Here I am again, one year later, back to talk about my word for the year. I ended last year’s entry with this sentence, ” ‘I want II Corinthians 3:18, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit;’ to be my destination.” That is a destination that will only be reached in Heaven. Here on Earth it will always be a striving we seek. In 2022 I kept my focus on transformation in the striving to be transformed into Christ’s image. I can look back and see growth. I feel the growth in my mind and in my countenance. I also feel the struggle where I still need transformation. I see this as growth too, because you have to know about it to change it. As a former professor continually told us, “you can’t do what you don’t know.”
Reflecting on this past year’s word and letting a new revelation about it become known in anticipation of next year’s word what I am seeing is the being aware, the needing to know. At the beginning of 2022 when I chose the word Transformation, the image I had in mind was of a seed that is planted, cultivated, and then transforms into a flower, a fruit, a tree, a weed, a transformed object. A seed is placed into a dark, moist, almost abandoned place to do what feels like fending for itself; but what is really happening is the seed is cultivated there, fed, nurtured, and longed for as the planter anticipates its growth, its transformation. As the year ended I was wearing a necklace of butterflies to remind me of my transformation journey. The caterpillar prepares itself and a place for a drastic process of dying, disintegrating, and re-forming to emerge unrecognizable yet beautiful and free able to fly above the ground it once creeped across.
My journey through the year was like these images in that in the beginning I needed to be placed, nurtured, and tended to by an external source like a seed. Then my journey led me to a place where I was aware of my need, my process, and hopefully my outcome so I could work from an internal place. Working from an internal place requires a constant assessment of where I am, where I want to be, and how to get there. This is a spiritual journey so the how to get there is simply Jesus. I need my focus to be Jesus so He can transform me into his image. It isn’t a focus on Jesus so I can transform myself into His image.
That brings us to 2023. Any diet I have ever done starts with me taking note of what I am currently eating. I have to know what I am doing so I can know what I need to change. After I notice my eating habits and note where I can change things I methodically make changes over the course of time. Tweaking some things, like changing fried chicken to baked chicken, and eliminating some things like my several cans a day Coca-cola habit I ended years ago. Some changes stick and my diet is transformed, but some things creep back in and more work is needed. Weight gain/weight loss are a never ending battle. Satisfying physical hunger gets confused with satisfying all types of hunger so we eat “comfort foods” and “celebratory foods.” We have treats and rewards centered around food. We fear actual hunger and set a daily schedule to ward off that emptiness – we have breakfast, lunch, and dinner as daily routines. We think morning snack and afternoon snack are essential to most days. Hunger is believed to be bad.
The Israelites were disciplined because of their grumbling about hunger. They wanted to be satisfied in a very specific way, but it wasn’t God’s way. God provided for them – yet they still grumbled, so it wasn’t physical hunger they wanted satisfied because there was food a plenty to take care of that. The crowd near Galilee was in a similar state of questioning God. They had just been fed via a miraculous event, yet they asked for more signs and wonders like Moses providing Manna in the desert. (I think it’s funny they are asking for the Manna that their ancestors grumbled about.) Jesus corrects them saying that Moses didn’t provide the Manna, God did; and for them God has provided the Bread of Life. That’s better than Manna in case you missed the impact of His statement.
Jesus called them out, “. . . you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (John 6: 26-27).
I want to take in this enduring food, this Bread of Life. I hunger for Jesus. “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6: 35).
I have taken inventory and I know who I am – a sinner, condemned to die. My thoughts and my actions may be in a process of transformation but they fall short. I still HUNGER.
This past year I started two business ventures. One is a company I created called Nea Nea’s Nibbles. I do prepared freezer meals to sell for folks to have on hand for convenience. My desire is that more families will take time to dine together with friends and family even in their busy lives, so I take some of the prep time out of the excuse, to free them up to enjoy those around them. I also do occasional baked items and I started making bread too. The other venture is being an Independent Consultant for Pampered Chef. My goal is to help those who do cook to have the tools available to make meal prep easier, faster, more convenient so they too will spend more time dining with those around them. In these businesses I have also focused on meal prep and planning for my own family. I spend time once a week figuring out meals for the week so I am way less stressed about getting food on the table and I’m in a better mood when I sit down to eat.
If physically preparing food in a less stressed manner can lead to better interactions with friends and family then I can only imagine what spiritually prepared food can do for my countenance and thus my relationships. I will come HUNGRY to the Bread of Life to be satisfied. I will HUNGER and thirst for righteousness to be Blessed, so I can be a blessing to others. (Matthew 5:6).
You are welcome to feast with me. Let me know you’re coming and I’ll add a plate to my table. Let me know what you’re reading and I’ll share the bread on my plate with you. I will be more intentional in 2023 about dining around a table with family and friends. I will be more intentional in 2023 about feasting on the Word, the Bread of Life.
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