I don't like meat (*gasp She said what?!?)

I am from Montana and in Montana, meat is a big deal.  I mean a really big deal.  The goal in life is to attain meat, buy, wrap and freeze  meat, learn to cook meat, and eat meat.  And I don't mean just any meat.  I mean red meat.  It is ingrained in your thinking and is a way of life that a person who is not from Montana just can't understand.  I just bought ground turkey for the first time last year.  I actually felt guilty about it and could picture my family cringing if they saw me and biting their tongues from all the smart remarks that came to mind.  (Or not biting their tongues and just saying them)  I said something to my husband about feeling weird and he said "It's just meat - What's the big deal?"  He is from California.  I wanted to shout "What do you mean what's the big deal?!?  It's turkey and it's not a bird at Thanksgiving?!"

The funny thing is, I have all these ingrained opinions about meat and I don't even like it.  I like chicken breasts, ham, jerky, and bacon, and that's about it.  I gag down other meats for the sake of the kids (I don't want them to be picky) but I really really dislike most meats.  And I've started to notice that I feel sick after I eat red meat.  Every single time.   It seriously took me until I was in my thirties to figure out that I didn't like it.  I was supposed to like meat!!!  It never really occurred me that I didn't have to like it or eat it - it was just a part of life.

The point of all of this:  the people you spend your time with, affect the way you think.  The people you surround yourself with influence your thinking.  So.  What do the people you spend time with think about?  What do they talk about?  What do they spend their time doing?  Because eventually it's gonna start to affect you.  It'll affect what you think about, talk about, and do.

Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. 

Do the people you spend time with bring out the best in you?  We have the ability to bring out the best in those around us but we also have the ability to bring out the worst.  And that goes double for those we are closest to.  We tend to "let our hair down" with our close family and friends.  You have an influence on those around you.  Are you doing, saying, and thinking things that are pleasing to God?  

We especially influence our children.  They see everything.  EVERYTHING that you are doing.  They are quietly (or not so quietly) watching every single thing you do.  If you lie to the guy at the door selling something or talk sweetly to someone on the phone and then talk nasty about them after you hang up, your kids probably saw that.  Or realize that someone gave you too much change but keep it instead of give it back.  They saw that too.  Are you watching things that you would be embarrassed to tell anyone about?  Or reading things that would raise eyebrows?  Because your kids catch on to that too.

I think I posted about this before but I recently went outside and heard one of my kids shout "Shut the dang door!!"  behind me.  Oh really?  NOT how you talk to your mother but she sounded exactly like me.  Our kids talk like us.  They often have the same fears that we do too.  If you act like a twit every time a cat walks by your kids do too.  If you are terrified of thunder your kids pick up on that too.  If you treat waitresses badly or are a crummy tipper, your kids are watching.  If you are a chronic complainer chances are you're raising complainers.  If you think eating red meat is important, your kids will feel that way too.  

 Something to think on today - what are you passing on to your kids?  What things are you etching into their little brains without even realizing it?  Is it pleasing to God?