Thinking About Food and Thanksgiving Day ~

This morning I have been thinking about the many Thanksgiving Days when I was blessed with company. But I will save that for tomorrow, because I want to give you a few more thoughts about the way American women think about food in comparison to French women. I'm convinced that our culture has brought us to the point where our eating habits aren't very refined. Why do we care about refinement?

Perhaps you don't think it's very important, but it IS important if you want a stable  culture; in fact,  if you want to live in civilization--a word very much connected to refinement. Now that isn't ALL it takes to have civilization, but it is a huge component. So think twice before you throw out the idea of sitting down to dinner with the family, or turning off the television to talk with the family while eating together. And all you wives out there--and girlfriends too--must choose to stop watching movies with your husbands that have nearly naked women in them! You're giving consent to licentious thoughts--not good for your marriage, and not good for society.

 If you look at the other side of civilization, which can go back as far as barbarism, there isn't anything for women and children to enjoy. There's just fighting and killing by the men, and an almost total lack of anything social for the women and children. The children are used as helpers in an adult way, and the women are slaves to their husbands. Dramatic? Yes. But when I see the way our culture promotes a lack of civility, it reminds me of what C. S. Lewis once said about the fact that civilization is fragile. As we give thanks for the blessings of living in a free country, let us pray for understanding about how to maintain God in our lives--not as a heavenly butler, but as our Creator. No human being can be happy without God. We can try and try, but it will not work.

Women are the keepers of all things to do with hearth and home. When women choose to watch movies that are almost pornographic with their husbands or boyfriends, it has an effect not just on their marriage, but on the nation! We must remind ourselves every day that we have a relationship with God by reading the Bible, listening to the Bible or lessons from those who teach it, or in some way remember God in our hearts and minds. Otherwise, civilization as we know it may disappear. It's really up to you and I. 

Now I want to give you more thoughts from Mireille Guiliano's French Women Don't Get Fat. It is for health and happiness that we care about our bodies and the food we eat. Our way of life can be thoughtful and godly, or it can be scattered and devilish. Again, it's the choice you and I make every moment of our lives. With this short list of observations, I'm appealing to those who care about the good life.  

1) French women eat and serve what's in season, for maximum flavor and value, and know availability does not equal quality.

2) French women drink water all day long. (Not coffee, tea, or sodas.)

3) French women enjoy going to market.

4) French women plan meals in advance and think in terms of menus (a list of little dishes) even at home.

5) French women love to entertain at home.

6) French women care enormously about the presentation of food. It matters to them how you look at it.

7) French women walk everywhere they can.

8) French women take the stairs when possible.

9) French women will dress to take out the garbage (you never know).

10) French women eat for pleasure.

11) French women don't diet.

12) French women don't get fat.

Mireille suggests that you write down everything you eat this week. Get to know what you're putting in your body! Tomorrow on offer here will be turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, fresh green beans, corn, brussel sprouts, homemade rolls, pumpkin pie, and I'm not sure what else yet. But what I do know is that I'm very thankful to be sharing it with a large part of my family. 

Blessings...Mimi