“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'”  Matthew 25:34-35 (NKJV)

Isn’t it quite amazing to think that we can actually feed our God?  That we can give Him drink.  Provide Him with something to warm Himself.  Take Him into our lives and shelter Him. Visit Him and go to Him when He needs.

Are you wonder how that can truly be?

So did those who He was giving His kingdom to.

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?  When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?”  Matthew 25:37-39 (NIV)

They wondered too.  It is one of the most beautiful parts of this Scripture. They didn’t know they were tending to the Lord when they did what they did.  Instead, they just did it. They weren’t trying to live out their faith for others to see, or prove that they were doing more for God.  They saw a person in need and nourished them.  Plain and simple.  They did the right thing because it, indeed, was the right thing to do.

And in doing so, doing so without even knowing it, they nourished God.

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for me.'”  Matthew 25:40 (NIV)

Sometimes we complicate life by trying to find a reason to do good.  Trying to connect it to our faith, to ourselves, to our ego or to benefit a cause we are passionate about.   But here, Jesus shows us that when we do something for someone who has little influence in our lives, who might seem insignificant in our day, who will gain us little, who we may not even realize it matters to, we are doing something mighty for not only them, but Him.

It’s not just feeding them food they can eat or giving them a cold beverage to drink.  It’s not limited to building shelters and collecting clothes.  It’s not always about running prison ministries or visiting hospitals.  Those are all good things, and good things to do. But is it possible that we are missing the impact that can happen in our everyday lives and ways when we come in contact with the souls that intersect our paths?  The ones we brush off as not mattering.  Everyone loves a party or a feast as it does feed the soul, but truth be told, growth and maintenance in life occur through daily nourishment.  Those bigger and occasional events are not consistent enough to sustain us or anyone else.

As we’ve seen before, what causes a life to grow is more than mere basics.  Food is anything that nourishes life to grow, reach or maintain a healthy status.  Drink is not so different.  In fact, in God’s word, it often refers to the nourishment of His word in our lives as being like a refreshing drink.  Something we can lap up to make us reinvigorated or new again. We are often told to take shelter in God’s wings.  Hence, shelter isn’t limited to a physical dwelling that protects us from the elements.  All of the things that can be done for another hold the potential to go deeper than the superficial treatment we so often accord them…

In fact, in this Scripture, He emphasizes the importance of encouraging the human soul by extending what we can do for another beyond merely providing for their material needs. Did you catch the end of that first verse?

“…I was sick you visited Me, I was in prison you came to Me…” (NKJV)

Most of the time, it is not about solving all of someone’s problems.  Truly, that is not our job.  God doesn’t need us to be the doctor for another; coming only to their bedside when something can be healed or fixed or has come to an end.  Rather, there’s more to be said about the opportunities for faithfulness, companionship, warmth, kindness, truth, caring, love, generosity with time, hope and encouragement.  Those gifts are more valuable to a soul suffering from an illness than many will know until they, too, travel in those shoes.

Further, a prison can be “any place of confinement or involuntary restraint.”  Sometimes, for all sorts of reasons, someone can become confined to their home, to their life, to another such that they do not have true freedom to come to where you are.  It could be depression. It could be financial restraints.  It could be fear.  It could involve having to take care of another that limits a soul from being able to go out and be nourished.  It could be the effects of neglect or abuse. It could be the symptoms of an illness or disease that limits the boundaries of their world.  Prisons are not limited to cement rooms given to only those who commit crimes.  They can exist in a home or a life very near to yours…

Yes, Jesus wants us to clothe, feed and help those who have physical needs, but He also wants us to look to those who we might not easily see as being in need.  Without even realizing it, you may know someone whose life is changing and they feel incredibly vulnerable to the judgment and harshness of others.  They may need to be clothed with acceptance, gentleness, and warmth that can only come from a kind smile, open eyes and listening ears.  Your hug may just be the cloak their shoulders and arms need to brush off the cold disdain of the world around them.

And when life shuffles things around in its myriad of twists and turns, as it so often does, a person may feel like stranger in a familiar but new and foreign land.  Consider a neighbor making a job change.  The friend going through a divorce.  The child starting the first day of a new school.  Can you find a way to make them feel welcome?  To allow them your time and help them to feel connected again?

Can we now see Him better in this world?  In the faces of those before us?

Let us begin to trust and be amazed by the many opportunities that arise and allow us to nourish others well, because, in doing so, we are actually nourishing God with and by our faithfulness…

And that, my friends, is truly amazing!

“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”  John 13:17  (NIV)

There I was sitting on a circular couch of sorts in the middle of a large hallway in a beautiful hospice home on the west side of Ann Arbor.  It was not a place I had fully expected to be nor had I ever been.  My great uncle Vern had recently moved to my side of town to an assisted living facility closer to my home.  In an unfortunate and sudden turn of events, somehow, instead this place had become where he would spend his final few days.

I was sitting with his granddaughter as the nurses attended to him.  For privacy’s sake, we ventured to the hallway for some respite and to give them space as they took care of what was necessary for his comfort.  His wife, my great aunt, had passed away three years before and had entrusted his care to my family.  The granddaughter and I had come to know each other better during that time frame, and so we began to catch up as we sat on the long couch.

As we quietly spoke in the hallway, where many rooms adjoined the area, we began to hear a voice cascade out of a room across from where we were sitting.  Our voices hushed as the tone and urgency became more apparent. The voice was insistent and demanding in nature, much to our surprise.

It took a few minutes to figure out, but a set of friends had decided to visit the woman residing in that room. She must have been alone for no one intervened as her friend’s voice began to rise.  Soon more words began to fall out that made us cringe…

“You can’t leave me!  I won’t let you.”

“You are going to get better!  Things are about to change, there’ll be a miracle, and you’ll be just fine!”

“We are all praying for you.  Everyone is praying for a miracle!  You can’t give up now!!”

“You can do this!  You can get better!”

“Who will I have to talk to?  Who will I be able to call late at night when I need to talk?”

“You just have to get better!  You understand, right?  You can’t leave us.  We need you.”

With each statement, our hearts began to break for the woman on the receiving end. Trapped and unable to respond, she was given a weight that she should never have been asked to bear.  It took all of my strength not to intervene.  We were clearly at a hospice home where people were coming to die, and somehow this friend had missed that marker when entering.  Somehow, she had refused to see the truth of where her beloved friend was…

And sure enough, the next morning, the dying woman was gone.

There was no getting up, no getting better.  There was no miracle to be had for her here on this earth, though I am quite sure her friend was unable to appreciate the miracle of her being in the arms of our loving God who was, indeed, calling her home.  The insistence of her voice, the demands in her statements, the unwillingness to see that her friend could not raise herself up has never left me.  Further, I believe God graced me with that uncomfortable experience for a reason and it has guided me through difficult and painful moments with others.

Commiserate.

It was a synonym that practically jumped out to me off the list of synonyms for the word, “nourish”.  In part, because it was not a word I expected to see.  However, as soon as I saw it, it made perfect sense.

Most of us often struggle with life when it is not all sun, fun and smiles.  We say easy things like, “You can’t find a rainbow without the rain!” or “It’s not that bad!” or “It will be okay! It’s going to get better.”  When the difficult becomes too great, we immediately begin to look for the silver lining long before it is ready to be seen.  When we can’t find it, we seek to dismiss the uneasiness away with platitudes of positive thoughts and reassurances. But sometimes, many times, those remarks fall flat and ring untrue.  Maybe even a little insincere in light of the honesty of what another is going through.

To “commiserate”, according to the Noah Webster Dictionary (1828 version), is to feel pity, to be compassionate towards, “to feel sorrow, pain or regret for another in distress.”  It is to be sorry for, to feel regret for or towards another.  And understand, I am not speaking of situations where another is constantly creating distress in their lives looking for pity. Rather, these are life-altering, life-changing, life-ending circumstances that no one likes to experience.

It is sometimes where the painful truth best lies.  When we commiserate with another, we are validating their experience.  There is no triteness there.  No dismissal. No denial.  No amplifying another’s feelings of alone-ness in this life by pointing to a better life, results, or alternative ways.  Instead, as painful as the situation might be, a gentle expression of its truth by means of commiseration can give a soul the peace and acceptance of their truth because it is validated through the eyes of another.

Acknowledging fear, assuaging the pain, admitting there are no easy answers, attesting to the helplessness, deferring to another’s discomfort, recognizing the confusion of not being able to control what impacts one’s own life or its end, upholding someone’s wishes, yielding to the truth of their situation over the need to comfort oneself with “it will be alright” all convey support. They are forms of nourishment coming through a willingness to compassionately allow another to feel sorrow, pain, anger, confusion, dismay, acceptance, or regret in their journey.

Ignoring their plight, refusing to see their dilemma, contradicting their pleas with ones that make us feel better, rejecting their situations, shunning from interaction, resisting the truth of where they are, are just some of the antonyms to commiserate…the opposite of what it takes to nourish another soul.

Internally we can wish for, hope for, want for…something different, but we cannot continue to live in this world and pretend the truth of another’s situation doesn’t really exist.  Not without doing a world of damage to that soul (and potentially others) by insisting on what we want their truth to be…for that is not truth, not at all.

That is what that woman’s friend did that night.  She refused to see the truth of her dying friend, and instead of commiserating at her side, helping her to feel validated, comforting her soul while she had the chance, and cherishing those last moments even if only spent in silence, she gave only what she wanted to hear, saw only what she wanted to see.

As we sat there and listened, we both shook our heads. It was a terrible weight to put on a dying soul. It was terrible thing to hear among all the souls that her voice drifted over and onto that night.  And understand, we are all headed out of this world someday. Everyday we hold the potential to give nourishment or to withhold it.  Both have an impact. On another, on ourselves, and even those we don’t realize are listening or watching…

The next time an opportunity arises to nourish a soul, consider the power of commiserating. Do not make it about you, but instead, allow it to be about them.  You will find that often holds more meaning and healing than any other gift or effort you can make.  For there is power in the truth, even when it is not what we want or would have wished for…

Remember it is more blessed to be comforting than to try to receive comfort at another’s expense…

“I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak.  And remember the words of the Lord that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”  Acts 20:34-35

To nourish.

It is to supply someone or something with what is necessary to sustain life in such a way that it is healthy and able to grow.  Think of a plant.  While it needs water, water alone will not bring it to its fullest potential.  It also needs sun, fertilizer, a bath from time to time to wash the dust off of its leaves.  Add the need for a little support as it continues to grow, more nutrients, quiet and restful nights, the right balance of warmth and coolness, gentle breezes to challenge its toughness, and the loving hand of someone who can help keep the bad weeds and bugs at bay.  Oh, and don’t forget, the need for an occasional good thunderstorm to boost its growth and greenness.  It turns out that there is so much more to nourishing a plant than we think…

And consequently, there’s so much more to nourishing life than that which is easiest to stuff in our mouths and satisfy our tummies…

Nourishing can also involve the things we cherish or even being cherished by another. Life grows best when we are fostered, when we know and understand what truly keeps us alive in this world.  Nourishment can be things that strengthen, build up or promote us, and vice a versa in our participation of the life of someone else.  All of these definitions not only inherently sustain life, but make it brighter, richer, and deeper in meaning.  They are often what makes life worth living, worth being alive.

While the definition of “nourish” stirred my soul as I read it, what awakened my senses to its boundless limits and applications, was the list of synonyms that abide with it.  As you read over the list below (and these were just some of the words), take a moment with each one and try to visualize the last time you saw that word being lived out:

• Attend
• Cherish
• Comfort
• Cultivate
• Encourage
• Foster
• Maintain
• Nurture
• Promote
• Tend
• Supply
• Develop
• Discipline
• Educate
• Instruct
• Rear
• Teach
• Train
• Admire
• Appreciate
• Care for
• Cling to
• Defend
• Dote on
• Embrace
• Encourage
• Entertain
• Guard
• Hold in high esteem
• Honor
• Hug
• Idolize
• Love
• Prize
• Revere
• Safeguard
• Shelter
• Shield
• Treasure
• Value
• Aid
• Alleviate
• Assist
• Calm
• Cheer
• Commiserate with
• Confirm
• Console
• Delight
• Divert
• Ease
• Enliven
• Fill
• Gladden
• Grant respite
• Hearten
• Invigorate
• Lighten burden
• Make well
• Mitigate
• Put at ease
• Quiet fears
• Reanimate
• Reassure
• Relieve
• Remedy
• Salve
• Soften
• Solace
• Soothe
• Strengthen
• Stroke
• Sympathize

Just reading the list spoke softly to my soul of the value that comes to ourselves and others when we live out the true character of any of those words.  Thoughts of many, young and old, came to my mind.  Times when someone needed to be cheered on, invigorated, and reanimated in their journey.  Times when another soul needed to be supported, defended or doted on.  Those who have needed an embrace or a hug to celebrate or commiserate together; to know that they were not totally alone in their personal journey.

To be cared for, assisted, encouraged, tended to, or sheltered will be the need of each of us at some point in our lives.  To know that we, and they, are loved, prized, treasured, delighted in, held in high esteem, even if it just comes from a knowing look across the room that acknowledges they matter.  A hand on the shoulder to let them know you are glad they are.

Life is full of moments where we are teaching or being taught, training or being trained, educating or being educated, developing or being developed, cultivating or being cultivated. All for our growth or the growth of another, much like the plant that has pushed up through the soil and is figuring out how to survive, how to bend correctly but not break, where to send its roots, and how to wait patiently for the coolness of dusk and stillness of night after a long day of working hard to receive and make good use of the warm sunshine.

And then there are times when we need to be attended to.  When comfort is the only thing that can ease our pain, and even then, comfort will serve only as a distraction, not a solution. There we may need to cling to loved ones to survive the storm raging within our lives; reminding us that we are appreciated, loved and admired; that our presence on this earth is cherished.  It is in those moments, where our worries may be diverted, calmed, or reassured by the simple presence of a kind, sympathetic soul.  Where a dinner brought can put our evening at ease because someone tried to mitigate our burdens, hearten us, and grant us a little respite from life’s daily and steady demands.

These small (or big) acts alleviate our suffering, relieve us, become salve to our souls, soften the harsh realities we may face, strengthen our feeble frames for the next day, and grant us solace.  They are the moments that truly fill us.

It is where our souls and lives are nourished.

Can we see where we might be missing the main point of this life if we only focus on getting by?  Doing only that which is best for us?  Life is not just about survival, but what we are given and what we give.  Can our relationships really grow if we are not being nourished? Can those relationships grow if we are not nourishing others?  Might that be what a living and true faith is really about?

The list, below, of antonyms to “nourish” hit home the list above and the power they hold to make this world a better place should we choose to live them out in our lives and the lives of those who surround us:

Abandon, deprive, neglect, starve, denounce, forsake, not care, renounce, aggravate, annoy, bother, distress, exasperate, hurt, irritate, provoke, torment, torture, trouble, and vex.

Just to name a few.  It is easy to see how life can fail in that environment.  How a plant can die even in the right soil.  If it is abandoned, forsaken, not cared for, deprived of what is needed to grow strong, neglected in the areas that it needs help, or starved of food, water, light, wind or rest, the plant will perish.

Better yet, life is not just about people and their basic physical needs.  Really, it seems to be more about people interacting–how we treat each other, and the relationships that blossom and grow among us.  Frequent hurts, irritations, and aggravations can lead to communication becoming stifled and broken down.  Tormenting, vexing, exasperating each other never amount to good, healthy, growing, strong relationships.  Neither does abandoning, depriving, neglecting or starving another of the key emotional, physical or spiritual nutrients (see the list above for a refresher) that is needed a more nourished and full life.  Honestly, these antonyms cause relationships (and the people in them) to break down and fade away.  They are not what leave us feeling full…

So let us continue to think on what can truly nourish (and what does not) our souls and the souls of those within our reach…

“Do not labor for food which perishes, but for food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give to you…”  John 6:26-27

The last six summers have been interesting; many of them containing something difficult for us.  And so, it is hard to believe that we are coming, this fall, upon the five years since my dad has passed.  It was six summers ago when we learned that he had esophageal cancer.  A journey that changed our worlds…

It was a warm summer afternoon, shortly after learning the news that they had found a large tumor in my dad’s esophagus, when I found myself anxiously tending my gardens outside, trying ever so hard to not think on what the tumor might mean.  Several of my smoking bushes, along the side of my house, had grown way too tall.  I was reaching up to trim them down when I realized that I really needed to be down on my knees instead.

As I dropped to the ground, tears formed in my eyes, “O please God, don’t take my dad away.  Please…” but no more words would come.  I could see in my mind what I wanted to pray, wanted to say, but for some reason, the words would not come out.  I tried again to eek out a desperate plea but, again, something stopped the words.  Confused and surprised, I returned to the task at hand.

It was hours later in my dining room, again overcome by the urge to pray, that I found myself on my knees for my father.  I knew that I wanted to ask God to heal him, but the response was the same and those words I could not bring forth.  There, in frustration and fear, I understood that maybe I needed to ask God what He wanted me to pray?

Ever so quietly, a thought came to me.  One that changed my whole perspective…

Pray for yourself.

“What?  That’s can’t be right.  My father, he is the one sick with a potential life threatening disease.  What do You mean?  Why would I pray for myself?”

But the thought returned over and over.  And so I began to pray.  Awkwardly and hesitantly, I searched the areas where I thought I could use prayer for myself.  And as I wandered, I found myself praying, “God, help me to the daughter You need me to be.  Not the one I want to be, but the one my parents need me to be.”

“Do not labor for food which perishes, but for food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”  John 6:26-27

You see, this verse comes right after Jesus told the crowd that they were not seeking Him for the right reasons.  They wanted more of what they needed or wanted rather than wanting more of the One who knew what they needed.  After highlighting their motivations, He laid out on the table that there is a difference in the food that is available to us.  There is the kind that perishes and a kind that endures.

Hmphhh…I had to scratch my head on that.  What food endures to everlasting life?  Is He saying that there is some kind of food that goes with us to the other side?  Clearly, it can’t be material or physical in nature for we know that kind perishes…what could He be speaking of?

So, I decided to look up “food” even though I was pretty sure of what it meant.  I do love how the dictionary can expand our understanding if we are only willing to look!

Food is “any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, promote growth…anything serving for consumption or use.”  www.dictionary.com.  It was in the list of synonyms that I started to see a bigger picture: refreshment, support, serving, weight, were some to name a few.

Food is not limited to hamburgers and french fries.  It is not bound to be only that which enters our mouths.  It is any nourishing substance that we take in that helps to keep us alive, moving and growing.  Think on it this way, those without access to sunlight develop a deficiency in Vitamin D.  A condition that can become quite serious and debilitating.  Our bodies take in sunlight and converts it into a vitamin that helps us maintain good bone structure as well as assisting in other important health functions.  The absorption does not occur through our digestive track but through our skin by means of exposure to the sun. Might we also take in nutrients in ways we do not usually consider?

Now, at this juncture, it is important to note that in the definition of “food”, substance was qualified by the descriptor, “nourishing”.  It is not just any type of food that helps us to maintain and grow.  It has to be of the type that actually nourishes us.  Hence, we must understand what nourish truly means.

To “nourish” is to “sustain with food or nutriment; supply with what is necessary for life, health and growth.”  But interestingly, it can also mean “to cherish, foster or keep alive”; “to strengthen, build up or promote.”

Might that relate back to the crux of what Jesus was pointing out to those seeking Him?

“‘Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life…'”

What are we seeking from Him?  Food and provisions that can perish, or something deeper? Are there things that can nourish our souls better than what we traditionally think of? Nourishment that is better for our entire well-being rather than just that which stops the hunger pangs?

After I arose from my knees in prayer, I had to spend some time reflecting on what it meant to pray for myself to be the daughter God needed me to be.   The daughter my father needed.  If God wanted me to pray that, what might I need to do different?  What might be a part of me that was not needed for those days ahead?

And so, it was through a different set of lens that I began to look at myself.  I took off the spectacles that helped me to see myself the way I wanted to be seen:  strong, decisive, accomplished, able, intelligent, and so on.  As I laid those down, God gave me eyes to see what my dad needed.  And yes, while he needed me to be strong, he didn’t need to be strong-armed. While my ability to research and seek out what seemed like the best answer, didn’t mean that I had all the answers nor did that knowledge mean that I should make them.  My ability to lead didn’t mean that my dad wanted to be led.  Those parts of me, while good, needed to take a back seat so that I could be the best daughter he needed me to be.

And there, I began to understand the wisdom behind that prayer.  I understood that while the journey would ask much of me, it was not my journey to be in charge of.  There were decisions he would need to make without the added pressure from the daughter I had always been.  Instead he needed me to be who he needed more than who I wanted to be…

I began to see that the best use my talents was to help, support and comfort him. Sitting in chair while he dozed off from fatigue.  Making a fruit smoothie.  Nodding my head even when I didn’t necessarily agree. Sharing my opinion and stopping after that.  Listening when he wanted to speak but not asking more than he could share.

So many times, we think we have the answer.  We think we understand why something is happening.  We even think sometimes that we know the best way out of a dilemma, but truth be told, most of the times, we don’t.  I realized from that prayer that the way I wanted for him was not the path God intended, and so, all I could do was nourish our relationship for the time he had remaining.

And every time I prayed that prayer, I found God opening my eyes to the idea that I was there to assist, help, support, encourage, commiserate with, calm, shine light, and be by my dad’s side for comfort more than anything else.  It meant learning to let go…in more ways than one.  To hang on when all I wanted to do was flee from the pain and discomfort his suffering caused.  To trust God that He was in control by learning how to best honor him and his choices.

Interestingly, almost everything in this world requires an energy source.  For us, humans, it is food. And in almost all systems, energy has a distinct purpose as it usually benefits other life forms. Could it be that Jesus was pointing out that we aren’t coming to Him for the needs that matter most?

Could it be that was what He was pointing out to me in that prayer?  Yes, healing seemed like the natural answer, but it wasn’t to be.  Hence, the quality of the remainder of my dad’s journey is what became paramount.

From the One who designed all things, He knows best what nourishment we need as well as what nourishes those around us.  What if we came to Him seeking to be nourished emotionally and spiritually?  To learn how to be of nourishment to others?

What if we began to look to Him with our deepest hurts, our troublesome fears, our worrisome anxieties, and our passionate loves as how best to live life without them controlling us?  What if we sought Him out when we see other peoples’ fears, hurts and anxieties controlling them as to how we might better relate to them?

Could we allow Him to teach us how to truly nourish another?

Can we stop seeing Him for only our tangible needs and begin to search Him out for our intangible ones?  Looking past our need for food that perishes, and onto food that will endure into everlasting life?

And so I’ll ask, have you ever pondered what in your life might be producing eternal ramifications…what might be celebrated in heaven as food that endures to everlasting life from your actual life here on earth?

After spending time with seniors in the end of their days, it seems to me like a whirlwind of memories begin to float to the surface of their mind.  Some days, they know exactly who and where they are; other days, they may be a young lad or lass waiting for their parents to pick them up with school.  No matter how fallible the memory may appear, they are remembering…

And what if memories are a part of all of this?  What if the food that nourishes us to everlasting life–the stuff that endures through all trials, tribulations and testing on this earth to pass with us to heaven–are our memories?  The memories we retain and the memories we create in others.

What if we stopped laboring to just live a life with stomachs full, and started to live a good life realizing each moment, each decision, each indifference holds the potential to pass with others (as well as with us) to the other side?  What if we sought with more vigor and commitment to live a holy life understanding that it is where we will have the least regrets as we traverse with our memories to the other side?  What if we let Jesus nourish our souls and not just our stomachs so that the best memories are laid well in this life?

When I finally succumbed to praying that prayer for myself and my father, I began to see my time with him differently.  I began to focus on what was nourishing to his soul as well as mine.  I lived the route imperfectly, but with God’s help, differently than I ever had.  It was less about what I wanted and more about what I could do to aid his journey home-bound.  It was less about the fear of losing him, and more about loving him the best that I could in the time that was remaining.

Nourishment.  Sustaining nourishment.  Freedom from the mandates of the flesh to understand that there is so much more to seek Him about.  Food for the mind and soul as well as for the body.

Something to think about in and with all that we do…

“Then Jesus said to the Jews, who believed in Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”  John 8:32