A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Where Did The Joy Go?


I watched a program on TV, that really spoke to me. It was about how to bring more joy to your life.One way is to really enjoy our food. We Americans are so concerned with diet...what should we eat and what shouldn't we eat. Oh, dear, calories and the waistline. We think that we shouldn't eat dessert, because it's a no no. I was listening and watching intently. Food has become something almost evil to many. A family meal is one of the foundations of strong family life I think. Remember Sunday supper in the days past? We would be with family enjoying simple food. Our big meal was at noon.....12 sharp right after Church. The family would gather for a beef roast or roast chicken. Turkey was for a special occasion. The family would still be there at supper time. Mom would bring out the plate of cold cuts and the salads from dinner would be put back on the table. Our meat leftovers were saved for Monday night's dinner. Does anyone have cold cuts anymore...do kids even know what they are? We were a family and celebrated our meals. Even the simplest was an occasion if we were all there. When I have traveled in other countries meals were big occasions. The dinners were abundant and many times we would eat into the late night savoring our food and having good conversation. Laughter, jokes and stories filled the conversation. We ate slower because of the fellowship with each other. Joe and I talk about growing up quite a bit. He had an Italian grandma who raised him. His meals were tables full of food. Even during hard times there was food from the garden and everything homemade. A big family of mostly males around the table sharing and enjoying conversation. My first husband's family was in the southern part of our state. We visited and again tables full of food with more that one main course. Ham, chicken, vegetables from their garden and pies....oh the pies. Both of these families had homemade bread. This is so different from today. Really there is no excuse for what some feed their children today. Meals put together with no thought. Everything in a hurry. Families not eating together. Sunday dinner is no different than any day of the week. It isn't special anymore, it seems. It really doesn't take much time to put together a nice meal. It just takes planning. I worked full time for some of the time my kids were growing up and I had time to cook and entertain. I wish we would bring back the old fashioned meals of times gone past. We can practise portion control if we are worried about our waists. There are more heavy Americans today that back in the "old days." Fast food is the worst thing that ever happened to our way of living...I think. Everything in boxes. My little neighbor only likes PBand J sandwiches that come out of a box. Macaroni and cheese and noodle soup is her almost daily menu. People are busy with work, kids sports, birthday parties (remember homemade birthday cake?) and I worry about the kids. Will they be healthy down the road? Well, I got off my subject a bit here, but I can see a solution to all this. Give up some outside things for the kids and keep them home especially for meals. Everybody get together and cook and make a celebration out of it. Well, Joe and I are home from Church. We had the sermon on fishes and loaves....how Jesus fed the crowds. What a joyous occasion that must have been . Everyone together, sharing, talking, listening, learning and finally eating their fill. I wish for a celebration for each of you today at your family table.

Balisha
I'm back to add a note. I hope that I didn't give the impression that we never eat fast food. I love Culver's butterburgers and pizza from Costa's can't be beat. Years ago I had kids in high school and a husband on a different schedule than the rest of the family... and my kids ate mac and cheese and peanut butter was always in my cupboard. (still is)We just tried to have those family times, when we would all eat together....making memories and eating good home cooked meals. I think that things are getting worse and I hope that kids today grow up with good health and some family memories of time around the table.

9 comments:

Barb said...

Balisha, This is a great post today.I have to agree with you about the eating habits of Americans today. We only eat fast food once in a while. I cook at home because hubby and I have to watch what we eat,to keep our cholesterol down. We have desserts but usually sugar free. They are as good as others.
Barb

Britt-Arnhild said...

Do you remember my blogpost "to make joy a verb". Your post have some very interesting points. My mission in life is to keep joy alive :-)

Elenka said...

Oh Dear. We don't eat together much. DS is on a different schedule than the rest of the world, self-imposed, and therefore DH and I just eat in all different places in the house! Mostly in front of the tv or reading a book. We do talk, a lot, we spend all day together in the summer, so we don't feel we need that special talk time. Oh well, a tradition gone............but it doesn't bother me at all.

Balisha said...

I just added an addition to this post. I think I sounded a little high and mighty and that wasn't my intention. I was just relating some thoughts of the joy of eating.I have to go and have a piece of banana creme pie :)

cwa said...

Family meals were always important to me when our kids were at home. In fact we ate dinner together almost every night. Everyone wasn't always there, but most of us were. It gave us a chance to keep in touch with each other about what was going on in our lives. We rarely ate out. Mostly because I am frugal, but also because it didn't create the atmosphere where we could linger and talk. I agree with you that families who don't eat together are truly missing out on a wonderful opportunity to nourish the body with healthy food and the spirit with family connections. I hope you have a blessed week.

garden girl said...

I really enjoyed this post Balisha, and couldn't agree more. I too grew up with big family Sunday dinners. Mom was (still is) a wonderful cook, and while we did occasionally enjoy a fast food 'treat,' most meals were homemade, included either fresh or preserved garden vegetables, and were shared around our large dining room table.

Because of the fond memories I have from our family meals, I raised my kids the same way, and my daughter is now following the same tradition with her son, cooking from scratch and making mealtimes special, fun, and memorable.

Judy said...

Great post, Balisha. My children grew up on big southern meals just like I did. My mother made fried chicken for dinner every Sunday and I have cooked for my children all my life. They still spend many Sundays at my house and each one has his own special thing that I cook. I make birthday cakes, too, and used to make two every year for my twin daughters. My grandson is two and already he wants a hamburger from McDonalds and is a picky eater. My children would eat anything! I make a cake every week so that I will have dessert if someone pops in to visit. I love sweets and still indulge almost every day! We eat fast food but I still cook a lot and enjoy doing it.

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi Balisha, I will always be thankful that I was raised by parents that believed everyone gathered around the table at dinner time. Mom and Dad would ask us about school and about our friends and they would talk to us about whatever was important at the moment. Wonderful memories. No separate activities for us at dinnertime. I wish every family felt the same. They would be much closer.
Marnie

Gram said...

I agree with you. My husband and I have talked about this - we see the pizza delivery guy in our neighborhood all the time. We are the only family on our street with a vegetable garden. We always tried to make dinner time a family time when our kids were at home and most nights it was, because we made it a priority. I think not only about the $ cost of fast food, but the health cost.