Saying a blessing. . . before you eat

I'll be honest in saying that before I came here, I never thought much about what I said before I ate. Don't get me wrong, I meant it but not as much as I do now. I often quote what Mark said in his book, chapter 18. . . "when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all . . .". You can never be sure how things are prepared or for that matter what was prepared (raw meat or unmentionable body parts). The other day I had lunch with a family. The mother proudly brought out chicken soup (best way to describe it). She told me it was chicken. I didn't realize that the whole chicken was in there, bones in all. A couple of times I almost choked. And then I got to this lovely brown ball. I thought, "I've never seen KFC or Popeyes serve this". I ate it with a smile and prayed it would stay down.

Or like the time I was in the middle of an olive grove visiting with the people harvesting the olives. We were in the middle of the field and they brought out food for us (we are literally in the middle of nowhere... the gps didn't even know where we were). Oh we were definitely asking for protection from it, and nourishment from it. But to see their faces light up as you eat like them and comment on how it is better than the restaurants is worth it all. May they see the one in us that is the creator of it all.