Savvy Eating for the Whole Family - A Book Review

The book Savvy Eating for the Whole Family, by Margaret McCullers Kocsis, is a good introduction to eating whole foods. Kocsis is a pediatrician who wrote this book to better educate parents who wanted more information about whole foods. This books is not terribly in-depth or complex. I found the recipes to be the most helpful section of the entire book. (For me, the book was mostly review. But, if someone was to read this as an introduction to healthy eating, they would find it very helpful.)

This book was good for reminding me that I am weird... that my family is abnormal. You see, we eat every meal together - at the kitchen table. And, in the circles we run in (Christian, homeschooling, etc) dinner at the table is a normal event. But, this book frequently mentions the need to sit at the table to eat together.

So often, I forget that I am not the average human. I read a very few blogs, I have very few friends, I rarely leave the house (except to get more groceries). I am shut off from most of the world. In reading this book, my heart was broken for the "normal" family. The family that rarely eats together, and when they do eat together it is in front of the television. This breaks me heart!

My family is far from perfect. And, all too often, I am too hard on myself - comparing myself to my friend Super Mom with 8 kids. Her kids have immaculate clothes and hair. They use proper English, and are always very polite. Super Mom has every meal planned, every day planned, and every household event well-ordered. When I compare myself to SuperMom, I feel really, really, really awful.

But, you know what, I am not doing so badly! My family is eating around the table 3 meals a day! And, I cooked them! We worship together daily. We play together. We have taught the older children to read and write (mostly). The children are aware of the exciting uses of the internet (webkinz, blogs, and email). The children leave every meal full. They have clean clothes every day. And, they  play in a somewhat clean house.

I am not doing so bad! Praise the Lord, that He used something as small as a book on healthy eating to remind me that I am not doing to badly as I sometimes think I am.

My constant prayer is that I will stop comparing myself to Super Mom, and instead compare myself only to His Son! Am I striving to be holy, as He is holy? Am I loving, as he is loving? Am I compassionate and merciful, as He is?

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:26-30 ESV - emphasis mine)