The Meat Fight

That Paul. My sweet and incredibly handsome husband. I love this picture of him because he's in his element. Heading down the highway lookin' hot in his sunglasses with a super cool expression and the mountains lingering in the background. And I like it because this is often times my view of him. He always drives because he likes to and I don't. I'm thankful for how we fit together like that. But you know what, we don't always fit together just right. Sometimes we clash. And sometimes that happens on beautiful days like this when I'm riding next to him in the car. In fact, just this week we had one of our clashes in the car and it was about meat. What I like to call, the Meat Fight.

You see, as I'm learning about good and whole foods, I'm wanting to make changes. And sometimes those changes will make a hit on our budget in ways that Paul doesn't want it to. He likes to buy cheap meat. Actually, he likes to buy cheap most things and finds value in something when he can get a good deal. I greatly appreciate this about my man. He's a provider and he doesn't like to waste or be foolish with the resources God has given us. I respect that, and truly I am so so thankful he is like this. However, it can be hard when we disagree about what's "worth it" as far as spending the extra dollars for better quality.

I feel strongly that it would be good for us both to make a transition to better quality meats. I am specifically alarmed by the hormones and antibiotics given to chickens and also the negative effects that grain based diets (as opposed to grass fed) have on cows meat. As we start to think about adding little ones to our family, my "Mama-instincts" flare up and I want to bring my babies into a home with eating habits that are healthy and helpful to their little growing bodies.

But Paul doesn't agree with me. Not about the part of raising healthy kids, but he doesn't agree that buying better meat would be worth it. He believes this is just a fad that I'm going through (and really just a "hot topic" right now) and not something that's actually important or makes a difference.

So where do I go with this? I love my husband and I know that God has called me to follow him and to ultimately submit to his discernment for the decisions in our household. I agree with this plan, and I believe that Paul is ultimately responsible to the Lord in this matter. And I trust him. But it starts to get difficult to live out when I really believe that Paul is wrong and I'm right. What then? My instinct is to rebel and to pull away from my husband. To withdraw emotionally, physically and even financially. Can I be honest? My first thought was to say (in anger) "Fine, eat whatever junk you want, I will use the money I earn to live this other way." Isn't that horrid? And do you know what? That is my sin. That is my ugly selfish pride taking over. It is no longer about whether or not Paul is wronging me, it is about how I am sinning against the man I love more than anyone in the world.

First I must repent. This means to stop sinning, and to turn the other way! I must humble myself and ask Paul for forgiveness. And I will acknowledge the fact that although this issue is so important to me, my marriage is more important, more sacred and more precious than meat. And second, I will pray. I will ask God to make our hearts right, to renew our minds that we would not be conformed to the patterns of this world. And I will ask him to help us, both Paul and me, to discern what is true and good for our bodies and what is not.

There are so many other things I can do to promote health in our home, and although this is still an important issue to me, for now I will focus on other habits and things I can change while loving and honoring Paul, my precious gift of a husband. I am so thankful I get to be right beside him all the days of our life – a true blessing from the Lord!