Good reading, Good God, Good Life

This weekend I made my first fried oysters.  It brought me to tears.  So much so that I got them out of their shells and had to wait 6 hours before actually making them.  But oh, they were so good.  It tasted like home and being a kid.

I'm reading "A Beautiful Mess" and while I can't summarize it all I will attempt a slice of the beauty.  The chapter I just read is about loving ourselves, loving our bodies.  I can't help but think that God really wants us to eat healthy, to enjoy our bodies and senses, and to rejoice that He has given us so much life to take in.  This weekend we have smelled the air at Point Reyes for the first time, heard internationally recognized live jazz, eaten peaches that are divine, and seen a wonderful Korean comedy.  And my personal favorite, to enjoy the sense of touch, I got a few new pieces of clothes for myself.  And surprisingly, after reading the excerpt on accepting and loving our bodies, shopping felt like a worship experience and not like a major anxiety drag like it usually does.

Today at church, which is in the evening, it seemed a perfect closure to the day of thoughts and experiences to talk about God providing manna to the people of God.  While some complained, others reveled in the miracle.  I couldn't help but wonder about my father's death and my own pain during a traumatic birthing experience.  I wondered about the songs we sang regarding healing about giving ourselves to Him.  I wondered if I could be in tune with my body (rather than hating it by eating rich things or exercising infrequently) and if I was if that would be honoring his creation.  I think at times we think of healing as a miracle, but I was seeing it all the more in the sense that we have to ask for God to live through us in each moment so that we are making wise choices with our food.  Instead of living in the fear that I could die in my 40s or 30s I can live in the power that I need to eat less lactose, exercise more, and love myself.  And in light of all this, I think eating the oysters was a good choice.  I'm not talking about calorie counting, I'm talking about making good lifelong decisions so that we can feel good.  So that we can live and not die young.  So that we can enjoy what God has given to us.