perspective.

Sometimes, that's all it takes.

I'm all about the healthy eating discussion, food, anything possibly related to food and health... you get the idea. But part of starting this blog was that I didn't want to focus SOLELY on that. I want to find the connection between food and, well, life. Faith, family, work, everything. Because food is such a tiny aspect of who I am, but I still love love love talking about it :)

Tonight was one of those nights that really hit hard. I complain sometimes about the crud I have to deal with. We all have it; a crappy relationship, a crappy job, you're overweight and don't want to be, your family stinks, you're depressed, the list goes on and on. What I've learned in my (short) 25 years is that everyone has it, and everyone's is different. You can't compare yourself to anyone; like someone tells me they're upset because they're dealing with x, and I think "Man, I WISH that was my biggest problem!"... just doesn't work. Because it's THEIR problem, and to them, it IS the worst thing they

could be dealing with. Perspective.

I talked earlier about a minor "hissy fit" I had earlier this week. Honestly, it was ridiculous. I'll get into the full story another day, but we chose to sell our house in the suburbs last year to move into the city to work with inner city youth. There was some overlap, so we moved in with some friends who have a big room off the back of their house. It's saved us a ton of money, but I really really miss having my own bathroom, kitchen, and having ALONE time. It seems like there's always someone around here, and I just need to sit at times. So last week I just had a bad day, and really started to feel down about not having our own space. That's it- I know, right? What a baby. But it was real, it was mine, and it's over. Thank goodness.

Last night we had our weekly youth group. My kids are a.maz.ing. They're all from the inner city (in Minneapolis, that's North Minneapolis) and have really rough home lives. We were praying last night, and one of them brought up the fact that there were multiple shootings in their neighborhood last weekend, right down the street from their house. They wanted to pray for their neighborhood, that the violence would go away. That their families would be safe. That no one else would get shot.

Sometimes I need to be reminded that there's a much bigger world outside my bubble. I work with these kids every day, and I still get lost in my own problems sometimes. Worrying about our bodies, our health, exercise are all good and important things; but sometimes I think we just need to step out of that, just for a minute, to be reminded in the grand scheme of things? It's not EVERYTHING.

And with that, it's FRIDAY!! Wah-stinking-hoo. I love me some weekends <3