Extra: "Chew it"

Since birth, Cora has been a picky eater. She didn’t latch on correctly for breast feeding. But then when we tried bottle feeding her, she didn’t like that either. Each time we move don to another level in her eating development, it was a struggle. When we introduced baby foods for the first time, she was stubborn. We had to take away the bottle in one swift move when we gave her a sippy cup. Green vegetables were the hardest. The first time, she hadn’t even tried them. Never seen them before. And was already protesting and making faces and crying. Finally, the solid food step came along. That was fighting it tooth and nail.

Now Cora eats, and she likes eating what she likes to eat. But she will not voluntarily try new things. I knew she liked nuts. She ate peanuts when I would eat them. So when I had sunflower seeds, I offered them to her. She said, “No. I don like ‘em.” I asked her how she knew she didn’t like them and she responded, “cuzth I don.” I took a deep breath and said, “Cora, eat this right now.” She reluctantly put the sunflower seeds in her mouth and moved them around a little in her mouth and finally smiled. “Papi, I like dos.” And me being me used it as a learning opportunity, “Cora, I told you you would like them. You have to try new things. Trust Papi, okay?”

It’s been the same way with cheese, chili, certain crackers and so on and so forth. We have had to force her to try something knowing that if she gives it a chance, she will like it.

For us, I think the Bible is that food that we may know is healthy for us but we just don’t want to try it. I mean really try it. Give it a chance. We either see in our minds the overwhelming amount of knowledge, the language, or just the amount of time needed as a barrier. We say “I don like it.” And when asked why, we responded “Cuzth I don.” We haven’t given it a try. A serious once over. And usually it’s because nobody has taught us how to practically chew it up.

In reference to itself, the Bible says: Mediate on the word. And we actually don’t know or fully comprehend hat that means. It means, in LOYC terms, to chew it up.

A grazing cow takes some grass and starts grinding it in its mouth. Adding saliva. Like a washing machine, grinding, wetting, rolling, moving, swishing that mixture till it becomes cud. Then it slows it. For the Word of God to taste good to us we must have some type of way of grinding it up, adding saliva to make it easier to swallow.

Here’s an awesomely simple way of breaking down Scripture so it makes sense to us:

1. Read it out loud three times. Each time you read it, stress differently words. Vary the pace of your reading. Change voice inflection, especially when someone is speaking.

2. Write it out. And when you write it out, make some words bigger than others depending on how important you think those words are. You can use all caps for words you want to add emphasis to.

3. Diagram it out. Circle words. Underline them. Put a box around them. Come up with your own system. For example: You can circle words that you will define. Underline words you would like to highlight.

4. Define it out. Get a dictionary and define the words you circled. Don’t define things in your own words. Getting the literal definition of a word will open your eyes to the meaning.

5. Ask questions. Go crazy writing out questions about words, phrases, circumstances, etc. But you must write them out. Many times, the act of writing a question done allows us to come up with an answer.

6. Use helps. There are plenty of resources available to you. First, if you have a study Bible there will probably be commentary on the particular Scripture you are reading. Then, online there are numerous Bible study helps. Also, read another translation of your Scripture. NIV, MSG, NKJV, etc. However, only go through this step after you’ve done the others.

7. Paraphrase it. Now after defining the words, asking the questions and getting a better understanding of what you just read, put it in your own words. This will be your translation of the Scripture.