Day 30: A Month of Gratitude, "Food."

by Jay Kelly

"When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you." -Deuteronomy 8:10

Amazingly our Month of Gratitude is down to the last two days and we haven’t given thanks for food. One of my favorite aspects of the holiday season was our special food items. My mom, dad and sisters, Shannon and Meghan, and I rushed to the door when the holiday box from Chicago would arrive full of Grandma Kelly's special goodies. The most important item was the raisin/current bread. Second most important was the date nut bread, then potato chip cookies and last was the pitzels which are an Italian licorice flavored snowflake/pancake cookie that I never liked to eat, but we all respected the tradition and would have missed seeing them, if not eating them. Here's a picture of my Grandma (Rose Marie Saviano) Kelly, me and our dog, Poseidon, back in 1966. Gram made her own pasta noodles, her own raviolis, stuffed her own italian sausages and created her own sauces. She was serious about her Italian cuisine and everyone loved her for it.

God blessed me with an amazing wife who is also the best cook in the world (I'm not kidding). Carol makes her own bread often and has learned from her mom to work wonders in the kitchen. Carol always makes her mother’s cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. Our Christmas dinner is a tender ribeye roast and Yorkshire Pudding. One Christmas in L.A. we had a “Bring Your Own Lobster” party with friends and boiled lobster and melted butter and celebrated the holiday in a Redondo Beach kind of way. Food is such a fun way to celebrate special days and make memories. Thank God for good food!

If you’ve ever spent time fasting from food you quickly realize how much we take this great blessing for granted. The smells are richer when you fast. A piece of fruit suddenly seems indulgent; a cracker has a wonderful crunch, a glass of cold milk satisfies you in a special way. Pay attention today.

HOMEWORK: Savor your food today. Eat slowly. Say thanks more than once. Give thanks to God for giving us a diverse array of delicious options that provide more than energy for our bodies, but also joy, tradition, personal expression and celebration.

Have fun growing in gratitude today. Hope this helps. See you one last day tomorrow.
Love,
-Jay Kelly