Rice

I found a recipe online the other day for apple pie oatmeal.  Since it seemed simple, and yummy I thought I would give it a try.  All I did was put oatmeal, water, apples and cinnamon in the crockpot before I went to bed and in the morning I woke up to a wonderfully fresh baked apple pie house.  I sprinkled the oatmeal with brown sugar and excitedly presented it to the kiddos.  They weren't the least bit thrilled with my new concoction.  Addison quietly ate the oatmeal up with little complaint.  I could tell she did not care for it, but didn't say so.  Luke, on the other hand, made it clear that he was not going to eat it.  So I made him sit at the table and eat it until it was gone.  It took awhile for him to finally get all of it down his throat, but it made me decide that this unthankfulness and pickiness has to stop.  So when snack time came around he got nothing.  When it was lunch time I presented him with a nice bowl of plain rice.  I told him that he was going to learn to be thankful for whatever was set before him.  As soon as he ate the rice and told me "thank you for the yummy food,"  he could have something else.  He decided to skip lunch, so he went up to his room for an early nap.  When he woke up I sat him at the table with his bowl of rice.  Still he refused to eat it.  By supper time I knew he had to be hungry.  We went to some friends and they had chili, one of his favorite meals.  He knew he had to eat the rice first and was actually excited to eat it.  After a couple bites he changed his mind.  At bedtime we talked about the Iraelites and how they complained about the manna.  He knew the story and we talked about how it was important to be thankful for our food and not complain about it. So now he is in bed, and his rice will be waiting for him at breakfast.  Hopefully in the morning he will see just how yummy that apple pie oatmeal was. But more imporantly I pray that he will learn how to give thanks in all circumstances.  And I REALLY hope he eats that rice soon because these lessons are hard on a mama.