...Whatever is Pure...

Start at the beginning

Apparently, I have a little problem with the antonym game.  I stared at Philippians 4:8, focused on the word "pure" and then started listing every tainted thing in my life.  I think I have a problem.  Or this project is definitely drawing my thought life into the light.  At this point, I'm going to end up having a nervous breakdown during 7th hour and screaming, "TURN THE LIGHT OFF...IT'S ENOUGH LIGHT ALREADY.  IT'S BURNING.  I'M MELTING.  MELTING."

Ha.  Kidding.  Just kidding. 

A little.  (I promise I don't act out scenes from The Wizard of Oz...at least not every day.)

Except for the tainted thing.  That's true.

And the most tainted thing in my life?  Food.

I started my first diet in 7th grade.  In those days, Weight Watchers actually gave you a certain amount of fats, protein, bread, etc. that you could eat in a day.  It wasn't the simple "calculate your points" progam Jennifer Hudson is plugging on the tee-vee.

(Speaking of Jennifer Hudson--Wow.  Just, wow.)

In high school, I experimented with a variety of ways to lose weight.  I would skip meals.  Chew gum.  Eat only tic tacs.  Eat certain types of food.  Chew food so I could taste it and spit it out.  (Yeah, that sounds really sick, now.)

Into college, I discovered Atkins, Slim Fast and laxatives.  All super-healthy approaches to eating well.   #heartattackwaitingtohappen

By the time I got married, I knew I needed to do something about my ever-increasing weight.  So I started Weight Watchers (POINTS by this time) and walked every day.  For an hour.  Sometimes longer.  And in a 4 week time period, I lost a pound.

Frustrated, I shared my problem with my doctor who got in my face and said, "You're fat because you eat too much."  And then?  Food became the enemy.

It was difficult to enjoy dinner when I knew I would hate myself for eating it later.  Anytime I ate a chocolate, a piece of cake or anything that wasn't a raw carrot stick, I would hear something in my head:  "You don't deserve that, Fatty.  What's wrong with you that you think you get to eat something like that?"

I fight that taint every day.  Food isn't the problem.  I am.  My body is.  And the best lesson I've gotten on purely enjoying food has been from a one-year-old.

PastorJosh's daughter is Chloe, and she is so excited about food.  When Favorite and I went out to eat with her (and her family), every time the waitress brought a plate of food, she would say, "Ooooooohhhh....num, num, num."

Everything looked delicious to her.  Everything tasted fabulous.  And I guarantee she didn't go home and wonder what that sweet potato was going to do to her thighs.  She just knew it tasted good, and she enjoyed it.

I know it may sound stupid to you, but I truly pray food doesn't become tainted for her--that she purely enjoys something because it's meant to be enjoyed.

I don't mean this to be a lesson on nutrition, nor do I intend to say that purity is all about enjoyment.  But I do think so many things get weighed down with factors that don't even belong in that particular category.  Our lives have become an ever-growing Pinterest board.  We "pin" issues that may not even belong in a particular category, but those issues impact the way that category functions in our lives.

Maybe instead of embracing a world of issues, we need to stand in defense of a little purity.  Might do a world of wonder for our attitudes.

Whatever is Pure Part 2