An apple a day...

Yesterday we had a HUGE culinary milestone in our family. You see, our Carter has been a picky eater (and I mean extremely picky) for as long as I can remember. I don't know where we went wrong as parents, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I have nicknamed him our "pantry kid" as he seems to like eating only things that come out of the pantry (i.e. crackers, cereal, Nutrigrain bars, cookies, peanut butter). Bryce and Grant were never like this. He will eat healthy cereals and doesn't seem to be displaying any signs of malnutrition, but except for the occasional raisin or bite of applesauce and once in a while a little carrot covered in Ranch dressing, he is anti-produce. Yep, that's right. No fruit or vegetables for Carter. Carter's food preferences have brought about many stressful meals at our house with screaming, crying and lots of tears (from him, although I have felt like screaming or crying many times) and have often ended with Carter being banished to his room. I have tried everything to get him to branch out from his approved menu, to no avail. The pediatrician says that he is strong-willed. I would have to agree. No amount of bribing (I will give you a cookie if you try pea), pleading (it's so yummy, look at so and so eating it!) , tricking (won't you eat it with a toothpick, it's fun that way!), disguising (apple pie--that counts, doesn't it?), reading Green Eggs and Ham, even a trip to the strawberry patch (they were fun to pick, but eat--no way!) could get him to even consider trying something new. I knew if he would only taste it he would find out that it is good. I finally came to the conclusion that I wasn't going to get Carter to eat anything. I would just have to stop making it a battle. I would offer and not push. He would not be allowed to eat only junk food, but he was going to have to decide that he was missing out. He could not be coerced. So, for weeks now I have been offering Carter a slice of an apple on his plate (or another fruit) for at least one meal a day. The first hurdle was to get him to be OK with the "distasteful food" being on his plate. This was no small feat. But, after a while, we got there. Then for the past few weeks he has been watching everyone else in the family enjoying their fruit while his sat on his plate untouched. I didn't say a word, I just kept putting the slice of apple on his plate and dumping it in the trash can after every meal, wondering how long it would take to see teeth marks on a piece. Then yesterday it happened. We were all eating lunch at home as a family and I sliced a couple of apples up and distributed them among the family members with Carter getting his one, skinny slice. While talking with Brian, I glanced at Carter and noticed him munching on his apple. I discretely pointed out the surprise to Brian. Then, before we knew it, Carter was asking for MORE apples! We couldn't believe our ears! He even asked for thirds, devouring almost an entire apple! I felt like doing cartwheels! It was certainly a big milestone for our "pantry kid." And, at the very least, gave me some encouragement to keep on offering.

The experience with Carter brought to my mind the verse "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." (Psalm 34:8). The Lord has offered himself to us--for us. He doesn't push. He doesn't force. He doesn't coerce. He patiently keeps offering. But we have to taste. We have to actively participate. Abundant life is ours for the taking. We have to seek after him.

This led me to the question, "Am I tasting?" The Lord has so much he wants to give me, but so often I choose to do it my way rather than turning to him. He is good and I can trust him. He desires the best for me and loves me more than I can imagine (Jeremiah 29:11-13).