Have you ever complained about something and then caught yourself doing the same? I did when my daughter Sara was little.
Sara’s tastes are somewhat different from mine. Cheese is a good example of this. For years, I wouldn’t touch any kind of it, but she absolutely loved it. In fact, I often tell people that we didn’t have any cheese in the house until she came along. Now, my dad and Tim’s mother both loved it, so that cheese loving gene skipped us and landed on Sara. That being said, there were more differences than I realized.
One evening we went out to eat with family. At this time, Sara was around five years old. I ordered her usual cheese burger and fries. Sometimes she would get chicken tenders with honey mustard. Actually, she still does. Anyway, I don’t remember what I ordered for myself, but Tim got a fried shrimp platter. When they brought our food out, I thought his plate looked disgusting. You see, I don’t eat seafood. To me, it’s worse than eating a tomato. Sara gazed over his plate and asked: “What cha eating Daddy?” He answered: “Shrimp. Do you want to try it?” With that, he handed her one. She ate it, scooted her chair next to him, and began to eat out of his plate. When the server came back to our table, we ordered another fried shrimp platter. Not only was I surprised, but I also felt a little guilty. None the less, the almost exact same thing happened a couple of years later.
At this time, Tim had killed a deer, which he always uses for food. He takes it to a processor and donates some meat to Hunters for the Hungry, which gives the deer meat to needy families. After he picked up the deer meat, he grilled some of it. Not one to eat venison, I told him to grill Sara and myself some regular burgers. Once we sat down at the table, Sara asked: “What cha eating Daddy?” He answered: “Deer chops. Do you want a bite?” He dipped it into A1 Sauce and gave it to her. Again, she ate it, scooted her chair next to him, and began to eat out of his plate. And, I was yet again surprised and felt guilty. Why? Because I have talked about how I wasn’t exposed to different foods until I was grown and yet I virtually did the same with Sara. While I did expose her on various foods, I was only trying new things on her that I personally liked. Food that was my tastes. So, she was still being limited and missing out on various foods.
“And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.” Acts 10:11-15 (KJV)
Peter’s vision wasn’t just about food. It was about not limiting his witnessing and preaching the gospel to just the Jewish nation. Instead, he needed to take it to all of mankind. In fact, this applies to us modern day believers as well. Are we actually trying to spread the gospel to everybody or just a certain group? It’s something to think about.

When Tim was still doing his taxidermy, he mounted a bear for a guy who gave him some meat from it. Tim was so excited and wanted to grill bear burgers. I said: “No way.” I told my friend Susan at work said she wanted to try one. Sara did as well. So, on his day off, Tim grilled three of them and a regular burger for me and brought them for lunch. When people walked into the breakroom, they asked: “What cha eating?” Tim, Sara, and Susan answered: “Bear.” I pointed at mine and said: “Cow!”
By the way, the picture is of my grandson Maverick eating mashed potatoes and greens.

Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.