day by day our daily bread. (Luke 11:3 NKJV)

Day by day, not something stored up against the rainy season, but something freshly prepared for the day that we are living. It’s current. Fresh. Right now food! Just the amount we need, and not the abundance we gorge on during the holidays.

Then that phrase, “daily bread” gives me pause. That nourishment I need for today. It’s almost like the Apostle Paul takes this concept and gives it deeper meaning when he relates the answer Jesus gave him as he prayed about a physical need.

My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

The sufficient grace of Jesus. Not the abundance, but the “just enough”.

Here’s my thought. I’m learning. Every day, better choices need to be made. Feeding the body. Feeding the soul. Feeding my needs as defined by who I am as a child of God, husband, father, sibling, and son. Considering my needs to fulfill my role as a pastor, leader, writer, and thinker. Finding the sources that properly nourish my needs, and quench those cravings that are not good for me. Taking control. Being the example.

As I know to do, these are not accidental steps. They are my planned steps to a better me. Do you have a plan?

By Michael Gurley

Making Sense of Life, One Thought at a Time!