The Unruly Member Strikes Again!

Since adding the children to our family in 2010 we have been constantly reminded of the parallel processes (see Russell’s article on Parallel Processes at www.simplesolutions4.com) in adoption.  That is, many of God’s truths have been revealed to us through the daily issues and struggles we have encountered while parenting our children. Parenting children that we did not birth reflect spiritual truths involved in the spiritual adoption God undertook in order to have us in His family.  While children will be children, we constantly are reminded of what God did for us in order to make us part of His family.  At times, it has appeared to be a constant stream of the revelation of God’s love and His desire for all of us human beings.

One of those revelations occurred recently.  It is safe to say that one of the most prominent battle groups with our children has been focused on food.  We recognize that kids by nature can be somewhat fickle at the dinner table but our new children have taken fickle to a new level of insanity!  What they ate yesterday is arsenic today!  And I’m not just talking “hold-your-nose-and-stuff-it-in” protests…I’m talking “dig-in-your-heels-and-I-dare-you-to-make-me” wars!  Given that several of the children came to us with diagnosis of malnurishment and associated health issues, we have been extremely concerned with their eating habits.

On the flip side of protesting food that is good and healthy is the absolute obsession and manner in which they devour sweets and junk food.  To give them a piece of cake or heaven forbid, candy, is like throwing a slab of meat into a pool of hungry sharks.  Seriously!  We are talking feeding frenzy times 10!  It’s not just eating fast, it was as if they have never eaten before, will never eat again and become completely tuned out to everything else going on around them.  Their tongues and taste buds seem to control everything even at the expense of health and well-being, not to mention the relationships with those around them.  And what is more disconcerting is that we have tried just about every form of consequence, reward and reinforcement known to mankind to shape this behavior into something close to normal.  While we have made some progress, it is still amazing to us how that one little body part called the tongue, with all its little buddies known as taste buds, rules the entire culinary show…even if it means something negative and undesirable as a result.

Recently Karen was thinking about this whole food thing, and realized that perhaps we were given a warning about this phenomenon.  After all, didn’t James tell us that the tongue was an “unruly member, full of poison” and could easily have its way to the destruction and detriment of the rest of the body?  Yes, we usually interpret this scripture in the context of “be careful little mouth what you say” and that would absolutely be an accurate lesson of this scripture.  But as we well know, whatever we see in the natural has a spiritual parallel and vice versa. 

When it comes to food, the tongue is still the guy who wants to be out of control at the expense of the rest of the body.  “Give me cake!  Give me Dr. Pepper!  Give me sugar!  Give me all the stuff that brings me pleasure even if it means I become malnourished or have triple bypass surgery at 35 years old!”  Not only does the tongue spout out words that control our life and destiny, but it seems that it demands its own satisfaction at the dinner table as well.  The tongue not only becomes the rudder of the ship in the context of our words, but it is also that part that defiles our body…literally! 

Not only demanding sweets and junk food but also demanding unlimited supplies of it. Our body becomes full long before our tongue is tired of tasting. Our bodies need nourishment from healthy foods and nutrients, while our tongue only longs for taste fulfillment. Our muscles need amino acids, our bones need calcium, our brains need omega 3s and yet the tongue is ruling what each body part gets. And when we are full and need to stop eating, the tongue still demands one more taste.

James said that like the bit in the mouth of a horse that directs its path, we must place a “bit” in our mouths to guard our words.  It may be that we need to wear that “bit” at the dinner table too!

Until we talk again…