by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea

The reason I was never Parent of the Year will shock some of you. It might even hurt your feelings a little. Because I’m pretty sure the biggest reason I never made the cut was that while my five kids were growing up, I never once made them eat liver. Not one time. Partly because I don’t know how to make it. Mostly though, it was because: sorry, but liver is gross. I didn’t make them eat liver because I was not willing to eat liver.

Might as well admit that my kids were probably the only ones on our block who also never tried beets. Same reasons.

The lady down the street prepared liver and onions for her family regularly. Beets, brussels sprouts, eggplant—anchovies too, probably. She was obviously a better candidate for Parent of the Year. Me? Ironically, I was chopped liver.

I’ve heard that liver is high in iron-y.

Now that my children are grown and they’ve tried some of those foods, they thank me. They also trust me when I invite them over for dinner.

Everyone except maybe my youngest, Daniel. Because there was that time when my kids were teens and we were at a Sunday buffet. They had all invited friends along for lunch after church that day, so Daniel was about six or seven chairs down the long table from me. I still saw what was happening. Daniel mentioned the “spiced apples” on the salad bar and I watched him bite into what was actually a big fork-full of beets. Beets, ya’ll!

Why oh why didn’t I video it? It was exactly, exactly, like one of those baby-bites-a-lemon videos. All the pucker-faces. I about fell out of my chair laughing. We all did. Yes, even Daniel. He’s a good sport. He might not trust me to prepare spiced apples for him now, but he’s a good sport.

There’s a more serious irony, though, when it comes to allowing our God-trust to get a little rusty. The irony is that there is no one so completely trustworthy as our Father. He is love, He is truth, and He is our Jehovah-jireh, the God who provides. It’s His loving desire to provide His children with the joy that’s found in fully trusting Him.

“I will deliver him; I will protect him” He says in Psalm 91:14 of the person who knows and trusts Him. He is our gracious Deliverer. Nothing liver-related there though. Rather a glorious reminder that you have a Deliverer who tenderly keeps you.

Our trust tends to tarnish anytime we allow the world to influence our idea of what provision should look like. It’s our natural inclination to do that—one more flaw we inherited with our sin nature. When we decide exactly what our provision should look like, and when we feel we need the same wealth, health, talents, or material possessions as that gal down the street, we can get swallowed up in a nothing-is-ever-enough, lemon-faced dissatisfaction.

He meets our needs perfectly and completely—from the soul, out. “And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 CSB). Trusting that He perfectly provides all we truly need leads to a fulfilled life of sweet satisfaction—whatever we may bite into.

Father, may every expression on my face be one that reveals a consistent, faithful, trust—trust that encourages others to trust You too.

Meanwhile, at least I’m entertained by some earthly ironies of my own. Like the fact that I have a strong stomach, but wimpy tastebuds. I like to think of it as (and I should totally win Person of the Year for this line) a cast-iron-y stomach.

Rhonda Rhea is an award-winning humor columnist for great magazines such as HomeLife, Leading Hearts, The Pathway, and many more. She is the author of 19 books, including the popular romantic comedies co-authored with her daughter Kaley Rhea, Off-Script & Over-Caffeinated and Turtles in the Road. Rhonda and Kaley have also teamed up with Bridges TV host Monica Schmelter for the Messy to Meaningful books and TV projects. Along with Beth Duewel, Rhonda writes the Fix Her Upper series, and she also co-authored Unruffled: Thriving in Chaos with Edie Melson. She speaks at conferences and events from coast to coast, serves on many boards and committees, and stays busy as a publishing consultant. Rhonda says you can find her living near St. Louis drinking too much coffee and snort-laughing with her pastor/husband, five grown children, and a growing collection of the most exceptional grandbabies.