Savoring the Divine: A Journey Through Humor & Mindful Eating

They say laughter is the best medicine, and our latest episode is brimming with chuckles that also pack a thoughtful punch. From the mischievous antics of our late yellow lab, Sevey, and her chocolate chip bundt cake caper to the comedy of errors in the kitchen, we've got stories that will tickle your funny bone and warm your heart. But, as we reminisce, we also unravel the 'ideal meal experience' philosophy from our Revelation Within ministry, offering a nourishing serving of gratitude and mindfulness that's sure to feed your soul.

Pull up a chair as we serve you a slice of life, complete with tales of safeguarding Auntie Faye cookies from countertop bandits, and Christina's educational encounter with Heidi, the heralded "queen of thin within," that offered a fresh perspective on portion control. Heidi's sister's visit throws a spotlight on the simple pleasure of enjoying food without the buzz of the TV, reminding us of the serene joy found in truly savoring each bite. Get ready to find the sweet spot between savoring delicious flavors and eating consciously, because this conversation is a feast for the senses and the spirit.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi and welcome to Revelation Within on the Go. I'm Heidi Bilesma-Epperson, one of your hosts and the owner and lead coach of the Revelation Within ministry.

Speaker 2: 0:08

And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a Revelation Within coach and Heidi's partner in all things Revelation Within, and we are so happy to invite you to join us for this episode of Revelation Within on the Go.

Speaker 1: 0:30

Oh, today we are going to have us a good time. A good time we're going to have us. We're doing an episode today called Godly Giggles in the Kitchen, as the case may be Godly giggles yet, so I'm excited about this. And, to start us off, we're going to talk about a dog that both Christina and I got to be doggy mommy for. Sweet Savvy left for Rainbow Bridge just about exactly a year ago from when we're recording this, and Savvy was a yellow lab with a big appetite. She was a doll baby. She was a doll baby when Michael and I had to move away from the mainland and move to the island of Catalina Island. We couldn't bring our dog with us, and Christina and her family saved the day and in they step to become Savvy's new family.

Speaker 2: 1:20

But really, heidi, it was you and Michael that saved the day, because we needed Savvy. We needed Savvy. It was during COVID time and we had a lot of challenges going on and we needed that beautiful, fluffy, squishy, sweet dog. Oh my gosh, that face. I miss her so much. Anyway, savvy was an amazing dog. She was my emotional support dog, so she was with me with a lot of difficult things that happened. So this is a story that kind of connects with her and eating and giggles in the kitchen.

Speaker 2: 2:03

Okay, so there was this very, very, very special cake, very special recipe, that my mom always made for my brother and I and for every potluck, every birthday, every holiday. It was a chocolate chip bundt cake and so, as you can imagine, it holds all kinds of emotional value for me. I mean, it's just food, but still, when I think of that food, when I eat that food, I think of my mom and some really, really, really good times together. Okay, so one day during COVID, during all the stress that was happening, I decided I was going to bake that cake for the family. Wink, wink, wink, wink. What I was really doing is baking it for myself so that I could eat it when I had emotional need and I was having a lot of emotional need. I was very stressed and very overwhelmed and so I made this cake. Well, it came out perfectly. You know how you have to flip a bundt cake and then it comes out on the plate. It came out beautifully, but I needed to wait to sugar it until it was cool, and so I pushed it all the way to the edge of our counter in the kitchen, thinking there was no way that Savi or anyone else could get to it. It was just going to sit there for a little while and cool, I didn't think twice about it.

Speaker 2: 3:30

I left to go run an errand and I came home and when I came home and the kids were, I think, in the living room they were quite a bit younger than now and we heard a noise and it was like a clatter, like a plate falling and clattering. You know that kind of a noise, and I thought, oh, the cake. And I ran into the kitchen and all that we saw and the kids ran with me all that we saw was a perfectly clean plate on the floor, not broken, not even cracked. That's it. The cake was gone. There was not one crumb. The entire cake was gone, the entire thing. Yeah, I mean, that was fast, you know. And then I turned and looked at her and she looked at me like what?

Speaker 1: 4:19

I think Savi was used by God to bring deliverance from yourself in that moment.

Speaker 2: 4:27

Yes, and not only that, but it was funny and it was silly and it was joyful and we needed that, we needed the laughter. Yeah, did we need the cake? Ah, not so much. Did I need it? No, I mean really not so much, and so it was just really a sweet silliness. Giggles in the kitchen.

Speaker 1: 4:48

Yeah, that's a great example of Godly giggles in the kitchen. Yes, okay, you're next Heidi. What's your story? All right, well, I didn't giggle about this at the time but now, looking back at it, I mean it can't compete with Savi, that's for sure.

Speaker 1: 5:06

But we have what we have often practiced and called the ideal meal experience and then within and now, revelation. Within, it's part of what we do when we're helping people develop new ways of approaching food and building peace into their lives with food eating in their body images. The idea is to select a favorite food that I know I feel good after I eat it and wait for a good, strong, solid hunger signal and enjoy sitting down and eating it, practicing all of what we are now calling the five intentions of spirit-led eating. They were the eight keys to conscious eating and enjoying, practicing gratitude and stopping at that place of just enough. That is kind of an ideal meal experience. Yes, it is yes, and Christina has been great at spearheading this whole idea that an ideal meal experience does not have to be in a normal setting, sitting at a table with silverware and family, or out to dinner or buy your. It doesn't have to be any of those things. It can be at a ball game, it can be even at a dance recital, it can be all kinds of things.

Speaker 1: 6:15

This particular season we were coaching a number of groups through the Fresh One, fresh Desire curriculum. I think we had five going on at once and, being the dutiful coach I was, I thought I needed to make a video to help me, so people see that you can do anything to enjoy a meal within the parameters of what we're now calling five intentions of spirit-led eating. Okay, so there was nothing in my house that looked good and I didn't have the opportunity to leave and go out to a meal, and I really wanted to make this video for the class members, the coaching group participants, and so I looked in the freezer and there was a frozen burrito. That's pretty desperate. I mean a frozen burrito.

Speaker 1: 7:01

Yeah Well, I thought, OK, I can have an ideal meal experience with this. I know there's protein in it and I do well with protein. I know that I could put enough cheese on it to make it tasty enough and salsa to make it tasty enough. Oh yeah, and so I prepared this frozen burrito. I don't think Sevi would have wanted it if she'd been there.

Speaker 2: 7:23

No, she pretty much would have eaten anything in our entire kitchen, maybe broccoli.

Speaker 1: 7:30

I don't know. Anyways, I created this silly actually it seems silly now this silly video to help class participants see that you can have any kind of ideal meal experience, whether it's food that's yummy or food that isn't your favorite like a frozen burrito isn't typically my favorite but you can be mindful, you can be present with the food, you can wait for hunger, you can stop it just enough. And so, although that's not particularly funny especially not compared to Sevi eating an whole entire bundt cake in the flash of an eye it was a godly giggle in a very real way. So that's my story.

Speaker 2: 8:10

It was. That's a really good story and I remember that video very well and, boy, we had fun teaching those classes for sure yeah, so tell us another one, christina. Ok, here comes another one. This is one of my all time favorites for giggles, not so much in the kitchen but in the restaurant. Godly giggles in the restaurant.

Speaker 1: 8:33

All has to do with trying to wait for hunger and stopping when we're just enough right.

Speaker 2: 8:38

Yes, yes, it was time for Heidi and Michael to get married 2019. 2019. It was in the summer, late summer, and I was there as her matron of honor, which was amazing. Our whole family was there. All of us helped with the wedding. It was so much fun.

Speaker 1: 8:59

In fact I got to say this Maddie was in charge of dog sitting. Sevi, that was their first encounter, yes, I believe, and so, yeah, it's kind of fun that they met then and then Sevi ended up being with you guys for so long. This meal that Christina is getting ready to tell us about is the rehearsal dinner. Yes, some people do fancy things for rehearsal dinner, nada.

Speaker 2: 9:22

We were at a pizza restaurant and there were a number of thin within now revelation within ladies who were there Because they came such dear friends to me. Yes, dear friends. Some of them came from a long distance and they wanted to be there at the wedding, which was super, super special, ok. So picture this we're all sitting at this long, long, long table in this pizza parlor, and Heidi and Michael are kind of all the way down on one end, and then I'm kind of in the middle with all these thin within ladies.

Speaker 1: 9:58

Who she had taught very effectively a certain principle in the coaching groups that we led.

Speaker 2: 10:05

Yes, yes, and so we're all sitting there and the prayer has been said and for some reason, nobody is eating in this little group, this thin within group of us I don't know. You think there were six or seven of us, I don't know, I don't know, but something like that and I started laughing and I said what is going on? You guys, why are you not eating?

Speaker 1: 10:28

And somebody said we're all waiting to be the last person to take the first bite of food, because you've taught us this that this is a good way to approach a social occasion and stay in our boundaries, that's right and we had talked about that in classes and in the different things that we've taught and how it was such a great strategy for keeping your eyes focused on what's really important loving God and loving others.

Speaker 2: 10:56

And here we're all sitting there looking at each other in silence, waiting to be the last person to take the first bite. It was so funny that could be really effective.

Speaker 1: 11:08

Nobody would ever eat.

Speaker 2: 11:10

So I think, if I remember right, we all decided we said one, two, three and we all took a bite together and it was just so funny, it was great. So Godly giggles in the restaurant at the rehearsal dinner Wonderful, I love it oh fun, oh OK.

Speaker 1: 11:28

So my next story is kind of an adjunct, if you will, or a sequel, to my ideal meal experience with the frozen burrito and the video I made of it. I shared that video and one of the participants actually shared a concern with me about the video. She felt like I didn't chew my food enough. And what is so funny about this is that we're all trying to honor God with our eating and learning new ways of approaching food. You know, peaceful ways of eating and here I had showcased, you know, having an ideal meal with a video and a frozen burrito, so proud that I could have an ideal. Well, not proud, but you know, it's like I could do this with a frozen burrito.

Speaker 1: 12:12

And this participant in front of everybody, if I recall correctly, at a coaching meeting in Zoom, actually said you ate too fast, you ate that burrito too fast and that's not following one of the keys to conscious eating. Now, the five intentions of spirit let eating. I think what was so interesting to me was what followed it. Yes, was she made a video? She did. Tell us about it, tell us about it.

Speaker 2: 12:38

Well, OK, we didn't have Zoom yet. This was not.

Speaker 1: 12:41

These were not, oh, it was a phone call.

Speaker 2: 12:43

This was all on the phone. We did all our coaching groups on group phone calls, so there wasn't a visual during the call. And so Heidi had uploaded that video to a group where we would go A Facebook group, yeah, where we would go and find videos and materials and things like that. And so then this person she uploaded her own video to that place. Have an ideal meal, right? Yeah? So we had to wait and we had to go and see hers, and so what was just so funny about it was that she counted her number of choose which is, of course, as a dieting strategy we're trying to be free of.

Speaker 2: 13:20

Yes, and in the video she chewed and chewed, and chewed and chewed and it went on and on and on. And now we can look back and say oh my gosh, this is just a crazy, funny, silly thing that happened. But at the time I think we were like what do we do with this?

Speaker 1: 13:40

Yeah, it was something else plus her heart. You know she was trying to be humble and approach me about her concern and then demonstrating how it should be done.

Speaker 2: 13:50

And we do appreciate that, we appreciate her, but it was it brought some giggles.

Speaker 1: 13:56

To be honest with you, I'm such a picky eater and, if I recall correctly, she had eggs in this meal and she chewed them a really long time. Yes, and eggs at all are a texture I can't deal with, but I mean the thought of chewing eggs, because she even said 30 bites, didn't she say 30?

Speaker 2: 14:13

I don't remember the number. It was around there, yeah.

Speaker 1: 14:16

Anyway, it was just ironic because I had done this ideal meal experience video and got rebuked, and that's okay. I don't mind people telling me we're concerned about this. But then her video just almost made me want to vomit, because I can't stand the thought of chewing something that many times and I am a fast eater. That's something I need to work on and so in some ways she nailed me.

Speaker 2: 14:39

That's right, you know, that's okay, yeah but it's good that we can just giggle about it now. Okay, I have one more story, and it's kind of related to my other story because it's another baking story. Over the years, especially for emotional reasons I mean seriously I did a lot of baking in the name of blessing my co-workers, blessing my neighbors, blessing my family. Really, I just wanted to eat the dough myself, at least a good portion of it. So this was another one of those times and I thought, oh, it's cold out, it's snowy, I'm gonna bless everybody around me by baking a batch of cookies. I was not hungry at all and I really just wanted to eat the dough to feel better.

Speaker 2: 15:25

I think it was I don't remember what. I think it was stress of some kind. So I'm baking, I'm putting everything in the bowl. I made these cookies a million times. I can make them without even thinking. Which was the problem with this one. And then I usually taste okay, I always taste the dough to see how it tasted fine. And I thought, boy, these cookies are gonna be great. And then, thinking of how wonderful it will be to have these around, and I put them in the oven and they came out awful, I mean really not even salvageable, and my family comes into the kitchen because the smell was good and they're like mom, what's this? What happened? And I was like um, I don't know what happened, I'm not sure. Anyway, I tasted them, they tasted them. We ended up throwing it all away. It was awful. I had forgotten the baking soda and you really can't mix that in later. You can't sprinkle that on top and hope that it works.

Speaker 1: 16:30

I remember forgetting the baking soda or baking powder or whatever it was, or mixing them up, and I was making cornbread and even the dog wouldn't eat it. She just threw it around and chased it like it was a rubber ball, because that's kind of what it was Put it around, I love it, yeah.

Speaker 2: 16:48

So that was another one of those situations where I just thought you know what, lord, I need you, not these cookies. And it was just kind of a relief actually to get rid of all of it and start again and go to him about the stress that I was dealing with or whatever it was in the moment, and of course, he had what I needed.

Speaker 1: 17:10

He had peace, he had joy and I wasn't eating all of this food that my body didn't need you know it's funny, as we were brainstorming before starting our recording today, I was thinking about different situations that you know very specifically that kind of reflect a godly intention and yet something went sideways, or my attitude went sideways. You know I can't be exact about some of them, but I know there've been a number of times when, okay, I'm going to save whatever this is like. It might be going out to dinner or and I'm sure you can relate, Christina because oh my goodness, you've, yeah, just having Christopher in the house, my oldest son yes, he eats everything.

Speaker 2: 17:57

He's almost 24.

Speaker 1: 17:58

Yeah, and where I would save it, whatever it is it might like I said it might be the last part of a piece of pie that was so good out and put it in the refrigerator, knowing it would be there for me when I got to a nice strong zero. And then there I am, sometime later at a zero, and I go to get that piece of whatever it is and wait where is it? And rummaging through the fridge trying to find it, when is it? Where did it go? Oh my goodness, that's happened a lot, I have to wonder. Is that because? Is there a shred of greediness, Like if somebody said I want that, could you give that to me? Well, how would I respond? You know, maybe they felt like they needed to sneak it instead of just asking, or or probably was innocent enough.

Speaker 2: 18:46

Can you relate to that? Christina, I can relate to be the one sneaking it. You know, when I was younger, like in my parents house, even as a teenager, I knew everything that I would like that was in the cabinets or in the fridge and I was the one like my brothers. I would always sneak my brother's stuff and sometimes he would notice and get really upset and other times he wouldn't even care, he wouldn't even notice. So yeah, I can definitely relate to that one as well.

Speaker 1: 19:48

Can you think of strategies that we could use to make godly decisions in the kitchen or when we're out to eat, decisions that support our desire to eat in moderation? As I was asking this question just now, years ago, another video I made was at Christmas time. My daughter actually recorded it and our desire was to point out that having a container open on the counter is not a good idea. It was Christmas time.

Speaker 1: 20:17

And we were making our typical Christmas cookies, which are called Anifay cookies, on that side of the family and having those out on the counter. They're not really cookies, they're like a pan of almost like rice crispy treats, but with peanut butter chocolate spread on the top. And then they're made not with marshmallows but with peanut butter and corn syrup. Really very yummy. Nothing beneficial about them at all, but oh, so good. So we knew that if we didn't do something to get them off the countertop that we were going to be in trouble and probably eat the whole thing there. I'd say they're almost addictive. I mean, that sounds. I'm not literally.

Speaker 1: 20:57

But it feels that way because you just can't get enough, you never get full and it's so silly. So she was recording this video for our participants and I started grabbing one thing after another to make sure that you couldn't get into the pan of Anifay cookies. And it started just with saran wrap, and then it went to duct tape, and then one thing after another.

Speaker 2: 21:21

I think you had tinfoil on top of the saran wrap. I don't know duct tape, and then it was so funny because I mean you were talking kind of in a serious way and you were doing this ridiculous over the top wrapping of the container. It was so funny.

Speaker 1: 21:39

And the videographer was cracking up my daughter. You could hear her giggling and the camera shaking. Yeah, good intentions in the kitchen, and you know godly giggles is right. Do you have any thoughts on ideas? And, by the way, that idea is keep stuff off the counters. Really yes, because if it's easy for us to get into, we'll do that as we walk through. Any others like that, Christina.

Speaker 2: 22:01

Oh well, okay. So what comes to mind is the very first time that I came to visit you, heidi. So this was almost 10 years ago, or a little more, and Heidi had just been through this horrific health crisis and surgery and I was going to meet her. I was going to come in we had met one other time in Denver, just at a restaurant, but I wanted to come and stay with her and help her.

Speaker 1: 22:27

I'm laughing. Because of that restaurant. There were five of us within who were sharing a ginormous piece of decadent and cake whatever it was.

Speaker 2: 22:35

Anyway, it was one of those death by chocolate cakes, I think, and that was really fun too, because we had all saved room and we're having these little bites. It's great. So I remembered, you know, at the time I mean, heidi was, you know, like I had never met anyone like her before. She was my coach and I was just so excited to be there with her, kind of doing life with her for a few days. Well, at one point she said to me would you like some ice cream? Is this a test?

Speaker 2: 23:07

Yeah, and I thought, oh, I'm going to eat ice cream with the queen of thin within, you know, oh my gosh, you know I need to do this right, and of course that's ridiculous, but we've had a lot of ice cream since then. Yes, together, lots of ice cream, usually mint chip. The first thing I noticed was that she put the ice cream in mugs, not in bowls, these little mugs with with a mousse on them, and I thought, oh, my gosh, look at this, she's using a smaller container. That's so wise. And so she's got this mug and it was only about halfway full, so it really was a just right size portion.

Speaker 2: 23:47

And she gave me a spoon and she brought it to me and we're sitting on the couch eating this ice cream together. And she did not ask me if I was hungry, but I was and she was, so everything was was great, you know, it was good. Then I'm watching her and she actually ate it pretty quickly. I've been busted again, no, but it wasn't, you know. I just thought, oh, and so I'm eating and I'm eating.

Speaker 1: 24:15

And Christina is a very slow ice cream eater.

Speaker 2: 24:18

Yeah, I like it to get soupy and I like it chewy, right. And so, anyway, because I was so distracted by watching her I didn't even realize how long I was taking. I was taking forever to eat this little tiny half cup ice cream. And I remember that you look at me and you said something like, um, are you still eating that ice cream? And it was just so funny because I realized that I was going to eat this very self-conscious eating with her the first time, which I didn't need to be, of course and I finished it up and it all ended very, very well. We ended up becoming best friends and partners in crime, all because of that mug of ice cream.

Speaker 1: 25:01

All because of it. You know, speaking of mugs of ice cream and really the same living room, I'm pretty sure my sister, who is not a Christian, is not a thin within participant, but is a person who naturally tends to eat just right size portions. She's never been overweight, not since she was a kid, and always felt the sense of peace with food. She absolutely loves food and yet it's not a problem for her, or it doesn't seem to be and I've scrutinized every move she made.

Speaker 1: 25:33

She came and stayed with me once and we had been out shopping at the grocery store, gotten special kind of ice cream. Again, there's an ice cream store here and she's like a connoisseur, like gourmet ice creams, that sort of thing. We had been watching a movie and she stopped the movie and she said shall we get our ice cream now, is it time for? She calls them feedings. Is it time for another feeding?

Speaker 2: 25:56

Feeding.

Speaker 1: 25:58

I always think of the fish in the pond at the aquarium when she says that the little pellets you get out of the, you put a quarter in there and out come these little pellets and it's a time for feeding. Well, okay, sure, and you know I had been diligently practicing the principles and done really well with it and everything, except I'd gotten probably kind of sloppy with some of those intentions. She dished the ice cream. I always let her do that when I'm with her because she gives me just right size portions. I can't fudge on that. And then I started to take my cup back over to the couch to turn on the TV and she just looked at me aghast, Like why would you ruin a perfectly good opportunity to focus on your food with?

Speaker 2: 26:41

having the TV on Wow.

Speaker 1: 26:44

That is so interesting. It was interesting, it really was, and it just I'm like, oh, I guess I have gotten sloppy, because that was a part of the keys to consciousness.

Speaker 2: 26:55

You know, and she wanted to sit down at the table or something like that.

Speaker 1: 26:59

Yes, that's her way. Yeah, anyway, it's just. It's so interesting. Have you ever shared a meal with somebody? Maybe it's a fast food type of thing or a picnic thing, where you don't really divide the food up into plates? This isn't an ideal scenario, certainly. The reason I'm asking is because my kids' dad and I were at an amusement park and we were sharing a meal and sharing a soda. It's cheaper that way and when you're following eating between the parameters of hunger and satisfaction, it kind of works better. You don't have to cart a bunch of leftovers around and you don't have to eat too much.

Speaker 1: 27:34

I didn't realize just how much of the food I was eating and how much of the drink I was drinking. He was just going a lot slower. Here we go again with the fast eating. He reached in to get more french fries and it's like they're gone. He hadn't been eating them. And the same with the soda, the diet soda he had. Yeah, it's like, oh my goodness, when I'm sharing a meal with somebody, to really make sure that they are pacing me they may not know they are, but as they eat I need to go no faster than they do. Anyway, it's kind of fun to think about some of these. Did you think of one so?

Speaker 2: 28:14

for a couple of years. My mother-in-law came to live with us several years ago. She was very sick with lung disease and we were taking care of her and it was such a joy to have her here with us. She was one of my best friends, anyway. She lived upstairs and one of her favorite, favorite things to do was to say to the kids who my kids all three were school age at the time let's get McDonald's. And most kids really love to hear that Maybe not all but minded and she said my treat, but she wouldn't go with us because she was pretty sick. So she would stay at home and she would give me the money and we would go and get McDonald's for everybody. We were all me especially, I think I was just so amazed at the way that she valued and ate her chicken nuggets.

Speaker 2: 29:09

That's not what I thought you were going to say she every single time she wanted the same thing a chicken nugget happy meal, and the first thing about that is the portion.

Speaker 2: 29:20

She wanted very small portions. She was like your sister. She was kind of a naturally peaceful eater. She enjoyed food very much, but it was just food to her, but she, she savored it. And so here we are with a happy meal for her and the rest of us all have our food and we're sitting together at the table. And then she would ask for a knife and fork and always, always the sweet and sour sauce too. That was like the biggest deal. It had to have the sauce. She spent at least five minutes arranging everything on her plate and she would give away almost all of the french fries. She would keep about eight, no more than eight. She would give the kids the rest of the french fries and she had her nuggets in front of her. And then she would have this fork and knife and she's so carefully and so meticulously cut up those little chicken nuggets into these little bites and with the eight french fries and eight, as if it was a meal for a queen.

Speaker 2: 30:26

She really did, and she had this sour sauce to dip it in, and she absolutely enjoyed that meal. I don't know. It seemed like more than any other meal that we ever ate together. That McDonald's happy meal was her happy place and you know what? She usually left a couple bites behind.

Speaker 1: 30:45

That's fascinating.

Speaker 2: 30:47

She saw, she loved the flavor, she loved the taste. She knew that it was probably not, you know, the most beneficial food for your body, but we had it very rarely and to her it was wonderful. It was happiness, it was joy.

Speaker 1: 31:03

Well, that's so much fun. We've had fun sharing some of our stories with you and hopefully you've gleaned something from our godly Giggle stories If nothing else, you can from my sister or from Christina's mother-in-law.

Speaker 2: 31:18

Well, the baking stories in the kitchen are maybe learned from Seve.

Speaker 1: 31:23

Yeah, anyway, thanks for joining us today.

Speaker 2: 31:28

We're so glad you've been here with us. We hope you've giggled a little bit too. Also hope that you'll join us for our next podcast episode of Revelation Within On the go. Bye bye, see you next time, bye, bye.