It's easier to understand if you try to read it out loud. But I like this translation from time to time, and I certainly like this verse. Here it is from the slightly-easier-to-comprehend Message translation:
"Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am."
I used to think that the full and empty party referred merely to food, but I've come to see it as having pretty multifaceted meaning. It can relate to your material status, but it can also relate to your relationships, your work load, your inner emotions, your spiritual life, just about anything. And lots of times those things are rather tied together, I find. Everything seems connected the more I think about it.
For example: when I take the time to actually prepare a delicious meal, my emotions are generally lifted by the effort, and the combination of good food and good spirits puts me in a better mood overall to tackle my work load (or put up with the lack thereof, as the case may be), and when I'm okay with how my work is going along I'm more likely to relate better to those around me - to be less needy, or less defensive, to be more open.
I've known for a long time now how to live with little, but I am learning how to indulge in the abundance that I feel I've been blessed with this year. It could be something as simple as buying a cast iron skillet for my personal cookware and making an oven-puffed pancake in it, or buying grape juice at the store, or keeping large quantities of blueberries on hand in my freezer. In a culinary way I have stepped out of my box quite a bit this year, even making up some recipes! I've tried to take some pictures of some of my dishes to share with you guys, but I have to admit that I'm not very good at taking food pictures - I promise these things looked much more appetizing in real life, so you'll have to use your imagination.
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| Veggie tacos: corn tortillas fried in coconut oil; zucchini, yellow bell pepper, kidney beans, and peanuts sauteed in coconut oil; topped with Trader Joe's Southwest salsa (corn and chipotle) and shredded white cheddar cheese. |
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| Duck Soup: homemade duck stock with shredded duck, zucchini, summer squash, carrots, celery, eggplant, great northern beans, and country herbs. |
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| Roasted tomatoes: homegrown tomatoes from my cousin Amanda's in-laws, olive oil, country herbs, paprika, pepper, and cayenne pepper. |
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| Oven-Puffed Pancake: fresh out of the oven (they deflate later) in my new cast-iron skillet! Topped later with greek yogurt, defrosted blueberries, and Michigan pure maple syrup. |
And in my freezer is shrimp, a cornish game hen, and plenty of other experimental ingredients. Not to mention the ratatouille I made (my first time cooking eggplant ever!), and the numerous recipes I've made from the Glorious One Pot Meal cookbook this year. I have certainly been well blessed when it comes to food this year, and I am glad that I am taking advantage of it. It feels so good to be eating food made with love and not just something out of a box with little to no thought or personality going into it. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got the last quarter of a stuffed zucchini (what I've started calling zucchini steak because of its heartiness) to reheat for supper, along with some enhanced marinara sauce!
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