Good Morning, Team!! Well, I had planned to go to work today. Did you know I have a second job, nursing in a senior’s home? But since I woke up with a little bit of a “tickle in my throat,” and we are right in the middle of a COVID-19 crisis, I’m having to ADAPT my day. So here I sit at my kitchen table—thinking, reviewing and renewing what I just might DO in lieu of work. And I now know where I will start.

Right before I sat down, I opened up my fridge and felt that I am officially an “Old Mother Hubbard who went to her cupboard,” and WHOA!! She sure as heck didn’t even have a “bone” in there!! LOL!

Yup, there were only some pretty empty shelves to see, except for one plastic container that has half an avocado in it. And as I looked at that avocado, it brought to mind my “journey” with that fruit.

And “fruit” hardly seems the word to use for what was staring back at me. Some green slippery, slimy mush all mashed up—ewww and gross!!! And I don’t care what anyone says, THAT certainly can’t be good for me.

Oh yes, I had been told over and over and over in my life how “good” avocados would be for my brain and my body as they are loaded with SUPERFOOD FAT. And, OK, as a nurse, I get THAT, but why would I eat an avocado when the fabulous fat I LOVE to eat each and every day is oh-so-much-more ”BETTER”? I’m talking about BUTTER!!

Yes, beautiful, blessed, beguiling BUTTER. But it has to be salted … sigh. 🙂 Oh, this is a must-have-melt-in-your-mouth-and-stick-in-your-stomach fat “solution”!!

I mean, really, it is no contest at all! WHO would want to pass on blessed butter to eat this grossly green product? Heck, I love butter, and there is NO way I will exchange it for an ugly avocado! Nope, nada, it ain’t happening. (Said the woman who had never even tried them before.)

And yet, over time, I kept hearing over and over … and reading over and over … how much BETTER it would be for me to eat this superfood. But I chose not to cross the line into the crazy avocado craze until around 2 years ago, when my 12-year-old daughter, Hailey, began to ask me to buy her avocados … and began to eat said avocados … and began to find 1,001 ways to ENJOY avocados.

Yeah, I watched in wonder as she started to put them on toast, eat them with chips, toss them on salad. And there I sat, started and said, “How could this be?? WHY would this 12-year-old girl choose to eat that slimy green fruit? And DO it DAILY to boot??”

Well, Hailey had an “intentional mission.” She had just started playing soccer and surely wanted to grow and develop in that area. She had read and now knew she needed to

1) Get exercise

2) Get sleep

3) Be watchful of what she CHOSE to eat.

She was determined to get the right kind of fuel and energy for the practice, the team and the game!

Nope, this was not “rocket science” to her, but it did take time, effort and energy (through her CHOICES) to prepare what she put on her plate. And so, there she was, at 12, starting schedules for jogs, setting alarm clocks for sleep and stirring up smoothies with extra avocados added in. And off on the sidelines, I sorta felt put to shame…. Hmmm.

Yup, I saw this girl eat a whole avocado each and every day. And as I watched her body shift, change, grow, develop and build super-strong muscles, I surely noted my “butter-basted” ones just didn’t even budge. And I thought, “It’s time to change my TASTE BUDS from what they WANTED to do, to what they NEEDED to do. And really, if she can do it, I can too!” Ha! A little healthy CONROY competition never hurts, right?? 🙂

And as I began by oh-so-bravely adding one “whole” tablespoon at a time to my day, I began to realize this avocado thing really wasn’t … so bad. And I began to taste and try avocados on the oddest of things—on a bit of egg, stirred in a sauce, heaped on a hamburger … until “Holy Hannah”! This super slimy, super mushy, super MASHY green fruit has now become something I truly ENJOY. And, boy oh boy, Hailey and I pretty much fight for the right to every last piece. (No kidding. LOL!)

So, yes, as I looked at that avocado today I thought, “What a change has taken place!!”

And, let’s be honest, the avocado is not any different than it was two years before. Nope, it looks exactly the same, smells exactly the same, tastes exactly the same. The only difference is in how I “SEE” it!

MY VIEW has slowly shifted because I choose to follow the black and white TRUTH (of what an avocado can bring me and my body nutritionally) to LEAD my CHOICES, over my “butter-binging taste buds.”

So, YAH for me and my bravely broadening superfood boundaries, and letting go of some bad butter-eating exercises. 😉 But other than to share that small success, why bring this up??

Because from all this, I now really believe I can CHOOSE to work on ways to CHANGE what I find “fulfilling and flavorful” based on research, facts and watching those farther along than I (even if that is a 12-year-old girl).

And the truth is, how I used to feel about eating avocados is the SAME way I used to feel about following God’s Promises, Commands and Corrections. (Yup, the secret is out!) Nope, I did NOT like them at first. Heck, I did NOT find them “flavorful” at all. And I sure did NOT call the process “fun” in the front end, but by THE END??? Something that seemed oh-so “yucky, icky and sticky” now IS the FIRST “fruit and flavor” I look for, and live for, in my day, everyday! Yes, there has been a true shift in what I daily CRAVE!

It’s true—eating avocados is now “easy and effortless” and, heck, even enjoyable, as I’ve slowly adapted to doing it (almost) daily. But what I love most is this is how SOMETHING far more important can be shifted too—my SPIRITUAL STATE.

Yes, the slow change in what I crave daily has taken place in my core for

1) Reading God’s Word 

2) Obeying what it says

3) Taking time to pray.

Just like it did for learning to love that avocado.

So, in my fridge, there is only half an avocado left—and I promise to be a good parent and leave it for Hailey … this time. 🙂 But you know what’s best about GOD and HIS word?? There’s always more, you can never eat too much, it is fat-free, SOUL-fulfilling, lasts forever and is for everyone!!

I’m so glad God taught me to CHOOSE to change my taste buds and challenged me to slowly seek and savor solid SOUL-FOOD. Do you think HE can do this for you? Hmmmmm….

Maybe it’s TIME to make choices no longer based on what you “feel” is good, but what you KNOW is good, according to His unchanging WORD. ‘Cause what His word says is always BEST for us, is always the SAME, and is always the answer. The difference is only in how we “SEE” it.

So, I say go for it!! But better yet, GOD does. You won’t regret it, I promise. 🙂

Be Bold, Be Brave, Be a Beautiful Woman of God.

Carol 🙂

Questions and Reflection:

1) What was I basing my food choices on at the beginning of the story? Were these facts or feelings? How did I decide what “information” I would choose to make my daily food choices on in the end? Why would I be willing to change my TRUTH base even though BUTTER was tasting “better”?

2) Yup, butter was my fat downfall diet-wise. 🙂 But on a spiritual level, what type of BUTTER could be getting in the way of my growth? (Ahem, ahem, let me give you a clue: the butter of being TOO busy!) So what would be the “butter” in your life? What benefits does it bring in the short term? What might you be missing out on in the long?

3) What changes took place in the story? Were they more about outside actions? Or inside thoughts? Which do you think matters more and why?

4) Have you ever had an experience where something you did not like, but chose to begin, became a positive habit? Have YOU ever seen the shift, where something you could barely ENDURE became something you truly ENJOY??

 See if you can plop it into the 4 stages of SHIFT:

1. ENDURE – Where you can barely stand it and feel it only brings you pain/grief/challenge/issue.
2. EMBRACE – Where you stop FIGHTING it and recognize, well, it is here to stay and so, better to stop resisting its reality.
3. ENLARGE – Where you take that thing that is IN your life (likely for life) and decide to expand on it and begin to look less for reasons “WHY” it is there, and more for how it can be used for GOOD.
4. ENJOY – Where you begin to see a lot of GOOD and GODLY GROWTH that comes with this challenge, and when you just might catch yourself saying, “It has been and has become the biggest blessing in my life.”

5) Personal Perspective CHALLENGE: Write out the THING you thought of at the beginning of Question 4 and fill in the “e)” stages and steps that COULD happen if you choose to allow GOD to change your perspective on the issue, using the key concept of obeying what HE says is BEST to DO, over going with what you “want.” Keep that “ENJOY” stage in your brain as the promise of where GOD might possibly want to change and take you!

Ecc 7:8 — “The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and patience is better than pride.”