No one really quite gets it. People mean well, but trying to help me or give me ideas on feeding this bunch seems really very pointless.
So, as you have probably figured I have a family of really picky eaters. This includes my husband, although he has come a very long way since we first met and even since we got married. I have heard the gamut of advice on how to handle them all.
Be a hard nose, make them eat what I put in front of them.
Call the veggies by superhero names or give them superpowers.
Just call the onions polka dots; all kids love that.
Hide veggies in the recipes.
Occasionally, one of those things (and whatever else I might have tried) has worked with ONE of the bunch, but never more than one at the same time.
Not only are they picky about what they eat, and each of them are picky about different things, but they are all particular about how things are prepared. Jackson in particular, will turn away food that does not taste the same as how I cook. My goal is to get him to do this politely at least.
Don't get me wrong, I would really love for this bunch of mine to eat everything I like to cook, but that is just simply, probably not going to happen, at least until some grown up taste buds make an appearance and even then I have my doubts about them eating just anything I put in front of them. I am used to them now. I used to hate being a short order cook, but now I roll with it. I cook regular meals about three times a week and the rest of the time we eat leftovers or easy prep things.
In the end, what I have come to is that I am a lot more concerned with their hearts than their bellies. I want them to tell people their preferences politely and be appreciative for whatever is offered to them and appreciative of the spirit it is offered in. I want them to say "No Thank You" sincerely and kindly. And I want them to understand they have it SO much better than so many other kids around the world.
They drink clean water every day. Even the water in our toilets is cleaner than the water kids in third world countries drink. They have food that they like at their whim and it fills their bellies so they are almost never hungry.
I want them to one day look around at the home they have been PRIVILEGED to grow up in and want to make a difference for those who have had less than they. I want to teach them that Jesus gives much to some, and because of that much given, much is required too. I want them to love Jesus so much that they love His people the way they are loved by Christ.
This is a hard undertaking. I struggle and worry that I am not doing enough each day to teach them all these things, from being polite to how big Jesus' love is for them. And I pray. I pray that God will equip me and their Daddy to teach and show them what love looks like, love from a parent to a child and love from our great big God to His smallest and most needy child.
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