The Gospel and Snacks
Our family recently finished a three-week-long road trip. My husband and I spent hours and hours in the car with our four-year-old daughter and our two-year-old son. We both knew it would be challenging, but we accepted it and were determined to be as prepared for it as we could be.
For every day we would be in the car, I packed a morning surprise bag that the kids got to open. Inside the bag were new audiobooks, new car-friendly crafts, and, of course, new snacks. While the audiobooks and crafts served their purpose, the snacks were the real heroes of the trip. But we didn’t have just any ole snacks. We had character snacks. Mario gummies, Paw Patrol yogurt, Disney Princess crackers, and apples in a Mickey Mouse bag. I have never seen our children eat with such enthusiasm.
I’ve also never seen them eat so many snacks. We don’t usually allow them to gorge themselves at home, but these were different times, friend. We were in a war zone. We were putting two over-tired children who have no sense of what “just a couple more hours left” means into confined spaces away from their routines and comforts. The stakes were high, so the snack intake was higher.
When I started thinking through our unusual snack situation, my mind wandered to another kind of sustenance that would be needed in greater dosages on our trip. I knew that I would also be stretched thin over our trip. I knew my emotional, physical, and mental state would all be put to the test. I also knew that, by God’s grace, I wouldn’t have my usual comforts to run to - scrolling through social media or escaping into a book were both off the table for me, thanks to my incredibly sensitive motion sickness.
To find the sustenance I would need to get through this trip, I turned to the one refuge that never fails - the refuge that should be my default - I turned to the word of God.
This time in the word looked different on this trip, just like my kid’s snacks looked different. It needed to be more frequent, even if it couldn’t be as hearty as my normal quiet time would be. I relied on some of the sweeter doses found in podcasts and music, just like my kid’s enjoyed more sweets than they usually get. I would go quickly to God in prayer before engaging with my kids in the same way I rushed to the snack box at the beginning signs of my children’s meltdowns.
Did I do this perfectly every day in the car? Far from it. I often found myself overly frustrated with the whining and complaints coming from our tiny peanut gallery and would react in spiritual hanger, only to realize the error of my ways as God softened my heart with the truth of his word later. But God continued to deal patiently with me as I attempted to deal patiently with my children.
Road trip snacking isn’t a normal way of life for us, but neither are road trips, so the regular rules don’t always apply. These extra special, sometimes extra sweet snacks were extra grace given to our kids to help them deal with this out-of-the-norm experience we were dragging them through. I think we can give ourselves that same grace. If you find yourself in less-than-normal circumstances, run to the grace found in Scripture. Enjoy the sweetness of music that directs your sights back to your Savior. Indulge in as many quick moments of communion with God as you need to tackle what’s before you in a way that glorifies him. Look at the promises God gives us to satisfy our weary, hungry souls:
“For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” Psalm 107:9“And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” Isaiah 58:11
“For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” Jeremiah 31:25
While my children are not privy to the amount or types of snacks they had access to on the road anymore, they still snack regularly. I think I’d like to as well. In addition to the regular meal of daily time spent in Scripture that I need to survive, I’d like to indulge in some more snacks along the way. Each time my kids sit down for snacks, I’m using that time as well to worship to my favorite songs, pause in prayer, or sneak in a few extra verses of truth. Snacking is necessary for my kids to get from one meal to the next without becoming feral, and I’m starting to think the same is true for me.
I want to invite you to snack with me! Share what mini moments of grace you like to indulge in! Is there a podcast, band, passage of Scripture, or audiobook that fills you up? Connect with me on social media at @sightssetabove and let me know! Let’s indulge in the grace God gives us through his word. Some days, we just need all the extra ‘snacks’ we can get.
