Kitchen Stewardship® is the idea that working in our kitchens, like everything we do, is an opportunity to love God and serve our families.
Foundation
The foundation of Kitchen Stewardship® is simple: God gave us everything we have and asks only that we take good care of it. God gave us our health, our earth, our time and our money. For those of us who spend a lot of time in the kitchen, we are met with challenges in all four areas a daily basis. It can be daunting to try to do our best to be good stewards of them all, especially as science finds out more about how we harm our bodies and environment with chemicals and the world tempts us to live beyond our means in many ways. Kitchen Stewardship® is about finding the balance, doing the right thing to give glory and honor to God, becoming more prayerful in the kitchen, and rejoicing in the accomplishment of baby steps on the road to perfect stewardship.
Lifestyle
Kitchen Stewardship® is a lifestyle, a commitment to doing your absolute best in the kitchen to be a good steward. The Bible tells us that a good steward cares for his gifts from God. The servants in the parable of the talents are honored when they (1) take some risk with God’s gifts and (2) USE God’s gifts and avoid burying/ignoring them. Our gifts are many and varied:
Physical Health
We all have a certain genetic makeup that makes our bodies healthy, and we are endowed with the ability to choose and eat foods that can help or hinder that process.
Environment
We all have been given the great gift of our earth and all its resources. Genesis 1:28 says that we should “fill the earth and subdue it,” and those first humans were also given the responsibility to care for the earth. They pass that on to us.
Money
We all have financial resources at our disposal, whether they be generous or simple. It is a vast challenge to decide how and where to put that money, especially when we try to balance our budget on top of our health and the environment.
Time
We all have time. We may not feel like we have any (!), but that’s just because we already use an awful lot of it! We have 24 hours in each day and must make account for our use of each one. When we’re in the kitchen, let us use our time wisely so we can have more hours for prayer, for being with family, and for our other worthwhile pursuits. On the other hand, let us not sacrifice our other gifts simply for the sake of having more time to spare.
Balance
Kitchen Stewardship® seeks to balance our care of these four gifts from God.
The lifestyle of Kitchen Stewardship® requires the following:
- Prayer…walking the KS blogwalk will offer many ideas and opportunities for praying IN the kitchen
- Trust in God…He will give you the time and resources you need to take care of your family
- Flexibility…you may be asked to make changes that seem difficult at first. Change is often difficult…
- Organization…believe me, you don’t have to be very organized, but in order to avoid fast food fixes, you’ll need the ability to plan ahead
- Dedication…I’ll be working under the assumption that my readers are dedicated to the ideals of conserving our earth’s resources and keeping our families physically healthy. Any good work takes a commitment.
The lifestyle of Kitchen Stewardship® allows for the following:
- Baby Steps!...KS is first and foremost a process, not an ideal you can obtain in a few days. We must allow ourselves time to grow!
- Celebrating small accomplishments (see above)
- Failure…it will happen. Don’t worry about it!
- Balance and acceptance of less than perfect…sometimes we can’t do it all. We shoot for the best we can in each category and allow some wiggle room for God to bless our emptiness.
Please join me on this wild ride, whether you are a fast food junkie or a health nut. I promise you’ll find something new to challenge you in the kitchen, here at Kitchen Stewardship®!
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Looking forward to inspiring messages in my in box. Like your blog !
I love your philosophy. I am not into reading blogs or subscribing to feeds in general, but I look forward to seeing what has come to my inbox from kitchen stewardship each day.
Thanks, and welcome aboard! 😉 Katie
I had realized shortly after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in sept. ’04,that there was something horribly wrong with western “healthy food” and began praying that god would reveal to me the knowledge to rectify the situation.My dr. brought to my attention “Nourishing Traditions’ and I saw that I had been correct in my assumptions.Ever since I have been surfing the net looking for sites that not only follow the precepts of healthy traditional cooking, but also have solid roots in the lord.I am glad to know that such a site exsists and will be a visitor often.God Bless!
Amos,
I’m so glad you found this site! I’d love to hear more about how changing your diet has made you feel, and I’m super impressed that your doctor recommended NT…it’s not usually a medical profession thing! God bless, Katie
unfortunately western medicine has been under the thumb of the food and pharmaceutical conglomerates for well over one hundred years and our health as a nation is showing the effects.I was fortunate enough to find a holistic doctor to help me find the natural ways to help manage my M.S..since beginning to follow the N.T. school of thought I have noticed an increase in my energy and ability to focus as well as decreasing pain levels along with the fact that digestive discomfort has almost completely disappeared (Lacto-fermentation rocks).Once again I want to thank you for providing such a valuable resource.GOD BLESS.
Just tooting my own horn, but stop by my blog when you have moment. www.ruralmomof3.wordpress.com We could compare notes, well you could read my rantings anyway- and a few recipes. Have a great day!
Yay! Thank you so much for the compliment. I grew up in a rural area, too, so maybe being green is just something in my blood. Hopefully the baby steps I offer can be small enough to take one at a time for you… 🙂
I think I like you! Your “green” babysteps are much larger than mine but it seems that perhaps we have a lot in common! God is definately using your gift as a writer to benefit all those who read your words. Mary and Martha would be proud! Thanks for the opportunity to peak into your world!