Word of the Year - Redemption. I Think...

You know how lots of people are now naming their years instead of doing resolutions? I do that too. Since November I have know what my word for 2012 would be. Redemption.

I was looking over my life and finding myself incredibly thankful for all the things God has redeemed in me. Things I didn't even know He was working on, and I was/am humbled.

I had spent some time following a trail of verses I had written on the pages of my Bible - the Bible I had at 16 years old when I was pregnant with Fox. I hopscotched through the pages and was in tears. Each verse had to do with forgiveness, grace and redemption. My 16 year old self had searching for forgiveness and a path forward. Hope.

I planned (and still plan) to share these verses and the many ways God has redeemed many things in my life. I was stoked to share my word for 2012. Redemption! I wanted to shout about it.

Then something happened. 2012 got off to a very bumpy start.

January was not easy.

To start, I had a falling out with a dearly loved family member on New Years Day. A week later I had a fender bender. No one was hurt (praise!) but our 11 year old family van was totaled by the relatively small amount of damage. I spent half a day in the ER for precautionary treatment and Rh shot for the baby. We hoped to refinance our old home (we are renting it to family) only to find the appraisal came back much, much lower than expected - thank you economy. A close family memeber is separated from his wife, it's a very sad situation. And my maternal grandmother was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of brain cancer.

*Sigh*

It's been a day by day walk. I asked God if this was His sense of humor. Really? I named this year Redemption - I planned to share all the glorious things You have done for me - and this is how the year starts? You give me NEW STUFF that needs to be redeemed? Will the whole year be like this? Ugh.

I began to wish I named my year "Full Time Fun" or "Smooth Sailing". Can I have a do over? Is it too late too change my word? The way this year is going, I should rename it something more fitting. I can see it now! 2012 - Year Craptastica! Yes, that will work.

But here I am. It's February 1st. And I'm here to tell you I still have hope. My God is bigger than ALL this. He deserves praise during the storm. Just last night, amends were made with the estranged family member. Shane can usually work from home one day a week so I can use his SUV for field trips or errands. A sweet friend gave all 5 of us a ride to co-op in her amazing 8 passenger van. The baby is healthy and active. Finances may be tight, but we still have plenty. The family member separated from his wife has a great support system and is dealing well with the stress. My grandmother, the prayer warrior, is singing praises in her hospital bed. She told me "I'm healed either way. I'll be healed on earth or in heaven" and she told my father "I've got my foot on the Rock and He has me on His roll." That's my grandma.

A friend at co-op shared this verse last week:

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Phillipians 4:11

Did you catch that very important word? Learned. I have learned to be content. It might not come instantly or naturally. But we need to teach ourselves to be content, even in difficult situations. Because God is in control and He works all things to His glory.

Why I Love the Burger King in Waynesboro Pennsylvania

We try not to eat out too often for health and financial reasons. But when we decide to make a quick pit stop somewhere, the choice is usually Burger King. And before you ask, no I was not compensated for this post. I just believe in giving credit where credit is due.

On our travels we have stopped at many, many Burger Kings. Why? Well, we like it. But the main reason is because they have good dairy free options - which is important to this mom. Bram, my 4 year old and I are both allergic to dairy.

Most of BK's buns are dairy free which makes most sandwiches safe. And most importantly to Bram the fries are safe! Did you know McDonalds has dairy in their french fries. Yup, they do.

My favorite place to get BK is in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. It's an itty bitty little town near the MD/PA line. And we used to live there. Every time we go there every single employee is kind, helpful and smiling - and that means a lot to me!

I'd like to give a shout out to two of my favorite people there who always go the extra mile - Donna and Ghee. They rock. Thank you guys for always providing exceptional service.

But as I said, everyone there is very helpful. My husband, Bram and I made one such pit stop last week. Bram has recently started to enjoy nuggets so I checked their online allergen menu to be sure the nuggets were dairy free - they were. However when standing in line I double checked the very helpful, clearly posted nutrition and allergy guide. The guide, which turned out to be outdated, said the nuggets did have dairy. So I was confused.

And you know what the employees did - yes employees - two people jumped in to help us. One asked the cook to make Bram a burger just in case the nuggets had diary. The other employee went back to the freezer and brought me out a chicken nugget box so I could read the ingredient list. (In case you're wondering, the nuggets are currently dairy free.)

Thank you Waynesboro BK for always being so helpful, kind and reliable!

About Food Network's 'The Big Waste'

Did you get to see Food Networks' special, The Big Waste? It's all about the epidemic of food waste in America, and it was very eye-opening. Four of Food Networks' top chefs teamed up to create a gourmet meal for over 100 people. The meal had to be made completely with food headed for the trash - items grocers were throwing out because they were close to their 'best by' date, produce that was passed over for slight blemishes and meats that were unwanted because of small flaws.

There was a recurring theme on the show that echoed throughout the internet. Americans need to stop being so picky! We're wasting tons, literally tons, of food because we've trained ourselves to expect nothing less than perfection. When an apple has a slight nick we dig deeper in the pile for a perfect one. Herbs are starting to wilt, so we toss them in the trash instead of freezing of drying them. It really is criminal. Especially when you think of those starving in our very own country!

But.

There's always a but.

Please forgive me. I don't mean to sound like the spoiled American.

While I wholeheartedly agree with the above sentiment, it's completely true, I think there is another side to this story.

Have you seen the grocery prices in this country??
While so many Americans income is going down, being cut in half, or disappearing completely, the grocery prices keep rising. Many families can barely afford to eat.

Do you know how much I'm spending each week?
We have a family of 6 - three of which are teens who eat constantly. I have taken up couponing to save money because we were spending $250-$300 a week in groceries. Yes, that's $1000+ a month just in groceries. And I buy generic!

Call me spoiled, but if it's expensive I expect it to be good.
I'm sorry, but if I'm going to pay an arm and a leg for a pound of produce I expect it to be in good shape. I don't want to pay outrageous prices for fruit that will spoil two days after I take it home.

There's a little bit of fear in our reasoning.
While we do need to accept peaches that look less than perfect, the providers need to understand that as consumers, we're a little worried when things look "off". Weird things have been happening. When I was a kid you only heard of food poisoning in spoiled meat and dairy. Now we have listeria in cantaloupes, e coli in lettuce and salmonella in peanut butter. And we're not just talking about a weekend spent running to the bathroom, people have died.

Don't tell me waste isn't factored into the cost.
I realize the huge (HUGE) amount of waste is hurting our farmers, especially the small mom and pop farms. But with any business there is waste, and good business means planning for that and factoring it into the cost. I do see it's an unending cycle, high prices means more waste, more waste means higher prices - but it's not just the consumer's fault.

What about everyone else's role?
As I said, we must retrain our brains to stop this epidemic of waste - there really is no excuse for it. But what about everyone else? We need to work together to fix it. What about the grocers who could arrange a weekly delivery to local food banks? Why don't companies partner to decrease waste? Those chickens the butcher know won't sell because he nicked the skin could be bought at a lesser price by factories that produce chicken broth. What about a seconds section in the grocery store for lesser priced, not as pretty produce? I'd shop in that section! But if I have a choice between perfect tomatoes or bruised ones for the same astronomical price, I'm taking the perfect ones.

Yes, I noticed.
On the show, did you notice how those "less than perfect chickens" that no one would buy were all iced down and waiting in coolers? My guess is that was for the show. Under any other circumstances, I think those chickens would be tossed straight in the trash. Why? Because it costs money and overhead space to store those undesirable chickens! And business isn't going to pay to store what is essentially trash.

I understand.
To answer my above question, grocers don't deliver to their local food bank because they'd have to pay the delivery person, have a truck and pay for fuel. It all comes down to money - I understand that! It makes sense why they can't or won't do it. But that brings me back to the point of this whole post.

It's not just the consumers fault. There are lots of things we could all be doing, patrons and business alike, to solve this waste epidemic. I'll start. Next time, I won't pass on that slightly blemished lettuce.

What are you going to do to help?