January 4: Aluminum Foil: No Leftovers Here

As we returned from the holiday break with eating right and fresh starts on our minds, what better time to have a speaker give a cooking presentation!  Susan Anderson shared with us her love of food, cooking, and making wholesome meals for her family.  We had the pleasure of watching her prepare a few of her favorites recipes, which she provided as takeaways for the group.  She reminded us that fresh does not necessarily mean expensive, time-intensive, complicated, or fancy.  With a little bit of planning and stocking the pantry, we can make fresh, wholesome foods and still have time to spend with our families!
Aside from the great cooking tips, Susan also shared with us some of her own spiritual journey.  While most people make resolutions this time of year to eat right, exercise more, or just become healthier, how many of us make resolutions regarding our spiritual health?  Just as we can easily let artificial ingredients overrun our food choices, we can also fall into the easy trap of letting artificial "ingredients" overrun our spiritual life.  These artificial ingredients in our food may be toxic and cancerous to our bodies; likewise, artificial spiritual "ingredients" are cancerous to our spiritual health and relationship with God.
Through Susan's commitment to read the Bible in a year, God impressed upon her some eye-opening truths.

1. God loves us personally and has a specific plan for our lives.  If we follow His agenda, we can trust in the good plans He has for us.
2. Religious myths can become theological "truths" in our lives.  Make sure the object of your faith is worthy!
3. There is a difference between head knowledge about God and heart knowledge about God.

What a great reminder to us all that we need to take care of our physical needs (and those of our family) by eating right and exercising, but we especially need to take care of our spritual needs by nourishing our relationship with God with wholesome "food".