"When you know better, you do better."

In training yesterday, Jesse shared a story about his grandfather, who many years ago, was a missionary in Japan. Having all but disappeared in our current-day global experience, missionary barrels were prevalent throughout the mid 1900's and earlier.

He told of huge cargo barrels his grandparents periodically received, sent from caring church members back in the United States. Traveling by ship, the barrels took approximately six months to reach their destination. Among other items, they were filled with multiple canned goods. As the story is told, on their journey through the Panama Canal, high humidity often caused the labels to break down and fall away, making one can indistinguishable from the next.  


In the story, Jesse's grandparents opened a can for dinner, only to be surprised by the contents.  Having lived through the depression, they certainly would not waste food, so their meal each night was whatever they happened to open. His grandfather confessed however, after a particularly long stretch of canned beets for dinner, one evening he finally had to say no. He could not eat another canned beet!


My parents, missionaries to the eastern bloc countries under communism in the 1970's, fared well with their "missionary barrels." By then, barrels had become boxes shipped by air. Because European food was familiar and desirable to both of them, there was no need for multiple canned goods to be shipped. 

Mary Ruth and Chester Gretz 1971

The care packages were filled with familiar American items mother missed, but could have done without--Bisquick, Jiffy Corn Muffin mixes, Nestle Toll House chocolate chips, baggies, paperback books, her favorite magazines and other cooking & baking products.  


A stand-out was the stack of "Canandaigua Daily Messengers,"-- their hometown local newspaper. Father smiled as he caught up on each story filled with names he recognized. He read aloud news of their friends, as mother delightedly arranged and stored her goodies in the European cabinets. My brother, a teenager at the time, went off to read the issue of "Sports Illustrated," packed just for him, though I'm quite certain he never received the swimsuit issue.


Like the barrels, missions in general have evolved over time. So many types of missions exist today. For instance, I have a friend who heads a mission which owns helicopters in the U.S. and Europe. They fly anywhere in the world there is a need, offering humanitarian aide as well as spiritual comfort and good news.  


Another, lives in the hills of a small Indian town raising her daughter alone since her husband passed away several years ago.  She simply befriends girls and women she comes in contact with wherever she goes, as she totally lives the lifestyle of her village neighbors--including sometimes walking treacherous rocky hills for miles to retrieve her water. 


As Jesse and I talked about his grandparents' canned goods story, we thought of how the Japanese diet, rich in fresh vegetables and fish perhaps could have been a healthy alternative. When my parents moved to a new continent, they had old habits flown across the ocean to them.  


Father did always love to garden and I'm grateful for all the fresh vegetables his gardens provided. In Europe, just as she had in East Bloomfield, NY, mother served his fresh vegetables for dinner all summer long. However, cucumbers were bathed in a yummy mayonnaise /vinegar /sugar dressing, and every vegetable was slathered in butter. An extraordinary baker, sugary desserts were always plentiful too. 


Most of my life I continued to eat and serve what I knew, which was processed foods, canned, quick, easy, white flour/bread/rice/pasta, nitrate-filled lunch meats and hot dogs, sugar, sugar, sugar, butter, butter, butter. The norm--what I knew.


Maya Angelou says, "When you know better, you do better."


Today I absolutely love my new breakfast shake of frozen banana & blueberries, cherries, almond butter, brown rice protein powder (no taste), ground flax seeds, borage & flax seed oil, water and ice. It takes me less than five minutes to prepare.


I'm learning to taste each vegetable instead of butter, and to prepare fish in various healthy, delicious ways. For the first time, I'm not growing herbs simply for their aroma and beauty--I use fresh herbs in cooking each day.

I'm ready to spring into more 
new learning experiences, 
to know 
how to live a healthy lifestyle.