My 3 year old daughter, Feliz, was a wreck this morning. An outright hot mess, fit throwing, crying about every tiny detail of her life. And not just crying – wailing! First her finger hurts, and within seconds it changed to her eye – she couldn’t get her sock to fit just perfect on her foot so it must be the end of the world! Snot, tears, crazy hair; she’s the full package of disaster, and will make sure everyone in the house (and probably the house next door) knows that she is miserable.

She suffers from a need to eat breakfast.

I can’t blame her, she comes by this condition honestly. Neither Eric or I are very agreeable when we’re overly hungry. Irrational thinking, defensive, easily offended, selfish behavior, snappy or emotionally fragile are symptoms that come to mind – you know, the adult version of the 3 year old fit!

The thing is, Feliz wants what she wants, and NOT what we’re having for breakfast! Unfortunately for her, she doesn’t have a choice. I’ve always been kind of a mean mom when it comes to this. “If you’re hungry, you’ll eat it,” is my motto, and I won’t give in. I WILL win. Ask any of my kids! Sooner or later their self preservation kicks in, and they eat.

We quit buying cold cereal almost 4 months ago for a few reasons – it was too easy was the main one. Too easy to waste (I could preach for years on waste!), too easy to eat nutrient empty food (which ultimately is a waste), and too easy to put off making a wholesome breakfast for my family. If cereal is not in the house, then I have to get up and make something, which will ALWAYS be healthier than a box of cereal. Most mornings we have oatmeal or eggs and bacon, with Cream of Wheat and pancakes/waffles occupying a few days of the week.

This morning, it was Cream of Wheat. Feliz wasn’t feeling it. That’s actually a complete understatement. She was dead set against it! Going as far as throwing her bowl and spoon off of the table, and refusing to eat it. At lunch, she was offered her bowl of cream of wheat while her siblings ate quesadillas – she was in shambles, but refused. When she woke up from her nap, she still shunned that pink bowl! I was beginning to wonder if she would eat a meal at all today, and then somewhere around 3:50 pm, her whole demeanor changed. She sweetly smiled, and walked up to the table where that cold bowl had been sitting since breakfast and took a bite! I praised her, and offered her something else to eat if she ate a few more bites – which she did. And now we have a “happy” Feliz!! 🙂

So this whole day, I’ve been thinking about humanity and especially American culture… We starve ourselves spiritually because we don’t want to eat what God has “prepared” for us! And we suffer the same exact symptoms Eric and I and Feliz get when we’re desparately hungry: irrational thinking, defensive, easily offended, selfish behavior, snappy or emotionally fragile – it’s basically a toddler’s tantrum!

But God’s word isn’t Marshmellow Matey’s, Frosted Flakes, or Captain Crunch. It’s not Potato Chips, Donuts, Pizza Hut, French Fries, Oreos, Wonder Bread, or any other nutrient “cheap” foods. Sure, the three year old in us wants to just live on junk food – but God wants to nourish our souls.

And I get it – Cream of Wheat and Oatmeal is Old Fashioned, and isn’t as “tasty” to our flesh. In fact, it’s offensive to some tastebuds. But if we want to be healthy and balanced, we can’t just eat all party foods – it’s destructive! Our culture wants to pick and choose their diet from God’s word – “Apples are ok, but c’mon brussel sprouts?!! I hardly think God expects us to still eat THAT stuff! Eww!”

It’s no wonder our nation is a hot mess! Our families are a disaster because the individuals comprising them are starving to death spiritually and suffer the accompanying symptoms of a selfish 3 year old, who doesn’t realize that all she needs is to eat the nutrient dense meal prepared for her by the one who loves her the most! Although God isn’t about to change his menu, he isn’t mean like me in that he lets us choose whether we eat his food or the empty calorie processed foods of the world.

Don’t get me wrong, some of the most delicious desserts have come from the hand of God in my life. They are always rich and “super” natural – never cheap or made with artificial ingrdients. And I think as we consume more from his kitchen, our tastes change. We start to recognize the emptiness of fast foods, and are actually grossed out by them! We begin to crave real food. We begin to crave God for who he really is and not just what we want him to be. Unlike a box of cereal, God’s food isn’t always easy – and it’s NEVER wasted, but our hunger can finally be satisfied!