{"id":1607,"date":"2017-08-18T21:22:26","date_gmt":"2017-08-19T02:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/?p=1607"},"modified":"2019-05-17T14:34:18","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T19:34:18","slug":"tasting-gods-kindness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/","title":{"rendered":"Tasting God’s Kindness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Apples<\/a>by Lydia Floren<\/p>\n

“…if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” \u00a01 Peter 2:3<\/i><\/h3>\n

I eat fast. Really fast.\u00a0 My husband, Andrew, does too.\u00a0 Often when we are out to dinner, and the waitress breezes by to ask, \u201cHow are the first few bites tasting?\u201d, Andrew is reaching for his wallet and I am asking for a \u201cto go\u201d box.\u00a0 Those of you who have shared a meal with us are nodding and smiling, aren\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

In our defense, we come by this food-shoveling habit honestly. It was a survival skill we each developed during our medical training. Here\u2019s a typical scenario of dinner as a resident-on-call:<\/p>\n

After multiple visits to the ER, two admissions and a crisis in the ICU, our four-to-five-member on-call team, finally catches a break. Uniformed in scrubs and stethescopes, we head down to the cafeteria, to stack our trays with the free hospital food. After settling into orange vinyl seats and tasting the first few bites, a beep-beep-beep sounds. And then, another one joins in. As everyone reaches for their pagers, an announcement drones overhead:\u00a0 \u201cCode Blue, 4th<\/sup> floor, west wing\u2026 code blue, 4th<\/sup> floor, west wing.\u201d Collectively we groan, and then grab our gear and rush upstairs to see about the emergency. \u00a0 Often – no, usually – by the time we make it back down to the basement to try to salvage the remainder of our cold meal, we find the cafeteria is dark,\u00a0 its doors bolted shut. Sigh. Another night of vending machine supper.<\/p>\n

In residency, it became clear that you\u2019d better eat fast, or you may not get to eat at all.\u00a0 Food wasn\u2019t to be savored, just consumed, because the main point of eating was not enjoyment, but sustenance. Enjoying the taste of food was a luxury one could not afford, with such an unpredictable schedule.<\/p>\n

Andrew and I have learned over the years that normal people don\u2019t gulp or shovel.\u00a0 Normal people take their time, and actually seem to enjoy the taste of their food. They savor.<\/a> They actually enjoy what they are eating.\u00a0 When I eat dinner with these folks, I find that I appreciate the flavor of my food\u00a0 more than I ever would on my own.<\/p>\n

1 Peter talks about tasting the kindness of the Lord.<\/h3>\n

I love that word picture, because in order to taste something, you have to slow down and pay attention to what you are eating.\u00a0 Don\u2019t we find ourselves rushing through life, consuming the blessings God gives us, but never taking time to savor them? \u00a0In order to taste God\u2019s kindness, we have to be willing to let go of our tendency to hurry, and embrace a more\u00a0 leisurely, thoughtful approach to life. Let\u2019s face it:\u00a0 most of our rushing around is not because of life or death emergencies.\u00a0 It is primarily caused by an accumulation of commitments or desires – some important, some not so important.<\/p>\n

So today, choose to not simply consume God\u2019s kindnesses without really appreciating them.\u00a0 Instead, choose to taste God\u2019s kindness.\u00a0 Take the time to notice the many wonderful ways He has, and is now, blessing you.\u00a0 Savor His loving presence always with you and within you. Enjoy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Lydia Floren “…if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” \u00a01 Peter 2:3 I eat fast. Really fast.\u00a0 My husband, Andrew, does too.\u00a0 Often when we are out to dinner, and the waitress breezes by to ask, \u201cHow are the first few bites tasting?\u201d, Andrew is reaching for his wallet and I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[491,33,37,47],"class_list":["post-1607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-attributes-of-god","tag-kindness","tag-patience","tag-relationships"],"yoast_head":"\nTasting God's Kindness - Belovedlove<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tasting God's Kindness - Belovedlove\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Lydia Floren “…if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” \u00a01 Peter 2:3 I eat fast. Really fast.\u00a0 My husband, Andrew, does too.\u00a0 Often when we are out to dinner, and the waitress breezes by to ask, \u201cHow are the first few bites tasting?\u201d, Andrew is reaching for his wallet and I am […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Belovedlove\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/belovedlove.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-19T02:22:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-05-17T19:34:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/image1-1-1024x682.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lydia Floren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lydia Floren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/\",\"name\":\"Tasting God's Kindness - Belovedlove\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/image1-1-1024x682.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-19T02:22:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-17T19:34:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/#\/schema\/person\/1105f11928cd7dac66c63a7376b13fe9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/image1-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/image1-1.jpeg\",\"width\":1430,\"height\":953,\"caption\":\"Apples on a tree, with caption \\\"tasting God's Kindness\\\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tasting God’s Kindness\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/\",\"name\":\"Belovedlove\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/#\/schema\/person\/1105f11928cd7dac66c63a7376b13fe9\",\"name\":\"Lydia Floren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d31ebd28eee6873bf6e78f48ea495570295dd36da3c7c776cbbdfdfc5a17e7d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d31ebd28eee6873bf6e78f48ea495570295dd36da3c7c776cbbdfdfc5a17e7d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lydia Floren\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/belovedlove.org\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/bebelovedlove\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/author\/lydiaflorenclan-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tasting God's Kindness - Belovedlove","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tasting God's Kindness - Belovedlove","og_description":"by Lydia Floren “…if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” \u00a01 Peter 2:3 I eat fast. Really fast.\u00a0 My husband, Andrew, does too.\u00a0 Often when we are out to dinner, and the waitress breezes by to ask, \u201cHow are the first few bites tasting?\u201d, Andrew is reaching for his wallet and I am […]","og_url":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/","og_site_name":"Belovedlove","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/belovedlove.org","article_published_time":"2017-08-19T02:22:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-05-17T19:34:18+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/image1-1-1024x682.jpeg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Lydia Floren","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lydia Floren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/","url":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/","name":"Tasting God's Kindness - Belovedlove","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/image1-1-1024x682.jpeg","datePublished":"2017-08-19T02:22:26+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-17T19:34:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/#\/schema\/person\/1105f11928cd7dac66c63a7376b13fe9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/image1-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/image1-1.jpeg","width":1430,"height":953,"caption":"Apples on a tree, with caption \"tasting God's Kindness\""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2017\/08\/18\/tasting-gods-kindness\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tasting God’s Kindness"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/#website","url":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/","name":"Belovedlove","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/#\/schema\/person\/1105f11928cd7dac66c63a7376b13fe9","name":"Lydia Floren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d31ebd28eee6873bf6e78f48ea495570295dd36da3c7c776cbbdfdfc5a17e7d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d31ebd28eee6873bf6e78f48ea495570295dd36da3c7c776cbbdfdfc5a17e7d2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lydia Floren"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/belovedlove.org","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/belovedlove.org","https:\/\/x.com\/bebelovedlove"],"url":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/author\/lydiaflorenclan-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1607"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1609,"href":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1607\/revisions\/1609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}