Sweet Baked Honeynut Squash

 "Kind words are like honey- enjoyable and healthful."  Proverbs 16:25

Food for the Soul

Ingredients:

1-2 honeynut squash

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp brown sugar

a pinch of salt

2 Tbsp of dried cranberries (I used dried cherries)

2 Tbsp walnuts (broken, not crushed)

Instructions: Preheat oven to 400F

Rehydrate your berries in a small amount of water. Once they are softened take them out of the water and set aside.

Cut your squash lengthwise in half. Scoop out the seeds and all of the stringy pulp. Place your squash on a baking sheet cut side up.

Divide all of your ingredients into two and add each helping to the middle "bowl" shape of your scooped out squash. Place in your preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes or until soft on the inside. Tasty to the Palate!

Food for the Soul

I love butternut squash. I saw the cutest little “butternut squash” I had ever seen. It was no longer than 6 inches. So, I just had to buy it! But guess what? It wasn’t a butternut squash after all.  It was a “Honeynut" squash.  They are adorable and delicious! They taste like a butternut, but a lot sweeter. 

Have you ever heard "Sticks and stones will break my bones. But names will never hurt me"? I remember chanting this, with my tongue sticking out at the person saying unkind words to me more than once as a child. But the older I got the more I realized that the chant was just not true. In fact, it is the complete opposite. Yes, sticks and stones can break your bones.  But harsh words and name calling - that can break one’s spirit. 

We live in a world where, because of social media, everyone thinks that they can say what they want, when they want and how they want. But whether it is through the means of a keyboard, a pen, a phone or the tongue, we need to recognize that harsh words are often very harmful, and the damage can sometimes last a lifetime. 

So, what can we do to help spread kind words around us? Well, for starters, we should not be adding to the bombardment of spreading negative or mean words just because it is so easy to do. We often think that if we are hiding behind some form of social media, we can say whatever we want and there won’t be consequences. But the truth is, that it is still harmful, and it shows the character of the person that is ranting on the other side of the device that they are using to have their voice heard.  

We all share this big globe we call home, and we need to be conscientious of making sure that we are spreading love and kindness to others, especially with our words.  As we go through our day, whether it be home, work, school, the grocery store, etc... We need to seek out opportunities to speak words of affirmation into another person's life. It is an easy thing to do, and it doesn’t take any effort at all on our part.   

Proverbs 16:24 says; “Kind words are like honey- enjoyable and healthful.” I know firsthand that it isn’t always easy to speak kind words; Especially if someone is being rude or hostile towards you. In the many decades now that I lived, I have been known, especially the first couple of them, to have a quick tongue that didn’t always drip honey filled with niceness. 

From a phycological perspective, I am sure that one could say that a bitter tongue could be a coverup for poor self-esteem or as a defense against someone spewing meanness at you. But as a Christian, we are still responsible for the words that come out of our mouths. Early on in my relationship with the Lord I had to memorize Psalm 19:14; "May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." I can’t even begin to tell you how many times that Scripture became my mantra on any given day. And I am so grateful that I had it tucked into my brain, because it really did help to change my heart and tame my tongue. The last thing any of us should want to do, is to break someone’s spirit with our words. Not only is it ungodly, but it shows a big character flaw in the person spewing bitter words from within their hearts. 

It is said that "life is a flower, of which love is honey." So how about as God's ambassadors, we 'squash' negative talk, and start spreading more honey? 

Satisfying to the soul.