FOOD FOR THE SPIRIT--All Blessings Come from Thee

I love The Biggest Loser! I realize that it is not realistic; the contestants are isolated and have personal trainers and chefs helping them to plan and prepare their meals. Also, it is not advisable to expect to lose more than two or three pounds a week on average. Still, I love seeing people who, like me, battle with the same trials I bear. I love that moment in each contestant's story when they decide: "Enough's enough!" This last episode that moment came for one man as he worked at a inner-city food bank every day for a week. While working closely with people who had NOTHING to eat, he realized how mindless his own overeating had truly been.

I was touched by this episode and couldn't hold back the tears. I realized that my overeating, in a way, is a form of ingratitude. As I take good food for granted, with which I have been blessed, I am essentially saying to Heavenly Father: "I don't really care that this is YOURS. I do not choose to acknowledge that all my blessings come from Thee."

In this sense, my overeating becomes more than a mere weakness or character flaw. It truly becomes a sin.

This week, I am going to try a little harder to keep track of each bite I take. I want to be able to contemplate how it was made. I want to imagine the wheat fields, gardens, and dairy farms and those loving hands who grew my food. Then, I will think of the employment that blessed the families of workers in the manufacturing and packaging plants. I will think of my husband's and my own jobs, which allow us to place food on our tables. And though it brings back unpleasant moments involving spinach at the kitchen table, I really will think about the "starving children in Africa" who have so very little. In other words, I will remember that "the Earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." And for the many blessings that come from the Earth, I will learn to be more appreciative. I will truly give thanks for all things.