A Lesson In Humility via Vegetarianism

My father has been instructed by the doctor not to eat meat, save white chicken and fish, from now on. Butter, eggs, and pretty much anything extra delicious are also out the door.

Us... vegetarian (or at least, mostly veg)? I despaired of never cooking a juicy meatloaf or burger again. What an annoyance! But I continued to think about it, and realized - perhaps this is actually a lesson to me. Perhaps it's a reminder from the Lord to count my immense blessings.

Meat - and butter, eggs, fish - are a luxury, one that we've acquired a taste for in the 20th century. It takes over 10,000 gallons of clean water to produce the average pound of beef. It takes 10 calories of grain to produce 1 calorie of beef. In many parts of the world, it isn't even an option to raise beef cattle - they would praise the Lord just to have access to that much clean water and grain.

Now I'm in no way becoming a vegetarian - heck, I'm planning for a girls' lunch at Wendy's on Friday. But the doctor's order was a gentle reminder to me. Often, when God interrupts our expectations, it's a time to step back and consider - is there any reason I really should expect this? Is there a hidden lesson here? Have I become complacent or prideful?

Oh... and if anyone knows what to do with tofu, let me know.

On Being Sheltered

"She's so sheltered," one of my cousins whispered about me. "Honestly, it's like talking to someone from another planet sometimes."

Of course, that stung a little. But then I got to thinking... what's wrong with being sheltered?

What's wrong with being insulated from the bullying of unkind children, the unChristian ideas espoused within schools, from crime and drugs and alcohol?

The prince, after all, chased down Rapunzel, the beautiful girl in a tower - not the barmaid who worked at the tavern down the road from his castle.



Maybe that's not convincing enough. After all, I can't join in when my cousin chatters away about American Idol (the name itself is pretty terrible), or the latest troubles of Lindsay Lohan. I can't really say much when she talks about taking cosmetology classes and welding-shop at high school.

But I can cook a low fat and high Omega 3 meal for my father's heart problems. I know how to get out ring-around-the-collar. I can change a tire, know to plant spiky bushes around our corn garden to keep the deer from eating it, and have taught not one, but two children to read. I keep track of the bills, pickle the wild melon in our backyard, darn socks, and still manage to get my math work done. My skills, my focus, my everything is on loving and serving my family. For me, the alternative, that expectation to throw your daughters to the hardest realities of life, seems cold and cruel.

So yes - shelter me! Expose me to people who believe in kindness, grace and hard work, so I would expect nothing less from people and nothing less from myself. My cousin can have her cosmetology classes... and I'll just stay right here, enjoying homemade pickles, next to a warm fireplace, typing away on my laptop.

Disappointment

We (being my sisters, brother and I) were supposed to drive to the Christian bookstore in London yesterday, but the rain made it way too dangerous to drive that far.

I love to read, but as my father has pointed out, I need to develop more discernment in my book choices. I really need to branch out from Elsie Dinsmore (I still read them occasionally - sad or cute, I'm not sure), cookbooks, my Victorian magazine collection, and the occasional foray into Sense and Sensibility. Going to the Christian bookstore tends to constrain my impulses to buy books like Tasty Tapas or Basic Thai Cooking, which are interesting to read but will simply sit on my shelf, waiting for the day that Food Basics starts stocking salt-cod and kafir lime leaves.

Ah well. I'm sure we'll get to the store soon enough!