Eat your fill

        My husband and I are proud parents of a bossy Basset Hound. I don't know what you know about Basset Hounds, but most sources say they are lazy. This can't be further from the truth in our case. Winston, is always on the go. He's loud, bossy, silly and makes friends easily :-). When we lived in the apartments there was a trail we could walk him on every day to burn energy and stay fit. He was eating about four cups of food a day! Two cups in the morning and two in the evenings. That's more than my Golden Retriever. Yet, Winston was super skinny and fit. Basset lovers always admire his healthy size, since most Bassets are stereotyped as fat and slow. Over time we slowly cut Winston's food down to three cups a day (two in the mornings and one in the evenings). He seemed fine and it allowed us to save food.
         Eventually we moved into our house. Though we have a huge backyard, Winston didn't get those long walks on the trail anymore. So we decided to cut him down to two cups a day. One in the morning and one in the evenings. I mean, if my huge Golden Retriever can live off of two cups, surly, Winston can, right? As time went on I noticed Winston acting up, he would jump on the counters, he wouldn't settle down, and wouldn't listen. I had no idea what was going on. Then one day he was eating breakfast and I saw his stomach and thought, "Hmm, He's looking kinda skinny." I told my husband I wanted to start feeding him three cups again. He agreed and we began increasing his food. I saw a noticeable difference right away. He was calm, slept more, obeyed the rules and was back to being a cheerful little guy. Today, he happily eats three cups a day and remains fit.

          As I was thinking upon this situation and my little buddies behavior problems and how a little extra food changed him back to his happy self, the Lord showed me how we act the same way when we are spiritually hungry. Hunger can cause us to act in strange ways. When we are spiritually full we are calm, we rest well, we live life respecting others boundaries, spreading love wherever we go. But when we are hungry and running on empty we are moody, short tempered, rebellious, willing to eat anything and careless of others.  It's all about us.
           If you find yourself looking in the mirror and not recognizing yourself check your spiritual diet. Are you hungry? Are you running on empty? My poor little Winston's whole personality changed when his tummy was on empty. When is the last time you've eaten something good for you?
          When we are full of God's word our lives reflect that fullness in everything we do. So, if you are noticing negative behavior and attitudes in your life, know, it's not you, it's your diet. Eat your fill on healthy spiritual things and you will see positive changes take place almost instantly.